The ROG Ally has certainly been one of the most well-received devices in the modern handheld gaming market. While it is a newcomer to developing portable gaming systems, ASUS’ expertise in dedicated gaming hardware with its ROG line played a big part in the development and subsequent success of the ROG Ally. With that in mind though, there’s always room for improvement, as shown with the newest release from ASUS.
We’re of course talking about the ROG Ally X, a new and improved model of the first-gen ROG Ally. At first glance it might seem that there’s not a lot of changes, but it’s worth mentioning that the most important upgrades lie beyond the surface. With that being said, let’s check out what ASUS has to offer this time around.
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Design and Display
The design of the ROG Ally X remains largely the same when compared to its predecessor, and you’d be forgiven to think that ASUS has recycled the old chassis for the newer model. Upon closer inspection however, the company says that it’s made some minor adjustments to the device’s design in order to improve the airflow, as well as the overall handling of the Ally X, which is much welcome especially for prolonged gaming sessions.
For its display, the Ally X features a 7-inch touch screen with a 1920×1080 pixel resolution, a maximum of 500 nits brightness, Gorilla Glass Victus with DXC coating, touchscreen, as well as a 120 Hz refresh rate, and support for AMD FreeSync Premium. It’s still the same 16:9 aspect ratio as well.
Internal Specs
Some of these similarities extend to the device’s internals – open up the Ally X and you’ll find the same AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor as on the first-gen model, but as mentioned earlier, ASUS has added some upgrades. In addition to the AMD processor, you get access to a larger 1TB SSD which should easily fit more games on the device, and there’s also a redesigned motherboard, complete with an M.2 2280 slot to allow easy upgrading for users.
There’s also a whopping 24GB of DDR5-7500 RAM onboard, something that’s rarely found in portable devices these days. In addition to all this, the entire setup is powered by a battery that’s also larger at 80Wh, which should ensure more playtime for most users.
For thermals, the ROG Ally also packs smaller fans this time around, although ASUS says that they offer better airflow thanks to much thinner blades. There are two new tunnels in the fan housing that direct air towards an third exhaust vent located on the upper edge of the Ally, allowing 24% more air volume to be pushed through the device, cooling both the internals and the display.
Pricing and Availability
As for pricing and availability, ASUS has priced the ROG Ally X at £799.99, and it’s available via ASUS’ official website, as well as participating retailers and outlets.
