ASUS has revealed how much the ASUS ROG Ally will cost and when it’ll be available for purchase. Read on to find out all the latest info.
How Much Will the ASUS ROG Ally Cost?
The Z1 Extreme model of the ASUS ROG Ally will cost $599.99 for the Z1 model, and $699/£699 for the Z1 Extreme version. It’s also available to order on BestBuy in the US and the ASUS Store and Currys in the UK.
What Is the ASUS ROG Ally Release Date?
The worldwide release date for the ASUS ROG Ally is set for June 13, 2023.
ASUS ROG Ally Price Verdict
It goes without saying, $699.99/£699.99 is a lot of money, although it’s worth keeping that figure in perspective. That price is just $50 more than the most expensive Steam Deck at $649. Given the bump in power the ASUS ROG Ally offers, that’s not a bad deal at all.
Of course, it’s not quite that simple. At that price, it’s $200/£220 more expensive than the PlayStation 5, $200/£250 more than the Xbox Series X, and $300/£350 more than the basic 64GB eMMC Steam Deck model.
Does that mean the ASUS ROG Ally is less competitive than the Steam Deck? Not really. The Steam Deck’s cheapest model is held back by the frankly dire storage space. My 64GB model would always get filled with shaders and random leftover files. So much so, I ended up shelling out for a new SSD.
More: ASUS ROG Ally Specs and System Cooling Explained
The point here is that ASUS isn’t as focused on entry-level hardware and instead wants to offer something that won’t need upgrading or tinkering with. The idea, it seems, is once you’ve got the Ally, you won’t need much else.
It’s also worth keeping in mind the sheer power difference between the Steam Deck and the ASUS ROG Ally isn’t trivial. Neither are high-end gaming PCs, but the Ally feels like the first real challenger thanks to its sub $1000 price point and the improved tech on the inside.
Is $699.99/£699.99 a lot? Yes, absolutely. But it’s also much cheaper than what AYANEO and OneXPlayer are offering. And given the power under the hood, ASUS could have easily charged over $1000 for the device and still have it make sense. So, yeah, it’s a lot, but it’s also affordable given what it can do.
