Hot on the heels of the Steam Deck, Ayn Loki, and Abernic’s Win600, GPD’s latest offering is set to combine the retro gaming handheld space with the power and workspace of a gaming laptop.
Intrigued? So are we. The GPD Win Max 2 is a powerful beast capable of emulating up to PlayStation 3 hardware. But is it worth the cost? Here’s everything we know about GPD’s new console, including specs, pricing info, and exactly what it’s capable of.
GPD Win Max 2 Specifications
There are five different models of the GPD Win Max 2 available – one Intel-based offering, and three AMD models with varying solid-state storage and RAM options depending on how much power you’re after.
It’s worth noting, every model here is packing a massive amount of power under the hood. Even the base models have enough to make it a killer emulation console. That’s because GPD decided to keep the CPU and GPU identical across the AMD systems. This allows the Win Max 2 to keep the console fast, responsive, and emulator-ready. The choice for the consumer, then, is how fast you really need it to be.
I’m not a huge fan of 32GB of RAM as standard. Sure, more is always better, but that jump from 16GB to 32GB isn’t essential to the experience. It’ll run just fine with 16GB.
It’s the same logic for the SSD storage, although it’s worth thinking about how likely you are to fill it.
The fuller an SSD gets, the slower it acts, so it’s always worth leaving a decent whack of it free. If you’ve got a massive game collection, you’re going to want to consider a larger drive.
Win Max 2 – Intel Model
- CPU: Intel Core i7-1260P
- GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics 96EU
- RAM: 16GB LPDDR5 5200 MTs
- Storage: 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD
- Screen: 10.1-inch touchscreen
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth: 5.2, Thunderbolt 4 (USB4)
- Battery: 67Wh
Win Max 2 – AMD Model 1
- CPU: AMD R7-6800U
- GPU: AMD Radeon 680M
- RAM: 16GB LPDDR5-6400 MTs
- Storage: 128GB M.2 NVMe SSD
- Screen: 10.1-inch touchscreen
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth: 5.2, Thunderbolt 4 (USB4)
- Battery: 67Wh
Win Max 2 – AMD Model 2
- CPU: AMD R7-6800U
- GPU: AMD Radeon 680M
- RAM: 16GB LPDDR5-6400 MTs
- Storage: 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD
- Screen: 10.1-inch touchscreen
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth: 5.2, Thunderbolt 4 (USB4)
- Battery: 67Wh
Win Max 2 – AMD Model 3
- CPU: AMD R7-6800U
- GPU: AMD Radeon 680M
- RAM: 32GB LPDDR5-6400 MTs
- Storage: 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD
- Screen: 10.1-inch touchscreen
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth: 5.2, Thunderbolt 4 (USB4)
- Battery: 67Wh
Win Max 2 – AMD Model 4
- CPU: AMD R7-6800U
- GPU: AMD Radeon 680M
- RAM: 32GB LPDDR5-6400 MTs
- Storage: 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD
- Screen: 10.1-inch touchscreen
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth: 5.2, Thunderbolt 4 (USB4)
- Battery: 67Wh
GPD Win Max 2 Price
GPD products are never cheap, and that’s totally fine. The company is all about high-end, premium products that offer up a serious amount of power. The most affordable model comes in at $899/£740, and while it may lack the extra storage space and 32GB of RAM, it’s still packing the AMD R7-6800U and AMD Radeon 680M, which means it’ll be able to hit those highs the retro gaming community are always after.
- Win Max 2 – Intel Model: $999/£822
- Win Max 2 – AMD Model 1: $899/£740
- Win Max 2 – AMD Model 2: $999/£822
- Win Max 2 – AMD Model 3: $1199/£986
- Win Max 2 – AMD Model 4: $1299/£1069
Of course, the lowest price is still double that of the Steam Deck, Ayn Loki, and Win600. It’s sure to put some off. It is, however, harder to compare those systems due to the design of the Win Max 2. This isn’t a traditional handheld. It’s more comparable with a laptop, which leads us on to…
Who Is the GPD Win Max 2 Designed for?
As with most GPD retro-focused consoles, they aren’t for everyone, although that isn’t a bad thing. The Win Max 2 is designed for people who want more from their handheld consoles. It’s both a work laptop, gaming laptop, graphics tablet, and retro gaming machine all in one.
In short, that’s why they cost so much. They’re high-end tech built to do more than one thing. For the average consumer, someone who just wants to play retro games and nothing else, the higher buy-in price is most likely too great to justify. But for those who don’t want to sink thousands into a gaming laptop that will only work for three to six years, the Win Max 2 is a solid alternative. It all depends what you want and what you’re after.
The Win Max 2 is capable of emulating a lot of different systems. From the ETA Prime video above, the system is capable of emulating up to PlayStation 3. Now, that doesn’t mean every single PS3 game will run flawlessly, and the same goes for consoles released in a similar timeframe, but the games that have been tested run brilliantly.
- Sega: Genesis/Mega Drive, Master System, Game Gear, SegaCD, Sega32x, Dreamcast
- Nintendo: NES, SNES, Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, DS, 3DS, N64, GameCube, Wii, Wii U, Nintendo Switch
- Sony: PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3
- Microsoft: Xbox, Xbox 360
- Misc: PC Engine, WonderSwan, Mame, FBNeo, Neo Geo
As always, it’s worth waiting to see more of what the Win Max 2 can emulate before making any decisions. As of right now, there isn’t enough to go on. All that said, what we have seen so far is more than enough to grab our attention.
