Asus ROG Ally X: Everything we know so far

The Asus ROG Ally is one of our favorite handheld gaming PCs and handheld gaming will be even better when the Asus ROG (“Republic of Gamers”) Ally X debuts.

Thanks to a recent reveal by Asus, we can confirm that the ROG Ally X will be receiving some considerable hardware upgrades when it comes to RAM and abttery life especially. Those quality-of-life improvements can go a long way on a small machine like the Asus ROG Ally.

While the Ally has become a favorite gaming laptop alternative, it does have a short battery life and requires tweaking the settings to play games with minimal frame stuttering. If the ROG Ally X can improve those even a bit, this refresh will be worth it.

Undoubtedly, the ROG Ally X is a highly anticipated release, with Asus teasing the PC in a YouTube livestream. Since then, questions about the PC haven’t left our minds: When can we get our hands on the Ally X? What will it cost? What hardware will it use? What will it look like?

An official announcement during the Computex Taipei technology showcase in June will provide further answers, but we have some general ideas thanks to a few trusted sources and a specifications reveal from Asus itself.

So, for now, this is everything we know about the Asus ROG Ally X, from its release date and price to its specs.

Release date

Asus is set to unveil the highly anticipated ROG Ally X at Computex Taipei on June 2. Following the launch, the product is expected to hit the market within the next few weeks, adding to the excitement among gaming enthusiasts.

The original Asus ROG Ally launched on June 13, 2023, after being announced in April. We could see a similar timeline for the Ally X, though it is more likely the new handheld will be released a few weeks after the announcement. Asus isn’t changing much of the chassis or display panel this time, so it should be faster out the door than the first version.

Price

On Saturday, May 11, leaker Arsène Lupin offered insight into the potential price potential and specs of the Asus ROG Ally X.

With the Ally X priced at $799 at 1TB of SSD storage, it would be a steep increase in price tag over the original Ally, which costs $699 (and is often on sale for $599) but has dropped as low as $499. Of course, if Lupin is correct, that price hike would come with a boost in storage capacity, as the ROG Ally features only 512GB of storage space. Extra storage for games and other expected hardware tweaks could help make up the price difference.

The entry-level Ally X will feature 512GB of SSD space and will have a lower price tag, while the $799 version is simply for the 1TB upgrade. Asus confirmed that Ally X would “start at a higher price” than Ally. So, the entry-level configuration could cost $749, compared to the 1TB model’s speculated $799 price tag.

Specs

Thanks to the Asus teaser in the May YouTube live stream, we now know much of the tech behind the Ally X.

The Ally X will feature the same 7-inch 1080p IPS 120Hz display as the original Ally. It will come with at least 512GB of storage, potentially up to 1TB or 2TB. It will run on the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme CPU platform with more than 16GB of RAM to support the integrated AMD Radeon 780M GPU.

Arsène Lupin revealed further details on the Ally X on Wednesday, May 15, indicating that the handheld PC would come with 24GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 8 hours of battery life. Asus claims the ROG Ally should last up to 1.5 hours during ‘heavy gaming’ and 6.8 hours while streaming content. Our lab tests for the Ally were a bit below those expectations so that 8-hour figure is likely the “streaming” battery life expectation.

To all of our delight, Asus itself confirmed much of these rumors on Thursday, May 24 cementing the claims of an increased 1TB of storage, an expanded 24GB of RAM, and a doubling of the original ROG Ally's battery life to 80Wh!

Not only that, but the new ROG Ally X features two USB Type-C ports (one of which being USB4 compatible with a 40Gbs transfer rate) in place of the Ally's ROG XG Mobile Interface allowing for better connectivity options and wider expansion for external GPUs.

Design

In the teaser live stream, Asus ROG VIdeo Producer Jake Kulinski said there would be “some physical changes” to the Ally X. Whitson Gordon, Senior Manager at Content Marketing for Asus ROG, mimed pressing triggers and moving joysticks at this announcement.

However, that could mean anything, considering that is the only real way to use a handheld gaming PC. Asus confirmed that the Ally X will continue to use the same Xbox-style gamepad mapping as the Ally, so the physical changes to the Ally X will likely not impact the gaming hand feel of the PC.

One of the major design changes that we can expect is the color of the Ally X. Unlike the white colorway of the Asus ROG Ally, the Ally X will feature a black chassis.

Outlook

We love the Asus ROG Ally. It is the best-performing gaming handheld, though it isn’t quite perfect. If the ROG Ally X can improve battery life and give us better performance with upgraded storage and memory, it could finally edge out the Steam Deck.

Asus will provide more details about the ROG Ally X on June 2nd, just before Computex Taipei, which will help us finally answer these questions. However, until we receive a review sample, we’ll still wonder whether to get the Asus ROG Ally or the Asus ROG Ally X.