ASUS Leaks ROG Xbox Ally Price, Here's How It Compares To Other Handhelds

If you're in the market for a new gaming handheld, we have some good news for you. We now know how much the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally machines are likely going to cost. This information comes courtesy of a web design oversight in the page of ASUS' Spanish local partner, "ASUS by MacMan", who scrubbed the prices from the product pages but still has them visible in the drop-down when you search, like so:

According to the European ASUS partner, the top-end ASUS ROG Xbox Ally with the Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor will run you €899, while the version with less memory, storage, and a considerably-weaker Ryzen Z2 A processor will run you €599.

In our chart here, we've transcribed those Euro values directly as US Dollar values, because that's very frequently how this plays out for consumer devices because US pricing does not typically include sales tax. With that said, it's worth noting that €599 is approximately $699 USD, while €899 is approximately $1050 USD. Spain has a 21% VAT on electronics, so accounting for that, the prices match up very nearly 1:1 with expected US pricing.

With that in mind, let's talk about how the specifications compare to both the previous-generation Ally machines as well as everyone else's devices. Starting off with the ROG Ally RC73YA—the version with the Ryzen Z2 A processor—we're looking at a system very similar to Valve's Steam Deck in terms of specifications. The Ryzen Z2 A is fundamentally the same processor that you get inside a Steam Deck, and it has the same 16GB of RAM at 6400 MT/s as the Steam Deck OLED. It costs $50 more than that machine, though.

What do you get for your $50? Well, a 120-Hz screen with VRR support, for starters. You also get 20% more battery capacity, dual USB Type-C ports, and a screen resolution bump to 1080p. That latter part's not necessarily a good thing, though; the Steam Deck SoC struggles with 1080p games, and that's likely to be the case with the Ryzen Z2 A, as well—meaning that you'll have to be using upscaling in most games, causing non-native artifacts. In our experience this isn't a major problem, but it does mean that you won't get the same crisp image you would on the Steam Deck OLED.

On the other hand, the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally with the Ryzen Z2 Extreme is in an entire other performance class. Where the Ryzen Z2 A is considerably slower than the Ryzen Z1 Extreme in the first-gen Ally units, the Ryzen Z2 Extreme should be a marked upgrade. It sports newer and faster Zen 5 CPU cores, a 33% larger GPU, and a revised GPU architecture that should be more power-efficient. We haven't tested the Ryzen Z2 Extreme yet, but all indications are that it is likely competitive with Intel's Core Ultra 7 258V in terms of both CPU and GPU gaming performance, which is very impressive.

It's fair to think of the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally Z2X as a a "ROG Ally XX"—that is, a further incremental upgrade on the Ally X. It has the same 24GB of RAM but gets a small speed bump to 8000 MT/s, it has the same 1TB of NVMe storage, it has the same 120-Hz IPS LCD, and it has the same 80 Whr battery. The only real differences are the Xbox branding and functions, the upgrade to USB4/Thunderbolt 4 on one of the Type-C ports, and the new SoC, for which you pay $100 extra.

MSI Claw 7 AI+ 32GB/512GB: $899.99 at Best Buy

Original MSI Claw 16GB/1TB: $599.99 at Amazon

Now, ASUS does face some pretty sharp competition up in this heady pricing region. The most direct competitor we'd point out here is the MSI Claw 7 AI+, which is a very similar device yet also about as different as it gets, as the Claw 7 AI+ features an Intel Core Ultra 258V SoC. This chip has a very potent integrated GPU based on the Xe2 architecture; the very same Xe2 that powers the "Battlemage" discrete GPUs, like the popular Arc B580. In our testing, we found the larger Claw 8 AI+ to occasionally outpace the ROG Ally X's Ryzen Z1 Extreme considerably while offering superior power efficiency.

The Claw 7 AI+ comes in at the same price as the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally while featuring an extra 8GB of RAM, dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, and Wi-Fi 7. However, it does have a smaller battery and only half the storage. The Claw 8 AI+ costs an extra hundred bucks; that gets you the 80 Whr battery, 1TB of storage, and a larger 8" screen, although it's also considerably heavier. Both devices are great choices, though.

Lenovo Legion Go S (Win11), 16GB/1TB: $649 at Amazon

In what is likely the best deal right now, the original Lenovo Legion Go is on sale for just $599 at Best Buy. This device has very similar specs to the original ASUS ROG Ally, with a Ryzen Z1 Extreme, 1TB of storage, and 16GB of 7500 MT/s LPDDR5X. However, it sports the largest and highest-resolution screen among any of the mainstream gaming handhelds to date: 8.8", and 2560×1600. While that resolution is impractical for integrated graphics, it's exactly 4 times the Steam Deck's 1280×800, meaning that games played in that resolution are upscaled with razor sharpness and look fantastic.

The Legion Go has a few other tricks up its sleeve, like detachable controllers with a mouse mode, as well as a built-in stand. This makes it more similar to Nintendo's Switch in that regard, and it's more suitable for desktop play as a result. However, it does have a relatively small batter at 49 Whr. Lenovo rectified that issue in the more conventional Legion Go S, which sports the interesting Ryzen Z2 Go processor, a rebadged Rembrandt chip (like Ryzen 6800U) with Zen3+ CPUs and an RDNA 2 GPU. It has a larger battery, but likely isn't as speedy as the original Legion Go. Note that the version of the Legion Go S that we're linking to here comes with Windows 11, not with SteamOS.

Of course, there are many other machines on the chart, and they all have their advantages and disadvantages; we don't have time to go through every single one. Some of them, like the GPD Win 4, are more suitable for "portable PC" use than for high-end gaming. We encourage you to check out our previous coverage of gaming handhelds and do your own research as well before making a selection.

There are more exciting handhelds on the way, too, including MSI's Claw A8, a next-generation system from Microsoft itself, and whatever the "Steam Deck 2" ends up being. As the saying goes, procrastination is the thief of time; you could be laying on your sofa playing Balatro or Baldur's Gate on a brand-new gaming handheld right now. Let us know in the comments if you have some specific questions about any of these devices!