Microsoft has long been rumored to be working on a gaming handheld to compete with the likes of Valve's Steam Deck and the ASUS ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go, but all we've had to go on until now is unfounded rumors and leaks. Now, Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft Gaming, has confirmed that the software giant is actively working on a Steam Deck challenger, although details are scant, and the timeline is unclear at best.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Spencer confirmed that Microsoft is working on an Xbox handheld, although he was very careful to not overpromise or provide any firm release dates, going so far as to confirm that an Xbox handheld is still years away from release. Spencer reiterated in the review that Microsoft was still looking to grow its presence in the gaming industry, which is one of the company's motivations for getting into the gaming handheld market, in the first place. He also confirmed that Microsoft will be pursuing further mergers and acquisitions in the future as part of its gaming push—a move that might not be looked upon favorably by many gamers and regulatory bodies.

Valve has rolled out a significant system update for Steam Deck, introducing substantial improvements across all models while delivering specialized enhancements for the OLED variant. The v3.6.19 update focuses on system stability, display quality, and overall performance optimization. Steam Deck OLED owners will particularly benefit from this update, which includes several display-specific improvements, including better color balance at low brightness levels and enhanced display uniformity. A previous memory leak issue affecting OLED units during gameplay has also been resolved, ensuring more stable long-term gaming sessions. The update brings the Linux kernel to version 6.5 and updates the graphics driver to Mesa 24.1, improving system performance and hardware compatibility. Users can expect better responsiveness from the Steam UI and enhanced performance during memory-intensive situations.

External display support has seen notable improvements, with fixes for various blank screen issues and better frame pacing with Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) displays. Bluetooth connectivity has also been enhanced, with improved pairing for Apple AirPods and support for additional Bluetooth profiles. The Steam Deck Docking Station also receives attention, with new HDMI CEC features allowing for TV remote input, wake-up functionality, and input switching. The dock's firmware has been updated to improve compatibility with high-refresh-rate VRR displays. LCD model owners haven't been forgotten, with the update promising up to 10% better battery life during light usage and the addition of overclocking controls. Security improvements include fixes for Flatpak vulnerabilities and various system-level security enhancements.

UGREEN has recently unveiled its latest innovation in fast-charging technology: the UGREEN Uno Charger 100 W USB C Charger. Designed for gamers and tech enthusiasts alike, this compact, four-port charger ensures that gaming never has to stop, offering rapid power delivery to handheld consoles like the Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and ROG Ally, alongside other devices. The flagship UGREEN Uno Charger 100 W is available to buy for $59.99 from Amazon with UK availability expected shortly on Amazon UK.

The UGREEN Uno Charger stands out with its 100 W fast charging capability, allowing users to charge a MacBook Pro 16-inch to 43% in just 30 minutes, making it equally powerful for gaming consoles and everyday tech. Equipped with three USB-C ports and one USB-A port, the charger can fast-charge up to four devices simultaneously—perfect for those juggling multiple gadgets during extended gaming marathons.

Valve has merged a new script into the master branch of its SteamOS Gamescope compositor on GitHub. This update introduces display configuration support for the Asus ROG Ally and ROG Ally X, notably enabling Gamescope to utilize the full 48-120 Hz Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) range on the 1920x1080p panels of these devices. Having a wide VRR range is especially worth considering the challenges of maintaining high frame rates on portable devices due to limited computational power. So with VRR being present at 48 Hz, handheld consoles reach tear-free gaming even demanding titles. This update follows a series of recent Steam-related improvements, including an August update that added support for Asus ROG Ally and ROG Ally X buttons to the SteamOS input layer.

With VRR support being added now, we may see future Steam Deck iterations with VRR display support, as the current Steam Deck and Steam Deck OLED don't support this feature. This VRR update shows Valve's continued progress towards a broader release of SteamOS for various PC platforms. It confirms the company's focus on optimizing the operating system for handheld devices as the future of SteamOS. What used to be mini PCs, Valve now sees as handheld gaming consoles, which are the target area of SteamOS. Despite the growing anticipation, the exact release date for a broader SteamOS rollout remains uncertain, given Valve's notorious "Valve Time" approach to product launches. However, with community-driven SteamOS 3 ports like Bazzite and HoloISO already available, enthusiasts have alternative options to explore in the meantime.

