The Asus ROG Ally was the first true Steam Deck challenger; While I would argue that it fell a bit short, it has significantly improved the state of affordable Windows handheld gaming with its built-in performance enhancements and smooth variable refresh rate screen. Now Asus is starting to unveil its successor: the ROG Ally X.
Don’t call it Ally 2: When it launches in the second half of the year, the Windows-based Ally X will feature the same AMD Z1 Extreme chipset and 48-120Hz VRR screen. It’s not quite like the Steam Deck OLED, where Valve let AMD rework its chip for better battery life and stability and added a bigger, brighter, beautiful new OLED panel with improved response time and slimmer bezels.
“We are not expecting 30 to 40 percent more capacity.”
But the new black handheld will have a significant improvement in battery life, says Asus SVP Shawn Yen The edge – Because Asus will cram a significantly larger battery into the revised case of the Ally X. “We’re not expecting 30 to 40 percent more capacity,” he tells me. “We’re looking at a lot more than that.”
Asus does not want to give specific specifications today. Instead, Yen asks me how much battery life I would realistically want from a redesigned handheld. I’d say I’d like to double the battery life to three hours in a worst case scenario, as I’m currently seeing maybe 1.5 hours in games. “It won’t disappoint your worst-case scenario,” he tells me.
According to Yen, battery life has been the biggest requirement since launch; Asus has seen the community sometimes even attach huge external batteries to their handhelds, even though the Ally theoretically had room for a larger battery.
“When we started [the original Ally]“We didn’t have such a clear understanding that the battery might be something that people wanted more than a lighter device,” he admits.
The battery isn’t the only change Asus is talking about today. Ally X is about addressing many of the community’s top priorities in revamping the original. “We think about battery and storage, graphics and storage, ports… our goal is to integrate as many of these as possible into a device like this,” says Gabriel Meng, senior product manager at Asus.
Again, there are no specs here today, but Asus says that the Ally It should have a longer M.2 2280 SSD slot to make it easier for buyers to find and purchase larger SSD upgrades than the current M.2 2230 allows .
The Ally Although I didn’t get to see it for myself, Asus says the handheld will be slightly heavier due to the larger battery, with redesigned grips and slight adjustments to things like the D-pad, joysticks and triggers.
Above: a video showing the inside of the original ROG Ally.
And while Asus still won’t admit that the Ally’s SD card reader ever had a fault, it tells me that it’s the exact same SD card reader it uses in its laptops and that it doesn’t believe the problems are are actually related to overheating, the Ally “We don’t want people to think that’s us had to do,” says Meng. “We had to move things around on the board to make them fit.”
According to Asus, the Ally X’s improvements will come at a price; Unlike the Steam Deck OLED, which largely replaced Valve’s LCD model at the same price, the Ally X will launch at a higher price than the original. The original 2023 ROG Ally will also still be available and may receive discounts.
As for a ROG Ally 2, Asus agrees that it has a similar philosophy to Valve: It wants to build a true successor if it can offer a significant increase in performance, not just an incremental one.
And while Asus doesn’t plan to sell an aftermarket battery upgrade for Ally original buyers, there’s a big software update coming for those buyers too: Armory Crate SE 1.5 isn’t just a very fresh coat of paint and navigation improvements, it’s finally going to be Players can share their keybindings for various games with other Ally owners.
Asus tells me it still believes in Windows. While Meng says “we’re very open to finding other solutions” and that the company is in discussions with Valve, Asus says it has philosophical and logistical reasons for sticking with Microsoft’s operating system, including a desire for “inclusivity.” all different gaming platforms” instead of relying on Steam. I’ll explain some of the logistical reasons in a future story.