GPD is arguably the company that launched the handheld gaming PC space with the introduction of the GPD Win in 2016. A (nearly) pocket-sized computer with an x86 processor, Windows software, a keyboard for thumb typing and built-in controllers for gaming, it was unlike anything else on the market at the time.
In 2018 the company released the slightly bigger, significantly faster GPD Win 2. But then the market kind of exploded and there are so many different handheld gaming PCs that I had to create a massive table to keep track of them all. GPD continued to make handhelds that stood out thanks to their built-in keyboards, but the last few models were either mini-laptops that were too big for your pocket or systems like the Win 3 and Win 4 with slide-up displays rather than a clamshell design. Now it looks like GPD is preparing to launch a true successor to the GPD Win 2: a pocket-sized* handheld with a powerful processor and a clamshell design.
The company hasn’t officially announced a new product yet, but GPD has been communicating some of its plans to a handful of insiders, and some have been sharing details in the gpd_devices Discord.
In March, Phawx has posted a 15 minute video that helpfully summarized most of the details that are public, but here are some highlights, and he revealed some additional details in a shorter second video posted on April 19th.
- Display; 7 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel (16:9) display with a 120 Hz refresh rate
- Processor options: AMD Ryzen 7 7840U and Ryzen 5 7640U
- Memory: 16 GB LPDDR5-7500
- Storage: 512 GB or 1 TB M.2 2230 SSD
- Graphics dock connector: OcuLink-2 port for 16GB/s PCIe connection to the GPD G1 graphics dock with a Radeon 7600M XT GPU (or other supported devices)
- Other ports include: Thunderbolt 4
- Text input: Backlit keyboard designed for touch-typing
- Gaming input: Game controllers and a touchpad above the keyboard, with:
- Dual analog sticks
- D-Pad
- A, B, X, Y buttons
- H1 and H2 programmable buttons
- Start, Select, and Menu buttons
- Analog shoulder trigger buttons
- Sensors: Gyroscope for motion controls
- Motors: Rumble motors
- Battery: 45 Wh battery
- Dimensions: 167 x 108 x 25mm (may be a little thicker)
- Crowdfunding: Indiegogo campaign expected to launch in June, 2023
- Availability: Could ship by October or November, 2023
- Starting price: Could start at $700 during crowdfunding
The system also has a removable bottom cover, allowing you to swap covers depending on your needs. Prefer a handheld gaming device with handle grips? There’s a base that has them built in. But if you’d prefer a smooth bottom for a lower-profile, more pocketable design, then you can put a plain base on the bottom.
According to the Phawx, nothing has been finalized yet. So while folks have taken to calling the new device the GPD Win Mini (to differentiate it from the GPD Win Max), it’s unclear what it will actually be called when it launches.
The drawings that have been making the rounds (including the ones in this article) may also not be 100% representative of the final design.
And while there’s evidence that GPD has been testing AMD’s Ryzen 7 7840U processor for this device, it’s possible that the company may settle on a different chip. That said, the Ryzen 7 7840U would be an interesting choice – it’s expected to be a 15 to 28-watt processor with 8 Zen 4 CPU core sand AMD Radeon 780M graphics with 12 RDNA 3 compute units.
That chip would make the upcoming GPD Win Mini more powerful than just about any other handheld currently on the market… although I suspect we’ll see a number of competitors use the same chip for their upcoming products.
I suspect that selecting this chip would also have an impact on price: don’t expect any handheld with a Ryzen 7 7040 series chip to be cheap.
A lot of folks have been waiting for GPD to return to the GPD Win 1 and 2 form factor, and it looks like the company’s next handheld may finally be that return to form. It is expected to be a little bigger than the Win 2 in order to make the move from a 6 inch screen to a 7 inch display. But the Win 2 had fairly chunky bezels, so GPD was able to increase the screen size without very much impact on the overall size of the computer: the Phawx says that the Win Mini is only about 5mm wider and 9 mm taller and then Win 2.
With the move from a 37 Wh battery to a larger 45 Wh battery, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a bit heavier though.
