A new competitor to Steam Deck is coming, it’s the ASUS ROG Ally console. More potential than Steam Deck.
ASUS is not going to let Ayaneo and other Valve monopolize the portable Windows console market. After an announcement made on April 1 that could have cast doubt on a simple joke, ASUS has confirmed that it is working on the design of its own handheld console, dubbed the ROG Ally. The company has provided very few details about this machine at this time, but indicates that the system will run on Windows 11 and use a custom AMD Ryzen chip. You can even connect an external GPU.
A new competitor to Steam Deck is coming, it’s the ASUS ROG Ally console.
As noted by The Verge, YouTuber Dave 2D has learned that this ROG Ally console will feature a 7-inch 1080p touchscreen with a 16:9 aspect ratio for a 120Hz refresh rate, while Steam Deck offers a slab with a 16:10 aspect ratio., but limited to 800p and 60Hz. Regardless, the ASUS console should be smaller, thinner, and slightly lighter than Valve’s machine. However, it is impossible to know how much this screen will affect the overall autonomy of the device.
The company hasn’t revealed a price or launch date for this handheld console, but if you’re interested, know that you can sign up to be notified when pre-orders open – at Best Buy in the US –.
More potential than Steam Deck
Will this ROG Ally console be successful? This will mostly depend on its price and how it performs compared to the Stema Deck, which starts at $399, and more expensive units like the $850 Ayaneo 2. However, according to early ASUS marketing materials, this machine could have some serious advantages. Unlike Steam Deck, which officially limits compatible games to those in its Steam catalog (and again, not all), the ROG Ally console can theoretically run all games that meet the hardware prerequisites. And where brands like Ayaneo and GPD are relatively minor and ASUS is a big name in the industry, it shouldn’t be too hard to find Ally on the shelves.