The Asus ROG Ally just hit a really sweet spot in terms of pricing. Best Buy just happened to knock $150 off the price, bringing it down to a much more palatable $500. For a device that went a long way in changing what we expect from portable PC gaming, challenging the Steam Deck’s dominance and pushing performance boundaries when it came out, the price drop definitely feels like a huge deal.
Let’s talk about what makes the ROG Ally special. At its core, we have AMD’s Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor, which is almost desktop-grade. With 8 cores and 16 threads pushing up to 5.10 GHz, paired with AMD’s RDNA 3 graphics pumping out around 8.6-8.8 teraflops, it handles modern games with surprising grace at 1080p.
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What Makes The Asus ROG Ally Tick
The screen is a standout feature. The 7-inch display runs at a buttery-smooth 120Hz with FreeSync Premium, making your games look crisp and responsive. The colors really stand out, thanks to the heavy sRGB coverage, and the 500-nit peak brightness means you can actually see what you’re playing while outdoors. Plus, the super-durable Gorilla Glass Victus keeps your display protected from life’s little accidents.
ASUS clearly spent time getting the feel right. Despite all the power packed inside, the ROG Ally weighs in at 608 grams with thoughtfully angled grips that don’t cramp your hands during long sessions. Thanks to the full-size analogs and quick response times, the controls feel quite natural as well.
Running Windows 11 Home is both a blessing and an occasional headache. You can play anything. We’re talking Steam options, anything on Xbox Game Pass, that obscure PC game from 2003, whatever you want. Hook it up to a monitor, a sound setup maybe, and it transforms into a proper desktop replacement. It’s versatile in a way that most dedicated handhelds you see out on the market just aren’t.
Now, battery life, let’s be real here. You’ll get about two hours of gaming (given that you’re not running anything too heavy) before needing a charge. The 65W USB-C charger is quick, getting you back to 50 percent in 30 to 40 minutes, but you’ll want to keep it handy. Not the ideal situation, but it’s quite an understandable trade-off for this much power on a handheld.
ASUS also deserves credit for their post-launch support. Regular updates have smoothed out the early rough edges, improving performance and stability. The device feels more polished now than at launch, showing that the manufacturer is quite committed to getting things right.
At $500, the ROG Ally makes a strong case for itself. It goes toe-to-toe with or outperforms other handheld gaming PCs, often at a better price. The combination of serious AMD hardware, that excellent display, and Windows versatility creates something that handles both gaming and everyday computing with confidence. Sure, it’s not perfect. The battery life is what it is, and the OS can be a tad bit clunky at times, but the price drop makes these compromises easier to swallow. On a quick side note, Asus recently rolled out the ROG Ally X as well, so if you have a slightly higher budget and are looking for an upgrade, you can check that out as well.
In case you are interested, head on over to Best Buy and get yourself a brand new ROG Ally before the deal runs out!
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