Guide

ASUS ROG Ally specs, price & release date

Everything you need to know about the ASUS ROG Ally and how to get one.

May 11, 2023 8:10 AM

ASUS

Last month, ASUS revealed the ROG Ally, a handheld PC gaming device designed to compete with the Steam Deck. Fans were pleasantly surprised when the ROG Ally turned out to be a real product, despite being announced on April 1. Now, ASUS has shared the specs, price, and release date for the ASUS ROG Ally.

ROG Ally specs

The list of technical specs for the ROG Ally.

The ROG Ally packs a 7-inch FHD display, 120hz refresh rate, 512G PCle Gen 4 SSD, and a 16GBGB LPDDR5. The handheld is powered by an AMD Ryzen Z1. Of the two available models, one AMD processor is capable of up to 2.8 Teraflops of power, while the more expensive model can reach up to 8.6 teraflops.

The ROG Ally also runs on Windows 11 and comes with three months of PC Game Pass. During the reveal stream, ASUS showed that players will be able to natively download and run Game Pass titles from the handheld.

ROG Ally Price and release date

The back and front of an ASUS ROG Ally. — Source: ASUS

The ROG Ally starts at costs $699.99 USD and ships on June 13, 2023. It’s available now for pre-order exclusively at Best Buy. The weaker model will cost $599.99 USD and is set for a Q3 release date.

The full reveal also includes insight into ASUS’ design philosophy when creating the device, including ergonomics and cooling. The manufacturer also talks about the implementation of RGB and the ROG Ally’s Wi-Fi 6E functionality

That’s all of the important specs, price, and release date information for the ASUS ROG Ally PC gaming device. After its initial announcement in April and detailed breakdown today, we’re curious to see how it stacks up with the competition when it launches this summer. Come back to our topic page dedicated to the ROG Ally for any new information on the upcoming handheld device.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_

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Shacknews

 reply
May 11, 2023 8:10 AM

Donovan Erskine posted a new article, ASUS ROG Ally specs, price & release date
- ant321
  
   reply
  May 11, 2023 9:13 AM
  
  Preordere’d
- shirif
  
   reply
  May 11, 2023 9:18 AM
  
  Lack of suspend is seriously a big deal
  - gokart.
    
     reply
    May 11, 2023 9:29 AM
    
    yeah you kinda need that on a portable. i was reading some reddit thread a while back and someone was claiming that suspend while gaming "just works" for them in windows, which i'm skeptical of, but personally haven't tested.
    - shirif
      
       reply
      May 11, 2023 9:31 AM
      
      True true. I think the suspend is just outting computer to sleep while playing.
      
      It works on some games and not others, it's not 100% reliable
  - Serpico74
    
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    May 11, 2023 9:36 AM
    
    One of many features Microsoft needs to add if they're going to make Windows good for handheld gaming.
    
    Putting Windows into hibernate while a game is active isn't quite the same as what the Deck or Switch does. Shame because in every other way this seems better.
  - mwasher
    
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    May 11, 2023 10:13 AM
    
    the verge article said it has it? https://www.theverge.com/23695254/asus-rog-ally-handheld-gaming-pc-hands-on-preview
    
    "(And yes, the Ally can suspend and resume — that is, you can shut the device down in the middle of a game and pick up where you left off the next time you turn it on.)"
    
    or is there some other limitation they don't mention?
    - Conan
      
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      May 11, 2023 10:14 AM
      
      It doesn't work well (basically: at all) with games in Windows. It's one area where SteamOS is doing much better.
      - mwasher
        
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        May 11, 2023 10:16 AM
        
        boo
    - Serpico74
      
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      May 11, 2023 10:20 AM
      
      Its a Windows PC so it works like putting a laptop to sleep with a game running. Not the best, certainly nothing like a Switch or Deck.
      
      Even the Deck is kind of jank with suspend/resume but its the best I've seen out of a PC. Windows doesn't really even try.
      - Serpico74
        
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        May 11, 2023 10:21 AM
        
        If they could get Windows sleep to function like the Xbox, man that would be nice
      - mwasher
        
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        May 11, 2023 10:24 AM
        
        yea being a windows system that totally makes sense. i just hadn't looked into it much beyond that one article mentioning it. bummer.
        
        Serpico74
        
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        May 11, 2023 10:28 AM
        
        I'm still planning to sell my Deck. Better specs and display aside, just seeing how much more compact the Ally is makes it seem much more suitable for travel.
        
        mwasher
        
         reply
        May 11, 2023 10:34 AM
        
        yea the deck and case take up a good chunk of my travel bag :(
        
        Serpico74
        
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        May 11, 2023 10:35 AM
        
        Photos comparing thickness show that the top of the Ally's thumbsticks are at about the same height as the entire front surface of the Deck. That's a pretty big difference
        
        mwasher
        
         reply
        May 11, 2023 10:39 AM
        
        yea that's huge
        
        Conan
        
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        May 11, 2023 10:40 AM
        
        I know it's weird, but since I generally bring a a custom portable wireless mech keyboard with me, and was carrying a portable monitor anyway, I've been using the Deck as my portable computer on my last couple trips.
        
