ASUS Officially Announces ROG Ally, Launching May 11
ASUS Officially Announces ROG Ally, Launching May 11
The brand’s first ever handheld console will be powered by AMD’s new custom Ryzen Z1 series processors.
Since the April Fools, ASUS’s ROG Ally handheld console has been making headlines with many expecting this will be Steam Deck’s biggest competition to date. Today ASUS has dropped the launch date: May 11, 2023. The company says detailed specifications and pricing will be revealed with the launch livestream scheduled on 10:00PM Taipei time (Malaysian Time).
Unlike other handheld consoles which nearly universally uses off-the-shelf mobile chips from both Intel and AMD, the ROG Ally is powered by a custom AMD chip named Ryzen Z1. AMD has since announced the new chip through their own press release, with the Ryzen Z1 featuring 6C/12T and 4 RDNA3 CUs, whereas the more powerful Ryzen Z1 Extreme gets fully-fledged 8C/16T with 12 RDNA3 CUs.
It’s safe to assume the Ally will use Ryzen Z1 Extreme, given the recent shipping manifest leak – though there’s no word if there may be an ‘entry-level’ version of the device that may use the standard Ryzen Z1 chip instead. Aside from the APU, the Ally also features 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM with “upgradable” 512GB PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSD. Other expansions include a UHS-II microSD slot for even more storage, plus a dedicated XGm port for docking the XG Mobile with external GPUs.
Another feature ASUS is touting with its 608g-light chassis is the “Zero Gravity thermal system”, which comprises of a dual-fan array with ultra-thin heatsink fins and high-friction heatpipes to maintain cooling performance regardless of its orientation. Noise levels are said to be as low as 20dB with dual fans active, much less than 37dB produced by Valve’s Steam Deck. The display is another highlight, too – the 120Hz 7ms FHD panel is AMD Freesync Premium certified, with 500 nits of brightness and touchscreen support for easier navigation in Windows 11 that it come pre-installed with.
Speaking of software, the Ally features a custom version of Armoury Crate, dubbed Special Edition, which features quick performance mode toggles, game launcher, in-game monitoring, AURA SYNC support and more. The device will come with bundled 3-month trial of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, providing unlimited access to Xbox’s game catalog.
ASUS has set up an event page for the ROG Ally launch here, so be sure to add it to your calendar if you’d like to watch this handheld in action in May 11.
Pokdepinion: Looking forward to the launch.
