Asus refreshed its Republic of Avid gamers Ally gaming handheld, redesigning it primarily based on person suggestions for the brand new ROG Ally X. It isn’t a totally new system, although it is shut, and there is sufficient right here that for those who handed on the unique Ally, you may think about a re-evaluation. Though, for those who do, you may see that the value has elevated from $700 to $800.
Except for the overall look, the one carryovers from the Ally to the Ally X are the AMD Ryzen Z1 Excessive processor and 7-inch full-HD contact show. And it is nonetheless operating Home windows 11. So, in case your wishlist had these being changed, perhaps subsequent time.
However nearly every little thing else has modified for the ROG Ally X. For starters, as an alternative of simply the 512GB of storage, the Ally X can have a 1TB possibility. If that seems to not be sufficient, the system’s M.2 2280 solid-state drive is accessible for upgrading.
ROG Ally X specs
| Show | 7-inch 1,920×1,080 touchscreen, 120Hz refresh price, 500 nits max brightness |
|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen Z1 Excessive |
| GPU | AMD Radeon |
| Reminiscence | 24GB LPDDR5 onboard (7,500MHz dual-channel) |
| Storage | As much as 1TB M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe SSD |
| Working System | Home windows 11 Dwelling |
| I/O Ports | Audio combo jack, microSD card reader (UHS-II, 312MB/s), USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2), USB-C (USB4, Thunderbolt 4 compliant) |
| Audio | 2-speaker system with sensible amplifier know-how, Dolby Atmos, AI noise-canceling know-how, Hello-Res Audio certification, built-in array microphone |
| Battery | 80-watt-hour |
| Energy Provide | USB-C 65-watt energy adapter |
| Dimension | 11×4.4×1.5 inches |
| Weight | 1.5 kilos (678 grams) |
Asus additionally elevated the quantity of system reminiscence. The most well-liked configurations on its ROG gaming laptops have 16GB of RAM with 8GB of video RAM. Because the Ryzen Z1 Excessive combines each CPU and graphics on a single chip, Asus bumped up the shared reminiscence from 16GB to 24GB to enhance efficiency.
Battery life is all the time an impediment with gaming handhelds, however the Ally’s 40-watt-hour battery pack was a bit too small for customers. The Ally X has a brand new battery, doubling the capability to 80 Wh. Surprisingly, the rise barely added to the entire weight, which is a hair underneath 1.5 kilos. I received to play with one for a bit, and whereas a lot of the load is towards the underside half of the system, it is evenly distributed, making it extra snug than the unique design.
Watch this: Asus ROG Ally X Gaming Handheld: First Look
To accommodate the bigger battery, Asus additionally needed to redesign the motherboard and cooling system. The method resulted in an improved cooling resolution that included smaller however extra environment friendly followers and a further fan vent. The mixture resulted in a temperature drop of as much as 42 levels Fahrenheit (6 levels Celsius). Asus stated the cooling system additionally decreased the touchscreen temperature, so it is extra snug to make use of.
Lastly, whereas it would not look too completely different from the Ally, the Ally X has barely deeper and extra rounded handgrips, smaller rear macro buttons to cut back unintentional presses, a extra exact D-pad, extra sturdy joysticks with stiffer springs and higher general management format. Asus additionally swapped out the Ally’s XG Cellular port in favor of two USB-C ports, considered one of which is Thunderbolt 4.
Once more, all these enhancements do lead to a worth enhance. The unique Ally began at $500, with a step-up configuration priced at $700. The ROG Ally X is accessible to preorder at Greatest Purchase now for $800.