The launch of last year’s GPD XP was mostly met with bemusement and frustration. So many unnecessary features, a lack lustre SoC and a high price relegated the device to a very niche market of gamers. But GPD haven’t given up on the XP line just yet, having just announced the GPD XP Plus.
It’s safe to say that the XP was a failure for GPD. Less than a year into its life, it looks to have been discontinued by the company. Their official site links to a dead AliExpress product page, and searching AliExpress for other sellers reveals very little.
GPD XP PLUS
But unless this is all an early April fools joke, GPD appear to want to keep the XP product line alive. They’ve just announced a new revision, now called the GPD XP Plus. If you were GPD, what changes would you make to the product? A normal width screen perhaps? Removal of that hole punch camera in the bottom left of the LCD? Get rid of the superfluous modular controllers? Maybe even a return to the clamshell design that so many people have begged them for. Changing any of the things that the internet said were weird and wrong about the product would be a great start.
Unfortunately we’re mostly out of luck, as GPD aren’t listening. The only notable upgrade is the SoC, now powered by a Dimensity 1200 (benchmarks page) from Mediatek. The GPD XP Plus looks to be a massive upgrade in raw power compared to the Helio G95 in the first revision, but unless I’m looking in the wrong places, nobody seems to care all that much. Their Twitter and Reddit announcements have hardly set the world alight.
I must admit, I would feel a bit sorry for them if it weren’t for 2 points. Firstly, they do know how to design and market products, their mini laptops and Windows gaming devices are usually very popular. There is demand for Android based gaming handhelds, they just need listen to their customers and build something that they want. And secondly, their behaviour towards AYN was incredibly unprofessional, allegedly accusing them of using second hand SD845 SoCs from reclaimed African cell phones in their Odin. Apparently a baseless accusation designed to damage their sales.
GPD XP PLUS SPECS
The GPD XP Plus was initially due to use a brand new gaming oriented chip from Qualcomm named the G3x. This is the same chip used in Razer’s handheld gaming developer kit. For reasons vaguely outlined by a GPD rep, they changed their minds and went with the Dimensity 1200 instead.
Along with the change in SoC, there will be some other minor improvements in the way of UFS 3.1 storage, faster charging and WiFi 6. It also looks to support video output via the USB-C port.
GPD XP Plus | GPD XP | |
---|---|---|
Processor | MediaTek Dimensity 1200 1x ARM Cortex-A78 CPU cores @ 3 GHz 3x ARM Cortex-A78 CPU cores @ 2.6 GHz 4x ARM Cortex-A55 CPU cores @ 2 GHz | MediaTek Helio G95 2 x ARM Cortex-A76 CPU cores @ 2.05 GHz 6 x ARM Cortex-A55 CPU cores @ 2 GHz |
GPU | ARM Mali-G77 MC9 | Arm Mali-G76 MC4 |
RAM | LPDDR4x 4266MHz (Unknown capacity) | 6GB LPDDR4x |
Storage | UFS 3.1 (Unknown capacity) | 128GB UFS 2.1 |
Charging | 65W (Unknown battery capacity) | 20W 7000mAh |
WiFi | WiFi 6 | WiFi 5 |
Ports | USB Type-C (DisplayPort 1.2 4K/60Hz, 2K/120Hz, 1080p/168 Hz support) | 1 x USB-C |
On paper this SoC looks to be pushing boundaries in terms of raw power. I can’t help but think that under different circumstances this might have been a big hit for GPD. As it stands, unless I am missing something, everyone is too busy playing with their Odin to care. If they pull off a miracle with the price, perhaps it will draw some attention, but another $350 device is not likely to turn many heads.
via liliputing, reddit, twitter
The prices just came out for this. $339-374 on IGG is a bit on the high side but not unreasonable. $559-659 retail, on the other hand…
The reason no one cares about this is because of the very strange and unwanted form factor. The ultra wide screen aspect ratio, the small screen size, the janky controller setup and the price. It’s just not what people wanted. We wanted a better replacement to the Q9+ or the XD+. Instead we got this unimpressive thing. Last year when they said they were working on a new Android tablet, I was excited. Then I saw this and decided that GPD had lost it’s edge and got greedy. So I bought an Odin. Best Android tablet I’ve ever seen.
I had some Anbernic like the RS97, 350M and 351P but wanted something that’s a real upgrade and not the overpriced garbage 552 with it’s low power. GPD would been interesting but the price combined with that ugly display is a no go for me. Went with the Odin Pro and it’s absolutely amazing.
Anbernic has passed GPD as the maker of cheap but good quality handhelds. My Win 1 was a POS. My RG351MP is holding up fine after a few months.
There’s no reason to get the updated GPD XD instead of an RG552.
Well I got the XP and it’s a really good device IMHO, I even sold my beloved XD+ since it really felt dated compared to the XP.
With LineageOS released recently, it’s a real successor to the XD line for me, event though the swappable control modules are of little use to me. The ultrawide screen is actually pretty nice for recent Android games, I grew accustomed to it, playing Titan Quest in ultrawide is a real treat!
Now I don’t quite understand why they push the XP+ … Will they have sell an upgrade kit like for the Win Max? Not sure I’d be interested.
it’s basically a cell phone inside, replacing the board is just not possible for most people. this will be a whole new product i am pretty sure.