According to The Verge, Valve confirmed its intention to extend support for its Linux-based SteamOS to rival gaming handhelds, including the ASUS ROG Ally. This move marks a significant step towards realizing Valve's decade-old vision of a widespread "Steam Machine" ecosystem. Lawrence Yang, a designer at Valve, confirmed to The Verge that the company is actively working on adding support for additional handhelds to SteamOS. This revelation came after eagle-eyed observers spotted a curious line in Valve's latest SteamOS 3.6.9 Beta release notes mentioning the addition of "support for extra ROG Ally keys." While the development is still in progress, Yang emphasized that SteamOS isn't quite ready for out-of-the-box use on rival devices. However, he assured that the team is making "steady progress" towards this goal.

This initiative doesn't necessarily mean that manufacturers like ASUS will officially endorse Valve's installer or ship their devices with SteamOS preinstalled. Many companies, including ASUS, have cited various reasons for sticking with Windows, including Microsoft's dedicated validation teams that ensure compatibility across diverse hardware configurations. Other devices, such as Lenovo Legion Go, AYANEO, and GPD Pocket 4, ship with Windows, but it could be interesting to see with SteamOS. Alongside support for third-party handhelds, Valve is also working on a general release of SteamOS 3 for non-handheld PCs. Finally, Valve hasn't forgotten about its promise to enable dual-booting on Steam Deck devices. While there's no specific timeline, Mr. Yang confirmed that it remains a priority for the company. We remain to see how this will materialize, and with added bells and whistles to SteamOS, the adoption of Linux-based gaming could be pushed even further.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today released Armoury Crate Special Edition 1.5 (ACSE 1.5)—a brand-new major update to this software—to coincide with the launch of the ROG Ally X gaming handheld. Featuring a massive 80 Wh battery, upgraded joysticks and face buttons, and redesigned handgrips, the ROG Ally X is an improvement in every way on the original ROG Ally.

ACSE is the control software behind the ROG Ally and ROG Ally X, and provides a centralized hub for game storage, access, and settings customization for gamers to play all of their games, no matter the launcher. ACSE 1.5 introduces a more console-like and easy-to-navigate UI, with more customization for how game titles are displayed and arranged, and revamped carousel and list views. Taken together, ACSE has seen a huge usability increase since its initial launch just over a year ago.

We've had our eye on the ASUS ROG Ally X since last week. The Ally X started its life on the rumor mill as a design revision of the ROG Ally that corrects the location of its microSD slot away from a heat vent, before we learned that it's a whole new product positioned above the ROG Ally, which not just fixes the microSD slot, but also comes with a larger battery, and support for M.2-2280 NVMe SSDs to unlock the widest selection of aftermarket SSDs among any handheld console.

Mystery Lupin a source with ASUS leaks, suggests that the ASUS ROG Ally X could be priced at $799, which would be a $100 premium over the top-spec ROG Ally Extreme. For this premium, ASUS is dropping in a battery that's rumored to have a 40% higher capacity than the one the original ROG Ally Extreme comes with; and the sheer convenience of an M.2-2280 drive bay that has a 1 TB SSD. It's also rumored that ASUS may step up the memory size. The other hardware specs are unchanged—the processor is still an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme, the display is still that 7-inch 48-120 Hz VRR with 1080p resolution; and with an identical controller layout. ASUS is expected to launch the ROG Ally X on June 2.

Earlier this week, we got news of ASUS working on a design revision for its ROG Ally handheld game console to fix the positioning of its microSD card slot that was causing card and card-reader failures due to its location close to a thermal vent. It turns out that this revision is a whole different product, and ASUS is naming it the ROG Ally X. There's more to this console than simply a relocated microSD slot that won't fry your memory cards.

Apparently, ASUS has used the opportunity to give it a larger battery, and a larger M.2-2280 SSD bay, compared to the M.2-2242 slot on the original ROG Ally. This would open up end-users to the widest possible array of SSD choices. As a final bit of product differentiation, the ROG Ally X comes with a new black chassis trim. The larger battery makes the ROG Ally X heavier than the original. Besides these three hardware changes, the new ROG Ally X features the same kit as the original, and is hence expected to offer the same performance, albeit with improved battery life. ASUS is expected to formally launch the ROG Ally X on June 2, 2024.

