We love the Asus ROG Ally, but one burning question can make or break its success: how much will it cost? Well, thanks to a recent leak, we have an answer to that question that is sure to put the Steam Deck in deep peril.
In the Ally announcement, the word on price was a guarantee it would be “less than $1,000,” which had us managing expectations at up to $900. So imagine our shock to see that the higher end model with AMD Z1 Extreme chip will cost just $699!
| Spec | Valve Steam Deck | Asus ROG Ally |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $649 | $699 (leaked) |
| CPU | Custom AMD APU up to 3.5GHz" | AMD Z1 Extreme up to 5GHz |
| Graphics | RDNA 2 (1.6 Teraflops) | Radeon Navi3 Graphics (8.6 Teraflops) |
| RAM | 16GB LPDDR5 | 16GB LPDDR5 |
| Storage | 512GB PCIe Gen 3 | 512GB SSD |
| Display | 7-inch 1280 x 800-pixel (60Hz) | 7-inch 1920 x 1080-pixel (120Hz) |
| OS | SteamOS (Linux) | Windows 11 |
The Steam Deck killer
Let’s just take a second to compare that price to Valve’s current pricing — I say “current” because if this is true, I’m confident this will force the company’s hand to reduce that retail price to compete.
ASUS ROG Ally (AMD Z1 Extreme) = $699.99 https://t.co/GDkz6wZNWIApril 26, 2023
For $649, you can pick up a 512GB Steam Deck. Of course, you get the faster M.2 SSD storage, anti-glare etched glass, a free carrying case, and some Steam profile goodies for that additional cost.
Meanwhile, for $50 more, you can snag the ROG Ally that also comes with 512GB of storage, and a whole lot more horsepower under the hood. Let’s draw up a table to show you what you get for that additional money.
I don’t know about you, but that looks like the best fifty extra bucks you could spend when it comes to a portable gaming machine.
Outlook
Uh oh. Asus came to play, and the Steam Deck has some serious competition. Not only in terms of superior hardware specs, but a mightily enticing price that would make this an insanely easy decision to make.
In the ROG Ally, you’re getting a system that is up to twice as powerful as the Steam Deck, with a display that is 2x smoother, and thanks to Windows 11, you’re not just limited to playing your Steam library.
And you get all of that at just $50 more… Yea, Valve needs to work hard on bringing the Steam Deck 2 to market sooner rather than later.
More from Laptop Mag!
- Asus ROG Ally vs. Steam Deck: Which handheld gaming PC is the best?
- I previewed the Asus ROG Ally — 3 things I hate about it so far
- I’ve played Steam Deck for a year — here’s 3 reasons why Asus ROG Ally is better
