OnApril Fool’s Day,Republic of Gamers, which is Asus’s gaming hardware brand,unexpectedly unveiled a trailerfor its new handheld PC gaming console. Gamers were both skeptical and excited upon seeing the announcement since they couldn’t confirm the trailer’s authenticity.
Nevertheless, many of the comments on YouTube expressed support for the console becoming a reality, and Asus and ROG have now verified thatthe console is indeed genuine, and it is possible topre-order it on Best Buyunder the name ‘ROG Ally’.
Dave2D was givenan advance opportunity to test the Ally, and his first impressions are quite positive. Asus states that ROG Ally offers twice the performance of theSteam Deck, and according to Dave, the numbers support that claim.
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The Ally’s screen has a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz, which is an improvement over the Steam Deck that had trouble reaching 50Hz or 60Hz, forcing players to use lower resolution settings on many games to get maximum performance.
Players don’t have to compromise with the Ally, as Dave puts it, thanks to its superior custom Ryzen AMD chip and 1080p display instead of Steam Deck’s 800p (this video hereshows Horizon gameplay testing for players to verify the performance).
Dave reports that the Ally’s fans are almost inaudible, even when playing the most demanding games. In addition, the Ally’s screen has a standard 16:9 aspect ratio, which feels more natural to Dave and consistent with the console’s compact and ergonomic design compared to the Steam Deck’s 16:10 aspect ratio (not to mention that not many games support a higher aspect ratio than 16:9 at the moment).
To reduce the size of the console, Asus decided not to include a touchpad like the one present on the Steam Deck. Another key difference is the implementation of Windows 11 and Asus' own Armory Crate unified software, which is different from Steam having its own OS. Dave doesn’t talk about battery life or provide any comparisons in his video, so it remains unknown how long the product will last on a single charge.
Asus has yet to announce the console’s final specs or pricing, and not much is known about the software as Dave didn’t include it in his preview. With Valve’s support and continued development of the Steam Deck OS, it’s going to be hard to topple Valve’s popular handheld console from its throne, but it’s never bad to see competition driven by passion and pushing the medium of gaming even further.
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