The ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X are officially up for pre-order, and the prices for the gaming PC handhelds are expectedly high — though only barely beating out Asus’ most recent efforts. That seems about right — with the ‘Xbox’ name only altering a few minor details from the original R18,000 Ally X.
Taking your Xbox anywhere
One of those is a new set of Xbox-ified arms that should increase the grip of the console. Another is the addition of a new Xbox button, which goes hand-in-hand with the new ‘Xbox full screen experience’, that Microsoft reckons is “optimized specifically for handheld gaming.” We’d hope so, considering the price.
Speaking of, picking up the weaker ROG Xbox Ally — which packs in the AMD Ryzen Z2 A processor, 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and a 512GB PCIe 4.0 SSD — will set folks back R13,000. Up that to the Ryzen Z2 Extreme, 24GB of RAM (LPDDR5X) and 1TB SSD found in the ROG Xbox Ally X, and you’ll fork over R19,000 for the privilege.
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Both devices get by with a 7in FHD 120Hz display, though the cheaper ROG Xbox Ally has to make do with a 60Wh battery while its more capable sibling ups that to 80Wh. If you’re sacrificing all your funds just to get hold of one of these, you’ll automatically unlock three months’ worth of Game Pass Ultimate to get you going.
Pre-orders are officially open today, 26 September, with the devices expected to be available locally by 16 October. You can get your ROG Xbox Ally or ROG Xbox Ally X from the official Asus store, Makro, Computer Mania, Incredible Connection, Game, Evetech, Amazon, and BT Games (those still exist?).