More details (and actual pictures) should be available closer to launch.
- Pocket-sized is clearly a subjective term, and you’re probably not going to be able to fit this thing in the front pocket of a pair of skinny jeans. But you can conceivable stuff the GPD Win 1 or 2 in the pocket of a sweatshirt or maybe even the back pocket of a pair of baggy pants. The hope is that the GPD Win Mini will also be nearly pocket-sized.
This article was first published March 28, 2023 and most recently updated April 19, 2023.
I’m hearing the Mini won’t have a USB-A port.
I hope GPD ditches the OCulink port and put back a USB-A port.
I hope the G1 flops so GPD won’t put OCulink ports on their devices after one device instead of other more useful ports.
I hope they remove the touchpad and put a 4G modem inside there instead.
Yes, please replace the touchpad with a 4G chip inside!
The touchpad is pretty useless for this device.
That’s a great idea! There’s already the joystick mouse.
If GPD needs space for a 4G modem, then the trackpad is the perfect thing to get rid of.
If I had to choose between having a redundant + awkwardly placed touchpad vs. built-in 4G, then I’d take built-in 4G.
Just a clarification Brad but it’s the 7640U not the 7440U. There are also additional details recently pinned in the Discord chat that you might like to update your article with.
Thanks, I’ve updated the article!
They should remove the redundant and awkwardly placed touchpad and use that internal space for a 4G modem.
GPD needs to expand their market research beyond just the Discord mods.
I guess Phawx isn’t above click bait titles to get the views.
No one within the scope of a multipolar trap is above the behaviors enforced by said multipolar trap.
Will it have 4G? I’d convince myself to buy it and compromise on the no longer comfortably pocketable for me size increase.
I hope it has built-in 4G like the Win Max 2 (maybe faster one though) or even 5G.
I need some other reasons to get it since it’s no longer pocketable. The Win 2 is the limit for me after it got larger from the Win 1. It’s one of the main reasons I wanted a Win 2 successor.
I see a lot of comments about the pocketability of this device — I agree with them — 7 inches is too much to fit in a typical pocket comfortably at that aspect ratio — but for me, the size is perfect. I wear a fanny pack pretty much all the time (women’s pants regularly don’t even have pockets big enough for phones), and the larger compartment is where I keep my switch lite, which fits perfectly, with a bit of extra room. A gaming device like this would be a good replacement for that, and let me access my PC library easily. I don’t get a whole lotta use outta my steam deck right now since I need to carry it in my messenger bag — that and the lack of a clamshell design means I need to keep it in its own case.
The person who created this keyboard layout didn’t consider that it’s a thumb keyboard.
It’s clearly designed as if it’s a regular keyboard used with multiple fingers which it’s not.
When Phawx gets a review unit and shows it in his pocket, it won’t mean anything for those who already have a Win 2 and consider it as the max size as what’s comfortable to pocket to them.
There was already debates on whether the Win 2 was comfortable to pocket. Now with the size increase again, it’s not pocketable for even more people. For these people, once you need a bag, more options are on the table at that point.
Since it’s larger than the Win 2 and no longer comfortably pocketable to me, then I also have larger performance expectations:
7840U with a 20 W TDP default limit. No hard cap in the BIOS/FW for those want to push/mod things.
Too bad GPD doesn’t make much changes once they get to this point. There’s supposedly already mockups/prototypes.
GPD dropped the ball on this so hard the ball popped.
I wonder how long my Win 2 I got in 2020 will last. I had to replace some parts but it’s hard to find parts nowadays.
Interesting. So, to compare 167 x 108 x 25mm with analogues…
Win 1 is 155 x 97 x 22 mm.
Win 2 is 162 x 99 x 25 mm
GPD MicroPC is 153 x 113 x 23.5 mm
And OneGx1 Pro is 173 x 136 x 21 mm
So, it will be somewhere Win2 and MicroPC. Longer than both, but in between by width. I get used to carry MicroPC in jacket pocket, so, I guess, dimensions will be fine for me… though I as well would prefer if they’ll stay on 6 inches screen and <100mm width.
