UPDATE: The price for the base model ASUS ROG Ally with an AMD Z1 chip and a 256GB SSD has also leaked. According to US retailer Best Buy (who will apparently be the retail partner in the US) the base model will come in at $599 USD (~$905 AUD) which again is a really competitive price, coming in at only $70 (USD) or so more than the compared Steam Deck model, despite the Ally’s specs being much, much better.
The Z1 version of the ROG Ally will still be a powerful unit, with a 1080P/120Hz display and the ability to run games such as Red Dead Redemption 2 at more than 40 FPS at 1080p (upscaled from 720P with RSR).
We’ll hopefully have confirmation on both of the prices and exact release dates on May 12th.
ASUS ROG Ally 7" AMD Z1 (not Extreme) = $599.99
16 GB LPDDR5, 256 GB NVMe M.2 SSD https://t.co/X6hAE6ZtLF pic.twitter.com/ueKYpeMzus— SnoopyTech (@_snoopytech_) April 28, 2023
ORIGINAL STORY: Following on from last week’s reveal of the ASUS Rog Ally, several leakers have now revealed the price of the product ahead of its launch on May 11th. It was revealed at the event that the price would cost less than $1,000 USD, but it seems that both the high-end version and low-end version will come in at well below this price.
Absolutely shockingly, the AMD Z1 Extreme (the more powerful version almost on par with the PS5) will be priced at $699.99 USD ($1,057 AUD) which is a similar price to the top model Steam Deck, but this blows it out of the park both on a performance level but also with its 1080p/120Hz display. It’s also well below the $1,099 USD of the AYANEO 2 (although this is more competitive spec-wise).
ASUS ROG Ally (AMD Z1 Extreme) = $699.99 https://t.co/GDkz6wZNWI
— SnoopyTech (@_snoopytech_) April 26, 2023
ASUS has also confirmed that it will be dropping a Z1 version, which is still to be more powerful than the Steam Deck, and this will be even cheaper than the Z1 Extreme version, so we’d expect to see hundreds of dollars shaved of this again.
Just as a reminder, the ASUS Rog Ally will have a 512GB SSD for storage and quick booting of games. ASUS also called out the weight of the device at 608G which is a decent 50 grams lighter than both the Steam Deck and AYANEO 2.
Other inputs include a finger print detection power button and mappable back triggers. As far as the OS goes, it’ll run Windows 11 but ASUS has created a special version of its software called Armoury Crate SE that will provide a launcher for your games, as well as the ability to easily customise your console.
All will be revealed in just a couple of weeks on May 12th. It’s an exciting time for the handheld space.
