The Asus ROG Ally, a new PC gaming handheld, is slated to go on sale June 13, but if you’re looking to buy the most affordable model, you’ll have to wait a little longer.
Pre-orders for the $699 model begin today ahead of a June 13 launch. But the cheaper $599 version won’t be available until sometime in Q3, meaning it could arrive as late as September.
Both models contain 512GB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD memory and a 7-inch 1080p screen. The main difference is the chip. The $699 model contains a more powerful AMD Z1 Extreme processor built with eight CPU cores and 12 RDNA3 GPU compute units. The chip can offer up to 8.6 Teraflops of computing power. (In contrast, Sony’s PlayStation 5 can offer 10.3 Tflops.)
The $599 Ally, on the other hand, comes with a lower-powered AMD Z1 processor that features six CPU cores and only four RDNA3 GPU computer units. As a result, Asus says the $599 model can only offer up to 2.8 Tflops in performance.
So it may be worthwhile to pay $100 more for the $699 version if frame rates are important to you. Asus claims the more expensive model can offer 50 to 60 frames per seconds on games. But our review found you’ll need to lower the graphics settings to enable smooth performance. Otherwise you might encounter FPS rates at around 40 to 30 or even lower.
Hence, the $599 version will probably offer even lower performance. Still, the pricing could make the product more competitive against Valve’s Steam Deck, which starts at $399 for the 64GB model but reaches up to $649 for the 512GB version. The Steam Deck also uses an older AMD chip and relies on a 720p screen.
Best Buy is already taking pre-orders for the $699 Asus ROG Ally. The retailer’s page for the $599 model is also up, but the pre-order process has yet to start.
