ASUS ROG Ally Gaming Handheld is Not a Prank, Custom AMD APU Teased

[T0@st]

Last weekend ASUS ROG started to tease a handheld gaming system, called the Ally. On April 1 the company uploaded an expensive looking trailer, that bordered on being a total spoof in the latter half. People were quick to dismiss the announcement as an April Fool's Day prank, but since then the company has continued to post preview material and has even highlighted a Best Buy interest page. The ROG Ally has been confirmed to be an entirely real bit of gaming hardware that runs via Windows 11. AMD has been revealed as collaborating with ASUS on a custom Ryzen APU for the handheld system, which is advertised as the "fastest AMD APU yet" in the reveal trailer. Exact specifications for this chipset have not been listed, so expect those details as part of a future announcement.

ASUS ROG looks to be pitching the Ally as potential alternative to the Steam Deck, but it is too early to speculate about its exact method of operation (always online, local vs. cloud, etc.). Games journalists and gaming communities have also compared the Ally to the AYANEO 2 and GPD WIN 4. ASUS has informed various web influencers that it is promising "competitive pricing" for the upcoming handheld gaming system. The ROG Ally features a Full HD display and a dual fan cooling system tuned to operate quietly via the ROG Intelligent System. A new version of Armoury Crate offers the user access to various games library sources (including Xbox Games Pass) and custom-mapping of control inputs. Extra graphical grunt can be provided by the external and proprietary ROG XG Mobile eGPU platform.



A few industry experts are speculating that the custom Ryzen APU will feature an iGPU based on AMD's RDNA 3 architecture, with 8 or 12 Compute Units (CUs) which places its graphical capabilities somewhere in the region of the Radeon 760M or Radeon 780M. The CPU aspect is predicted to be based on Zen 3 cores, with clock speeds expected to hit a maximum clock of 4.0 GHz. Other speculators reckon that a Phoenix-based (Zen 4 with RDNA 3) APU is on the cards.

Get notified when pre-orders start: https://rog.gg/bestbuy

At ROG, we're always pushing the boundaries of gaming, constantly striving for better performance in smaller devices. From convertible laptops, tablets, to controllers and even smart lenses, nothing has ever stopped us from going further and harder. Now we're combining all our know-how into one single device: Introducing ROG ALLY, ROG's first handheld console!

You'll never have to stop gaming again!



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[Chaitanya]

So they mistimed the teaser.

Armoury Crate

Also another device to push this malware onto users.

 

[Selaya]

At ROG, we're always pushing the boundaries of gaming pricing

yeah, no.
the reason why the steam deck's popular & good is the fact that it doesn't break bank while delivering useful performance.
i can't see this being sold below like $1,200, making this an instant DOA basically.

 

[dgianstefani]

At ROG, we're always pushing the boundaries of gaming pricing

yeah, no.
the reason why the steam deck's popular & good is the fact that it doesn't break bank while delivering useful performance.
i can't see this being sold below like $1,200, making this an instant DOA basically.

Who cares, if it has RDNA3 iGPU and more efficient CPU cores, it will blow the Steam deck out of the water, and enable 1080p portable gaming.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Hands on video

 

[wurschti]

At ROG, we're always pushing the boundaries of gaming pricing

yeah, no.
the reason why the steam deck's popular & good is the fact that it doesn't break bank while delivering useful performance.
i can't see this being sold below like $1,200, making this an instant DOA basically.

Dave2D claimed competitive prices citing ASUS, so maybe it will be competitive, but I would not expect anything under $800

 

[konga]

Hands on video

This video clarifies that it's Zen 4 + RDNA3. The dual-fan cooling solution seems very efficient too, which is nice. They'll be able to push the power envelope without worrying about the noise so much, just battery life.

 

[Bomby569]

120fps and higher resolution would kill a similar sized battery to the steam deck, and the sd one is not amazing. It's great to go balls to the halls but there probably was a reason for some decisions on the steam deck.

 

[enb141]

I'm partially deaf but still noise is annoying, hopefully this devices doesn't makes annoying noise and hopefully their battery lasts a lot (the guy playing the console in the youtube video seems to be playing for hours)

Now back to the topic, looks good that a lot of manufacturers are entering the portable PC gaming (forget about cyberpunk and power hunger games).

 

[Cheeseball]

Hands on video

First thing ASUS needs to do (if they want to beat the Steam Deck) is change that awful D-Pad and the plastic-ky bumper buttons and triggers.

 

[enb141]

First thing ASUS needs to do (if they want to beat the Steam Deck) is change that awful D-Pad and the plastic-ky bumper buttons and triggers.

