Achim Maier
Asus has finally released the full specs and pricing of its handheld gaming console. The Asus ROG Ally is based on the AMD Zen4 platform and is a direct competitor to Valve’s Steam Deck. It features a 7-inch IPS LCD display with FHD resolution, an aspect ratio of 16:9 and a refresh rate of 120 Hz. The panel achieves a brightness of up to 500 nits and is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus. Asus states a response time of 7 ms and 100 percent coverage of the sRGB color space.
The Asus ROG Ally comes with two different chipsets – either the AMD Ryzen Z1 or the Ryzen Z1 Extreme. The regular Z1 has a Zen 4 CPU with six cores and twelve threads. You also get a GPU with four RDNA 3 cores. The Z1 Extreme features an eight-core CPU with sixteen threads and twelve RDNA 3 GPU cores with 24MB cache. If you need even more power, you can also connect an external GPU. The fastest option is a ROG XG Mobile, which has a GeForce RTX 4090 notebook GPU.
Both ROG Ally models have 16 GB of LPDDR5-6400 dual-channel RAM and 256 or 512 GB of PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSD storage on board. The battery has a capacity of 40 Wh, which according to Asus is enough for up to two hours of gaming in 15 watt power mode. The console comes with a 65 watt PD charger. Two fans and a copper heat pipe ensure efficient cooling.
The Asus ROG Ally has an aluminum body measuring 280 x 111 x 21.2 mm and weighs 608 grams. You also get Windows 11 Home, while the Asus Armory Crate app handles the gaming features and networking. A three-month trial of Xbox Game Pass comes with the purchase, but you can also stream games from any other major provider.
Asus ROG Ally launches in June
Controls include two analog sticks with capacitive touch and RGB lighting, a D-Pad, A, B, X, Y buttons, left and right reverb effect triggers and bumpers, and two assignable grip buttons on the back. To the left of the display are the command center and view buttons. To the right you toggle the menu and armory crate. The ROG Ally also comes with a six-axis gyroscope.
The Ally establishes connections via a USB-C 3.2 Gen2 port, a connection for external GPUs and a microSD slot that supports up to UHS-II cards. There’s also a headphone/microphone combo jack, stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res Audio support, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2.
The Asus ROG Ally Ryzen Z1 12/256GB version costs $600 in the US and is expected to start shipping in Q3. The more powerful 16GB/512GB Z1 Extreme model starts at $700/€800/£700. The Extreme is available for pre-order from Asus and through local retail partners. Shipping and open sale start next month.
