GPD WIN 4 2024 Review with video – Next generation Ryzen 7 8840U handheld gaming PC

For us, the GPD WIN 4 2024 is the first handheld gaming PC we have tried with the brand new AMD Ryzen 7 8840U processor. In our in depth GPD WIN 4 2024 review let’s find out how it compares with the 2023 model and 7840U series as we unbox, check out the features, run a bunch of benchmarks and play some games and emulators.

GPD WIN 4 2024 Review Video

Unboxing the GPD WIN 4 2024

We start our GPD WIN 4 2024 review with the unboxing. First out of the box we have a screen protector which you can apply to the Win 4. Next we have the GPD WIN 4 2024 itself, we will check it out in more detail in a moment.

Underneath there is a user guide which is in Chinese and English languages. Inside the box there is a USB Type-C charge cable, a lanyard and a USB Type-C to Type-A adapter. And on the other side of the box is a USB charger, we will include the correct adapter for your country 

GPD WIN 4 2024 Overview

Next, in our GPD WIN 4 2024 review, we take a closer look at the portable gaming PC. The GPD WIN 4 2024 measures around 8.6 x 3.6 x 1.1 inches (22.0 x 9.2 x 2.8 cm) weighs 598g (1.31 lbs). It is available in two colours; black and white.

On the front we have a 6” H-IPS touchscreen display which supports up to 1920×1080 and 40Hz and 60Hz refresh rate.

The display slides up to reveal the QWERTY keyboard. It has a white backlight which can be switched off. The keyboard keys are quite small, you would not be able to use it like a normal desktop style keyboard, it’s more of a thumb or finger typing usage. It’s useful for brief typing such as emails, discord chat, web browsing etc.

On either side of the handheld we have dual analogue sticks, a D-pad, fingerprint scanner, game buttons and an optical finger mouse. The left side has a micro SD card reader and a switch to change between mouse and controller mode for the controls.The bottom has a USB Type C port.

Along the top there are Left and Right Shoulder and Trigger buttons. In between those are the power button, volume buttons, a USB 4 port and Oculink port for connecting to an eGPU. And last but not least is a 3.5mm headphone port.

The GPD WIN 4 series has been around for just over a year now and I personally have spent a fair bit of time playing on it. The controls are spot on for me and are great for both modern dual stick gaming as well as retro gaming with the D-Pad. 

GPD WIN 4 2024 Technical Specifications

Next in our GPD WIN 4 2024 review we are checking out the technical specifications, including the rumoured GPD WIN 4 2024 8640U portable gaming computer, for comparison. We are also checking out the battery life, fan noise and thermals.

	GPD WIN 4 2024 8840U	GPD WIN 4 2024 8640U (RUMOURED)
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 8840U	AMD Ryzen 5 8640U
CORES/THREADS	8 cores, 16 threads	6 cores, 12 threads
MAX CLOCK SPEED	Up to 5.1GHz	Up to 4.9GHz
GPU	AMD Radeon 780M, 12CU	AMD Radeon 760M, 8CU
GPU CLOCK SPEED	Up to 2700MHz	Up to 2600MHz
DISPLAY	6″ H-IPS Touchscreen, 40Hz & 60Hz	6″ H-IPS Touchscreen, 40Hz & 60Hz
RESOLUTION	1920×1080, 368 PPI	1920×1080, 368PPI
RAM	32GB LPDDR5x 6400 MT/s (64GB rumoured)	16GB LPDDR5x 6400 MT/s
STORAGE	Up to 4TB m.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD	512GB or 2TB m.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD
WI-FI	6	6
BLUETOOTH	5.2	5.2
I/O	1x USB4, 40Gbps (Full Speed) 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C Full-featured, 10Gbps 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C Charging Only (Provided By The Dock) 1x Oculink (SFF-8612) female port with a bandwidth of 63Gbps and a throughput of up to 7.877GB/s 1x 3.5mm headphone port	1x USB4, 40Gbps (Full Speed) 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C Full-featured, 10Gbps 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C Charging Only (Provided By The Dock) 1x Oculink (SFF-8612) female port with a bandwidth of 63Gbps and a throughput of up to 7.877GB/s 1x 3.5mm headphone port
BATTERY	44.24 Wh Lithium Polymer	44.24 Wh Lithium Polymer
WEIGHT	520g	520g
DIMENSIONS	8.6 x 3.6 x 1.1 inches (22.0 x 9.2 x 2.8 cm)	8.6 x 3.6 x 1.1 inches (22.0 x 9.2 x 2.8 cm)

Powering it all is a 45.62Wh battery. In our tests while running Cinebench on a loop we got a good battery life of 1 hour 25, well above the average of the 7840U devices.

Also while running Cinebench we checked the fan noise and thermals. We got a highest fan noise of 64 db and the highest temperature of only 44 °C, very low temps!

GPD WIN 4 2024 Benchmarks

As part of our GPD WIN 4 2024 review we will perform some benchmarks and tests. As this is the first 8840U device we have, we do not have any direct comparisons in terms of performance. We will be comparing with the 7840U based devices to see where there are performance increases. And as the GPD WIN 4 2024 has an OcuLink port, we will also be testing it with the brand new GPD G1 2024 eGPU docking station.