And even more comparisons to get the picture:
Samsung Galaxy S23+ is 157.8 x 76.2 x 7.6 mm
iPhone 14 Pro Max is 160.7 x 77.6 x 7.85 mm
Redmi Note 12 is 161.11 x 74.95 x 7.9 mm
Astro Slide is 172.4 x 76.5 x 18.7mm
PinePhone Pro with keyboard is 161 x 95 x 21.5mm
And DragonBox Pyra is 139 x 87 x 32 mm.
So Win 1 is still remains to be the most compact modern-software x86 UMPC and pars only with Pyra.
As for keyboard layout, while it is defiantly can be improved, it is nice to see full symbols rows implemented here: it is very, almost essentially useful for many non-Latin alphabets. One if most problematic cases with MicroPC was that non-letter buttons from the right of keyboard was “Fn-ed”, which seriously affects non-English typing.
The only GPD devices I’ve had were an original Win 1 (Which I sold like 6 years ago) and a Win Max 2 that I currently own. I’m a fairly tall and not-thin person so this would probably fit in my pockets, but it would look incredibly stupid. The original Win was an amazing size, which is definitely a sentiment I’ve seen echoed by a bunch of people. With this, I may as well just carry a small bag with my Win Max 2 lol.
Also, why couldn’t a device like this use a Psion 5/Planet Computers/PinePhone style keyboard? Instead, we get a thumb board on a device too wide to comfortably use it, all while mimicking the layout of a normal full size laptop keyboard; which doesn’t take into consideration the different ways traditional keyboards vs. thumbboards are used. I’m not pressing ctrl, alt, and del with two thumbs.
I think an ideal scenario would be for Windows on ARM to actually become good. That would, at least in my eyes, have the potential to cascade down into thin laptops and gaming handhelds. Also, better small keyboards.
Why put a trackpad in a spot furthest away from your thumb? 🤣
Is it to avoid your hands brushing the trackpad whilst typing and triggering a click away from the text input field?
To make them laugh at users I guess?
They should have stayed with a 6″ screen. Such a big let down.
Yeah, should have stayed with a 6″ screen and kept it comfortably pocketable for more people.
I’m a lot less excited for this now.
A display smaller than 1.75 inches could’ve saved battery life.
They need to fix that keyboard layout. It’s horrible.
Looks like they copied a lot from the Dragonbox Pandora and Pyra so they might as well copy the long-debated keyboard layout from the Pyra…
The one thing they don’t seem to have copied is customer support.
Imagine trying to type a 7 or 8 and your computer stops whatever it’s doing and tries to sleep. It’s a small detail, but it can vastly affect how annoying it is to use. They should really put the power button somewhere else, like the space to the top right of the touch pad.
And actually, they could save a lot of space by having a switch (next to h1/h2) to set the controller to “desktop mode”, and doing something like the following for desktop mode:
lb=FN.
rb=other alternate functions.
face buttons: shift, ctrl, alt.
lt/rt=ctrl, alt.
d-pad=arrow keys.
start=windows key.
lb+dpad=pgup, pgdown, home, end.
rb+d-pad, face buttons, h1/h2/select/start=function keys.
lb/FN+a stick=brightness and volume control.
It’s a bit complicated but I think I could get used to it on a device that has to make a lot of compromises as is. And it could leave room for a non-thumb keyboard.
Hopeful it has good haptic vibration, too bad these naysayer sissies can’t hang with the plug.
It needs a big purple joystick permanently attached.
That keyboard layout is bad.
That’s not comfortably pocketable anymore for me. It’ll fit but I wouldn’t do it. Not much reason for me to get this if I’ll be putting it in a bag anyway.
Yeah, the Win 2 was at the limit of what’s comfortably pocketable for me. To me, this isn’t pocketable based on those dimensions. I’ll need some other justifications to buy this.
Will this have built-in 4G/5G?
Get ambitious son! You can certainly keister this gear!
