The GPD Win Max 2 is a mini laptop with a 10 inch, 2560 x 1600 pixel touchscreen display, a backlit keyboard and built-in game controllers above the keyboard that lets you hold the system like an oversized Nintendo DS or Game Boy Advance SP for gaming.
With a choice of AMD Ryzen 7 6800U or Intel Core i7-1260P processors, though the Win Max 2 is a full-fledged gaming PC. First unveiled in March, the GPD Win Max 2 is up for pre-order for $999 and up during an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, and the handheld is expected to begin shipping to backers in September, 2022.
Technically, the starting price is actually $899, but only for the first 50 backers who opted for a super early bird crowdfunding deal on a model with just 128GB of storage (presumably most people backing the campaign at that level plan to upgrade the storage on their own).
By the time you’re reading this, those rewards are already gone, and most backers will end up paying $999 or more.
Here’s a run down of the pricing/configuration options that will be available during (and after) crowdfunding:
| Config | IGG price | Retail price |
| 6800U + 16GB + 128GB | $899 (only 50 available) | N/A |
| 6800U + 16GB + 1TB | $999 | $1159 |
| 1260P + 16GB + 1TB | $999 | $1159 |
| 6800U + 32GB + 1TB | $1199 | $1359 |
| 6800U + 32GB + 2TB | $1299 | $1459 |
| 1TB M.2 2230 SSD add-on | $139 | $145 |
| 4G LTE module add-on | $79 | $89 |
No matter which version you opt for, all models of the GPD Win Max 2 have user upgradeable storage: the mini-laptops ship with an M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD that can be replaced with up to a PCIe 4.0 SSD, but there’s also a smaller M.2 2230 PCIE 4.0 socket that can be used for additional storage.
The little laptop also has both a microSD card reader and a full-sized SD card reader, a Thunderbolt 4 port (or USB4 on AMD models), a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, HDMI 2.1 ports, quad speakers, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a webcam.
In addition to analog sticks, a D-Pad, and action buttons, the computer has shoulder triggers and two programmable action buttons on the bottom of the case, plus a trackpad between the controllers.
While most recent handheld gaming PCs are clearly designed exclusively for gaming, the Win Max 2 is basically a netbook-sized computer with a keyboard large enough for touch typing and a screen that might be large enough for getting real work done (I find multi-window multitasking tasking on 10 inch laptop screens can be a pain, but it’s theoretically possible). GPD even includes covers that you can slide over the game controllers when you’re not using them, to give the computer a more professional-looking design.
It’s also one of the few devices in this category with optional support for cellular data thanks to an optional 4G LTE module which will sell for $79 during crowdfunding or $89 at retail. The global 4G module features a Qulacomm Snapdragon X5 LTE (9×07) modem with support for the following network bands:
| LTE-FDD | B1 / B2 / B3 / B4 / B5 / B8 / B12 / B13 / B18 / B19 / B20 / B25 / B26 / B28 |
| LTE-TDD | B38 / B39 / B40 / B41 |
| UMTS | B38 / B39 / B40 / B41 |
| GSM | B2 / B3 / B5 / B8 |
That differs from the Chinese version, which supports LTE-TDD bands B34/B38/B39/B40/B41 and LTE-FDD bands B/1/B3/B5/B8.
Here are detailed specs for the Win Max 2:
| GPD Win Max 2 (Intel) | GPD Win Max 2 (AMD) | |
| Display | 10.1 inches 2560 x 1600 pixels 10-point capacitive touch Pen support (4096 levels pressure sensitivity) | |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-1260P 12-cores / 16-threads 20W – 28W power consumption | AMD Ryzen 7 6800U 8-cores / 16-threads 15-28W power consumption |
| GPU | Intel Iris Xe 96 execution units 768 stream processors Up to 1.45 GHz | AMD Radeon 680M RDNA 2 architecture 12 Compute Units 768 stream processors Up to 2.2 GHz |
| RAM | LPDDR5-5200 16GB Supports up to 64GB | LPDDR5-6400 16GB or 32GB Supports up to 64GB |
| Storage | M.2 2280 & M.2 2230 PCIe Gen 4.0 & PCIe Gen 3 Sold with up to 2TB (M.2 2280) Supports up to 16TB (8TB per slot) SD card reader microSD card reader | |
| Ports | 1 x Thunderbolt 4 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A 1 x HDMI 2.1 | 1 x USB4 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A 1 x HDMI 2.1 |
| Audio & video | Quad speakers 3.5mm audio jack 2MP Webcam (below display) | |
| Input | QWERTY keyboard (backlit) Game controllers Motion sensors | |
| Security | Fingerprint sensor | |
| Battery & Charging | 67 Wh battery 100W USB Type-C | |
| Wireless | WiFi Bluetooth 4G LTE (optional) | |
| Material | Aluminum-magnesium alloy | |
| Dimensions | 227 x 160 x 23mm | |
| Weight | 1005 grams | |
GPD says the Win Max 2 will get up to 3 hours of battery life under heavy use (like triple AAA gaming), but should provide 6 to 8 hours of battery life under more moderate usage of even longer run time for light use such as offline video playback.
