GPD Has Plans For Its Own Switch-Style Handheld Device Powered By Android

Since the success of Nintendo’s hybrid device, the gaming tablet market has been flooded with Switch-style products. Most recently, we’ve seen the announcement of Valve’s Steam Deck – a product that admittedly looks quite promising.

It seems the Chinese tech company GPD will soon be getting (back) in on the action – with the company recently revealing its plans for a new handheld gaming console, which will be running on Android. As explained by XDA Developers, it’s called the GPD-XP and will feature 6GB of RAM, 128GB of UFS 2.1 storage (including MicroSD support), 4G support (with calls and SMS features disabled), and even a built-in mic.

Here’s where it gets a bit more interesting. The standout feature is the right side of the system. While the left side has a fixed analog stick and control pad – including some physical buttons for home, task manager and back, over on the right side is a “customizable and modular” magnetic attachment.

This section of the device allows you to attach different types of controls, as can be seen in the images below. Depending on the type of game you’re playing, you could essentially switch it up, to fit your needs.

The system also includes a wide aspect ratio 6.81-inch display – a screen you would normally find on a smartphone. There’s even a built-in camera on the bottom left, and physical buttons can also be assigned to different areas of the screen – if you’re playing a game with touch input.

The GPD-XP will be running on a 7000mAh battery and should last around 12 hours. As for the OS, it’s apparently a custom build of Android, although the international release will apparently opt with Android 11 and include Google services. There’s no word on what the price of the system is just yet or a release date, but it’s expected to be higher in price than GPD’s XD Plus, which was available for $250 USD.

Would a Switch-style device running on Android interest you? Tell us down below.