ASUS is reportedly revising the design of the ROG Ally handheld game console to address microSD card heat deaths. In its original design, the ROG Ally has its microSD card reader located directly under the heat vents from which the active cooling mechanism exhausts heat from the SoC. This could cause microSD cards to overheat and damage; and eventually even destroy the microSD card reader itself. In its revision, the card reader will be repositioned away from the vents, and extensively tested for better reliability with microSD card operation. As for current ROG Ally owners, ASUS has extended the warranty by 2 years, and provided coverage for damaged card readers. This, however, only covers the card reader itself, there's no liability for damaged cards or the data on them.

GeForce NOW brings 24 new games for members this month. Ninja Theory's highly anticipated Senua's Saga: Hellblade II will be coming to the cloud soon - get ready by streaming the first in the series, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, part of the seven new games joining the GeForce NOW library this week. Plus, game across more devices than ever as GeForce NOW adds improved support on Steam Deck this GFN Thursday.

Journey into Viking Hell
Experience exceptional storytelling in Ninja Theory's award-winning game Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, available to stream from the cloud this week. Set in a dark fantasy world inspired by Norse mythology and Celtic culture, the game follows the journey of Senua, a Pict warrior. Her quest is to reach Helheim, the realm of the dead, to rescue her deceased lover's soul from the goddess Hela. Solve intricate puzzles with observation, engage in melee combat and get pulled deep into Senua's mind as she grapples with inner demons. Journey through the hauntingly beautiful landscapes of Helheim with ray tracing and high-dynamic range using an Ultimate or Priority membership for the most immersive and stunning visual fidelity.

Chinese review outlets have received MSI Claw sample units—the "Please, Xiao Fengfeng" Bilibili video channel has produced several comparison pieces detailing how the plucky Intel Meteor Lake-powered handheld stands up against its closest rival; ASUS ROG Ally. The latter utilizes an AMD Ryzen Z1 APU—in Extreme or Standard forms—many news outlets have pointed out that the Z1 Extreme processor is a slightly reworked Ryzen 7 7840U "Phoenix" processor. Intel and its handheld hardware partners have not dressed up Meteor Lake chips with alternative gaming monikers—simply put, the MSI Claw arrives with Core Ultra 7-155H or Ultra 5-135H processors onboard. The two rival systems both run on Window 11, and also share the same screen size, resolution, display technology (IPS) and 16 GB LPDDR5-6400 memory configuration. The almost eight months old ASUS handheld seems to outperform its near-launch competition.

Xiao Fengfeng's review (Ultra 7-155H versus Z1 Extreme) focuses on different power levels and how they affect handheld performance—the Claw and Ally have user selectable TDP modes. A VideoCardz analysis piece lays out key divergences: "Both companies offer easy TDP profile switches, allowing users to adjust performance based on the game's requirements or available battery life. The Claw's larger battery could theoretically offer more gaming time or higher TDP with the same battery life. The system can work at 40 W TDP level (but in reality it's between 35 and 40 watts)...In the Shadow of the Tomb Raider test, the Claw doesn't seem to outperform the ROG Ally. According to a Bilibili creator's test, the system falls short at four different power levels: 15 W, 20 W, 25 W, and max TDP (40 W for Claw and 30 W for Ally)."

MSI has officially confirmed the price for all three Claw gaming handheld SKUs, including two SKUs with the Intel Core Ultra 7-155H CPU and one equipped with the Core Ultra-135H CPU. The MSI Claw starts at $699.99 for the base version with an Intel Core Ultra 5-135H CPU, 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory, and 512 GB of PCIe Gen 4 M.2 storage. The other two SKUs, are priced at $749.99 and $799.99, both come with a Core Ultra 7-155H CPU, 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory, and either 512 GB or 1 TB of PCIe Gen 4 M.2 storage. Unfortunately, there is no word on the rumored SKU with 32 GB of LPDDR5 memory.

These prices make the MSI Claw just a tad bit more expensive than the ASUS ROG Ally and the Lenovo Legion Go, but it should do well if the performance is there. MSI has also confirmed to The Verge that the Claw's 7-inch 1080p screen comes with Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) operating between 48 and 120 Hz. The MSI Claw is rumored to launch in February or March.

Techlusive India has reported an exclusive announcement—courtesy of ASUS India's Arnold Su—the interviewee bears an elaborate and long job title: Vice President of Consumer and Gaming PC System Business Group. The wider discussion explores the region's gaming market conditions, although Su dropped a bombshell when discussing his company's current generation handheld gaming computer. The ASUS ROG Ally rolled out midway through 2023, as one of the first mainstream Windows 11 handheld gaming PCs. Competition in this market segment has ramped up significantly since then—Lenovo's Legion Go arrived last autumn, Valve's Steam Deck OLED refresh followed two months later, and MSI unveiled its Intel Meteor Lake-powered Claw at CES 2024.