        It obviously wouldn't work for everyone, but for me, it ends up working out to a good bit of utility for minimal space - I just strap it to the custom hardcase for the keyboard.
  - CptPlankton
    
     reply
    May 11, 2023 10:19 AM
    
    oof, that's unfortunate
  - Milleh
    
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    May 11, 2023 4:53 PM
    
    Yea that would be a deal breaker for me for sure
- Conan
  
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  May 11, 2023 10:20 AM
  
  Glad to see they're really trying with the price, but my experience with Asus's software would make me stay away until it has SteamOS support.
  - dkrulz
    
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    May 11, 2023 10:22 AM
    
    Yeah as I mentioned earlier, this is their opportunity to finally release a piece of software that doesn't suck. Lets hope they're up to the task.
    - Conan
      
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      May 11, 2023 10:26 AM
      
      They're not. They release software all the time, with basically every one of their PC hardware products, and it's all barely functional and poorly designed.
      
      The only good thing I can say about Amoury Crate is at least it actually opens and runs on Windows, which is more than I can say for the software Gigabyte apparently expected me to use.
      
      And hell, just check out today's GN video.
  - Serpico74
    
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    May 11, 2023 10:31 AM
    
    ~$700 always seemed likely to me, not just because they can get better component prices than almost anyone in the PC space but also because it wouldn't overlap with the price of their entry level laptops.
    
    Asus has a similar laptop share as Apple, they're massive.
    - Serpico74
      
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      May 11, 2023 10:33 AM
      
      Hit post too soon. Hopefully they keep improving their software! The Deck software really improved in the time I had it and hopefully the team Asus has on the Ally can do the same.
    - Conan
      
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      May 11, 2023 10:34 AM
      
      I'm aware. I mean their spinoff companies like ASRock and Pegatron are massive, which says a lot.
- Serpico74
  
   reply
  May 11, 2023 10:46 AM
  
  RGC video review: https://youtu.be/7-WlPA8acro
- gokart.
  
   reply
  May 11, 2023 11:02 AM
  
  ign review is up: https://www.ign.com/articles/asus-rog-ally-review
- Serpico74
  
   reply
  May 11, 2023 11:50 AM
  
  Wario64 with a Best Buy coupon code for their credit card holders, knocks the price down to cheaper than the maxed out Steam Deck: https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1656707618872889344
- derelict515
  
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  May 11, 2023 12:01 PM
  
  Perf and price seem nice but mediocre at best battery life and poor software is not enticing.
- valcan_s
  
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  May 11, 2023 1:00 PM
  
  Damn that is pretty nice, these handhelds are getting crazy good! I am glad the price is low so many(on other sites) thought it be like 1K, this is what we need it will force the Deck 2 to be insane and other competitors as well as motivate all to keep pushing the hardware and price points.
  
  Good times, also this is sort of crazy this is like a Gen 1.5 or 2 handheld can you imagine what Gen 3 and 4 will be like!!!!! I think the fact that AMD has a whole CPU line dedicated to this format say's a lot and the market is here to stay.
  
  Not a handheld guy mys self but I really appreciate the tech it's pretty rad.
- Serpico74
  
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  May 11, 2023 4:50 PM
  
  LTT tests it at different power profiles: https://youtu.be/qLVgr29NMA0
  
  Steam Deck outperforms the Ally at 10W while the Ally flies away at 15W.
  - Conan
    
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    May 11, 2023 4:57 PM
    
    Cryobyte also showed the deck beating everything else at 10w
- Schnapple
  
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  May 11, 2023 5:14 PM
  
  The Steam Deck Twitter account welcomes Asus to the neighborhood
  
  Congratulations to @ASUS_ROG on the announcement of the ROG Ally! We’re excited to see PC handheld ecosystem continue to grow, and for players to have more ways to play their games on the go.
  
  https://twitter.com/OnDeck/status/1656747155938488320
  
  Legitimately classy.
  - Serpico74
    
     reply
    May 11, 2023 7:49 PM
    
    Its more screens for Steam to be installed on. The more OEMs the better for Valve.
    
    The did live market research to show that people will pay ~$650 for a handheld PC, now others can pick up from there.
    - shirif
      
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      May 11, 2023 8:18 PM
      
      Yeah, SteamOS is genuinely good stuff.
      Their hardware is bad, though the sticks are really solidly made