Unleash the Power of Next-Gen Handheld Gaming

Jul 6, 2023 - Staff Writer Setsubushi

A unique evolution of portable gaming has arrived. The ASUS ROG Ally X redefines the portable gaming experience with its powerful innovation. Offering compatibility with Steam Deck titles, as well as Full HD streaming and the ability to play games from other platforms, this device showcases unmatched performance. It is particularly impressive when game streaming services such as GeForce Now or XCloud are run on a console instead of a PC, resulting in improved performance and overall experience.

The Genesis of the ASUS ROG Ally X: A Blend of Power and Portability

When the ASUS ROG Ally’s first build made its maiden voyage, the responses to it were largely positive. The ability to unfold the handheld into a sleek laptop, paired with serious specs and high performance, earned the ROG Ally a place firmly on the receiving end of cheers instead of jeers – even if the dock also brought some difficulties, such as thermal management and user interface issues. A new model is meant to address those issues and more.

A Closer Look at Design and Features: The ASUS Mastery

The gamer is also going to blink in alarm at the ASUS ROG Ally X’s thicker chassis, until they realise this is a key advantage to thermal performance. The chassis has been re-engineered to be larger than the base model, but only 0.15 lbs heavier. This is barely noticeable during actual play. The gamer is also going to be impressed with changes the larger chassis made possible. The device now has two USB-C ports, one of which is Thunderbolt 4 compatible – no need for ASUS’s own proprietary XG Mobile interface to use an external GPU.

Enhancements that Count: Battery Life and Accessibility

Beyond skin-deep prettiness and ports, ASUS has also addressed what has long been the Achilles’ heel of handheld gaming PCs: battery life. The ASUS ROG Ally X comes with an 80Wh battery, a huge jump from the 40Wh battery of the original device – and even that improvement was made without sacrificing portability.

Performance Upgrades: The Core of the ASUS ROG Ally X

The beating heart of the ASUS ROG Ally X is still the Z1 Extreme processor – evidence that at least some in the tech giant’s ranks still believed in the hardware that fuelled the original. But while the processor might be the foundation of the Steam Deck, the real improvement will come through a ramp up of the memory and storage. 24GB of LPDDR5X memory and a 1TB SSD will give gamers a boost over the original, especially for those running it under Windows 11, while the cooling system upgrades should allow the hardware to run this time without the throttling that plagued the original.

Vivid Display and Smooth Gameplay: The Unchanged Yet Uncompromising

Some customers will undoubtedly ask for more – and a 1080p resolution feels particularly parsimonious at this price – but in a device so laser-focused on gaming, the ASUS ROG Ally X retains a 1080p resolution with 120Hz refresh rate and 500 nits peak brightness. And with OLED fast becoming a must-have feature, that feels like a conservative choice, but one that keeps the device honest.

Where to Get Your Hands on the ASUS ROG Ally X

An ASUS ROG Ally X pre-order is already available at Best Buy for $799 – not an exorbitant increase from its less powerful predecessor, considering a battery life double that of the original and a GB/GBS memory speed bump. Buy it in July 2024 and you, too, will be able to write the next chapter of handheld gaming.

Understanding ASUS: Beyond the Gaming Frontiers

ASUS is the market leader, for good reason. It has not just had games at the forefront of its vision since its inception, but has led and innovated in a broad space from motherboards to bringing the first laptops and desktops to the world to leading gaming equipment. The ASUS ROG Ally X brings all that together, and what it delivers is some of what gamers have yearned for: performance in a portable and usable form.

The ASUS ROG Ally X also signals ASUS’s willingness to disrupt the handheld gaming PC space, which looks brighter than ever before. The ASUS ROG Ally X will go on sale later this year.