ASUS ROG Ally to launch $699 in flagship variant
ASUS upcoming handheld console now has a rumored price.
If there is something that rarely ends up being correct ahead of any product launch, it is pricing. However, occasionally, the source is reputable enough, or multiple sources corroborate the information. This is how we ended up leaking the RTX 4070 $599 price, confirmed to us by as many as four independent sources.
When it comes to ASUS ROG Ally leaks, what better source is there than BestBuy, the ASUS official partner for the launch of the console. The flagship version of the console reportedly costs $699.99, and it is a variant with the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU. It was long speculated that ASUS would price their console at a higher price, only to offer something competitive to Steam Deck with AMD Ryzen Z1 non-Extreme chip. Turns out that might not be the case.
ASUS ROG Ally Console Pricing, Source: BestBuy
The console with 16GB LPDDR5 memory (still no confirmation on the clock) and 512GB storage is set to launch at $699.99. At this price, the ASUS console would be just $50 pricier than the Steam Deck, which is available for $649 with the same memory and storage specs. The Valve handheld console is also available for as little as $399 for the eMMC variant, but ASUS is not planning to use this type of storage. As far as we know, ROG Ally will also launch with 256GB storage, when combined with AMD Ryzen Z1 chip, might take the price down by $100-150.
ASUS is to officially announce the availability, preorder, and pricing information on May 11th during a dedicated event.
| Handheld Gaming Consoles | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| VideoCardz | ASUS ROG Ally (Extreme) | ASUS ROG Ally | Valve Steam Deck |
| Picture |  |  | |
| Architecture | AMD Zen4 & RDNA3 | AMD Zen2 & RDNA2 | |
| APU | AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme 8C/16T up to 5.1 GHz | AMD Ryzen Z1 6C/12T up to 5.0 GHz | AMD Van Gogh 4C/8T up to 3.5 GHz |
| SoC GPU | AMD RDNA3 12CU @ 2.8 GHz | AMD RDNA3 4CU @ 2.7 GHz | AMD RDNA2 8CU @ 1.6 GHz |
| External GPU | ROG XG Mobile (up to RTX 4090) | Not officially | |
| Memory | 16GB LPDDR5 | 16GB LPDDR5-5500 | |
| Storage | 512GB PCIe Gen4x4 | 256GB PCIe Gen4x4 | 64GB eMMC (PCIe Gen2x1) 256GB/512GB NVMe (PCIe Gen3x4) |
| Display | 7″ 1920×1080, 120Hz (VRR), 500 nits, 7ms | 7″ 1280×800, 60Hz | |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 | Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5 | |
| Battery | 40 Whr, 4S1P, 4-cell Li-ion | 40 Whr | |
| Weight | 608 g | 669 g | |
| Dimensions | 28.0 x 11.3 x 3.9 cm | 29.8 x 11.7 x 4.9 cm | |
| OS | Windows 11 | Steam OS/Win 11 | |
| Release Price | $699 (Z1E+16G+512GB) | $??? (Z1+16G+256GB) | $399 (16G+64GB) $529 (16G+256GB) $649 (16G+512GB) |
| Release Date | May 11th (Announcement) | February 2022 | |
Source: The Verge, Khumail Thakur