You can find more details at the Indiegogo campaign page or the Win Max 2 page on the GPD website. Or check out our handheld gaming PC comparison table to see how the Win Max 2 stacks up against the competition.
One more thing to keep in mind before pulling out your wallet: GPD, like most of the small Chinese companies operating in the niche handheld gaming PC market, has an occasionally spotty track record with quality control and customer support issues.
While the company has put out some very interesting hardware over the past few years, it’s also made snafus like shipping some devices with incorrect components or other hardware defects. So proceed with caution and expect that while you’ll literally get what you pay for, you may have trouble getting support from the company if you run into any hardware or software issues with the device that eventually shows up on your doorstep.
via @softwincn
Since you’ve mentioned different 4G modules for Chinese and Western market, do you happen to know what part number they used in their Chinese version? I live in China and I’m seriously considering this device, but before getting the 4G version I need to know whether it uses those evil Intel XMM series with practically zero Linux PCIe driver support. If the Chinese version uses a USB modem or a PCIe modem from QCOM, I would be glad to pay extra for it. If not, I’m not going to tinker with the flimsy GitHub USB modeset driver or Lenovo duct-taped binary blob driver for XMM7360, as my X1 Carbon Gen 8 4G experience was not great to say at least.
Also if you happen to have a test unit, how is the noise and building quality? Early samples use dark silvery paint and the anodized top cover looks really a different tone than the plastic bottom shell, and it just looks cheap and awful. I wonder if anyone can show a picture of a mass production unit (should be all black), and do a realistic noise test, not with a sound level meter, but with just a lav mic on shirt, and talk normally while stressing the device.
Cheers.
Too bad the LTE modem GPD chose won’t have decent coverage in western countries due to lack of support of many LTE bands. Was considering the Max for this. Oh well.
Also too bad several people seem to be relying too much on and misinterpreting Phawx’s basic LTE test. Many of those who get the LTE module based on his video will be very disappointed when they lose signal completely in a place where that 1 supported LTE band (not even a carrier’s main band) doesn’t reach.
You’d think they’d use a more global modem for a global centric device.
Or at least a different modem for international users. Like one of those Qualcomm ones that supports 20+ western LTE bands.
Turns out they will. They had previously listed the specs for the China-only LTE module. Global customers will get one with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X5 LTE module: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gpd-win-max-2-handheld-gaming-pc-4g-lte-amd-6800u#/updates/2
Too bad they cheaped out on the international modem.
That’s from 2016 and may be much slower than most people’s phones in some places unless you’re in places carriers have mostly ignored improving their infrastructure in.
They’re crazy!
That’s not a handheld, it’s a laptop, I can get a better specced laptop for the same price.
I was under the impression that only one of the Type-C ports was USB 4 / TB 4, and then the other was only USB 3.2. 🤷♂️
Also, it starts in the morning of July 7th Beijing time, but that’s the evening if July 6th for the US.
I agree with others that the $899 tier is dumb gimmick, but I think the $999 tier is OK (not fantastic, but acceptable.)
Good catch. I’ve been trying to keep updating a spec table that I first created a few months ago when only a few details were available. That was a carryover from a time when the USB specs were a little unclear. I’ve updated the article.
What a greasy thing to do, offer 50 units with a smaller SSD just so everyone will say “$899 and up”, rather than “$999 and up”.
$899 SKU is completely irrelevant as there’s only 50 and not worth putting in the title as people will see that first and assume that’s what the Max 2 will normally cost when the fact is GPD is making sure their pricing is as uncompetitive as possible. At the real price, I expect PCIe 4.0 SSDs (reasonable), impeccable customer service (pffffttt), and high build quality (not gonna happen, it’s GPD).
To be fair, the prices aren’t bad for a laptop with those specs. It’s just that these things aren’t going to compete with laptops, they’re going up against other gaming handhelds.
Last year prices for those were definitely in the $1000 range, but the Steam Deck changed that and now the space is quickly dividing into models that are meant to undercut the Steam Deck on pricing or sell for much higher price tags while offering better specs.
It’s hard to compete with Valve when it comes to software and support though. And you’re right, I keep forgetting to add a disclaimer to posts like these that GPD and other handheld makers don’t have a great track record with customer service or quality control issues.