ASUS’s ROG Xbox Ally (Ryzen Z2A version) has dropped to US$499.99 on Amazon in the United States, a hard cut of US$100 from the list price of US$599.99. The conversion is about TWD 15,998.33 / HKD 3,918.50 / MYR 2,014.16. If you just want the cheapest “Xbox Ally entrance ticket”, now is your chance!
Ryzen Z2A + 16GB + 512GB, sufficient specifications but not top-end
Let’s make the name clear first. The one on sale this time is the standard ROG Xbox Ally, not the higher-end Ally X. Its core configuration is AMD Ryzen Z2A, 16GB LPDDR5-6400 memory, 512GB M.2 2280 SSD, and the system is Windows 11 Home. This combination allows you to play, install, and run Windows, and if you are “thinking that Steam Deck performance is not good enough, so I came to buy this”, this is really the right one!
Good screen and body configuration
Its panel is a 7-inch 1920×1080 IPS, supports a 120Hz refresh rate, has a brightness of 500 nits, and comes with AMD FreeSync Premium and Gorilla Glass protection. Other specifications also follow the “everything that should be included” route: 60Wh battery, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth, dual USB-C, UHS-II microSD card reader, and weighs about 670g. To put it bluntly, this is not the kind of low-end promotional machine that makes people look like idiots. At least the hardware looks pretty good. But the real problem is usually not the hardware, but whether you are willing to get along with a Windows handheld machine on a daily basis.
Directly surpassing the Steam Deck OLED, and leaving its own non-Xbox version of Ally X behind
Price comparison is the focus this time. ASUS’s own list price for the non-Xbox version of ROG Ally On the other hand, Valve’s Steam Deck OLED series starts at US$549 (512GB, approximately TWD 17,566.51 / HKD 4,302.59 / MYR 2,211.59), and 1TB is US$649 (approximately TWD 20,766.24 / HKD 5,086.31 / MYR 2,614.44). In other words, this device is not only “cheaper than the Steam Deck OLED”, but it also puts itself in an awkward but attractive position: you want a Windows handheld, but don’t want to spend the flagship price. This price will make it difficult to pretend not to see it.
Of course, the top-of-the-line ROG Xbox Ally