ASUS levels up handheld with better battery, RAM, and more

Among the plethora of competitors Valve’s Steam Deck has spawned, the ASUS ROG Ally is arguably its biggest rival. ASUS’s handheld gaming PC is solid hardware, but it’s not without its faults (e.g. battery life, RAM, etc). While we wait for a sequel to the system, ASUS has launched a mid-gen refresh — the ROG Ally X — that brings a few important improvements.

You won’t see any drastic changes here, but there are noticeable differences with the handheld. The most obvious difference is the color, as the ROG Ally X has a black exterior instead of a white one.

Another change ASUS made to the chassis is the handles. The company has slightly redesigned the handles so they are deeper than before and more rounded. ASUS says this change was made to make the handheld more ergonomic. Speaking of ergonomics, the triggers and buttons were also slightly rearranged so they are at a more ergonomic angle.

You can also expect some minor changes to the joysticks, D-Pad, and ports. ASUS has swapped out the old joysticks with more durable components that are said to be rated for a 5 million cycle lifespan. The D-Pad has been improved to provide more precise 8-direction input. Finally, the XG Mobile port from the Ally has been replaced by two USB-C ports.

The changes made to this mid-gen refresh go deeper than just the cosmetics. While the Windows device is largely an iterative update, there are a few important new features that you need to know about.

ASUS SVP Shawn Yen said that the company would address some of Ally’s biggest issues with the Ally X. One of these issues was the 40Wh battery, which only provided about 2-6.8 hours of playtime. The new system has doubled the capacity with an 80Wh battery.

Another complaint many users had is the amount of RAM. The Ally has 16GB of RAM, while the Ally X increases this count to 24GB. Storage has also increased as well, moving up from 512GB to 1TB. And the motherboard has be redesigned to feature an M.2 2280 form factor slot, allowing users to more easily upgrade their storage to larger drives.

One of the biggest downsides of the original device is heat generation. ASUS has improved heat dissipation by giving the ROG Ally X fans with blades that are 50% thinner to increase airflow. Along with two new tunnels in the fan’s housing, the company says this provides 24% more air volume than before.

Pricing and availability

Since this is an upgrade to the Ally, don’t expect the ROG Ally X to be cheaper. The system is priced at $799.99, which is $100 more than the original Z1 Extreme model. You can pre-order the ROG Ally X right now on Best Buy’s website.