They did, ASUS and AYA Neo have a much better console like configuration, those two steam deck pads are placed in where the joystick/keypad/buttons are placed. which is annoying.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

At ROG, we're always pushing the boundaries of gaming pricing

yeah, no.
the reason why the steam deck's popular & good is the fact that it doesn't break bank while delivering useful performance.
i can't see this being sold below like $1,200, making this an instant DOA basically.

While I agree on the steam deck, this will sell well, the Aya's keep coming and only just beat the deck in performance yet have been sold at 1200 successfully for a while but there is surely now a glut of handheld PCs.

 

[kapone32]

At ROG, we're always pushing the boundaries of gaming pricing

yeah, no.
the reason why the steam deck's popular & good is the fact that it doesn't break bank while delivering useful performance.
i can't see this being sold below like $1,200, making this an instant DOA basically.

$1200 is too low. That is what you pay for the best AMD based handhelds sold on Amazon. ROG means $2000 and being white can add another $200 then you add the ROG tax and it could actually be $2500. If i does come with something like a 7540 (I can't remember the numbers) it will be epic though. I have been watching videos on handhelds and the one that has the 6000 series chip can play just about any Game at high framerates at 1080P.

 

[mechtech]

Looks similar to a steam deck….but white…

 

[Cheeseball]

They did, ASUS and AYA Neo have a much better console like configuration, those two steam deck pads are placed in where the joystick/keypad/buttons are placed. which is annoying.

Well that's also another failure on ASUS's part as they didn't integrate touch pads as well. That means the only mouse-like function would either be emulated by the joysticks or the touchscreen.

The stick configuration (Playstation-like/Xbox-like) is non-issue and is only user preference.

 

[enb141]

Well that's also another failure on ASUS's part as they didn't integrate touch pads as well. That means the only mouse-like function would either be emulated by the joysticks or the touchscreen.

The stick configuration (Playstation-like/Xbox-like) is non-issue and is only user preference.

Actually I hate those pads, I prefer a touchscreen or some way to toggle the Analog stick to mimic a mouse.

 

[Imouto]

I don't expect it to be less than $1200. The claims about it being 50% faster at 15 W seem to be washed away by the 2x the amount of pixels it has to drive. The 2x perf at 35W would make it just as fast. I think people don't realize why Valve chose a 1280 by 720 screen or why it doesn't have VRR.

The stick configuration (Playstation-like/Xbox-like) is non-issue and is only user preference.

This one speaks nothing but the truth.

 

[sephiroth117]

I'd rather wait for the switch 2 and its reportedly DLSS SoC.

Of course it will be weaker, but ARM and Nintendo games make it far more interesting for me.

If Sony just had the courage, given the very strong momentum of the switch in Japan, a market they are gradually losing, to release a PSP2,...oh boy.

 

[agatong55]

This thing is going to be pricey and scares me about they didn't announce the price with the release.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

Who cares, if it has RDNA3 iGPU and more efficient CPU cores, it will blow the Steam deck out of the water, and enable 1080p portable gaming.

LOL. Look the portable market is littered with higher performing items that got curb stomped and crushed by weaker Nintendo ones. Atari Lynx, GameGear, NeoGeo Pocket, PSP, PS Vita, Bandai, and on and on. Each one got thrashed and humiliated because Nintendo got that form factor, price, battery life, all mattered far more than performance.

The Steam Deck works because Valve learned from Nintendo on this. Performance does not matter, functionality as a portable does. Also do not upgrade it all the time. Create a stable target hardware platform and live with it.

I don't see anyone really taking out Valve on this they have a winner.

 

[GreiverBlade]

it correct one of my grip with the steamdeck ...

better button and thumbstick placement (yes ... i am one to think that the Xbox gamepad is the more ergonomic one ) ... now, i hope the price will be similar to the steamdeck, naaaaaaaaaaaahhhh probably not, at least not the pricing of 400$ that i will never see for the steamdeck

btw locally the steamdeck is between, when available, between 599 and 969$ for me (64 gb and 512gb )

 

[InhaleOblivion]

Looks decent regarding the screen and APU. No clue on battery size, and those front controls looks eh at best. It definitely won't be affordable like the SteamDeck.

 

[sLowEnd]

I'm not expecting this to be more than an expensive, low-volume niche product, an also-ran.

Asus doesn't have the gusto to make it take off.

 

[wolf]

I'll be keeping my eye on this, that's for sure. Price of other handhelds in Aus has been insane and none come with >60hz or VRR displays.