There is little reason to hold out hope for future generations of cheap gaming gadgets. Today’s case in point is the Acer Predator Atlas 8, a gaming handheld that became so popular it sold out. Now, just two weeks after launch, it costs $150 more.
The originally $1,300 Predator Atlas 8 became a hot-ticket handheld at launch, mostly because of its chip—the Intel G3 Extreme—and price point that was $500 cheaper than the similar MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ (though you may be able to find that handheld for around $1,500 in some webstores with 512GB of storage instead of 1TB). The handheld PC sold out on sites like Best Buy, only to come back in stock over the course of a few days. Then, on Wednesday, the Best Buy store listing suddenly showed the handheld cost $1,450. Gizmodo reached out to Acer for comment, and we’ll update this post if we hear back.
I’ve had the Predator Atlas 8 in hand since the start of November, and I’ll be sharing my thoughts in the near future. The price is now more expensive than an Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20, a smaller handheld with a more premium screen and controls.
