Fifty per cent off: Your Ultimate Handheld PC Gaming Ally
The Asus ROG Ally, originally priced at Rs 83,990, is now available for under Rs 40,000, making it an incredible deal for handheld PC gaming enthusiasts.
At its discounted price, the ROG Ally transforms into a value-for-money handheld console. (Express Photo)
Asus brought handheld PC gaming back into vogue with its PS Vita/ Nintendo Switch-like ROG Ally last year. The core idea was simple – create a handheld device that could play PC games. Valve had done something similar with the Steam Deck released in 2021, but Asus took it to another level with the ROG Ally, which actually ran Windows 11 and did not restrict you to games from a single platform (the Steam Deck actually ran Linux and was designed for games in the Steam library). That made the ROG essentially a handheld device with enough power to match a gaming PC. Of course, it did not come cheap – it had an official price tag of Rs 83,990, although Asus launched it at a special price on its own store at Rs 69,990, placing it close in gaming terms to some gaming notebooks and PCs. However, Asus recently released a new version of the Ally, the Ally X (review), and subsequently, the price of the OG Ally has taken a dip. Make that a substantial dip – the Asus ROG Ally is now available for under Rs 40,000 on many offline and online stores, and at that price, it is an absolute gimme for anyone who wants PC gaming on the go.
Still a very good deal even without the new X factor!
The console has a big 7-inch touch screen. (Express Photo)
Of course, the first question a lot of folks will ask is whether the ROG Ally (review) is outdated, given that the ROG Ally X is in the market? The simple answer is: not at all. In fact, the Ally and the Ally X share a lot of specs – they both have similar 7-inch 1920 x 1080 (FHD) LCD touchscreen displays with 120 Hz refresh rate, both run on the very powerful AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor, both have stereo speakers and both have basically the same control system of buttons and touchscreen. Yes, the Ally X does come with 24 GB RAM (and faster RAM too) and 1 TB of storage, but the Ally’s 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage are still more than enough for a gaming device. The Ally X also brings some more improvements including faster charging, an additional Type C port, a better button design and a larger battery as well as faster charging, and oh, it comes in black too (Henry Ford must be smiling somewhere), but it actually comes at a much higher price – Rs 89,990. At less than half that price, you can get the original Ally which is still a very powerful gaming device and has the same processor, controls and display – in essence, similar basics as its newer version.
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Running on Windows 11 OS, this is a full-blown PC. (Express Photo)
The Asus ROG Ally remains a very powerful device even a year after its launch. It also remains compact and light enough to be easily carried in a bag or even an overcoat pocket – it is about 28 cm long (slightly less than a foot), 11.1 cm wide and about 3.2 cm thick if you factor in the height of the joysticks, and weighs about 600 grams. But this handy device is a handful in the spec department. The 7-inch display is impressively bright and colourful and the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor is paired with 16 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512 GB onboard storage, making this a very powerful customer indeed. You also get front-facing stereo speakers, and running the show is Windows 11 Home, which means that you can install almost any PC game on it without any problems.
While the Asus ROG Ally is capable of running PC games, it plays them a little differently from a PC. This is because of its design, which follows the classic handheld console format of a display flanked by controls on two sides – it is mainly made of white plastic with a matte finish on the grip area, but looks relatively plain for an ROG device (the grille on the back is ROG-logo shaped, though). Each side has a joystick illuminated by RGB colours, and the left has a D-pad while the right has the classic ABXY button combination that is seen on Xbox controllers. You also have shoulder and trigger buttons on the top of the device. Asus has also included some additional buttons on both sides of the display to access the menu, Asus’ own Armoury Crate software, the command centre (basically some settings) and a view button. There are also two buttons on the back that can be customised. If you are the type that has used a gamepad and tweaked its controls, you will be right at home here.
Right on top of the Ally are a 3.5 mm audio jack (very handy, as we love using our wired headphones while on commutes), a single special ROG XG mobile and Type-C port as well as a card reading slot. The top is also where you get the power buttons and the volume control buttons. The Ally comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity as well, and you can actually connect a mouse and a keyboard to it and use it as an emergency PC in times of need.
A great Ally for high-end, yet handheld PC gaming
With 16 GB RAM, it can easily handle multi-tasking with ease. (Express Photo)
The best part is that it all works brilliantly. You will need a little bit of time to get used to the controls (the buttons and joysticks work very smoothly) and also increase font sizes a little as most game text gets downright unreadable but once you have got those out of the way, the Ally churns out a superb performance. Just make sure that the games you plan to play on it have got gamepad support (something like Diablo 3 will struggle on it, while Diablo 4 and the EA Football series will just fly) and you are assured of a lot of gaming joy in your hands. Quite remarkably, its thermals are very well managed – it does not get too warm at any stage. And as we said earlier, you can download games from any source including Xbox Live, Steam, GoG, the works. If it works on Windows 11, it will find an ally in the ROG Ally.
It is not without its niggles. The controls take some getting used to, and as we pointed out, games that are not designed for gamepad support will not play well. Windows 11 can be a bit difficult to use on a touchscreen – even typing can be a challenge – so we advise keeping a keyboard handy if you actually want to use the Ally as a PC. The biggest problem is the battery which generally lasts about two hours in gaming mode and a little more if you turn down brightness and settings. The rather bulky 65W charger in the box can charge the Ally in about an hour and 45 minutes, but we recommend keeping the device plugged in whenever possible. Incidentally, the Ally can be charged by any 65W charger with support for PD charging and we suggest getting a more compact one.
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It is fantastic, made mainly of plastic (with Gorilla Glass Victus on the display) and at Rs 39,990 (or even lower at some places), the Asus ROG Ally is a small wonder of the gaming variety and terrific value for money for those wanting high-end handheld PC gaming. Get it before the stocks run out, say we.
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