Antec Core HS Review – A Real Contender for Mobile PC Gaming!

How Much Does it Cost?

The big selling point for the Core HS really is going to come down to it having Windows 11 as standard, and while you’d expect a device like this to cost more with it having Windows pre-installed, the pricing is actually very competitive, and somewhat surprising. If you’re in the UK, it’s going to cost you £549, but for that, you’re getting the complete bundle of the device, screen protector, joystick caps, docking station and the carry case. If you’re in mainland Europe, you’ll get the same bundle for 699 Euros, and in the US, it’s the same again for $699.

Update: They’re now available at eBuyer for £549.99.

You can check for up to date stock and prices on the official product page here.

Overview

Antec has taken a well-loved system and brought it to a new market, and that makes sense, as the market for mobile PC gaming is booming right now, and the real winners will be those who want to get a mixture of mobile and desktop gaming while also not spending over the odds, and to me at least, the Core HS does exactly that.

I do have some gripes, but they are simple gripes and that comes down to Antec selling themselves a little short. Things like the Hall Effect triggers and analogue sticks aren’t even mentioned on the retail packaging and to me, these are big selling points and something that I think needs to be highlighted a little better. That aside, they’ve made some extremely clever moves, like dropping to 60Hz vs the 90Hz of the Steam Deck. That’s a smart move, as it allows them to bump the resolution to Full HD, which I think is a better use of a mobile GPU package such as this, though one thing I will say, is straight away to disable the auto rotation feature, as it gets tiresome very quickly.

Much like laptops and other mobile devices, this platform will mature with newer components and I think as we see more power coming by way of the CPU and onboard GPU, I think we’ll inevitably see higher refresh rates in time, so long as it can be balanced with good battery life and that’s the big decision that Antec made here, and it’s a wise one that I think will pay off when comparing it to the competition, especially along with the inclusion of Windows 11 too. Bold moves, but ones that should pay off.

What we essentially have here is a somewhat retro design, premium quality controls, albeit with some improvements that could be made to remapping those extra back buttons, a good quality screen, excellent gaming performance, native Windows 11 OS, and even some upgrade options in terms of storage, and all of that together makes this one of the more well-rounded devices on the market. While I could argue something like the Steam Deck has more features, it’s also more of a closed system, and much larger and slightly heavier device too, while the Core HS feels a little closer to something like the Switch when it comes to mobile PC gaming, and I love it! I think it’s safe to say that there’s a new contender on the market, and now MSI, ASUS and some of the other devices on the market are going to have to now catch up.

So what do you think of the Core HS? As always, I want to know, what colour would you get it in and what would be the first game you’d play on it? Also, being a Windows 11 device, you have full flexibility over what you do on it, so while it is a “gaming device”, there’s nothing stopping you watching movies on it, doing work on it and so much more, so would you use it for that, or would it purely be for gaming? Let me know in the comments section below.