Valve is not rushing out a proper next generation Steam Deck anytime soon—an urgent or immediate response to a lot of new competition is not necessary. An MSI representative revealed to gaming news media outlets (at CES 2024) that a Claw 2 model is already in the development pipeline. ASUS appears ready to launch new handheld hardware within a relatively short period—ASUS India's VP stated: "we most likely will launch a second generation (ROG Ally) this year. We will still keep the Windows (11) features, but we will focus more on gaming." He also revealed that original Ally models have sold "around 70,000 - 80,000 units" since the launch date in India—Techlusive labels this as a promising and "kind" response. Su's analysis of recent regional sales figures shows a trend of gaming branded laptops outpacing traditional desktop, in terms of adoption rates.

The electronics brand JSAUX has a New Year's treat for Steam Deck, ROG Ally and Legion Go users. The transparent RGB dock adds a black transparent case to the popular RGB docking station: now you can match your transparent handheld device with a dock that not only shows its inner workings but that also lights your living room. The 8-in-1 transparent RGB docking station is available for $69.99 (discounted to $49 during its release) while the 12-in-1 transparent RGB docking station is available for $99.99 (discounted to $70 during its release)

About the RGB docking station
This new transparent RGB docking station is not only adding a black transparent casing to the former product. JSAUX has upgraded the product to better show its internal structure as well as the RGB lighting effects. A new chip now supports Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) functionalities, two new features that will improve the user experience.

Seagate Technology Holdings plc, today introduced the new FireCuda 520N NVMe solid state drive (SSD) with 2230-S2 M.2 form factor. The new drive is a perfect storage upgrade for Valve's Steam Deck, Microsoft Surface, ASUS ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, and other compact devices with 2230 M.2 slots.

Available in 1 TB and 2 TB capacities, the FireCuda 520N is a PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD specifically designed for high performing hand-held gaming devices with high octane read/write speed of up to 5,000 MB/s for the 2 TB capacity and up to 4,800 MB/s for the 1 TB model. The drive offers PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD performance of desktop gaming, and it is backward compatible with Gen 3 and Gen 2 PCIe slots. The FireCuda 520N includes Seagate's three-year Rescue Data Recovery Service plan and a five-year limited warranty. It is available now for $109.99 (1 TB) and $189.99 (2 TB).

We have had to wait a bit longer for the launch of a lesser ASUS ROG Ally variant—the Windows 11 handheld gaming PC was officially revealed sporting an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU. A non-Extreme variant was teased to launch at a later date, which appears to be within the last couple of days—emerging first in North America. The more affordable—$599—offering has popped up for sale on Best Buy, and the ASUS store has a listing although it is currently "out of stock." This non-Extreme model's (RC71L-Z1512) arrival at retail coincides with Valve running a 20% price reduction on its Steam Deck handheld gaming range.

The $100 saving over the ROG Ally Extreme ($699) nets the customer largely identical features and specifications, apart from the main choice of APU. The Z1 non-Extreme chipset was analyzed earlier this month, with its "Phoenix 2" origin revealing usage of Zen 4c cores. The standard Z1 seems to be very similar in makeup to the mobile series Ryzen 5 7540U APU. The AMD Ryzen Z1 is a six-core Zen 4/Zen 4c APU with four RDNA 3 compute units, which is nowhere near as fierce as the "Phoenix 1" Ryzen Z1 Extreme—sporting eight cores (all Zen 4) and twelve RDNA 3 compute units.

AYANEO, an Asian manufacturer known for its mobile handhelds, has introduced a new device, the AYANEO Kun. The Kun is powered by the latest AMD Ryzen 7 7840U mobile processor from the Ryzen 7040 series. This SoC includes eight Zen 4 cores and an integrated graphics unit based on the RDNA 3 architecture with 12 compute units. The console's dimensions stand at 312 x 133 x 21.9 mm, making it slightly wider but slimmer than ASUS's ROG Ally, with the exact weight yet to be disclosed. Kun's battery capacity is rated for 75Wh, as compared to other handhelds' 40 Wh, potentially indicating a longer battery life.

