ASUS has introduced its brand new ROG Ally X notebook, which is an upgrade of the original model using the same AMD Ryzen Z1 APU.
The ASUS ROG Ally X Handheld is the upgrade you’ve been wanting, everything is better, but at a higher price
Last year we got to see the ASUS ROG Ally, which was the first handheld to use AMD’s new Ryzen Z1 APUs based on the Zen 4 core architecture. Now, a year later, ASUS is revving things up for its notebook users and offering an improved 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 be configured with the higher-end Ryzen Z1 Extreme, which is the top APU choice for handhelds with 8 cores, 16 threads up to 5.1 GHz clock frequency, 12 RDNA 3 compute units and 24 MB cache. The APU can be configured between 9W and up to 30W, and given the ROG Ally X’s improved cooling, you can expect better performance from this insanely efficient handheld chip.
The ROG Ally X sees big changes in the battery and storage department, with the battery upgraded to 30-40% more capacity (ASUS calls the battery improvement very good), offering twice the gaming time of the original model. The storage now comes with support for NVMe M.2 SSDs with form factor support up to 2280, meaning 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 chassis and screen size as the previous model. You can expect the same 7″ FHD panel with a nominal refresh rate of up to 120Hz and a maximum brightness of 500 nits. One of the main problems in the previous model was the SD card which had a malfunctioning problem and to solve this problem, ASUS moved the positioning of the SD the card from the internal heatsink, which should eliminate the problem once and for all.There will be other physical changes to the pocket, but the company is only teasing them.
Finally, the ASUS ROG Ally X will be available in black, and once again, since this is a handheld device 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 June 2 during a pre-Computex 2024 event, so stay tuned.
Composition of portable game consoles:
| 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor 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 at 5.1 GHz | 16 / 22 @ 4.8GHz 14 / 20 at 4.5 GHz |
4 / 8 at 3.5 GHz | 8 / 16 at 5.1 GHz | 8 / 16 at 5.1 GHz | 8 / 16 at 5.1 GHz | 8 / 16 at 5.1 GHz | 8 / 16 at 5.1 GHz | 8 / 16 at 5.1 GHz | 8 / 16 at 5.1 GHz | 8 / 16 at 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 | >16GB? | 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 | 16-64GB LPDDR5x-7500 |
| Storage | TBD (M.2 2280) 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 | 1920×1080 at 120Hz | 1920×1080 at 120Hz | 1280×800 at 90Hz | 2560×1600 @ 144Hz | 1920×1080 at 120Hz | 1920×1080 at 60Hz | 1920×1200 | 1920×1200 at 60Hz | 1920×1200 | 1920×1200 | 1920×1200 at 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 | 50.0 Wh | 49.2 Wh | 40Wh | 38Wh | 50.25 Wh | 65Wh | 48Wh | 67Wh | 45.62Wh |
| Weight | TBD | 675 gr | 640 gr | 845 gr | 608g | 405 gr | TBD | 729 gr | 649g | 1005 gr | 598g |
| Form factor | TBD | 294x117x21 mm | 298x117x49 mm | 299x131x41 mm | 28.0 x 11.3 x 3.9mm | 224×89.5×21.6mm | TBD | 28.5 x 12.5 x 2.1 mm | 265x105x22 | 227 × 160 × 23 mm | 220 × 92 × 28 mm |
| OS | 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 | $699+ | $699 (125H + 16GB + 512GB) $799 (155H + 16GB + 1TB) |
$549 (16GB + 512GB) $649 (16GB + 1TB) |
$649 (16GB + 512GB) $749 (16GB + 1TB) $799 (16GB + 2TB) |
$699 (Z1 Extreme) $599 (standard Z1) |
$799 (16GB + 512GB) | TBD | $799 US (32GB +512GB) | $699 US (32GB + 512GB) | 730 EUR (7640U+16+1) 959 EUR (7840U+32+2) |
TBD |
News source: The Verge
