Asus finally revealed the full specs list and pricing details for its ROG Ally handheld gaming PC. The AMD Zen4 device comes as a direct challenger to Valve’s Steam Deck offering an impressive package for gaming on the go. ROG Ally brings a 7-inch IPS LCD display with FHD resolution, a 16:9 aspect ratio and a 120Hz refresh rate. The panel cranks out up to 500 nits of brightness and is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus. Asus claims a 7ms response time and 100% coverage of the sRGB color space.
ROG Ally comes with two chipset versions –
AMD’s new Ryzen Z1 and Ryzen Z1 Extreme chips. Z1 features six-core Zen 4 CPU
with twelve threads while the GPU side is covered by four RDNA 3 cores. Z1
Extreme packs an eight-core Zen 4 CPU with sixteen threads and twelve RDNA 3
GPU cores with 24MB cache. If you need even more power, you can hook up an
external GPU with the console supporting up to ROG XG Mobile which packs a
GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU.
Both ROG Ally models get 16GB LPDDR5
dual-channel memory and 256/512GB PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSD of the 2230 size. You also
get a 40Wh battery pack. Asus claims up to two hours of endurance in heavy
gaming titles ran under the 15W performance mode. Asus added dual fans and a
copper heat pipe to help with cooling. The console ships with a 65W PD charger.
ROG Ally features an aluminum chassis and
weighs 608 grams. The exact device dimensions are 280 x 111 x 21.2mm. It runs
full-fledged Windows 11 Home with a special edition of Asus Armoury Crate on
top. You are able to run Xbox Game Pass and you get a three-month trial with
each ROG Ally purchase. You can also run games from any other major game
launcher and game streaming services.
For controls, ROG Ally offers two analog
thumb sticks with capacitive touch and RGB lighting, a D-pad, ABXY buttons,
left and right Hall Effect triggers and bumpers as well as two assignable grip
buttons on the back. The screen is flanked by the command center and view
buttons on the left and menu and Armoury Crate buttons on the right. Asus also
added six-axis gyro support. In terms of I/O you get a Type-C combo port with
support for USB 3.2 Gen2, and a port for connecting external GPUs as well as a
microSD card slot that supports up to UHS-II cards and a headphone/mic combo
jack. The console also features dual-firing stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos
and Hi-Res Audio support. ROG Ally brings Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2
connectivity.
The Ryzen Z1 version (12/256GB) ROG Ally
is priced at US$ 600 in the US and is confirmed to ship in Q3. The more capable Z1
Extreme model (16/512GB) starts at US$ 700/€ 800/£ 700. The Z1 Extreme version is
available for pre-order from Asus and local retail partners while deliveries
and open sales start next month.
