Two models are on the way
Asus has officially unveiled the arrival windows for its new handheld gaming PC, the ROG Ally. This looks to bring some more competition to the market, with one model arriving in June and another sometime in Q3.
The first-available ROG Ally is the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme model, which boasts up to 8.6 teraflops and a 512 GB PCIe Gen 4 SSD, as well as a 7-inch 1080p, 120 Hz FHD screen. It’s up for pre-order now at Best Buy for $699, with an expected release date of June 13.
The second option arrives sometime in Q3, with an AMD Ryzen Z1 and up to 2.8 teraflops, with the same SSD storage. That version of the ROG Ally will retail $100 lower, at $599.
Both models come packed with the same screen, as well as cooling fans, 16 GB of LPDDR5 dual channel memory, and three months of Game Pass Ultimate free.
Today’s ROG Ally launch event dove more into the details, showing how the new handheld will take more of a Windows focus. The idea is that everything, from Steam to Xbox and Battlenet, will be accessible through the Ally.
The fight for the handheld PC market
With the ROG Ally, it looks like we’ve got another contender for the PC handheld throne. The price point is certainly interesting. While other companies have introduced their own alternatives to Valve’s Steam Deck, the price point has often been a key distinction. $699 is much closer to Valve’s price point than others have been in the past.
Early reviews for the ROG Ally also dropped today, and have been intriguing to follow. The Verge‘s review notes three sticking points: the relatively short battery life, glitches, and issues with the Windows OS. IGN also notes poor battery life and a “frustrating user experience,” while still noting that the 1080p screen looks good.
Time will tell if this becomes a true competitor to Valve’s handheld, but it does seem like we’ve got a decent fight, at the least. The Asus ROG Ally launches its Z1 Extreme model on June 13.
