Not a sequel, Asus teases upgraded PC gaming handheld, the ROG Ally

There was a lot of speculation ahead of Asus’ livestream this afternoon that the company would announce an Asus Rog Ally 2. However, that was not the case as the company announced a new device that is more of an update to the Asus ROG. Ally. than a sequel.

The livestream didn’t provide many details about the new ROG Ally X. Instead, it was more of a teaser of a full reveal on June 2.

Whitson Gordon, senior content marketing manager at Asus, told viewers that the Ally X is “a ROG Ally built for enthusiasts who wanted some extra goodies.” He went on to say that the changes being made are based on community feedback from last year.

Gordon and Asus video producer Jake Kulinski also didn’t provide many details, but here’s what we do know.

Some things remain the same, the Ally X should have the same Z1 Extreme chipset and the same screen. The ROG Ally X will feature a black casing, previously teased by Asus.

However, it will receive a new, larger battery that is supposed to improve battery life substantially. We managed just over 90 minutes of battery life during our testing. Some leaks have hinted that Asus is aiming for double that or more with this new battery. However, with the new battery, the Ally X will be a little heavier. You will also receive revised grips which could also increase the weight.

The current Ally has 16GB of RAM and that is supposed to increase in the Ally X, it will also supposedly have a longer M.2 2280 SSD slot. Replaced SD card reader that was messing up expandable storage cards. The new one will be the same card reader found in Asus laptops with a rearranged layout. Asus apparently doesn’t believe the SD card issues some users experienced were due to overheating, although the Ally does get quite hot.

The Ally X is also expected to start at a higher price than the Ally, but how much more is yet to be confirmed. Most of the livestream was dedicated to updating the centralized Armory Crate library. The new update appears to be an attempt to get around Windows 11 and keep users in games. However, certain things, such as uninstalling games, still need to be done through Windows.

Beyond a clean UI, the only feature Asus touted was the ability to share button assignments with other Ally users. Both the current Ally decks and the upcoming Ally X will receive this update in July.

St John Shopon

Us News Update

Not a sequel, Asus teases upgraded PC gaming handheld, the ROG Ally