ASUS has officially launched its ROG Ally X handheld gaming console which features so many upgrades that it almost feels like the ROG Ally 2.
ASUS ROG Ally X May Not Feature A Next-Gen AMD Ryzen Chip But The Rest of The Upgrades Make It Feel Like a Full-on Successor To The Original Handheld That Excels In Every Way Possible
ASUS has officially lifted the curtains off its ROG Ally X handheld gaming console which brings a range of upgrades to the original ROG Ally design which is regarded as one of the best gaming handhelds on the market right now.
Starting with the specifications, the ASUS ROG Ally X retains the same AMD Ryzen Z1 APU which offers great performance and efficiency with its 8 cores based on the Zen 4 core architecture & 16 threads. The chip features 24 MB of L3 cache and clock speeds of up to 5.1 GHz. It also comes with an integrated RDNA 3 iGPU with 12 compute units clocked at 2800 MHz. That's the only bit that has not changed.
In terms of memory, the ASUS ROG Ally X goes big with up to 24 GB of LPDDR5X memory which clocks in at 7500 MT/s speeds in a dual-channel mode. Also, the ROG Ally X comes with a full M.2 slot in the 2280 form factor, allowing for up to 1 TB capacities which is double that of the original variant. I/O is also mostly the same but instead of the dedicated XG Mobile eGPU connector, the ASUS ROG Ally X comes with two Type-C ports, one of which is USB4 (Thunderbolt 4). This allows users who want to use the device with an eGPU to do so and for those who don't use eGPUs, you have an additional USB port at your disposal.
For the design, ASUS has made some noticeable changes that allow for a much larger 80Wh battery capacity, twice as much as the original model (40Wh) and there are also updates to the internal zero gravity thermal solution which comes with new fan designs that are 23% smaller but feature 50% more fan blades allowing for 10% higher airflow. The new tunnel design is also made to quickly dissipate heat out of the chassis and to do so, there's an additional third vent to blow hot air out. The new design allows for up to 24% more airflow and up to 6C lower panel temperatures.
ASUS didn't stop there, but they also made modifications to the look and feel of the new ROG Ally X handheld which now comes with a Precision D-Pad, a Joystick that can sustain up to 5 million cycles and better reach for the D-Pad and the joysticks.
The Macro M-Keys are still there but have been made smaller so that they are less intrusive since that was an issue with the previous design. Overall, the ASUS ROG Ally X looks great with its new all-black color scheme and also feels better in your hands. It measures 280.2x114x36.9mm. The display is a FHD panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and touchscreen design.
ASUS also announced its latest software package which comes in the form of Armoury Crate SE V1.5 which brings a more intuitive UI, more customization, and new functions. The new updates are going to roll out in July 2024.
Hands On With The ASUS ROG Ally X
I also went on a little hands-on with the ASUS ROG Ally X handheld and the first thing that I noticed was that it was a bit more ergonomic than the previous model. It felt right throughout and that's a great thing. Right out of the box, you'll be met with a handheld that feels premium and is well-designed. Despite weighing 70g more at 678g, it doesn't feel that heavy at all either.
In terms of configurations, you can set the operating mode yourself to 13W "Silent", 17W "Performance" or 25W "Turbo" modes. You can also adjust things manually, tuning the SPL, SPPT, and PPT up to 35W. There are also three fan profiles and the information tab showed us a peak of 5100 RPM on one of the fans with 21.8 dBA noise. CPU and GPU temperatures were in the 60C range and the device was getting a bit toasty but nothing that would get your hands fired up.
For the GPU, you can set the assigned memory from 1 GB up to 8 GB and AMD's advanced graphics options such as RSR (Radeon Super Resolution), Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF), Radeon Anti-Lag, Radeon Boost, and Radeon Chill are still there.
As for availability and pricing, the ASUS ROG Ally X handheld is now available for pre-order starting at $799 US and will officially hit retail shelves by July 2024. The handheld will come with a 3 months free game pass. The handheld will also get a few additional accessories like the 140W USB Type-C GaN charger that comes with three Type-C and a Type-A port. There's also a black hard case but these would be sold separately.
