Netbooks are back, baby! And that’s not even the weirdest part of this gaming handheld hybrid

I miss netbooks. There, I said it. Yes, they were always super cramped to use, packed touchpads that even a mouse would describe as “a little small,” and they were drastically underpowered to boot. But there was something special about having such a tiny Windows device for getting stuff done.

But after testing the world’s first glasses-free 3D laptop-handheld hybrid at IFA 2025, I had a crystallizing moment — the netbook craze has been in front of me the entire time and I just didn’t see it.

As my friend Cale Hunt over at Windows Central surmised, gaming handhelds are the new netbooks. Reading his thoughts last month, I wasn't convinced. But after going hands-on with the Digiera Holomax, he's definitely onto something!

Let me explain why.

Power play

One thing that I sure am glad isn’t coming over from netbooks is the lack of raw horsepower. This is a beast that should be able to hang with the likes of the Xbox ROG Ally X — packing an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 chip, up to 64GB of RAM and up to 4TB of storage.

For stamina, there’s an 80 Wh battery that the company says can last 10 hours (...sus), and everything is kept cool with a mix of copper heat pipes, an aluminum heatsink and a 4,200 RPM fan.

But we’ve got to talk about the screen here: an 11-inch 2560 x 1600-pixel resolution panel that is capable of autostereoscopic 3D. Using a smart eye-tracking system built into the bezel, it can find your peepers, and use AI to convert 2D content to 3D for your eyes only. The effect is impressive — it reminds me of Acer’s SpatialLabs 3D tech in terms of producing a crispy picture that doesn’t hurt your eyes.

And of course, this is a hybrid device. You’re currently seeing it in handheld mode with those ergonomically sound controllers attached magnetically on the side, but there’s also a keyboard to attach to the bottom too. Once you attach the board and begin to type, your mind is taken back to the Netbook era.

One big problem

But with all of this, there’s one crucial issue. MSRP: $2,699. In the gaming handheld space, that’s diabolical. Even in the laptop space, that’s unseemly — the Asus ROG Flow Z13 with its monster Ryzen AI Max+ 395 CPU (vastly better at gaming than the Holomax’s 370) is $400 cheaper.

That’s steep and if this makes it to market, I can’t in good conscience say you should buy it. This is an interesting device for sure — the form factor and ways to use make it a fascinating one to play on. But for nearly three grand? You'd best be absolutely sure this is everything you’ve ever wanted.

Outlook

So in one way, we’re looking at a Nintendo 3DS on steroids here — the display on the Holomax is gorgeous, the controls feel great, the keyboard is peak netbook, and the power inside is sure to keep it all running smoothly. But at $2,700, that’s where the love story ends.

All the same, I appreciate Digiera’s hybrid for helping me to open my eyes to something important: netbooks aren’t dead, they’re just gaming handhelds now.

While I sit here a lot and say that Windows 11 kind of sucks to use on a handheld, I know that’s not the case for everyone. For some folks out there (I’ve seen the setups), these smaller devices have become their go-to for everything — having a dock at home to pop it straight into a desk setup and work, a portable monitor and keyboard for working on-the-go, etc.

It’s an interesting alternative use case to dedicated gaming devices that I feel will come into focus properly as we see this new crop of Ryzen Z2 Extreme chips drop. That additional multi-threaded horsepower will help move things along nicely.

If you want to know what else has been on show at the Berlin Messe, check out our Best of IFA awards to see what exciting new tech there is across a variety of categories.

Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.

More from Tom's Guide

• I went hands-on with the Lenovo Legion Go 2 — I love the OLED panel, but I’m worried about the price
• I just tested the ROG Xbox Ally — here's 3 things I love about it (and 2 that I don't)
• Is the Steam Deck still worth it in 2025? I'd argue yes — but with caveats