ASUS surprised its community by unveiling its very first portable console. Thought as a direct competitor to the Steam Deck, we were able to take it in hand before its official release.
The ASUS ROG Ally console is no April Fool’s joke! We were even able to try the latter on the premises of the firm for several gaming sessions in order to get a first glimpse of this machine.
It must be said that the release of the ASUS ROG Ally has everything of a small event. It’s the first true console from the company best known for its laptops and gaming accessories. Find all the latest information and our exclusive hands-on ASUS ROG Ally mobile console.
Let’s not beat around the bush: if our handling of the ROG Ally lasted only a few minutes, our first impression remains rather good. The console is very clearly inspired by Valve’s Steam Deck to offer a product that is both portable, but can be connected to a computer park to be used as a computer.
First good point for the ROG Ally: its weight. The console from ASUS weighs just over 600 grams, which is below the weight of the Steam Deck. If this difference was already felt during our first tests, we bet that it will rather be a real argument during longer gaming sessions.
The ASUS ROG Ally feels great in the hand. The console’s grips are nice to the touch, and you should have no trouble using it just about anywhere. However, we have a little more reservations about its buttons, the feedback and sensations of which remained quite timid when we first got started. We’re a long way from the buttons of a true pro controller, but you can still pair one with ROG Ally to take advantage of your favorite peripherals.
Another strong point of the ASUS ROG Ally compared to the Steam Deck: its two front speakers. ASUS chose not to equip its portable console with a trackpad to benefit from two speakers which seemed to be of very good quality during our tests. The various sound reproductions of our test game (Cyberpunk 2077) sounded better compared to the Steam Deck.
Let’s quickly dive into the performance of ROG Ally. As mentioned above, we were able to try Cyberpunk 2077 in very good quality with different options (60 or 120 Hz, 720 or 1080p…). These different choices should greatly influence the autonomy of the console. Whether on a high or low configuration, our gaming sessions remained enjoyable, and we didn’t notice any slowdowns or game freezes. That’s reassuring and has something to keep us going until the console out!
ASUS ROG Ally is an upcoming portable console from ASUS. When we say “nomadic”, we are talking about a product that can be used both portable and on a large screen by connecting it to a dock or an HDMI cable. If this configuration may recall the famous Nintendo Switch, ASUS’ ambitions with the ROG Ally are very different: no Nintendo games on the program, but all of your games available on PC!
ASUS ROG Ally runs on a Windows environment. This means that any Windows-compatible game or application is likely to be available on ROG Ally. The console is notably capable of analyzing your different game platforms (Steam, Epic Games, Battle.Net, etc.) in order to create a library of all your available and compatible titles.
The console from ASUS has a dedicated processor called AMD Ryzen Z1. The latter should allow the console to run a large majority of games, even recent ones, in excellent quality. It has already been announced that it was possible to set the console to different modes of use in order to save battery power or deliver the maximum performance available.
These different settings of use are located in particular around the screen of the ASUS ROG Ally. The latter, protected by Gorilla Glass Victus, has a maximum brightness of 500 Nits according to the brand. It is possible to enjoy 1080p image quality with a refresh rate of 120Hz on your favorite games. In order to gain a little autonomy, the console is able to reduce the performance of its screen by switching to an image quality of 720p and a refresh rate of 60 Hz.
Pricing for the ROG Ally console has yet to be announced, but considering its performance, the cost is likely to be quite high. We can expect 200€ more considering the expected performances. However, Asus claims that the price will be competitive with other similar products in the market.
Our first hands-on also suggests that the ROG Ally will be a little more powerful than its main competitor. Therefore, it can be expected to be in a price range close to that of the Steam Deck. For your information, the Steam Deck exists in three versions, with three different prices:
There is no official release date information for the console, but we can expect from the leaks that it will see release in 2023. Republic of Gamers has opened a public link to submit your emails to be informed of the pre-order date. This could be a tactic to find out the approximate number of Gamers interested in getting their hands on the new Asus console. We keep you up to date with the latest information about the ROG Ally, its price and its release date.
