Asus is throwing its hat into the mobile PC gaming ring with the ROG Ally, a new handheld system that the company says is being designed to overdeliver when it comes to hardware. While the initial reveal was light on details about the technology powering the ROG Ally, Asus has revealed more about the device that is being positioned as a Steam Deck rival.

　　At the heart of the ROG Ally is a six-core AMD Ryzen Z1 chip and RDNA 3 graphics chip, which makes use of AMD's Super Resolution FidelityFX Super Resolution upscaling technologies. For the display, the ROG Ally has a seven-inch Full HD 120Hz screen that is capable of up to 500 Nits of brightness and has a 7ms response time. There's 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM, Dolby Atmos support through the speakers, and the entire package has an overall weight of just 608g. As for storage, the ROG Ally will ship with a 512GB SSD, which can be further expanded with a microSD card.

Asus ROG Ally specs

　　7" 1080p 120Hz 7ms touch display with FreeSyncWeight: 608gAMD Ryzen Z1 Series CPURDNA 3 Graphics512GB PCI Express 4.0 SSD16GB RAMMicroSD slot for storage expansionWi-Fi 6EWindows 11 operating systemHaptic feedbackFingerprint sensor for unlockingWhile the Steam Deck uses its own SteamOS as a default operating system, the ROG Ally will allow users to access games from a wide variety of PC platforms as it runs on Windows 11. Since it runs Windows, you should be able to use all of your PC accessories, including controllers, headphones, mice, and keyboards.

　　Asus says that the OS has been fine-tuned for the ROG Ally, and you'll be able to install games from Steam, Epic Games Store, Xbox Game Pass for PC, Ubisoft Connect, the EA App, and more. The Asus Armory Crate is also included and provides a number of useful functions such as customizable key mapping, control panel overlays, and performance profiles to toggle between.

　　The handheld gaming system also uses a custom-designed cooling system, which Asus says is whisper-quiet and barely noticeable when you use the ROG Ally speakers. You can also use the ROG Ally as a 4K gaming machine on a TV screen, but this will require the optional purchase of a (pricey) ROG XG Mobile GPU, which is available with Nvidia 40-series card inside of it. That GPU isn't out yet, but you can grab one with an Nvidia 30-series GPU right now.

　　Other accessories will be available for the ROG Ally as well, including a number of carrying cases and controllers to use with the device when you're on the move, compatibility with the Raikiri Pro controller, and Asus Cetra wireless earphones .

　　As for the price, Asus hasn't yet confirmed just how much the ROG Ally will retail for, but the company did guarantee that the RRP won't be more than $1,000. That means the ROG Ally will likely be more expensive than the top-tier 512GB Steam Deck ($650) and on par with other specialist handheld gaming PC systems such as the Aya Neo Air.

　　The Asus ROG Ally launches on May 11 and will come bundled with three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

　　Darryn Bonthuys on Google+