Valve was always going to have competition after proving the market for a portable gaming console outside of the Nintendo Switch exists. The main concern was always if someone could make a viable and affordable alternative. Logitech tried its best with the G Cloud, but it’s neither affordable nor powerful. ASUS is trying to solve this with a high-performance portable gaming console that won’t break the bank.
According to the latest information, the ASUS ROG Ally will only sell for $699.99 at its most expensive configuration. This means that ASUS’ handheld costs just $51 more compared to the 512GB Steam Deck. At that price point, the ROG Ally will have the same storage (a 512GB SSD) with 16GB of RAM and an AMD Z1 Extreme chip.
If true, the higher-end ASUS Rog Ally will make Valve reconsider its pricing. But, if ASUS is feeling up to it, it can push Gabe Newell even more.
Keep in mind that this the most expensive variants of each portable console we’re talking about. At the low end of the price spectrum lies the budget-oriented Steam Deck with a 64GB eMMC at $399.
ASUS can take up a chunk of the market and steal it directly from Valve by offering a more powerful yet budget-friendly alternative at the same price point.
Of course, that’s a big IF but ASUS sounded pretty confident in its launch date announcement for the ASUS ROG Ally, so this must explain why.
There’s plenty more to like about the ASUS ROG Ally outside of what’s under the hood. The portable console has an 11-inch screen and weighs only 608 grams. More importantly, the M.2 2230 SSD is easy to upgrade and swap out while its IPS Gorilla Glass DXC guarantees that it won’t break easily. Finally, the ASUS ROG Ally will reportedly charge from 0 to 50% in half an hour with its bundled 65W USB-C power brick.
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Immediately after it was confirmed, the question on everyone’s mind was how expensive the ASUS ROG Ally was going to be. Now that the pricing concern is resolved, albeit officially, the only two big questions now are its game compatibility or optimization and availability.
If ASUS can manufacture enough of the ROG Ally to satisfy demand at launch and in the months after, Asus handheld has a good shot at giving Valve a good run for its money.
Keep an eye out for May 11 as ASUS promised to release the ROG Ally by then.
