It’s Asus’ turn to launch a portable game console, the ROG Ally! Equipped with a Full HD screen and an AMD processor and running under Windows, it could seriously compete with the Steam Deck. The price remains to be seen…
So, April fools or not? The announcement made on 1er April by Asus of the ROG Ally has sown doubt on the Web, Internet users not knowing if it was a joke or not – we still remember the famous connected lenses of last year. However, it would seem that the new portable console from the manufacturer is against all odds well and truly planned! On the program: the fastest AMD APU, Full HD and the possibility of connecting an external GPU. If its technical sheet has not yet been revealed, it is clearly positioned as a serious competitor to the Steam Deck. Enough to make the market more competitive, at a time when the Ayaneo Next 2, the Logitech G Cloud and the Razer Edge are arriving on the market!
Asus ROG Ally: a serious competitor to the Steam Deck
The first thing that jumps out at you is the size of the ROG Ally, with its quite imposing dimensions – it’s more of a mini laptop – and its 7-inch screen – like the Steam Deck. the youtuber Dave2D was able to take the console in hand and give us a little more information. Thus, it weighs 608 grams for dimensions 280 mm x 113 mm x 39 mm which makes it a little lighter and flatter than the Valve device, which weighs 669 grams for 298 mm x 117 mm x 50.5 mm. It offers Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution with up to 500 nits brightness, 120Hz refresh rate and 5ms response time. Characteristics far superior to the Steam Deck! On the design side, it has two backlit sticks, a multidirectional cross and four buttons (A, B, X, Y) on the front, six triggers distributed on the upper and rear parts of the console as well as two small buttons on each side of the screen, including one on the right to open the menu. Finally, we see the speakers.
On the technical side, Asus promises the fastest APU in the AMD range, tailor-made specifically for the occasion. How to optimize performance! The handheld console will feature a dual-fan cooling system, with vents visible on the back of the device. The manufacturer promises that it will be silent – unlike the Steam Deck, which is not the most discreet. Of course, it will run on Windows 11.
Asus ROG Ally: what value for money?
One of its strengths is the ability to connect ROG Ally to an external GPU for gaming on an external TV or display, as is the case with the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck. Indeed, the portable console has an XG Mobile port, a connection specific to Asus and already used on the portable PCs of the Flow range, which makes it possible to obtain higher performance. Note that it still costs the pretty sum of 1,300 euros…
The ROG Ally being intended as a real pocket computer running Windows 11, there is no doubt that the player will be able to access several game libraries and stores, such as Steam, Epic Games and GOG Galaxy, and access cloud gaming services – we can see incidentally the Xbox Game Pass icon on the home screen, alongside Resident Evil Village And Dying Light 2. It remains to know the storage capacity, the price – we can expect around 500 euros, like the Steam Deck – and the release date of the ROG Ally.