With those dimensions, it went from comfortably pocketable to “I’d rather put it in a bag”. At that point, I don’t have much reason to buy the Win Mini.
I liked the very pocketable Win 1 size. I tolerated the size increase for the Win 2. Now with yet another size increase, GPD has lost me with the Win Mini.
With the 3rd party cooler mod, the Win 2 was able to do 15 W TDP fine and the battery life was still decent. I was hoping they’d keep the size of the Win 2 and cap the TDP at 15 W (maybe a bit higher given GPD’s improved cooling designs).
Yeah, targeting 15 W would have been doable with the Win 2 size.
Why are the shift, ctrl and alt keys not grouped together? Does the designer not use keyboard shortcuts?
That touchpad placement is bad. You’d need to adjust your grip to accurately use it with your thumb. They should just get rid of it. Maybe remove that odd right column of keys and put an optical thumbpad there instead.
Uh, maybe because that is actually how the keys are laid out on a regular American keyboard? The left Shift has always been next to the Z-key, and right Shift is immediately after the slash (/). While Ctrl and Alt keys are in the next row below. This layout has been like that for more than 40 years, so why are people bringing that up now? Touch typists would expect the keys to be in those positions at this point.
As for the touchpad, the intent is probably more of a game controller like the joy sticks, d-pad, etc for certain games and gamers who like that type of interface. For mouse usage with thumb typing at this small size it would be better to replace that power key at the top center with a ThinkPad trackpoint nub or mini trackball. There are plenty of other places to move the power button, like to the left of the H1 and H2 buttons.
It’s a thumb keyboard. The layout needs to keep that in mind.
For example, how are you going to use keyboard shortcuts that require some combination of shift, ctrl and alt with one thumb and another key with the other thumb?
That keyboard layout needs a lot of work. It’s worse than the Win 2’s layout.
Also this went from a pocketable Win 2 to a not pocketable Win Mini. Or at least it wouldn’t comfortable. Those millimeters matter at this size.
Too bad GPD decided to ditch one of the biggest features of the Win 2 for me.
Too bad it’s bigger. Going to pass on it.
The Win 2 was already teetering between pocketable and not pockeatable by many. So a “little bit bigger just pushed it into not pocketable for a lot of people.
Finally, they are bringing this form factor again, I really wish Aya Neo could give more details about their Flip and slide for comparison. More options are always better for the consumers.
I mean a smaller form factor, because there is also the GPD Win Max line.
It was a great video, and this article summarises it nicely. My only concern is that the GPD Win-1 was barely pocketable, some say it wasn’t. The GPD Win-2 was slightly larger, also skirting on the border of what fits and what doesn’t. And lastly this, GPD Win-Mini is even slightly larger than that.
So it may not be pocketable.
Definitely not for formal pants, business pants or even buttoned shirts. Questionable for denim jeans. Maybe for chinos. Probably will fit for baggy pants, cargo pants and baggy jumpers or inside jacket/coat pockets.
Maybe it’s the modern smartphones, for instance the Samsung Note-1, which has spoiled our perception of pocketable. I definitely think the PSP Slim, DS Lite and new3DS were pocketable. I think the PS Vita Slim was pushing it, as is the likes of the Retroid Pocket 3+. Whilst anything larger like the AYN Odin and Nintendo Switch Lite are not pocketable devices. I guess my preferred dimensions are:
177 x 77 x 17mm (height, width, depth)
Yeah, I was looking for a place to throw in a “if you have big pockets” without sounding snarky. Let me see if I can find a way to do that 🙂
To be honest, I never had any trouble pocketing GPD Win 1 or 2 into any jeans pants. Most smart casual pants I wear have deep enough pockets to fit either as well. I have since moved to carrying a small man-bag which holds a few stuff including the WIN2, a micro-HDMI cable, a couple of SSDs, a power brick, a couple of USB-C cables for charging and data and a Bluetooth mouse and mini keyboard. That way, I can use it as a desktop anywhere I get a monitor or as a laptop any other time.