Achim Maier
Asus launched its ROG Ally handheld gaming console in April with two versions. There’s a $700 model with the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme and a slightly cheaper $600 version with the regular AMD Ryzen Z1. The Extreme version has been on offer for some time, and now the cheaper version is also being added.
The only notable difference is the APU. The $600 version has the same 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB of storage as the $700 model. The 7-inch display with 1080p (16:9) and a refresh rate of 120 Hz is also identical, as is the 40 Wh battery.
However, the Z1 is also significantly slower compared to the Z1 Extreme. The Z1 can’t keep up with its big competitor, Valve Steam Deck. The Valve console is also cheaper, as you can see in our Steam Deck price comparison compared to the Asus ROG Ally price comparison.
Here’s a look at the specs of each console:
| Z1 Extreme | Z1 | Steam Deck | |
| Node | 4nm | 4nm | 7nm |
| CPU | Zen 4 | Zen 4 | Zen 2 |
| CPU cores | 8/16 | 6/12 | 4/8 |
| Frequency | 3.3-5.1GHz | 3.2-4.9GHz | 2.4-3.5GHz |
| Cache (L2/L3) | 8/16MB | 6/16MB | 1/4MB |
| GPU | RDNA 3 | RDNA 3 | RDNA 2 |
| GPU cores | 12 | 4 | 8 |
| TDP | 9-30W | 9-30W | 4-15W |
Of course, the Asus ROG Ally has the better display. It’s a 7-inch panel with 1,280 x 800 pixels (16:9) and 120 Hz refresh rate. So there are still good reasons to prefer the ROG Ally to the Steam Deck.
In the USA you can already find the Z1 version of the Asus ROG Ally online at Best Buy. However, the new version is currently not yet available in Germany.
