Tuesday, April 25th 2023
ASUS ROG Announces the ROG Ally, Its First Windows 11 Gaming Handheld
ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) is proud to announce the ROG Ally, an incredibly powerful new Windows 11 gaming handheld. Powered by a cutting-edge AMD Ryzen Z1 series processor, the Ally can breeze through AAA games and indie titles with ease. A bright and high-refresh-rate touchscreen ensures that gamers see their content clearly even when gaming outdoors. The Ally is easy to carry and handle all day, thanks to its lightweight 608 g design and ergonomic handholds.
Featuring an all-new purpose-built APU - an AMD Ryzen Z1 series processor with RDNA 3 graphics - the ROG Ally is primed to deliver never-before-seen levels of handheld gaming performance. Gamers who enjoy lighter indie titles, or more graphically intensive AAA games, can do it all with the Ally. Making all this possible is also ROG's Zero Gravity thermal system, which uses a dual-fan system with ultrathin heatsink fins and high-friction heat pipes to ensure the Ally stays cool in any orientation.
Flagship gaming performance demands a panel to match, and the Ally does not disappoint. Equipped with a 120 Hz FHD (1080p) panel with FreeSync Premium support, gamers will enjoy supreme motion clarity in fast-paced games, with no tearing or stuttering in the event of an FPS drop. The display also has a maximum brightness of 500 nits, enabling gamers to easily keep track of the action in more challenging environments like the great outdoors. This touchscreen also allows seamless navigation of the Windows desktop when gamers need to change settings or install their next game.
Full-fledged Windows 11 gaming
The ROG Ally runs Windows 11, meaning gamers can access all their publisher libraries and game streaming services on a single device. No matter where the latest and greatest titles are available, the Ally can power gamers to victory. Navigating the Windows desktop is a seamless experience, either through the Ally's joysticks and buttons or through Windows' robust touchscreen support.
Additionally, a Special Edition of Armoury Crate makes its debut with the ROG Ally, customized with quick performance mode toggles, a game launcher, in-game monitoring software, Aura Sync support, and more. ROG is also offering a bundled 90-day trial of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, giving users instant access to hundreds of great games from Xbox Game Studios, indie studios, and blockbusters the moment they boot their Ally.
Ergonomic and lightweight design
For a handheld, weight and ergonomics are everything. ROG engineers painstakingly developed and iterated the shape and weight of the ROG Ally until they were satisfied that they had created the perfect machine to carry and play all day. Weighing in at just 608 grams, the Ally will never weigh heavily in a gamer's backpack or hands, allowing for plenty of uninterrupted and comfortable gameplay.
The Ally's ergonomics continue with its handgrips, with unique triangle texturing on the rear giving gamers a solid hold on the machine from any angle. ROG styling lines adorn the palm side of the grip while also helping to reduce any accidental slipping.
Learn more at the ROG Ally launch event
The official ROG Ally launch event will be held on May 11, 2023. Please tune in to learn more about the full specifications and pricing. The keynote will start at 10.00 a.m. Eastern Time (14.00 GMT), followed by a panel discussion with Shawn Yen, Product Management Director of Gaming Business Unit from ASUS, Roanne Sones, CVP, Head of Xbox Hardware, and Frank Azor, Chief Architect of Gaming Solutions and Gaming Marketing from AMD to talk about the design story of the ROG Ally and its impact on the gaming landscape.
Source:
ASUS ROG
Featuring an all-new purpose-built APU - an AMD Ryzen Z1 series processor with RDNA 3 graphics - the ROG Ally is primed to deliver never-before-seen levels of handheld gaming performance. Gamers who enjoy lighter indie titles, or more graphically intensive AAA games, can do it all with the Ally. Making all this possible is also ROG's Zero Gravity thermal system, which uses a dual-fan system with ultrathin heatsink fins and high-friction heat pipes to ensure the Ally stays cool in any orientation.
Full-fledged Windows 11 gaming
The ROG Ally runs Windows 11, meaning gamers can access all their publisher libraries and game streaming services on a single device. No matter where the latest and greatest titles are available, the Ally can power gamers to victory. Navigating the Windows desktop is a seamless experience, either through the Ally's joysticks and buttons or through Windows' robust touchscreen support.
Additionally, a Special Edition of Armoury Crate makes its debut with the ROG Ally, customized with quick performance mode toggles, a game launcher, in-game monitoring software, Aura Sync support, and more. ROG is also offering a bundled 90-day trial of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, giving users instant access to hundreds of great games from Xbox Game Studios, indie studios, and blockbusters the moment they boot their Ally.
Ergonomic and lightweight design
For a handheld, weight and ergonomics are everything. ROG engineers painstakingly developed and iterated the shape and weight of the ROG Ally until they were satisfied that they had created the perfect machine to carry and play all day. Weighing in at just 608 grams, the Ally will never weigh heavily in a gamer's backpack or hands, allowing for plenty of uninterrupted and comfortable gameplay.
The Ally's ergonomics continue with its handgrips, with unique triangle texturing on the rear giving gamers a solid hold on the machine from any angle. ROG styling lines adorn the palm side of the grip while also helping to reduce any accidental slipping.
Learn more at the ROG Ally launch event
The official ROG Ally launch event will be held on May 11, 2023. Please tune in to learn more about the full specifications and pricing. The keynote will start at 10.00 a.m. Eastern Time (14.00 GMT), followed by a panel discussion with Shawn Yen, Product Management Director of Gaming Business Unit from ASUS, Roanne Sones, CVP, Head of Xbox Hardware, and Frank Azor, Chief Architect of Gaming Solutions and Gaming Marketing from AMD to talk about the design story of the ROG Ally and its impact on the gaming landscape.
24 Comments on ASUS ROG Announces the ROG Ally, Its First Windows 11 Gaming Handheld
I am excited to see the handheld market expand. It's higher performance and lack of track pads might draw in new people who wouldn't consider the Steam Deck.
The only problem is we may need to deal with trash like Armoury Crate. LOL!
EDIT: I have a bad feeling the APU control software will actually be some version of Armoury Crate. :wtf:
I use it on my G14, and it's infinitely better than the bloated nonsense that is Armoury Crate. Just one 3MB executable compared to the 3GB of crap that AC has.
Though honestly, I'd probably rather run SteamOS were I to get one of these.
The problem is G-Helper still "kind-of" needs MyASUS (which is not as bad as Armoury Crate itself) still installed since you need it to control battery charging (e.g. limiting it to 60%, thermal limit, etc.).
A little less battery capacity with benchmarks all being run at Low and twice the TDP of the Steam Deck means the battery life would be about half the worst case scenario of the Steam Deck, which means the 1-2 hour becomes 30 minutes to an hour for the Ally.
The Steam Deck has quad-channel memory but the Ally is saying dual-channel only. APU's like this are often memory bandwidth starved.
The shape looks wildly uncomfortable and both Linus (LTT) and The Verge's review mentioned how the unit is uncomfortable if you aren't propping it on a table at an angle.
Eh, it's got a lot to prove.
www.steamdeck.com/en/tech/
But I'm am leery due to the different variants offering different hardware
I'm also wary of Asus and their long term support of this, Valve is for sure building an ecosystem, Asus just looks like they wanted to put something on the market with 'better' numbers than the deck. Still though, it's good to see more manufacturers entering the handheld space again.