Dell’s UFO concept is like a Nintendo Switch with the power of an Alienware PC

What if your PC games were as portable as your Switch? That’s the idea of Dell’s new UFO concept, which crams a full gaming PC into a portable handheld device. 

Dell is showing off the Alienware-branded concept at CES as an early look at what its portable gaming PC might look like. The handheld device has an 8-inch display with removable controllers similar to the Switch’s Joy Cons. 

But though the form factor looks similar to a Nintendo Switch, Dell executives were quick to point out that it’s a full Alienware PC. The current iteration has 10th-gen Intel Processors, though none of the UFO’s specs are finalized.

It’s also noticeably larger and heavier than a Switch. But, like the Switch, you can use a built-in kickstand and detach the controllers into a bridge device. 

“At the end of the day this is really for gamers,” says Dell’s Preeth Srinivasan, who’s part of the company’s experience innovation group. “You can do all the things you can with your PC but you want to game first.”

But while the UFO is still only a concept, it’s an intriguing one. And — importantly — a functional one. Though Srinivasan says the battery life on the device is “not too much” right now, I was able to play a few minutes of F1 on the UFO with the controllers attached. It felt a little too heavy to play in handheld mode for very long, but it was surprisingly smooth and responsive for a concept device. (It did get noticeably warm after a few minutes of F1.) 

I wasn’t able to play with the controllers detached, which I think would be a better experience unless the weight of the device comes down a bit. You can also play games with an external monitor and Bluetooth controller, which feels more like a traditional desktop setup. 

Whether or not gamers even want a handheld experience like this is another question. Many games don’t necessarily lend themselves to the type of casual play usually associated with mobile or handheld consoles. 

But, if the UFO ever makes it to market, it could offer gamers a lot more flexibility.