When ASUS decided to announce its rival handheld console to Steam Deck on April 1st, many thought it was just a joke. Incidentally, even if it were true, many thought that the product would only hit the market around 2024.
Well… They were wrong! ROG Ally is a big ASUS bet for 2023, and by all indications, it’s really about to hit the shelves.
Of course, we still have no idea about prices, nor many of the technical specifications. But we already know that the console will be based on a Ryzen 7840U APU, or a chip very similar to this one. What is clear, means access to the latest AMD architectures (Zen 4 and RDNA3), and therefore, a level of performance that is pure and simply incredible.
ASUS ROG Ally about to arrive with Ryzen 7840U APU
So, in case you’re distracted, the ASUS ROG Ally console has already appeared on various certification sites, with two models (RC71L and RC71X). Which could mean different versions in the field of storage, or simply different colors.
This could also mean different specs in the processing field (CPU/GPU), but I very honestly hope that doesn’t happen, because ASUS needs to bet simply and aggressively in this market. Which of course, in addition to a single powerful model, also means an aggressive price.
What is an aggressive price in this market? Well, in Portugal, the Steam Deck starts at €419 in its 64GB version (eMMC) and goes up to €679 in its version with more storage (512GB) and better finishes. We also already had 10% discounts made by Valve itself, in all versions of the console. Therefore, ASUS cannot, and should not, launch a more expensive version than the Steam Deck with 512GB. If this will happen? Well… who knows.
For now, what has been made public is the implementation or adaptation of the Ryzen 7840U APU with 8 Zen 4 cores (16 Threads) and a 780M RDNA 3 GPU with 12 compute units. A processor that should mean significantly higher performance levels compared to Valve’s Steam Deck. (Which could also mean higher prices. After all, it’s a much more advanced chip, and more expensive. Hopefully not much higher prices.)
As for the launch, since the console is already certified, it is very likely that it will arrive soon. I would say in the next few weeks. It is also worth mentioning that the launch will be Global!
