ASUS has introduced its brand new ROG Ally X gaming handheld which is an upgrade to the original model using the same AMD Ryzen Z1 APUs.
ASUS ROG Ally X Handheld Is The Upgrade That You've Been Asking For, Everything is Better But At A Higher Price
Last year, we got to see the ASUS ROG Ally which was the first handheld to make use of AMD's new Ryzen Z1 APUs based on the Zen 4 core architecture. Now a year later, ASUS is upgrading things for its handheld users and offering a beefed-up model in the form of the ROG Ally X.
The ASUS ROG Ally X is based on the same AMD Ryzen Z1 APU series but instead of having two models, the X variant will only come configured with the higher-end Ryzen Z1 Extreme which is the top APU of choice for handhelds featuring 8 cores,16 threads up to 5.1 GHz clock speeds, 12 RDNA 3 compute units and 24 MB of cache. The APU can be configured between 9W and up to 30W and given the upgraded cooling on the ROG Ally X, you can expect better performance out of this insanely efficient handheld chip.
The ROG Ally X sees major changes in the battery and storage department, with the battery being upgraded to 30-40% larger capacities (ASUS calls the battery improvement very good), offering twice as much gaming time versus the original model. The storage now comes with support for NVMe M.2 SSDs with up to 2280 form factor support which means you can plug in anywhere from 4 to 8 TB drives. Plus, even better is the memory upgrade which now comes with LPDDR5X-7500 memory support.
In terms of dimensions, the ASUS ROG Ally X should retain the same size for the chassis and the screen as the previous model. You can expect the same 7" FHD panel with a rated refresh rate of up to 120Hz and a maximum brightness of 500 nits. One of the major issues in the previous model was the SD card which had a malfunctioning problem and to resolve this issue, ASUS has moved the SD card positioning away from the internal heatsink which should eliminate the issue once and for all. There are also going to be other physical changes on the handheld but the company has only teased them.
Lastly, the ASUS ROG Ally X will be available in a black-colored flavor and once again, since this is a handheld aimed at enthusiasts, the price is expected to be slightly higher than the $699 retail price of the original Z1 Extreme variant. Expect ASUS to share more details on the 2nd of June during a pre-Computex 2024 event so stay tuned.
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 | >16 GB? | 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 | TBD | 53Wh | 50.0Wh | 49.2Wh | 40Wh | 38Wh | 50.25Wh | 65Wh | 48Wh | 67Wh | 45.62Wh |
| Weight | TBD | 675g | 640g | 845g | 608g | 405g | TBD | 729g | 649g | 1005g | 598g |
| Form Factor | TBD | 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 | June 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 |
News Source: The Verge
