The Asus ROG Ally PC gaming handheld is smaller, lighter and more powerful than the Steam...

[Daniel Sims]

Something to look forward to: Asus initially unveiled its entry into the emerging handheld gaming PC market as an April Fool's joke, but has since confirmed intentions to bring the product to market. The company hasn't revealed specs, price, or a launch date yet, but it appears similar to other attempts to offer more powerful alternatives to Valve's Steam Deck – with one crucial difference.

Asus is the latest company to try to compete with the Steam Deck. Key details of the company's ROG Ally PC gaming handheld are still unknown, but it appears similar to other recent 1080p Windows portables.

Like the Ayaneo 2 and the most recent GPD Win models, Asus's handheld features an FHD screen, Windows 11, and significantly faster chips than the Steam Deck. Valve's competitors seem unified in avoiding the Steam Deck's most significant caveats: its 800p screen and reliance on a Linux compatibility layer to run games.

The Ally tries to match Valve's console-like SteamOS interface with a built-in version of Asus' Armory Crate software. We'll have to see if it allows easy navigation of Windows without a mouse or keyboard.

However, none of the Steam Deck's competitors so far have come close to its $400 starting price, with the Ayaneo 2 and latest GPD Win editions hovering around $1,000. Furthermore, Valve believes its less powerful hardware and lower-resolution screen are better for battery life. Asus hasn't confirmed the ROG Ally's price or battery life but told YouTuber Dave2D the former would be competitive.

One of the ROG Ally's most unique aspects is that, while the Ayaneo 2, GPD Win 4, and GPD Win Max use AMD's Ryzen 7 6800U APU, Asus assembled a custom Zen 4 RDNA3 APU. Although exact specs like clock speed are unknown, Dave2D did analyze the die, confirming that the Ally has 4nm chips. Asus claims it can double the Steam Deck's performance.

Another striking difference with the Ally is its 120Hz screen – double the 60Hz of the other devices. Dave2D also noted Asus' device is significantly smaller, lighter, and quieter than Valve's. Peeking under the hood also revealed that its SSD and analog sticks are easily replaceable.

Like the Ayaneo 2, the Ally can connect to an external graphics card through its sole USB-C port (an adaptor allows for simultaneous charging). The feature might defeat the device's original portable purpose but could allow for comfortable high-end gameplay while lying in bed.

Interested users can sign up at Best Buy to receive a notification when the ROG Ally goes up for pre-order.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/98178-asus-rog-ally-pc-gaming-handheld-no-april.html

 

[dangh]

... and with a broken position of the right analog stick. Seriously, it is already a pain with Switch, why someone would willingly repeat this mistake?
Steam deck got it right and that is enough to just skip this abomination
the good stuff is competition is growing, sometime in the line we might get something actually good. Hope more of them would use SteamOS, though.

 

[Burty117]

Like the Ayaneo 2, the Ally can connect to an external graphics card through its sole USB-C port (an adaptor allows for simultaneous charging).

Well that's inaccurate, it has a special Asus connector to connect specifically to their GPU enclosure. The benefit being a full PCI-E 3.0 x8 connection and the external box uses laptop grade GPU's so its quite compact.

 

[tellmewhy]

No OLED , No Fun.

 

[MakeMSGreatAgain]

From a hardware standpoint this is really cool, but I wish Valve would make their SteamOS and API's and whatever available to other manufacturers. I hate Windows and also don't care much for Android - I'd really like to see Linux based gaming flourish and these mobile devices could really, really do that - but Valve can't do it by themselves. Though they've been making great strides, it still isn't ready for prime time in my opinion. Microsoft has ruined Windows and it needs to be reborn or go away. Linux is very capable but M$FT has been successfully cockerel blocking it with peoples' reliance on DirectX games and their Office suite for years.

 

[plyanthony321]

Steam deck owner here. The only issue with the screen isnt the 800p aspect of it, its nice to have a low resolution target for portable hardware, its that the black levels and color reproduction are subpar compared to other portables. And as for CPU horsepower I like where the steam deck is, too much then you have a battery issue and heat dissipation to think about, and people complain about the steam deck battery as it is. For relying on Linux not an issue with my uses so far. Hell, they "fixed" Elden ring when it was new through their proton layer and the steam deck was the smoothest PC experience available at the time, so there are benefits there. Oh and the built in frame limiter that basically "just works" is sorcery with consistent frame pacing.
As with anything gaming though, the more competition the better for us consumers, this asus isnt on my radar but I like seeing competition and products which leads to innovation, price cuts, etc.

 

[ZedRM]

... and with a broken position of the right analog stick. Seriously, it is already a pain with Switch, why someone would willingly repeat this mistake?

Because it's not a problem for many people. I prefer this configuration to the Steamdeck button layout.

 

[ZedRM]

Steam deck got it right and that is enough to just skip this abomination

Not everyone thinks the Steamdeck is a great thing. Some people think it's underpowered hot garbage.

 

[dangh]

Because it's not a problem for many people. I prefer this configuration to the Steamdeck button layout.

Because you like to use only top of your right palm to support device, or you like to bend your thumb and keep in this position for hours, or your hands are small enough to actually have a proper grip, proper thumb position and still operate right stick well and have problem with left one?
Ergonomy is science. That's why controllers to big consoles have similar distance between stick and gripping hand no matter of position, but there you have distance between right edge of controller and that stick. In Switch case, and this thing above, that is non existing, and that's why you need really additional 3rd party grip to address that by pushing palms outside and allow thumb rotate at the base:

https://lzd-img-global.slatic.net/g/p/37ee5ca4f0b92a29b4ede7bb57bf6bfe.jpg_2200x2200q80.jpg_.webp

It is really simple to test: get a switch, grab t firmly and evenly on both sides with good control of shoulder buttons, put your thumbs on sticks without changing position of the palms, then put thumbs on face buttons with same and tell me, how long can you operate in such position and keep being comfortable. If you need to move palms to be comfortable, the design is wrong and not ergonomic. You might like it, sure, but it doesn't mean it is correct.