Asus Prepares Ally To Crush Steam Deck On June 13th
Asus has announced its new generation handheld gaming console series, Ally, with a launch date of June 13 via BestBuy. Pre-orders may be placed immediately by those who wish to reserve one, but let’s first consider the greatest reason that you might want one:
| AMD Handheld APUs | Cores/Threads | RDNA Gen | Compute Units | Teraflops | Cache (MB) | TDP (W) |
| Ryzen Z1 Extreme | 8/16 | 3 | 12 | 8.6 | 24 | 9-30W |
| Ryzen Z1 | 6/12 | 3 | 4 | 2.8 | 22 | 9-30W |
| Steam Deck APU | 4/8 | 2 | 8 | 1.6 | 8 | 15 |
The version of the Ally that launches on June 13 has the fastest of the two new APUs, and both of those make rubbish of the previous-gen part used in the Steam Deck. We’re talking about over five times the performance for a $50 price difference.
Did that just make you do a double take? We certainly did: The Ryzen Z1 Extreme version of the Asus Ally, including its special antiglare coated screen and 512GB 2230 M.2 drive, is priced at only $699 here in the US. Meanwhile, the 512GB Steam Deck is $650.
| Model | ROG Ally |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen™ Z1 Extreme Processor CPU: Zen 4 architecture, 8-core /16-threads, 24MB total cache ,up to 5.10 Ghz boost GPU: 12 RDNA3 CUs, up to 2.7GHz, 8.6 TFlops, default 4GB RAM capacity APU Power: 9-30W |
| Display | 7-inch |
| FHD (1920 x 1080) 16:9 | |
| IPS-level | |
| glossy display | |
| 500 nits peak brightness | |
| sRGB:100% | |
| Gorilla® Glass Victus™ | |
| Gorilla® Glass DXC | |
| Touch Screen (10-point multi-touch) | |
| Refresh Rate:120Hz | |
| Response Time:7ms | |
| Support Dolby Vision HDR | |
| AMD FreeSync™ Premium | |
| Memory | 16GB LPDDR5 on board (6400MT/s dual channel) |
| Storage | 512GB PCIe® 4.0 NVMe™ M.2 SSD (2230) |
| I/O Ports | 1 x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack |
| 1 x ROG XG Mobile Interface and USB Type-C combo port (with USB 3.2 Gen2, supports DisplayPort™ 1.4) | |
| 1 x UHS-II microSD card reader (supports SD, SDXC and SDHC) | |
| Control and Input | Gamepad controls: A B X Y buttons D-pad L & R Hall Effect analog triggers L & R bumpers View button Menu button Command Center button Armoury Crate button 2 x assignable grip buttons Thumbsticks: 2 x full-size analog sticks with capacitive touch Haptics: HD haptics Gyro: 6-Axis IMU |
| Audio | AI noise-canceling technology |
| Dolby Atmos | |
| Hi-Res certification | |
| Built-in array microphone | |
| 2-speaker system with Smart Amplifier Technology | |
| Network and Communication | Triple band Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) 2 x 2 Bluetooth 5.21 |
| Battery | 40WHrs |
| Power Supply | 65W USB Type-C PD 3.0 power supply Adapter: 65W AC Adapter, Output: 20V DC, 3.25A, 65W, Input: 100~240V AC 50/60Hz universal |
| AURA SYNC | Yes |
| Weight | ~608g (1.34 lbs) |
| Dimensions (W x D x H) | 28.0 x 11.1 x 2.12 ~ 3.24 cm (11.02″ x 4.37″ x 0.83″ ~ 1.27″) |
| Xbox Game Pass | 3 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate included2 |
| Security | Built-in Fingerprint Sensor Microsoft Pluton security processor |
Unlike some other sites that spoke of dollars and Euros, we at the northern border were privy to the US and Canadian press releases: Our sympathies go out to Canadians who are being asked to pay $200 more.
