The ASUS ROG Ally Gaming Handheld was launched with the Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip; Steam Deck, a Nintendo Switch competitor?
With the growing popularity of handheld gaming devices, ASUS ROG has launched the ROG Ally handheld gaming device. ROG Ally features AMD’s powerful 4nm Ryzen Z1 Extreme chipset based on the Zen 4 architecture, coupled with an RDNA3-based GPU with 4GB of VRAM and 16GB of DDR5 RAM. This makes ROG Ally ideal for playing AAA games on the go with decent in-game settings.
This marks ASUS’ first foray into the world of portable gaming devices – aiming to compete with the likes of the Nintendo Switch and Valve Steam Deck. In fact, many are touting it as the first true competitor to Steam Deck. In addition, users can further expand its power by using ASUS external XG GPUs.
ASUS ROG Ally: Specifications and Features
As a handheld gaming device, the ASUS ROG Ally has a 7-inch IPS panel with 1080p resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate. The device has AMD FreeSync and Gorilla Glass Victus protection for the screen glass.
It is available in two configurations: the higher-end model with the AMD 4nm Ryzen Z1 Extreme chipset, 8 cores and 16 threads clocked up to 5.1 GHz, and the base model with the AMD Ryzen Z1 chipset. Both models feature an RDNA3-based GPU with 4GB of VRAM, 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and a 512GB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD.
Running Windows 11, ROG Ally offers three months of free Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and is compatible with third-party game clients such as Steam and Epic Games. Since the Ally is an ROG device, it comes with ROG laptop staples, including the Armory Crate SE app. For ports, it has a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB 3.2 Gen2 Type C port, UHS-II and a microSD card reader. The device is powered by a 40WHr battery with 65W fast charging support.
ASUS ROG Ally: Price and Availability
For now, ASUS is only selling the more expensive $700 model, but the base $600 model will be available in the third quarter of 2023. It is not yet known whether the device will be available in India or its pricing. . It should be noted that Valve’s Steam Deck, its closest competitor, has not been officially launched in India, instead being imported through gray channels.
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