A new handheld has been introduced with the Asus ROG Ally. MeinMMO summarizes all the information about price and release, and also explains whether you can pre-order the Asus ROG Ally.
What kind of device is this? With the ROG Ally, the manufacturer Asus has introduced a new handheld that aims to compete with the Steam Deck.
MeinMMO presents all official information, hints, and rumors about the Asus ROG Ally. However, please note that most information is leaks and rumors that the manufacturer has not officially confirmed yet.
Asus ROG Ally Release – When will the handheld be available?
When will the ROG Ally be released? As of now (April 2023), there is no official release date for when the handheld will be available. According to Asus, the model is expected to be released in summer 2023.
Asus stated to the tech channel Linus Tech Tips in a statement that the device is supposed to be released in the “coming months” (via dexerto.com).
Asus ROG Ally Price – How much will the model cost?
How much does the ROG Ally cost? According to a well-known leaker (via twitter.com), the device is expected to cost between $649 and $699. This would make the price about $100 higher than the most expensive model of the Steam Deck.
Valve described the price for the Steam Deck as painful, so it would not be surprising if Asus set the price for the ROG Ally above that of the Steam Deck.
In comparison to other competitors, the price of the ROG Ally remains low. Other devices, such as the Aya Neo, can cost more than 1,000 euros, and this does not even include the sometimes high shipping fees. The best alternatives to the Steam Deck can be found in the following article:
Asus ROG Specs and Performance – Faster than the Steam Deck?
Some YouTubers have already had the chance to test the ROG Ally, but no one has been allowed to speak about the official specs and installed hardware yet.
What hardware is in the ROG Ally? According to leaks, a completely new Ryzen processor with a graphics chip (a so-called APU) from AMD is supposed to be in the system (via twitter.com). Allegedly, an APU that has 8 cores and 16 threads and should clock at 3.3 GHz. In boost mode, the performance is said to increase to 5 GHz.
The initial benchmarks already indicate a high performance of the ROG Ally, which should be significantly ahead of the Steam Deck.
How good is the battery life of the ROG Ally? The Steam Deck and other handheld devices are often criticized for their relatively weak battery life. Especially in light of the supposedly high performance, the battery life could be the Achilles’ heel of the ROG Ally. So far, there have been no official hints about the installed battery or its capacity.
Asus ROG Ally vs. Steam Deck: In the following table, we compare the partially official, partially speculated data with that of the Steam Deck.
Asus ROG Ally vs. Steam Deck comparison:
| Steam Deck | Asus ROG Ally | |
|---|---|---|
| Operating System | SteamOS 3.0 (based on Arch Linux) | Windows 11 |
| Display | 7-inch display, 1200×800 pixels, 60 Hz refresh rate | 1920×1080 pixels, 120 Hz refresh rate |
| Brightness | 400 nits | 500 nits |
| Processor | AMD APU, Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz | AMD APU, Zen 4 |
| Graphics Chip | 8 RDNA 2 CUs, 1.0-1.6GHz | AMD Radeon RDNA 3 graphics |
| RAM | 16 GB LPDDR5 RAM | LPDDR5 RAM |
| Internal Storage | 64 GB eMMC / 256 GB SSD / 512 GB SSD | |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.0 | |
| Battery | 40 Whr battery, 2 – 8 hours of playtime | |
| Size | 298 mm x 117 mm x 49 mm | 280 mm x 110 mm x 120 mm |
| Weight | ~669 grams | ~ 589 grams |
| Connections | 3.5mm stereo headphone jack, MicroSD slot | ROG XG Mobile connection, 3.5mm headphone jack, USB-C |
Where can you pre-order the Asus ROG Ally?
As of now (April 2023), you cannot pre-order the Asus ROG Ally yet. The best places to check if you want to pre-order the device are the following shops (no guarantee of completeness):
- The official ASUS webshop
- Amazon
- MediaMarkt and Saturn
As soon as the pre-order of the Asus ROG Ally is available, we will update the article for you.
Additionally, Sony is expected to release a handheld console soon. All the known information so far can be found in the following article directly on MeinMMO:
