ASUS ROG Ally to be powered by AMD Ryzen Z1 technology and RDNA 3 graphics
It was a bit of an unusual situation when it came to the announcement of the ASUS ROG Ally, as the hardware manufacturer decided to reveal the product on April Fool's Day, which led many to believe that it was a joke. It wasn't. In fact the Windows 11 handheld gaming platform is very real, and coming soon, and with that being the case, ASUS has now shared a ton of information relating to the device's specifications.
First and foremost, the ROG Ally will be powered by AMD Ryzen Z1 series technology, and will use Zen4 architecture and RDNA 3 graphics to power the games you can play with it. The gadget will come with either a base Ryzen Z1 processor or a more powerful Ryzen Z1 Extreme option that features more cores to play around with.
The ROG Ally will also be compatible with Steam, Epic Games Store, Battle.net, EA Play, Game Pass, Ubisoft Connect, and more.
Otherwise, we're told that the ROG Ally will bring a 512GB PCI Express 4.0 SSD, as well as 16GB of LPDDR5 dual-channel RAM, which will all work in harmony with the impressive display that brings a 1080p/120Hz-enabled panel with a 1000:1 contrast ratio, 100% sRGB colour gamut, 16:9 aspect ratio, a 7ms response time, 500 peak nits of brightness, AMD FreeSync support, and all while being protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus.
In terms of the audio setup, the ROG Ally will feature dual-front facing speakers that support Dolby Atmos. It will also feature a fingerprint unlocking system to ensure the device remains secure, as well as a MicroSD slot to boost the storage space of the gadget. It will also be Wi-Fi 6E enabled, and will come with a new version of Armory Crate that is designed to remember and carry the settings of your games to a plethora of different platforms, meaning no more fiddling with graphical options and so forth when jumping between a handheld device and your PC.
The actual shape of the ROG Ally has also been designed to fit the contours of your wrists, and uses the asymmetrical Xbox layout for buttons and analog sticks. The shoulder buttons of the device will be curved, and it will feature macro key options so that you can customise what each button does - alongside three built-in control schemes to flip between.
Considering the ROG Ally only weighs 608g, you may be wondering how the device manages to keep all of this technology cool. ASUS promises a dual-fan system that operates more quietly than when a single-fan is being used (20db with two, and 30db with one), and because this is a handheld gaming platform that will be moved around a lot, the ROG Ally even boasts a 360-degree, Zero Gravity thermal solution that works regardless of the device's orientation.
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Last of all, ASUS revealed that there will be a ROG Gaming Charger Dock system for the ROG Ally, and that this will both be used to charge the unit's battery, but will also allow you to connect the device to a TV/gaming monitor, and even as a base to connect mouse and keyboards to the gadget. We're told that this dock will use ROG XG Mobile technology to upscale performance when put in practice.
The ROG Ally will also get a specific Travel Case from ASUS, for those looking to take the device on-the-go.
While ASUS hasn't revealed the exact price of the ROG Ally, it has revealed that there will be a launch event on May 11, where further information will be shared.