The AYANEO Kun's other notable features include its 8.4-inch display with an IPS panel and resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 pixels. For controls, the device utilizes a D-Pad and two Hall sensor-equipped joysticks for gaming. The shoulder buttons also employ Hall sensor technology. There are touchpads on either side of the display, along with other function keys and the A/B/X/Y keys. For the first time, AYANEO has integrated buttons at the back of the device, offering customizable functions. The device provides two Type-C (likely USB4), one USB Type-A, and one 3.5 mm jack connection. More comprehensive technical details, model variants, and pricing information are to be released during the official unveiling of the AYANEO Kun scheduled for August.

ASUS has issued a BIOS update for the ROG Ally that should help resolve multiple usability issues, most of them being fairly minor issues, but they're all quality of life improvements nonetheless. To start with, ASUS has made optimisations to the performance mode with the Ally plugged in to a power source, although the company didn't explain exactly what this means. Another minor improvement allows the "Memory Assigned to GPU" setting to be kept when updating to a new BIOS version, a setting that used to get reset prior to this BIOS release.

Another minor quality of life update is the ability to reduce the backlight to 10 nits now, down from the previous 25 nits, which should make it more comfortable to use the ROG Ally in dark rooms. Finally and possibly the most important part of this update is the ability to charge at 30 W from 65 W or higher rated USB-PD chargers. What ASUS has done here is improvements to the USB-PD "handshake" to make sure that the ROG Ally gets the right power from the power adapter. This was apparently not working as intended previously and the ROG Ally would charge at a slower rate. It should be noted that not all chargers will provide enough power to the ROG Ally, especially if other devices are charging at the same time. ASUS points out that if the battery is draining when the Ally is plugged in, a different charger should be used.

The future is here. The Republic of Gamers is proud to announce the ROG Ally, a brand-new Windows 11 gaming handheld featuring a 7-inch 1080p screen, up to 512 GB of NVMe storage, and enough power to play the latest AAA games at smooth framerates. Sporting an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU, the Ally has incredible graphics performance, rivaling modern living room consoles while weighing in at a lightweight 608 grams.

The Ally ushers in a new generation of handheld gaming consoles. Handhelds have always been a frustratingly compromised experience, with lower resolution graphics, lower framerates, and clunky controls - they allowed you to play games on the go, but it was never the same as the living room. In fact, many titles were handheld-friendly spinoffs of their console counterparts, rather than the same game. Now, all that changes: the Ally lets you play all your games, from any platform, wherever you go. Welcome to a new age of portable gaming.

Just a few hours before the official launch, ASUS ROG Ally handheld console has been leaked online in Europe, where German retailers, Mediamarkt and Saturn, have it listed for €799.99. This is the price of the high-end model equipped with AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU and 512 GB of internal storage. So far, there is no listing for the less expensive version that should come with the Z1 non-Extreme APU.

The listing does not offer any new details, but it does say that it will ship on June 13th, so this can be considered as a pre-order. In case you missed it, the ASUS ROG Ally RC71L will pack the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU, featuring 8-core/16-thread Zen 4 CPU and RDNA 3 GPU with 12 Compute Units. The less expensive one, will get the Ryzen Z1 APU, packing a 6-core/12-thread Zen 4 CPU and RDNA 3 GPU with only 4 Compute Units. Both versions will feature a 7-inch 120 Hz screen with 1920x1080 resolution. As detailed earlier, the ASUS ROG Ally will ship with the Windows 11 OS and 90 days of free Xbox PC Game Pass Ultimate membership.

If something seems too good to be true, then it often is and the earlier rumoured price point of the "vanilla" ASUS ROG Ally at US$499.99 was apparently one such instance. Pricing information from serial Twitter leaker SnoopyTech suggests it will instead be priced at US$599.99, which seems a lot more realistic. Aside from using the 6-core CPU with a more limited GPU, the cheaper ROG Ally will also see its internal storage cut in half to 256 GB, compared to 512 GB for the "Extreme" version.

The rest of the specs appear to be identical, with both models sporting 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory, the 7-inch, 120 Hz 1080p display and possibly even the same 40 Whr battery pack. At US$70 more than the equivalent Steam Deck, it might be a tough sell, especially as it's only US$100 to upgrade to the fully featured version, a much smaller cost increase compared to each of the Steam Deck SKUs, where you're looking at spending more to get more. It could simply be that this is a sales tactic by ASUS, to push most of its potential customers to buy the more expensive model.

