If you’ve been holding off on joining the portable gaming PC revolution that has taken the world by storm over the last couple of years now might be the time to join in on the fun as ASUS are ready to drop the upgrade to their extremely popular ASUS ROG ALLY and it’s available for pre-order now in Australia and New Zealand via the ASUS E-shop and leading retailers.
The Ally is easily one of the best and most trusted of the new breed of portable PC gaming devices and even though it’s not without its flaws the X model seems to be taking that feedback on and improving on the original design.
This Windows 11 gaming system is ready for gamers on the go, the ROG Ally X features the same AMD Ryzen™ Z1 Extreme processor, but adds upgraded storage, RAM, and battery life, alongside an updated chassis for improved ergonomics, cooling, and connectivity.
Combined with Armoury Crate SE 1.5, which features a new customisable game library and unified system updates, the ROG Ally X is designed to #playALLYourgames better than ever.
Bradley Howe, Head of Consumer, Systems Business Group, ASUS Australia, said: “We’re excited to launch the new ROG Ally X in Australia and New Zealand after receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback from users on the ROG Ally last year. We have continued to listen to our customers’ feedback, resulting in the new ROG Ally X, which offers great improvements to battery, thermal cooling and storage. We are delighted that this best-in-class handheld console will now be available for individuals looking for a powerful yet portable on-the-go gaming experience.”
MORE STORAGE, FASTER RAM, AND LONGER BATTERY LIFE
Built with user feedback at its heart, the ROG Ally X amps many of its crucial internal components. A new 1 TB SSD ensures users have room for all their games, up from 512 GB on the original Ally. In addition, the ROG Ally X uses a redesigned motherboard featuring an M.2 2280 form factor slot, allowing users to more easily upgrade their storage to larger drives than previously possible.
Accompanying this storage upgrade is 24 GB of LPDDR5X-7500 RAM for more flexibility. As an APU, the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme shares its video RAM with the device’s system RAM. With modern games using more VRAM for high-resolution, lifelike textures, 24 GB of system memory allows users to allocate more memory to both the system and the GPU for better performance in the next generation of AAA titles.
Finally, the ROG Ally X has also been outfitted with an 80 Wh battery, double the capacity of the previous model, so users can game longer away from the wall. Despite a sizeable improvement in battery life, the ROG Ally X only weighs 70 grams more than the original ROG Ally, with the weight distribution perfectly centred where the gamer’s thumb and forefinger lie while gripping the device. This keeps it feeling lighter than its 678 g weight, ensuring comfortable play and portability for all.
UPDATED CONTROLS AND CONNECTIVITY
The ROG Ally X features a redesigned chassis in a brand-new black colourway, with slightly deeper handles and a more rounded shape for improved comfort, without adding much thickness to the device. The buttons and sticks are arranged with more ergonomic angle, with a slant to the triggers that makes them easier to press. The macro buttons on the back are also smaller, to reduce accidental presses while keeping them easily accessible.
The joysticks have been replaced with a new, more durable module rated for a 5-million-cycle lifespan, with stiffer springs for a more familiar response curve to longtime controller gamers. The D-Pad has been similarly improved, with more precise eight-direction input for fighting and retro games.
Users overwhelmingly requested more universal I/O, so the original XG Mobile port has been replaced with two USB-C® ports on the ROG Ally X, one of which is Thunderbolt™-compatible for wide interoperability with third-party docks and external GPUs.
IMPROVED THERMALS ALL AROUND
To accommodate the new battery, the ROG Ally X features new fans that are 23% smaller, but utilise 50% thinner fan blades to improve airflow. Two new tunnels in the fan housing direct air up and out toward an additional, third exhaust vent on the upper edge of the ROG Ally X. This new thermal solution provides 24% more air volume to be pushed through the device, cooling not only the internal components but also the touch screen, which measures up to 6°C cooler for more comfortable long-term usage.
AVAILABILITY & PRICING
ASUS ROG Ally X is available for pre-order now in Australia and New Zealand from the ASUS E-shop (AU), JB Hi-Fi (AU/NZ) and PB Tech (NZ) and the best news is you’ll have it in your hands on July 22, not bad considering we thought we probably wouldn’t see these till 2025.
FULL SPECS!
ASUS ROG Ally X
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
| Display | 7” FHD (1920 x 1080) 16:9, 500 nits brightness, 100% sRGB, Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus™ with Gorilla® Glass DXC coating, touchscreen, 120 Hz refresh rate, 7 ms response time, AMD FreeSync Premium |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen™ Z1 Extreme Processor (“Zen4” architecture with 4 nm process, 8-core /16-threads, 24 MB total cache, up to 5.10 GHz boost) |
| GPU | AMD Radeon™ Graphics (AMD RDNA™ 3, 12 CUs, up to 2.7 GHz, up to 8.6 Teraflops) |
| Memory | 24 GB LPDDR5X on board (7500 MHz dual channel) |
| Storage | Up to 1 TB M.2 2280 NVMe™ PCIe® G4x4 Value SSD |
| I/O Ports | 1 x Audio combo jack 1 x Micro SD Card reader (UHS-II, 312MB/s) 1 x USB-C® supports USB 3.2 Gen 2 (DisplayPort™ 1.4 with FreeSync support, Power Delivery 3.0 (Input: 20V/5A, Output 5V/1.5A)) 1 x USB4® (Thunderbolt™ 4 compliance, DisplayPort™ 1.4 with FreeSync support, Power Delivery 3.0 (Input: 20V/5A, output:5V/3A) |
| Audio | 2-speaker system with Smart Amplifier Technology Dolby Atmos® AI noise-canceling technology Hi-Res Audio certification Built-in array microphone |
| Battery | 80 Wh |
| Power Supply | USB-C®, 65W AC Adapter, Output: 20V DC, 3.25 A, 65 W, Input: 100~240V AC 50 / 60 Hz universal |
| Dimension | 28.0 x 11.1 x 2.47 cm |
| Weight | 678 g |
