Asus launched its handheld gaming console, the ROG Ally, back in April with two versions – the US$ 700 model with the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme and the slightly cheaper US$ 600 version with the regular AMD Ryzen Z1. The former has been on sale for a while now and we gave it a mostly positive review. But now the cheaper version is available. Is it worth saving US$ 100? The only notable difference is the APU, the US$ 600 version comes with the same 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB storage as the US$ 700 model, same 7” 1080p 120Hz display (16:9) and same 40Wh battery too.
But the Z1 is proving to be too big of a
step back compared to the Z1 Extreme. Digital Trends reports that it is slower
than the Steam Deck APU and the Valve console is cheaper – US$ 400 for the 64GB
eMMC version, US$ 530 for the 256GB NVMe version and a higher US$ 650 if you want to
match the 512GB storage of the Ally.
Of course, the Ally has the better screen
– a 7” 1,280 x 800px (16:9) 60Hz panel – so there are still reasons to prefer
the ROG Ally over the Steam Deck. Check out our review for more details on the
display, the controls and the other features. If you’re still interested, you
can find the Z1 version of the Asus ROG Ally on Best Buy in the US. In Germany,
this version is available on Otto for € 710.
