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GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 Review – The best handheld gaming PC and mini laptop for work?

GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 Review
GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 Review
GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 Review
  • Design
    (4.5)
  • Build Quality
    (4.5)
  • Display
    (4.5)
  • Performance
    (5)
  • Features
    (4.5)

Summary

The GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 is a versatile handheld gaming PC with a spacious touchscreen and built-in game controls for a seamless on-the-go experience. It combines robust performance and eGPU support, making it equally adept at high-end gaming and everyday computing tasks.

Overall
4.6
Sending
User Review
0 (0 votes)

Pros

  • Outstanding Performance with the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU and Radeon 890M GPU
  • Larger, High-Resolution 10.1″ Display
  • Great sized keyboard for longer periods of typing
  • OCuLink for eGPU support
  • Great portability

Cons

  • Some might find it too large to handle for gaming for long periods of time

The GPD WIN MAX 2 series has been one of the best both gaming handheld and day to day usage mini laptop we have tried. The latest model, the GPD WIN MAX 2 2025, features the new AMD Ryzen AI HX 370 processor. In this review we will be comparing with previous handheld gaming PC’s as well as other more recent HX 370 based devices to learn if it is worth upgrading to or not.

GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 Review

GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 OVERVIEW

We start our GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 review with an overview of the device itself. The GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 measures around 8.9 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches (22.7 x 16 x 2.3 cm) and weighs 1098g (2.42 lbs).

GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 Review
GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 Dimensions

The lid flips open to reveal a great looking 10.1” display. By default its 1200P resolution but does support up to 1600P. It is a touchscreen and also active stylus compatible, supporting pens with up to 4096 levels of pressure.

On the hinge we have a 2MP camera with up to 1612×1212 super wide angle resolution and high refresh rate. It’s suitable for video calls but we would  have liked to have seen an upgraded camera like the amazing one on the GPD Duo.

On to the base we have the gaming controls hidden with the removable covers which can be stored in the back of the device. There are dual analogue sticks, D-Pad and the usual gaming buttons. In the middle we have a nicely sized touchpad which is pressable for left and right mouse clicks. It’s a little strange having the pad at the top but you get used to it pretty fast.

GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 Keyboard Close Up
GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 Keyboard Close Up

The keyboard takes up most of the space with laptop sized keys that feel great to type with. I wrote this review using the GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 and had no issues at all. The keys are well spaced and require minimal effort to press. Very nice to use!

On the front side we have the power button with an integrated fingerprint scanner for fast and secure logging in. The left side has both a full size and micro sd card reader which is always useful to have. The right side has two USB 3.2 ports for peripherals.

GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 Back Side
GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 Back Side

The back side features trigger and shoulder buttons on either side. And along the back we have two USB 4 for high speed devices, a HDMI 2.1 port, and OCuLink port for connecting up to an eGPU for more graphics performance. And we finish up with a 3.5mm audio jack.

GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 Technical Specifications

As part of our GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 review we are taking a closer look at the technical specifications across the MAX 2 series. We have also run our own tests for battery life, temperature and fan noise below.

GPD WIN MAX 2 Series Specifications

GPD WIN MAX 2 2022GPD WIN MAX 2 2023GPD WIN MAX 2 2024/2025GPD WIN MAX 2 2025
CPUAMD Ryzen 7 6800U, 8 cores, 16 threads up to up to 4.7 GHzAMD Ryzen 7 7840U, 8 cores, 16 threads up to 5.1 GHzAMD Ryzen 7 8840U, 8 cores, 16 threads up to 5.1GHzAMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, 12 cores, 14 threads up to 5.1GHz
GPUAMD Radeon 680M up to 2,200MhzAMD Radeon 780M up to 2,700MhzAMD Radeon 780M up to 2,700MhzAMD Radeon 890M up to 2,900MHz
BUYHEREHEREHERE

GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 Tech Specs

DISPLAY10.1 inches, up to 2560×100 resolution, IPS, 60Hz, 16:10, 299 PPI (RGB)
RAM32GB or 64GB LPDDR5X
STORAGE1TB, 2TB, 3TB or 4TB NVMe PCIE 4.0 2280
WI-FI6E
BLUETOOTH5.3
I/O2x USB 4.0 Type-C
1x OCuLink
2x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen2
1x HDMI 2.1
1x SD Card Slot
1x Micro SD Card Slot
BATTERY67Wh rechargeable battery

In our tests while running Cinebench on a loop, with full display brightness at 28W TDP. We got a battery life of 1 hour 20 minutes, around 20 minutes more than the GPD Win 4 2025 and GPD WIN Mini 2025 models. Average usage will put you around 3-6 hours depending on demand.

GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 thermals
GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 thermals

In our fan noise and temperature tests while running Cinebench. We got a highest fan noise of 68.8 dB and 55°C temperature.

System Benchmarks

GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 3DMARK Benchmark
GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 3DMARK Benchmark

Next in our GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 review we will see how the device performs with some benchmarks. In our benchmarks we will be comparing with the WIN MAX 2 series from 6800U to 8840U and other devices using the new HX 370 processor.

PASSMARK

GPD WIN MAX 2 PASSMARK COMPARISON
GPD WIN MAX 2 PASSMARK COMPARISON

With a score of 8334 we see a 32% increase in performance over the 6800U model, and an 11% increase over the 8840U model on Passmark.

PCMARK

With a score of 7292 we see a 20% increase in performance over the 6800U model on PCMARK.

GPD WIN MAX 2 PCMARK COMPARISON
GPD WIN MAX 2 PCMARK COMPARISON

Compared with the other HX models we see just over average scores for the Win MAX 2.

AMD RYZEN AI 9 HX SERIES PCMARK COMPARISON
AMD RYZEN AI 9 HX SERIES PCMARK COMPARISON

GEEKBENCH 6 

On Geekbench 6, with 2,851 and 12,252 on their respective cores, we see increases in performance of 42% over the 6800U model. And compared with the 8840U a 13% and 3% increase with the GPD WIN MAX 2 2025.

GPD WIN MAX 2 GEEKBENCH 6 COMPARISON
GPD WIN MAX 2 GEEKBENCH 6 COMPARISON

Compared with the other HX models we naturally see similar single-core scores, and very good scores only just behind the ONEXPLAYER ONEXFLY F1 Pro.

AMD RYZEN AI 9 HX SERIES GEEKBENCH 6 COMPARISON
AMD RYZEN AI 9 HX SERIES GEEKBENCH 6 COMPARISON

CINEBENCH 2024

With scores of 113 and 893 on their respective cores on Cinebench 2024, we see an increase of 31% and 46% over the 6800U. And compared with the 8840U we see around 12% and 17% increases in performance.

GPD WIN MAX 2 CINEBENCH 2024 COMPARISON
GPD WIN MAX 2 CINEBENCH 2024 COMPARISON

And for HX 370 models we see every so slightly lower scores on single-core performance. For multi-core performance we see around the average scores.

AMD RYZEN AI 9 HX SERIES CINEBENCH 2024 COMPARISON
AMD RYZEN AI 9 HX SERIES CINEBENCH 2024 COMPARISON

3DMARK

With 3DMARK we are running the Time Spy, Night Raid and Fire Strike benchmarks. We see an impressive 29% to 45% increase in performance over the 6800U model, and between 16 to 22 % compared with the 8840U

GPD WIN MAX 2 3DMARK COMPARISON
GPD WIN MAX 2 3DMARK COMPARISON

Compared with the other HX based models, we first place on Time Spy, just below average on Night Raid and around average on Fire Strike.

AMD RYZEN AI 9 HX SERIES 3DMARK COMPARISON
AMD RYZEN AI 9 HX SERIES 3DMARK COMPARISON

Gaming Benchmarks

Next we are checking out the gaming benchmarks in our GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 review. We are comparing with the MAX 2 series as well as other HX 370 devices at 1080P and 720P across a range of TDP’s.

GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 Forza Horizon 5 Benchmark
GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 Forza Horizon 5 Benchmark

Forza Horizon 5

With frames per second at 146 and 117 at 720P and 1080P resolutions respectively, we see increases in performance compared with the 6800U model of around 37% and 58%. And compared with the 8840U we see 12 and 17%.

GPD WIN MAX 2 FORZA HORIZON 5 COMPARISON
GPD WIN MAX 2 FORZA HORIZON 5 COMPARISON

And compared with other HX based models we see a general well above average frames per second on the GPD WIN MAX 2 2025,  even getting the highest at 1080P.

AMD RYZEN AI 9 HX SERIES FORZA HORIZON 5 COMPARISON
AMD RYZEN AI 9 HX SERIES FORZA HORIZON 5 COMPARISON

Cyberpunk 2077

For Cyberpunk, we see an increase in performance of 31% and 49% over the 6800U model which is a great score to have. Some of the highest improvements so far. But compared with the 8840U we see relatively low increases of 4% and 21%

GPD WIN MAX 2 CYBERPUNK 2077 COMPARISON
GPD WIN MAX 2 CYBERPUNK 2077 COMPARISON

And compared with other HX based models we see very good scores, a couple of first place and other average to high frames per second scores. Overall quite good.

