I got one of the test units of the GPD Win 2 like MJPIA and The Phawx here.
Short version: If you want a 'console like' experience you are definitely better off getting a Switch even at the cost of a smaller games library or paying $60 for games. The GPD Win 2 is a system/console that is theoretically at odds with technology and costs. You really should only get it if you are adamant about playing Steam games on the go.
Long version:
GPD Win 2
The good -
- The ability to play Steam games
- A great Visual Novel (and metroidvania) system (perhaps the best)
- The ability to vary your TDP with Intel XTU allowing the user to trade battery life and heat for more performance. Works well to get extra FPS in some games to make them playable.
- A really great keyboard and sticks and buttons.
- Pretty good (loud) speakers
The 'not so' good -
- Its $650 right now on IGG (retail to be higher). This is why systems like this don't get made. It is just too expensive in terms of costs of parts inside for it to be competitive to something like a Switch or 3DS/Vita. It's not that GPD are pricing it with huge profit margins. It's that the parts themselves are expensive - the Intel Core m3 alone retails for about $281, even if GPD were able to get it for around half the price it would still be $140 for a single component. Add in all the other parts and you're looking at, at least $300-350 for parts alone, then the manufacturing, the accessories, the design, the marketing all add up to at least $450-500 for the machine which is precisely the cost for a test system.
- At $650 vs $300 for a switch, you could have 7 $50 games on the Switch already. You would have to buy quite a number of games before the costs for both systems evened up.
- Although the Win 2 has 2-3x the graphics power of the Win (which was already better than a Vita), it doesn't mean all your games will run on the system. This could be due to a bad port like FFX-2 which does not support integrated graphics (crashed 3 times out of nowhere for me before I made it to a save point). In that case, I believe GPD Win 2 users will have to rely on the community to set up a database of sorts to see what works on the system and what the best settings are.
- If you don't like 'tweaking' games, then the Win 2 is NOT for you. Using a lower powered mobile chip like a m3 processor needs settings to be finetuned. Even something as simple as choosing full screen or windowed can have a performance effect. Some games have settings outside the game so you'll be going in and out of games a lot.
- The Win 2 gets warm in your hands ( I won't say hot, it varies), but expect similar temps to say your iphone/ipad and much higher than Vita/3DS. At first it was close to too warm (almost uncomfortable?) but I def got used to it after the first couple of hours.
- You'll be on your own regarding purchases. There's only about 4000 units sold, if you buy a game and it doesn't work, it will probably be difficult to get it working on your own. Its not like a Nintendo/Sony system where you'll get an official patch or other people who bought the same game.
- You may find you're under powered for some newer release games, especially open world games like Ghost Recon Wildlands, Assassin's Creed Origins, which barely run at 12-15fps. And you may find older games may not support the system for whatever reason (CPU/GPU, Windows, resolution incompatiability etc.).
I have obviously written a lot more about the 'not so' good points, I think they are more warnings rather than 'bad' points. I think some people may look at this as a portable in the vein of a 3DS/Vita/Switch but it requires more effort on the user at least in the 5 hours I had with the system (my SSD died and I've contacted them to get a new one, the problem has been solved for IGG backers, which was previous SSDs failed an anti static test). It also takes way more effort tweaking than a standard desktop PC with a mid tier graphics card.
Btw here are some games I ran in the 5 hours with the system to give people an idea of performance.
All 7w unless noted otherwise.
- Skyrim - runs great. 720p 40-60fps low settings.
- F1 2012 - runs great 720p 30fps. Runs 38fps at 9w.
- NfS Hot pursuit. - runs fine 720p 30fps with dips, can get to 40fps without shadows but still dips. Not as smooth as F12012.
- Doki doki lit club - no tweaks needed.
- Binary Domain - 720p 30fps but did not get far enough into the game to be meaningful. Config file is a pain in the bum.
- FFX-2 - crashes constantly does not support integrated graphics.
- Steamworld dig - runs great. 720p 60fps Hollow knight - runs great but 720p 30-60fps.
- Ys Origins - runs fine 720p 60fps but has constant screen tearing even with vsync on.
- EU IV - windowed mode increases performance fps varies wildly up to 60fps but generally playable. (may be different performance wise late game). Full screen =20fps and unplayable.
Thats all i remember testing in about 5 hrs time with the win 2.
Also EUIV UI text is extremely small. But its also small on the desktop.
