Asus ROG Ally 2: mystery handheld PC refresh with 'focus on gaming' coming as soon as 2024

When the Steam Deck was announced, it seems like everyone and their aunt is releasing a handheld gaming PC, including the Asus ROG Ally, which impressed us in our review of the device. It hasn't even been a full year since Asus announced the ROG Ally, though, and there's already talk of a second-gen gaming handheld on the horizon.

In a recent interview with Techlusive, Asus India's Vice President, Arnold Su, confirmed that the Asus ROG Ally 2 — not an official name — will "likely" arrive in 2024.

"…we most likely will launch a second generation [handheld gaming console] this year. We will still keep the Windows features, but we will focus more on gaming." - Arnold Su, vice president Asus India (via Techlusive).

Exact specifications of the upcoming device are unknown, but it's unlikely to use the same AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor that the first-generation Asus ROG Ally (curr. $699.99 at Best Buy) and the Lenovo Legion Go (curr. $649.99 at Lenovo or Amazon) were based on.

One plausible theory is that Asus will follow in the steps of MSI with an Intel Meteor Lake Core Ultra 7 155H or Core Ultra 5 135H, like OneXPlayer has.

As a reminder, the MSI Claw A1M is also due in the second half of 2024, and a slew of other companies, including Ayaneo, OneXPlayer, and GPD have announced new handheld devices coming this year, as well. 

Su's comment that the second-gen device will be more gaming-focussed hints at new features coming to the ROG Ally 2 — perhaps a different form factor, an OLED display, or even detachable controls and trackpads could be on the cards.