Acer’s shows off “DualPlay” laptop with controller that pops out of the touchpad

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You can also separate it into two joysticks and play with a friend.

Acer DualPlay Concept
(Image credit: Acer)

Most gaming laptops have similar basic features: a clamshell form factor, a keyboard (sometimes mechanical), a big touchpad and some booming speakers. But Acer has a unique idea it’s showing off at IFA in Berlin: a gaming laptop with a wireless controller that serves as a touchpad and pops out on demand when you are gaming. 

Dubbed the “DualPlay,” this concept laptop’s controller looks a bit like a Nintendo Switch JoyCon grip, but with a large square between the two joysticks that serves as a touchpad when the peripheral is docked in the laptop. The controller uses an electromagnetic lock to stay in place and you make it pop out by pressing a release button that sits above the keyboard.

(Image credit: Acer)

When you pop out the wireless controller, two 5-watt speakers pop out of the sides of the DualPlay laptop. These are supposed to offer more immersive audio than you get in a non-gaming mode.

If you want to play a two-player game, you can detach the two joysticks from the touchpad and use each independently. Acer didn’t say how many buttons each of its joysticks would have, but pictures show at least six buttons on each of its Nintendo Switch-Joycon-style pieces. Presumably, yet another person could use the keyboard and an external mouse as controls at the same time.

In addition to the pop-out controller, the DualPlay has a lot of RGB lighting. It has a light strip going around the sides and some light-up shapes on the deck. The keys on the keyboard have RGB lighting as well.

(Image credit: Acer)

Acer hasn’t yet shared many details of how the DualPlay works. For example, we don’t know what the battery life for the controller is and whether you can charge it outside of the laptop. We don’t have the measurements or weight or battery capacity of the laptop itself.

However, since DualPlay is just a concept, the specific specs are less important than the idea on display. There’s no price or release date, because there’s a very good chance that this never comes to market. It’s a fun idea, but PC gamers who want controllers can easily spend $45 on an Xbox controller or even less on a clone and get a similar experience.

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Avram Piltch
Avram Piltch
Avram Piltch is Tom's Hardware's editor-in-chief. When he's not playing with the latest gadgets at work or putting on VR helmets at trade shows, you'll find him rooting his phone, taking apart his PC or coding plugins. With his technical knowledge and passion for testing, Avram developed many real-world benchmarks, including our laptop battery test.
2 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Notton
    I can already see issues with the design.

    It looks like the controller flips around while sitting in the laptop. You can see the indent on the left lines up with the right joystick.

    - The controller is going to be uncomfortable with a flat rear.
    - The space under the trackpad is normally filled with a battery, but instead it is filled with a controller
    - The laptop has a massive pocket for crumbs and dust to collect in
    Reply
  • CloudLion
    I think, this could be the start of a new era in gaming notebooks.

    It's a great idea.

    I can see how this can be used to reasonably nickle and dime people using style, comfort, expansion possibilities, and then versatility. Add a stylus, touch screen, and possibly separately purchased side-kick tablets, in a variety of sizes, that can be used for extended gaming controls, art and design, note taking, dictation, and then anything else you can dream up.

    Using the detachable game controller to replace the mouse.... then look out it's real freedom. It would even be better if the two game controllers can act like two active and independent computer controls. I'd love to be able to use two controllers with two separate pointers that act independently of each other. And have that solution just work. Give the open source community the prototypes and the basic code to start will magically appear. Of course it will. Why wouldn't people embrace that challenge? There is the past.

    We can do that... sort of now. This requires third party drivers and then some serious tinkering and it looks like the solutions offered are not universally accepted. In fact the last working solution I used didn't survive the transition to the Linux kernel 5 series.

    I can see myself saving up a small fortune to buy something like this in it's second generation of design, manufacturing, distribution, and of course... adoption. This kind of kit is the "Enterprise" of inspiration for open source exploration, discovery, and extension. The projects would be great if you survive the flaming, banning, and then eventual kiss and make-up over a working code process. I'm assuming that code actually links and then compiles successfully. Without screwing up dependencies tied directly to.... Wayland. I'm all for Wayland adoption. It's just taking too long. It's still a mess in all honestly. Things will get better. Just dream about all the things we'll be able to do. We'll have a better code base to secure ourselves to as we dive into the exploration.

    The fun of it all!
    Reply