Arc has made its entry into India’s handheld gaming market with the Arc X1, a portable gaming device built around Qualcomm’s Snapdragon G2 Gen 2 Gaming Platform. Along with a 7-inch display, the handheld gets active cooling and a set of controller-focused features aimed at making it suitable for longer gaming sessions.
The X1 runs on OwlOS, Arc’s own Android-based operating system. The company has equipped the handheld with TMR analogue sticks, Hall-effect triggers and two programmable buttons on the rear. Arc says it spent 16 months developing the X1, with feedback from its gaming community helping shape the final hardware and software.
ALSO READ: Xiaomi 18 Pro Max Geekbench Listing Teases Key Specs, Rear Display Confirmed
Arc X1 Price In India, Availability
The Arc X1 will cost Rs. 29,500 for customers who signed up for the early waitlist. Early access orders will open on October 2.
For everyone else, the handheld will be available at Rs. 33,500.
Arc X1 Specifications
The front of the Arc X1 is dominated by a 7-inch Full HD LTPS TFT LCD panel. It has a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels, a 16:9 aspect ratio and a 120Hz refresh rate. Arc claims the display can reach 500 nits of typical brightness and covers 100 percent of the sRGB colour gamut. There is also Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for protection.
The handheld is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon G2 Gen 2 Gaming Platform, built on a 4nm process. It combines an octa-core Qualcomm Kryo CPU with an Adreno A22 GPU. The chipset is paired with 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM at 8,533 MT/s and 128GB of UFS 3.1 storage.
If 128GB is not enough for a game library, users can add up to 1TB of storage through a compatible microSDXC card.
Controller Features And Cooling
Arc has gone beyond the usual analogue stick and button setup with the X1. The handheld uses TMR analogue sticks, which the company says are designed to avoid drift. The ABXY buttons and D-pad use microswitches, while the analogue triggers rely on Hall-effect sensors. Mechanical trigger locks are included as well.
Two programmable buttons sit on the rear grips, giving players additional controls that can be assigned according to their preferences. The X1 also has built-in tools for stick calibration and lets users remap controls on a per-game basis. For vibration and haptic feedback, it uses two Linear Resonant Actuators (LRAs).
The X1 also has an active cooling setup, which uses a centrifugal fan. Arc says air is pulled in through vents on the rear and pushed out through exhaust ports at the top of the device.
OwlOS And Other Features
OwlOS is based on the Android Open Source Project, but Arc has added a number of features specifically for gaming. Users can set different performance and control profiles for individual games, while the software also offers frame-rate overlays, resolution scaling and custom fan curves.
There is also a Quick Resume feature, which is designed to let players get back into their games without having to start the process from scratch.
ALSO READ: Hideo Kojima’s Physint Gets 'It' Actor Bill Skarsgard As Lead, New Behind-The-Scenes Look Revealed
Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.4, USB OTG and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The handheld has a USB Type-C port as well.
Powering the Arc X1 is a 9,300mAh battery, with support for 27W charging. Arc claims the device can last for more than eight hours in Silent Mode.