AMD RYZEN AI 9 HX SERIES CYBPERPUNK 2077 COMPARISON
AMD RYZEN AI 9 HX SERIES CYBPERPUNK 2077 COMPARISON

Unfortunately we were not able to get Shadow of the Tomb Raider to run for some reason. It kept crashing back to the desktop after starting the game.

Benchmark Summary

GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 Cyberpunk Benchmark
GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 Cyberpunk Benchmark

A brief summary of performance for our GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 review. Much like we saw in our recent GPD WIN 4 2025 review, we see large increases in performance over the original 6800U model. With the 7840U and 8840U we do see smaller increases but depending on the game you can get up to 20% and higher.

Gaming Performance

Let’s now take a look at some games running at playable settings as part of our GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 review. 

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on GPD WIN MAX 2 2025
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on GPD WIN MAX 2 2025

On Indiana Jones and the Great Circle we are running at 720P resolution with Medium graphics settings locked to 30 FPS at 28W TDP.

Goat Simulator Remastered

With Goat Simulator Remastered we are running at 2560×1600 resolution on the High graphics settings at 28W TDP

No Mans Sky

On No Mans Sky we are running at 2560×1600 Standard graphics setting at 28W TDP

Little Kitty Big City

On Little Kitty Big City we are running at 2560×1600 resolution with High quality settings at 28W TDP. We had a bit of screen tearing on the Max graphics settings for some reason. 

Overthrown

With Overthrown we are running at 2560×1600 resolution with AMD-FSR Balanced at 28W TDP. You could lower the TDP a bit or change the FSR settings if you wanted to.

Heroes of Hammerwatch II

For Heroes of Hammerwatch II we are running at 2560×1600 resolution at 8W TDP, 5W was ever so slightly dropping frames.

Emulation Performance

For emulation you can expect to run pretty much everything up to the PlayStation 3 era as we saw on our GPD WIN 4 2025 review. But let’s go back a bit and first check out the PlayStation emulator DuckStation which works perfectly. You increase the rendering resolution and make various graphics enhancements to vastly improve the 3D visuals.

DuckStation on the GPD WIN MAX 2 2025
DuckStation on the GPD WIN MAX 2 2025

On the PS2 emulator PCSX2 you can also increase the rendering resolutions and graphics tweaks. The performance is great for PS2 eta.

We learned with other recent HX 370 based devices that while not much has changed in terms of emulator support, it was already very good. You will find in more recent handheld emulators a bit extra performance that may make the difference to a game running great or not.

For the Vita3K emulator, you can run compatible games very well. Depending on how demanding the game is you can also increase the rendering resolution and possibly some graphics tweaks to get some great visuals.

eGPU support

GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 with the GPD G1 eGPU docking station
GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 with the GPD G1 eGPU docking station

The GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 features an OCuLink port which enables faster performance than only USB 4 when using an eGPU such as the GPD G1 or for even more power the ONEXPLAYER ONEXGPU 2 with AMD Radeon RX 7800M. This can boost the graphics performance a considerable amount, not only for gaming but also tasks such as video editing for example.

Final Thoughts

Due to its larger form factor the GPD WIN MAX 2 series may not be as popular as other GPD devices as say the Win 4 and Win Mini for gaming. The MAX 2 has been consistently great not just for gaming, but also for your day to day workload.

For gaming you have the latest HX 370 & 890M which vastly overshadows the original 6800U model. If you have this and are considering upgrading, it is a no brainer. While we did not see as much as a jump in performance with the 7840U & 8840U, we did see increases in performance on the GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 which can vary depending on the software being run.

Whisker Squadron on the GPD WIN MAX 2 2025
Whisker Squadron on the GPD WIN MAX 2 2025

And for your day to day tasks it remains a highly capable mini laptop. The large keyboard is great for typing lengthy documents as well as being more than powerful enough for demanding spreadsheets for example. The larger display and resolution, as well as active stylus support, are excellent for image or video editing. You can even connect multiple monitors and increase your desktop space. Not forgetting the physical size is great, it’s not as large as a standard laptop and remains easy to carry in a small bag or rucksack.

The GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 is a great option if you are in search of a combined gaming handheld and mini laptop. Within moments you can switch between the two modes for your perfect mix of work and play!

You can learn more and order your GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 here, and don’t forget that all GPD devices from us have a two year warranty.

That wraps up our GPD WIN MAX 2 2025 review, we hope you have found it useful. If you do have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments and we will be happy to answer!

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Bringer of videos, text and images! AKA the social media guy at DroiX. Massive retro gaming fan and collector, with a far too large collection of consoles and computers from 1970's to modern.