PCMARK

We start the benchmarks with PCMark which tests your day to day usage, everything from web browsing through to image editing and 3D rendering.

We get a score of 7,018 which is a touch ahead in first place of the 2023 model. A decent score of course, so you can be sure that when not playing games it will also be great for other tasks.

Cinebench

Next in our benchmarks is Cinebench which tests the CPUs single and multi-core performance.

For single and multi-core performance we again see the 2024 model take first place amongst these handhelds. There’s not a massive difference in single core performance but for multicore there is a noticeable increase compared to the 7 thousand series.

3DMark

3DMark tests the performance of the CPU and GPU working together. We are running the Time Spy, Night Raid and Fire Strike benchmarks.

For the integrated GPU we see ups and downs compared to the 7 series for the best performance. Overall the scores are good and on the higher end.

For Oculink performance with the GPD G1, the GPD WIN 4 2024 has the best overall scores for internal and external displays. No complaints there.

Forza Horizon 5

We are running Forza Horizon 5 on the Very Low graphics settings. For the integrated graphics we see great results at high TDP with a noticeable increase in performance over the 7 thousand series. The performance does continue as we lower the TDP until 5W, where it’s mostly the same FPS as each other.

With the GPD G1 2024 eGPU docking station connected we see good scores for internal, and very good for external displays. It’s our first handheld and eGPU setup to get over 200 frames per second on Forza!

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

For Shadow of the Tomb Raider, we see an excellent increase in performance over the 7 thousand series. There’s a around 10 frames or so difference until we lower the TDP down to 10W where it starts to balance out.

With the GPD G1 we see good results, not quite the highest, the GPD Win Max 2 2023 is a few frames in front.

Street Fighter VI

For Street Fighter 6 we are running on the Maximum graphics settings. This is a strange one as we see a mix of performances across different devices. The GPD WIN 4 2024 has overall good scores but a few average ones as well.

With the GPD G1 we see at 4K that the scores are very much the same as the other devices, it’s definitely limited by the GPU here. One low score on the Fighting Ground stands out, we rerun twice and got similar scores, maybe a driver issue.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare III

We are running MW3 on Minimal graphics with no FSR enabled. On the integrated GPU we see fairly similar performance to the 7840U CPU, a few ups and downs but nothing standout.

The trend continues with the GPD G1, there are fairly similar scores across the devices with the GPD WIN 4 2024 mainly taking the lead.

Benchmark Summary

With no other 8840U devices to compare to, we can see that overall, the 8840U processors are at least the same or greater performance than the previous generation. With games that are GPU heavy, you won’t see a massive difference between the 7 and 8 series. They are, after all, using the same 780M GPU. 

For games that require a bit more CPU performance, we do see some nice increases in performance. For example on Forza we see a 7% increase over the GPD Win 4 2023 model, and as high as 20% increase compared to the GPD Win Mini 2023, both with 7840U processors.

So depending on the games you are playing, you will at least see the same or varying higher increases in performance than the previous generation.

Gaming Performance

We continue our GPD WIN 4 2024 review with a look at some gaming performance. We will show a few games running with the best graphics and performance to keep it above 60 or 30 FPS. We recommend watching the video at the top of this review for the best experience.

Emulator Performance

And also as part of our GPD WIN 4 2024 review we check out the emulation performance. The 7840U was awesome for emulation and of course the 8840U is just as great. You will find improved CPU performance on older emulators that do not rely so much on the GPU. As a result, you can often lower the TDP a bit more than the previous generation to save battery life.

For the more recent emulators that are reliant on GPU performance you will not find a massive increase. Like the games, it will be the same or better overall than the previous generation. Let’s take a look at a couple of newer systems.

Final Thoughts

We wrap up our GPD WIN 4 2024 review with our final thoughts on the compact gaming PC. The GPD WIN 4 2023 was one of my favourite handhelds last year. It is the most portable handheld out there, and can actually fit in your pocket. The keyboard is not the greatest, but for its size, it is functional for thumb typing. Having a keyboard on this sized handheld does make it more convenient than using the on screen keyboard on a 6” display. 

The display is, as always, great! The option of 40Hz and 60Hz provides an alternative if you want to lower game performance to save battery life for example. Personally I stick to 60Hz, but 40 is there if you need it.

Regarding the performance, we do overall see improved performance over the previous 7840U generation. This will vary between games whether they are CPU or GPU intensive or not. There are some nice improvements and we may see some minor increases as the drivers improve over time, but probably not as much as we saw between say the 6 and 7 thousand generations.

If you have not got a GPD WIN 4 2024 yet, then this is the one to get. It has the best portability, great performance, very good low temperatures and decent battery life. And not forgetting the Oculink port which has great performance with the GPD G1 and ONEXXPLAYER ONEXGPU eGPU’s.

You can learn more and order the GPD WIN 4 2024 here. Use the code WIN4245OFF on the checkout for a discount. The code is valid for one month from this review being posted, and cannot be used during store sales or other promotions.

Thanks for watching or reading our GPD WIN 4 2024 review. Let us know what you think of the GPD WIN 4 2024. Do you have an earlier model? Will you upgrade or not? We love reading your comments and giving us feedback on what devices you like.