Asus ROG Ally: AMD Ryzen Z1 variant of the handheld to cost US$599

Asus has confirmed it will officially unveil the ROG Ally on May 11. However, a slew of leaks have effectively ruined Asus' surprise, including the price of its top-spec model. An eagle-eyed Notebookcheck commenter (H/T Joe) also pointed noted the leaked Best Buy screenshot had the console's release date (June 13). Now, a well-known leaker has revealed the cost of the AMD Ryzen Z1 variant.

According to SnoopyTech, the Asus ROG Ally with an AMD Ryzen Z1 will cost US$599. It will come with a 256 GB NVMe SSD and 16 GB of LPDDR memory. The former is half of what its more expensive variant offers (512 GB). Valve was good enough to let users upgrade their storage, and it'll be interesting to see if Asus does the same.

While the specced-out Asus ROG Ally could pose an actual threat to the Steam Deck, its lower-end variant doesn't look as enticing. As highlighted earlier, the performance difference between the Ryzen Z1 and Ryzen Z1 Extreme is nothing to be scoffed at. Asus seems to be following the industry-wide trend of launching one not-so-impressive SKU alongside a flagship model to make the latter look better.

Furthermore, the handheld market isn't as desolate as it used to be. There are now plenty of options from lesser-known brands, such as AOKZOE, which offer the same hardware for a competitive price. Asus does, however, have the advantage of a vastly better supply chain, marketing budget and brand value. That should help it gain market share especially in areas where the Steam Deck isn't sold officially (there are many).

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