Although the portable gaming PC market does not necessarily need a alternative to the Steam Deck, competition is never a bad thing. The Asus ROG Ally is emerging as Valve’s first real handheld competitor, coming from a major hardware maker and therefore able to fetch a lower price point than several boutique options like the Ayaneo Geek. The Asus ROG Ally is officially available for pre-order today, with pricing confirming leaks over the past few weeks.
If you are heading towards Best Buy websiteyou can find the Asus ROG Ally configured with an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor and 512GB of storage now available for pre-order for $699.99which is what leaked online retailer screenshots reported at the end of last month. That puts the portable gaming PC just over $50 more than the 512GB version of the Steam Deck, which still sells for $649. a year after its release.
What we’re happy to see confirmed is that the $699 version of the ROG Ally will also be joined by a $599 version with a non-extreme AMD Ryzen Z1 processor, which confirms early May leaksalthough today Asus confirmed that the cheaper model will still come with 512GB of onboard storage, while earlier leaks seemed to indicate it would have 256GB instead. That will help justify the $70 price difference. $ between this cheaper model and the $530, 256GB version of the Steam Deck, though Asus won’t be making that version available until later this year.
On paper, the ROG Ally seems like a clear winner over the year-old Steam Deck, with its larger seven-inch Full HD 120Hz display. Iyous Also able to connect to Asus ROG XG Mobile eGPU for improved performance and graphics when playing on a larger external display, while the Steam Deck dock does nothing to improve its performance. But with official availability and pricing details revealed today, there have also been full reviews of the handheld, and while most confirm the ROG Ally can outperform the Steam Deck, concerns have been raised. as to its disappointing battery life. There is also the question of use the full version of Microsoft’s Windows for its operating system, which facilitates game compatibility but can be a challenge to navigate using only joysticks and buttons. Unlike the Steam Deck, the Asus ROG Ally does not come with touchpads to easily move an on-screen cursor. But for some games, like Destiny 2the ROG Ally seeks to be your best bet.
