New ROG Ally X gaming handheld debuts at Computex 2024
When the Steam Deck first debuted way back in 2022, it had little to no competition. Until recently that is with ASUS Republic of Gamers releasing their ROG Ally last year with other competitions deploying their own takes on a mobile gaming device like MSI’s Claw and Lenovo’s Legion. While the ROG Ally was a groundbreaking affair, it had its quirks. At Computex 2024, Asus has revealed its more refined successor, the new ROG Ally X.
ROG Ally X Upgrades and Price
At a glance, it looks quite similar to last year’s ROG Ally and even uses the same AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chipset running Windows 11 but the new ROG Ally X has a number of improved quality of life enhancements and, above all, improved thermals with the inclusion of a 23% smaller yet more powerful cooling fan design that is able to kick out 24% more air through a third vent and, in turn, help keep the hardware up to 6°C cooler.
The chassis of the ROG Ally X has also been upgraded too with better ergonomics in the form of a more rounded chassis to make it easier to hold, a tweaked button and stick layout with more slanted shoulder triggers for an easier grip as well as a tougher set of joysticks rated for a 5-million cycle lifespan.
The ROG Ally X also has an upgraded, more precise direction pad and now has two USB-C ports with one of them being Thunderbolt-compatible which opens up quite a bit of creative options including compatibility with third-party docks and external GPUs.
Under the hood, the ROG Ally X now has double the storage with a 1TB SSD rather than the 512GB in the original ROG Ally thanks to a redesigned motherboard. This redesign also enables the ROG Ally X to support M.2 2280 form factor SSDs for easier storage upgrades after purchase.
On top of more storage, the handheld also has up to 24GB LPDDR5X RAM and a bigger 80Wh battery that’s double the capacity of the ROG Ally. Surprisingly, even with all the new upgrades, the ROG Ally X and bigger battery, the ROG Ally X is 70g lighter than its predecessor at 678g.
At launch, they haven’t officially stated a price yet nor any deployment dates for Malaysia though it was allegedly quoted by Gizchina to go for 25,999 TWD on preorder in Taiwan which works out to about RM3,769 which is still a pretty substantial chunk of change. Stay tuned for more news and updates from Hitech Century at Computex 2024!