Handheld Gaming Console Lineup:
| Name | ASUS ROG Ally X | MSI CLAW AM1 | Steam Deck OLED | Lenovo Legion Go | ASUS ROG ALLY | Ayaneo Air 1S | AYANEO 2S | AOKZOE A1 Pro | AOKZOE A2 | GPD Win Max 2 | GPD Win 4 (2023) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU Name | AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme | Intel Core Ultra Series 1 | AMD Sephiroth | AMD Ryzen Z1 Series | AMD Ryzen Z1 Series | AMD Ryzen 7 7840U | AMD Ryzen 7 7840U | AMD Ryzen 7 7840U | AMD Ryzen 7 7840U | AMD Ryzen 7 7840U | AMD Ryzen 7 7840U AMD Ryzen 5 7640U |
| CPU / GPU Architecture | 4nm Zen 4 / RDNA 3 | Meteor Lake / Arc Xe-LPG | 6nm Zen 2 / RDNA 2 | 4nm Zen 4 / RDNA 3 | 4nm Zen 4 / RDNA 3 | 4nm Zen 4 / RDNA 3 | 4nm Zen 4 / RDNA 3 | 4nm Zen 4 / RDNA 3 | 4nm Zen 4 / RDNA 3 | 4nm Zen 4 / RDNA 3 | 4nm Zen 4 / RDNA 3 |
| CPU Cores / Threads | 8 / 16 @ 5.1 GHz | 16 / 22 @ 4.8 GHz 14 / 20 @ 4.5 GHz | 4 / 8 @ 3.5 GHz | 8 / 16 @ 5.1 GHz | 8 / 16 @ 5.1 GHz | 8 / 16 @ 5.1 GHz | 8 / 16 @ 5.1 GHz | 8 / 16 @ 5.1 GHz | 8 / 16 @ 5.1 GHz | 8 / 16 @ 5.1 GHz | 8 / 16 @ 5.1 GHz 6 / 12 @ 4.9 GHz |
| GPU Cores | 12 CU @ 2.8 GHz | 8 Xe @ 2.25 GHz 7 Xe @ 2.20 GHz | 8 CU @ 1.6 GHz | 12 CU @ 2.8 GHz | 12 CU @ 2.8 GHz | 12 CU @ 2.7 GHz | 12 CU @ 2.8 GHz | 12 CU @ 2.7 GHz | 12 CU @ 2.7 GHz | 12 CU @ 2.7 GHz | 12 CU @ 2.7 GHz 8 CU @ 2.6 GHz |
| Memory | 24 GB LPDDR5X-7500 | 16 GB LPDDR5-6400 | 16 GB LPDDR5-6400 | 16 GB LPDDR5-7500 | 16 GB LPDDR5-6400 | 32-64 GB LPDDR5x | 16 GB LPDDR5x-7500 | 32-64 GB LPDDR5x | 32-64 GB LPDDR5x | 16 GB LPDDR5x-7500 | 16-64 GB LPDDR5x-7500 |
| Storage | 1 TB (M.2) Micro-SD UHS-H | 512 GB / 1 TB (M.2) | 512 GB / 1 TB (M.2) | 512 GB- 2 TB (M.2) | 512 GB (M.2) + Micro-SD UHS-H | 512 GB - 2 TB (M.2) | 512 GB - 2 TB (M.2) | 512 GB- 2 TB (M.2) | 512 GB - 4 TB (M.2) | 512 GB - 2 TB (M.2) | 512 GB - 4 TB |
| Display Resolution | 1920x1080 @ 120Hz | 1920x1080 @ 120Hz | 1280x800 @90Hz | 2560x1600 @ 144Hz | 1920x1080 @ 120Hz | 1920x1080 @ 60Hz | 1920x1200 | 1920x1200 @ 60Hz | 1920x1200 | 1920x1200 | 1920x1200 @60Hz |
| Screen Type | 7-Inch | 7-Inch IPS | 7.4" OLED | 8.8-Inch Full IPS | 7-Inch | 5.5-Inch Amoled | 7-Inch Full IPS | 8-Inch Full IPS | 7-Inch Laminated IPS | 10.1-Inch Full IPS | 6-Inch Full IPS |
| WiFi Option | WIFI 6E + BT 5.2 | TBD | WIFI 6E + BT 5.3 | WIFI 6E + BT 5.2 | WIFI 6E + BT 5.2 | WIFI 6E + BT 5.2 | WIFI 6.0 + BT 5.0 | WIFI 6E + BT 5.2 | WIFI 6E + BT 5.2 | WIFI 6.0 + BT 5.0 | WIFI 6.0 + BT 5.0 |
| Battery Size | 80Wh | 53Wh | 50.0Wh | 49.2Wh | 40Wh | 38Wh | 50.25Wh | 65Wh | 48Wh | 67Wh | 45.62Wh |
| Weight | 678g | 675g | 640g | 845g | 608g | 405g | TBD | 729g | 649g | 1005g | 598g |
| Form Factor | 280.2x114x36.9mm | 294x117x21mm | 298x117x49mm | 299x131x41mm | 28.0 x 11.3 x 3.9mm | 224x89.5x21.6mm | TBD | 28.5 x 12.5 x 2.1mm | 265x105x22 | 227 × 160 × 23 mm | 220 × 92 × 28 mm |
| Operating System | Windows 11 | Windows 11 | Steam OS/Windows 11 | Windows 11 | Windows 11 | Windows 11 | Windows 11 | Windows 11 | Windows 11 | Windows 11 | Windows 11 |
| Release Date | July 2024 | 1H 2024 | November 2023 | November 2023 | May 2023 | 2023 | May 2023 | May 2023 | December 2023 | May 2023 | August, 2023 |
| Price | $799 US | $699 (125H + 16 GB + 512 GB) $799 (155H + 16 GB + 1 TB) | $549 (16 GB + 512 GB) $649 (16 GB + 1 TB) | $649 (16 GB + 512 GB) $749 (16 GB + 1 TB) $799 (16 GB + 2 TB) | $699 (Z1 Extreme) $599 (Z1 Standard) | $799 (16 GB + 512 GB) | TBD | $799 US (32 GB +512 GB) | $699 US (32 GB + 512 GB) | 730 EUR (7640U+16+1) 959 EUR (7840U+32+2) | TBD |
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