ASUS's sensational handheld game console, the ROG Ally, will be priced at $699.99 for the model powered by the top AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor, according to a leak by SnoopyTech. This top model will feature a 7-inch Full HD screen with 120 Hz refresh-rate, and Dolby Atmos-capable audio. Under the hood, the Ryzen Z1 is based on the 4 nm "Phoenix" silicon, featuring an 8-core/16-thread "Zen 4" CPU, and its full Navi3 iGPU based on the RDNA3 graphics architecture, with 12 CU (768 stream processors). This chip is wired to 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory, and a 512 GB NVMe SSD.

ASUS has a cheaper model of the ROG Ally designed for cloud gaming and casual gaming, powered by the Ryzen Z1 (non-Extreme). The non-Extreme Z1 rocks a 6-core/12-thread "Zen 4" CPU, but a heavily cut down iGPU with just 4 CU (256 stream processors), which are plenty for the intended use-cases. ASUS could price this much lower than the top model, with speculations pointing to $499.

ASUS ROG Ally, the company's handheld game console that started out as an April Fool's joke before being announced as a serious product development and ASUS's answer to the Steam Deck, is a lean-mean gaming machine powered by the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor. Announced earlier today, the Z1 Extreme is a highly power-optimized version of the 4 nm "Phoenix" silicon that packs an 8-core/16-thread CPU based on the "Zen 4" microarchitecture, along with its full-config iGPU based on the latest RDNA3 graphics architecture, with 12 CU (768 stream processors), and an LPDDR5 memory interface.

On the ROG Ally, the Z1 Extreme is configured with a 1.70 GHz CPU clock-speed, along with a 2.10 GHz iGPU engine clock. Multiplayer Italy went hands-on with the ROG Ally, and showed off a gameplay of "DOOM Eternal," where the ROG Ally pumps out 71 FPS, with an SoC power-draw of 25.7 W, and an SoC temperature of just 56°C. ASUS and AMD are expected to give the ROG Ally the full spectrum of software-level optimizations suitable for the device, such as dynamic resolution (Radeon Boost), which should hold frame-rates above 60 FPS at all times.

The latest entry from Geekbench database pretty much confirmed that the ASUS ROG Ally will have two different versions, featuring two different Ryzen Z1 custom APUs. While both are AMD's Phoenix APUs with Zen 4 CPU and RDNA 3 GPU architectures, they will have different specifications, with the Ryzen Z1 Extreme featuring an 8-core/16-thread configuration with 12 Compute Units (CUs) GPU, the Ryzen Z1 non-Extreme will end up with a 6-core/12-thread CPU configuration and 4 RDNA 3 CUs.

The Ryzen Z1 Extreme SKU was detailed yesterday, and this newest leak also confirms two different versions of the ASUS ROG Ally handheld console, as previously leaked. The entry in Geekbench database also shows a small difference in clock speeds between those two Ryzen Z1 SKUs, with the base frequency of 3.2 GHz and Boost of 4.9 GHz (4,939 MHz) for the non-Extreme. The Ryzen Z1 Extreme has a base frequency of 3.3 GHz and Boost up to almost 5.1 GHz (5,062 MHz).

ASUS is keeping the hype up for its upcoming ROG Ally handheld console, and now it has confirmed the worldwide release and teased that it could come sooner than anyone expected, which is pretty impressive. Announced on April 1st, the ASUS ROG Ally has impressive specifications, running on yet to be detailed AMD 4 nm custom APU based on Zen 4 CPU and RDNA 3 GPU architecture.

The ASUS ROG Ally measures at 280 x 133 x 39 mm and weighs 608 grams, making it shorter, narrower, thinner, and lighter than its competitor, Valve's Steam Deck. It has a 7-inch display with 1920x1080 resolution, 120 Hz refresh rate, 5 ms response time, and 500 nits of brightness. According to earlier hands-on previews of the prototype from Dave2D and LinusTechTips, ASUS did a great job with the dual-fan cooling solution, making it very quite. It will also have a dedicated PCIE Gen 3 x8 XG connector, which allows it to connect to the recently launched XG Mobile GPU, an external RTX 4090 GPU which retails at $1999.99 in the US. Linus also noted that the ROG Ally will offer 50 percent higher performance at 15 W and twice the performance at 35 W, compared to the Steam Deck. As noted, ASUS has now confirmed that the ROG Ally will launch worldwide, and that it might be sooner that we expect, linking to Best Buy for those that live in North America.