Asus is expected to launch its ROG Ally X gaming handheld soon. This refreshed machine is said to feature more of everything, though keeping the main components intact. With it, Asus aims to fix some of the glaring issues tainting an otherwise competent gaming machine.
According to latest rumours, the new black ROG Ally will retail for $799 which is $100 more than the current flagship model powered by AMD’s Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor. This puts it in the ballpark of the famous 1TB Steam Deck OLED at $649, though with a faster processor and screen. That said, Valve’s machine boasts an OLED panel with all its benefits and drawbacks.
For that extra money over the original, rumours claim the new version will offer double the storage – 1TB instead of 512GB – a 40% larger battery capacity – i.e. 56Wh, and more RAM – and 24GB or 32GB of LPDDR5. Other than that, the rest remains identical, with the same Ryzen chip and TDP, which are two facets that can greatly influence performance.
This means the brand’s Armory Crate software will play an important role here. Upcoming features such as the integration of AMD’s Fluid Motion Frames, which doubles the frames at the expense of some latency, could help many games reach the screen’s 120Hz refresh to offer a smoother experience. Not to forget the rearrangement of some internal components such as the SD card reader which had some issues previously, plus redesigned joysticks and grips.
So, is this new model worth picking up? Well, if you already own an ROG Ally, or any equivalent gaming handheld for that matter, then definitely not. You are unlikely to see much, if any, performance difference unless Asus manages to pull a magic trick with that Ryzen chip. However, if you are still on the lookout for something to play games in while on the go, then this X version is surely worth considering. Asus is expected to present the ROG Ally X during Computex this June 2.