Earlier today, we were invited to a media exclusive preview of the ASUS ROG Ally, which is due to release later this week on 11th May 2023. It is the first gaming handheld to be powered by the recently announced AMD Z1 Series of handheld processors.
Design
The ROG Ally is clad in an all-white shell, and is equipped with a 7-inch 1080p display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The left houses a d-pad and joystick, while you get the familiar XYBA buttons and another joystick on the right. There are quick menu buttons flanking the screen as well. Completing the front are two stereo front-firing speakers are placed under the buttons.
At the top, you will find a microSD card slot, an XG Mobile / USB Type-C connector, headphone jack, volume rockers, power button, LED indicators and air vents to cool the system. Each side houses two shoulder triggers.
At the back, you will find more air vents, with the right-most one being cut out to resemble the Republic of Gamers logo. There is also a reflective strip to break the monotony of the shell. Each side houses additional trigger buttons.
ROG Ally at a Glance
The ROG Ally is powered by the latest AMD Z1 Series of processors, of which our preview sample was equipped with the higher powered Z1 Extreme, which features 8 cores and 16 threads. It also has 12 RDNA 3 compute units and 24MB cache. Unlike its direct competitor, the Steam Deck, the Ally runs on Windows 11.
The gaming handheld can be used as a standalone device, and it felt comfortable in the hands. The grips are contoured nicely and it does not feel that heavy. No battery life figures as of yet, so stay tuned on the official announcement.
It can also be hooked up to an ROG XG Mobile external GPU, with up to RTX 4090. As shown in the image above, ASUS has set up a demo using the Ally as a full featured PC connected to the XG Mobile, a monitor, a keyboard and a mouse.
The company also showcased the ROG Ally in a living room setup acting as a traditional gaming console, which is connected to a large monitor and Xbox controllers. We had a blast playing Street Fighter V (although its the demo version) and I found the frame rates to be quite stable. And yes, it can run Cyberpunk 2077.
Pricing & Availability
While pricing has yet to be revealed, the gaming handheld will be released on 11th May 2023.
For more information about the ROG Ally, please visit the official product page here.
