New details have been revealed surrounding ASUS' upcoming gaming handheld following a recent press event. At the forefront of these announcements, we have a launch event confirmed to be held on the 11th of May (10am New York, 3pm London, 10pm Taipei). This event is confirmed to reveal the pricing and full system specs, and will likely provide further details on the release timescales and availability for the device.

While we previously knew the Ally will be available via Best Buy in America, we now have confirmation of UK exclusivity to electronics retailer Currys. You can find a statement from their Head of Gaming, Nick Hayden, regarding this below:

We're thrilled to offer our customers the ROG Ally, the most powerful graphics and best quality screen on a handheld device to date, providing strong competition for Steamdeck. The portable PC market is an exciting space, and we are looking forward to our customers coming in-store to enjoy our immersive offering. ROG is an innovative partner that we're pleased to continue working closely with on their gaming range that customers countrywide will love.

Much of this press event served to reaffirm details that were previously revealed, including the device's 120 Hz 1080p display, the purpose-built Ryzen APU, and its powerful "Zero Gravity" thermal system. Somewhat new is the weight of the system, coming in at 608g (1.34lbs for the imperial speakers), and a confirmation that the device will retail for less than $1000.

With a prominent slogan of "Play ALL Your Games", ASUS are clearly trying their best to take on the success of Valve's Steam Deck. Whether that will be possible will, to many, come down to its pricing above all, and how competitive it ends up being by comparison.

ROG Ally Event Site

Are you considering the Ally? What would you consider a reasonable price? Let us know your thoughts below.

 

[mathew77]

What would you consider a reasonable price?

$1K?..

 

[peteruk]

I seriously need to resist the temptation, I absolutely want it but I most definitely do not need it

 

[ShadowOne333]

If this goes for anything past $600 for the base model, it will hardly make any dent in the current Steam Deck user base.
Not only that, but the Deck currently has such a big and growing userbase as well, more so with SteamOS, and the fact that it's so customizable and using Linux from the get-go with a great support by Valve itself will be something hard to top if they simply go the Windows route for their OS.

 

[Scarlet]

I seriously need to resist the temptation, I absolutely want it but I most definitely do not need it

I’m in this boat myself. With some luck I should be able to review the device (on loan) but already having the Z13 and the XG Mobile eGPU that the Ally works with, I really am considering buying one.

It’s just……. I have enough things……. But I want it.

 

[djpannda]

is it mean for does the Sharp design look not so comfortable?
But still excited to see more pc handhelds

 

[ZeroT21]

I absolutely must buy it and regret it afterwards

 

[raystriker]

How 'bout they charge us a few quid more and give us Hall-effect joysticks to begin with?

 

[LightBeam]

Looks cool but I hope they know that part of what made the success of the Steam Deck is the whole software behind it too. If it can run SteamOS that could be a really neat alternative.
I don't have either and I don't plan to get one, but I have to say I'm kind of surprised to see that those handheld PCs are becoming less niche than ever.

What's funny is that Nintendo were competing with consoles, there wasn't a choice with handhelds anymore. But now they are competing against fucking PCs lmao

 

[adamsef]

Ohh I’ve just ordered a second hand steam deck for 350
I’m looking forward to receiving that
But this looks really good

 

[eyeliner]

999$, then?
OK, USA.

 

[Xzi]

Don't feel this is event-worthy, just give us the info.

Anyway, anything over $750 and it won't really be competition for Deck, so it depends in part on whether MS is giving them a deal on Windows licenses or not.

 

[Kioku]

Im

Don't feel this is event-worthy, just give us the info.

Anyway, anything over $750 and it won't really be competition for Deck, so it depends in part on whether MS is giving them a deal on Windows licenses or not.

These mini-events that happen outside of the larger events are absolutely needless. Even more so when it’s just to announce something like this that would have made way more sense to have at any of the larger electronics expos that happen throughout the year.

 

[chrisrlink]

999$, then?
OK, USA.

still 1k if you include shipping + taxes iirc i payed $23 in tax+ship for my $399 64gb steam deck

 

[trepp0]

Ryzan APU

UHM ACKSUHALLY ITS RYZEN

 

[Scarlet]

UHM ACKSUHALLY ITS RYZEN

Good catch there! Been a bit too deep in Atelier lately lol

 

[Hayato213]

Unless it has it own OS outside of Windows it ain't going to be cheap, if it is windows base, expect around $1000.

 

[shinwg]

I might get it, I brought 512gb steam deck use for a week and returned it. I couldn’t play none stream games (quack exe ) and trainers can’t load so since this will be window maybe I’ll get it if can trainers

 

[LightyKD]

Meh! I have a Steam Deck. Good luck to ASUS...

 

[tpax]

I feel like those handheld devices are useless unless they have a quick suspend and quick resume functionality, which is pretty unlikely with Windows.
Quick suspend and quick resume are the reasons why I prefer playing games on the Deck, despite having a capable gamin PC. It only takes me 2 seconds to be ingame and under 1 second to leave in the middle of the game. Having to launch a game from desktop every time I want to play, and then quit the game every time I'm done playing it, would feel like going back to the stone age.