What Is the Best Gaming Tablet of 2024?
You might think that it’s a little early to be calling the best gaming tablet of 2022, but there’s a strong contender for the title that looks set to blow the competition out of the water.
Recently we’ve seen quite a few mentions about Alienware products over the past few months. The company are becoming a big name in the world of PC gaming. For years now, PC gamers have had to settle for using a gaming laptop if they want to play portable. No matter how wide your hands go, that’s never going to be the same as handheld play.
But that’s all about to change. Prepare for all of your dreams and prayers to be answered as we take a look at what this space-age handheld has to offer.
Getting To Grips With The Alienware Concept UFO
Who Are Alienware?
Is this a Sony employee gone rogue or a Nintendo defector making his or her own break in the world? The answer is neither, and it might surprise you when you find out who the brains behind the Alienware Concept UFO really are.
It’s Dell.
That’s right; the laptop and computing extraordinaries are the minds behind the Alienware brand and indeed the UFO Concept. From the outset, that should give you an idea about what this thing is and what it can do.
What Is The Alienware Concept UFO?
Ok, let’s not beat around the bush. There are a lot of people that won’t like this, and I’ve read a lot of articles that will contradict what I’m about to say, but it has to be said.
It’s basically a Nintendo Switch on steroids
That is, on the simplest level, an accurate description of how this thing works. It has two detachable controllers (both with rumble features) that can be used either as singular joy cons or fixed together in a holster to use as a normal gamepad.
The UFO has a kickstand for table-top play and can also be docked to a PC via a USB-C cable. Although the similarities are inescapable, that’s where they stop.
Why Is It The Best Gaming Tablet Of 2022?
The elements of the build that set this console apart from the switch are what makes it the best gaming tablet of 2022.
For starters, the screen is a whopping 8″ which is perfect for taking in every detail of your favourite PC games. The outer casing is made from ultra-cool aluminium rather than plastic, and the back of the handheld has vents to keep everything cool, the same that Alienware use on their Area 51 laptop.
This device is basically a Windows 10 computer designed on Nintendo’s newest machine. It’s designed for playing games far bigger than anything you might find an Italian plumber tootling around in.
Sadly, it doesn’t have local multiplayer functionality, but maybe that will come on the final model.
Much like some of the best retro handhelds (except on a far bigger scale), the Alienware UFO Concept can be hooked up to a screen and used as a full-blown PC. Now you can seamlessly switch (no pun intended) between crushing Alien enemies and answering an email from your boss asking ‘how your sick leave is going’.
The sheer processing power that Dell have managed to cram into this thing is what will make it the best gaming tablet of 2022 once we see a release, and you can bet good money that we’ll be getting out hands on one when it drops.
Alienware Concept UFO Specs
As we’ve already mentioned, Dell and the Alienware team are keeping information about this device close to their chests. Having said that, we can make a few reasonable guesses using our own giant brains and info that we’ve picked up from various sources.
We’ve already mentioned the cooling vents that we’ve seen present on the Area-51 laptop, but what other tech could be lurking under that aluminium casing?
It’s safe to assume that the UFO concept is probably an Intel-powered device. We’re guessing that it’s going to comprise of a 10th Gen Core i5 processor and Intel Iris Pro graphics, though obviously there might be a new upgrade in the pipeline that might launch with the console.
There has also been a lot of whispering about AMD making a jump back into the handheld gaming and console market. Could they be about to put their mark on the best gaming tablet of 2022? If they were looking to make a statement about their future intents, then this would be the machine to do it on.
As for power, we know it uses USB-C, but we currently don’t have any info on battery life. That, at least, is one thing that I hope Dell haven’t taken inspiration from the Switch on. My first Gen Switch is so power-hungry that it leaves me scouting cafes for plug sockets like a joule-junkie.
Is The Concept Ready To Roll?
The Alienware UFO concept is still exactly that – an ‘alien’ concept.
We don’t know too much about it at this stage. Dell want the world to know that the Alien UFO is out there (maybe this is what all of those space-men experts were actually waiting for), but they are obviously guarding their secret closely against the competition.
We are confident that we’ll see this console hitting virtual baskets towards the end of the year, certainly in time for Christmas.
With the lack of another new handheld/dockable console on the market, Dell probably won’t feel too much sting from the home console market competition, especially as the UFO will be targeted more to existing PC and laptop gamers.
Why Are We Hearing About The Alienware Concept UFO Now?
Could it be something to do with the rumours of a new Nintendo Switch 2 dropping soon? I think it’s more likely that Dell want to get ahead of the competition. And why wouldn’t you, especially with such an incredible device as the UFO in the works.
In a recent interview, Dell consumer product reviews manager Ray Watkins stated that:
“We want the world to see that even though we may or may not productize something. We have tons of stuff in the works in the background.”
This release seems to be as much about Dell keeping their fingers in the gaming pie as it is about us getting our hands on the UFO. In that sense, it’s a win-win situation.
How Much Will The Alienware Concept UFO Cost?
Again, we’re still unsure as to the final price of this handheld, but we can make some educated guesses.
The price will undoubtedly be more than a Nintendo Switch but less than a top end gaming laptop. Regardless of intended audience, it has to be favourably priced with the other consoles on the market if Dell are to snap up any new customers and bring them into the fold.
With all of that in mind, I think that we’ll be looking at around $600-$900 for this console. That might seem a lot, but we are talking about the best gaming tablet of 2022 here after all, so it was never going to be a cheap buy.
Consider how much you might shell out for the latest iPhone, and then think about how much the UFO can do. Short answer – pretty much everything apart from take you into space (not physically at least).
Conclusion
What do you think about our predictions for the bet gaming laptop of 2022? Will the Alienware UFO be an astronomical success or a close encounter of the ‘worst’ kind (#terriblespacejokes).
