We are seeing some sort of rise for handheld consoles. The success of Nintendo Switch has motivated companies to experiment in this segment. Since the failure of the PS Vita and the rise of mobile devices, we did not see many ventures in this segment. However, with the Nintendo Switch’s glory, Valve decided to make its catalog portable with the Steam Deck. Valve’s handheld is basically a portable PC that looks like a console and can run most of the Steam catalog with the appropriate settings. We saw some brands like Logitech and Razer launching handheld consoles, but both were mostly for cloud gaming. Now, there are reports for a PlayStation Portable console, but the first true competitor for the Steam Deck comes in the form of ASUS ROG Ally.
ASUS took the community by storm with the presentation of the ASUS ROG Ally. For the first time (not considering the expensive Aya Neo), we have a device that has the same approach as Valve’s Steam Deck. It’s a full-fledged hardware set to pose competition to Steam Deck. The console was presented on the worst day for announcing things – April 1st. Despite the April Fools’ jokes, ASUS’ product was a real one. The ROG Ally comes with a fancier design, and according to a new listing has very good specifications.
A new leak via InsiderGaming points to the specs of the ROG Ally. Apparently, ASUS is serious about this product. Most of the console’s specs have been published online, and it shapes to be a literal PC.
The info comes from a Twitter post. It was previously deleted, but once it’s on the web it can never go back. You can see the specs below:
ASUS ROG Ally specs
- CPU: AMD Ryzen Z1 Series (spec unconfirmed)
- DISPLAY: Full 1080p HD 120Hz Display (500 nits 7ms)
- RAM: 16 GB LPDDR5 Dual Channel
- STORAGE: M.2-2230 512 GB PCIe Gen4
- WEIGHT: 608g
As per the rumors, the Ryzen Z1 is a custom Ryzen 7 7840U. It remains to be seen how the Z1 series will differ from its sibling. But with the official launch, we expect to get more details about it. Anyway, the regular CPU has 8 cores and 16 threads. Further, it has a 3.8 GHz base clock and up to 5.1 in Boost Clock mode. However, this is a handheld and we expect it to be slightly below the PC version. Otherwise, the CPU could easily rip off the battery of the device.
Anyway, ASUS claims that the ROG Ally will feature a “ROG Intelligent Cooling” system. So it must be optimized enough to bring a balance between performance and energy consumption. Moreover, the device will get a micro SD card slot for expansion, Dolby-Atmos compatible speakers, Armoury Crate SE with support for key remapping, and more.
Is it better than the Steam Deck?
Can it beat the Steam Deck? Well, at least in some areas it will be much better. The ROG Ally gets a 1080p display, whereas the Deck has only a 720p resolution. Moreover, the Ally brings up to 120 Hz refresh rate when the Deck offers just 60 Hz in its undocked mode. The Deck has an AMD Zen 2 processor, up to 16 GB of RAM, and 512 GB of SSD storage plus a Micro SD card.
The ROG Ally is also bringing Windows 11 instead of a fancy proprietary OS. Thanks to this, the console will easily support Game Pass, Steam, Epic Games, GeForce Now, and anything that a Windows PC can handle. Theoretically, you can even run emulators on this console – which means it can do retro gaming and even Switch gaming. There have been rumors about an optimized version of Windows 11 for handheld consoles, was Microsoft paving the way for the Ally? Time will tell.
As per the rumors, the ASUS ROG Ally will launch in October 2023 with a price tag between $649 to $899. That’s much more than the Steam Deck with 512 GB that sells for $585 in the US. Valve sells a base model with just 64 GB for about $359, and a 256 GB version for $476. Despite the difference in price, We can say that you get what you pay for. At least on paper, the ROG Ally seems to have an edge over its competitor. Let’s see if these specs will be enough to achieve popularity among consumers.
