Asus launched its handheld gaming console, the ROG Ally, back in April with two versions – the $700 model with the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme and the slightly cheaper $600 version with the regular AMD Ryzen Z1. The former has been on sale for a while now and we gave it a mostly positive review. But now the cheaper version is available.
Is it worth saving $100? The only notable difference is the APU, the $600 version comes with the same 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB storage as the $700 model, same 7” 1080p 120Hz display (16:9) and same 40Wh battery too.
But the Z1 is proving to be too big of a step back compared to the Z1 Extreme. Digital Trends reports that it is slower than the Steam Deck APU and the Valve console is cheaper – $400 for the 64GB eMMC version, $530 for the 256GB NVMe version and a higher $650 if you want to match the 512GB storage of the Ally.
Here’s a look at their respective APUs:
| Z1 Extreme | Z1 | Van Gogh (Steam Deck) | |
| Node | 4nm | 4nm | 7nm |
| CPU | Zen 4 | Zen 4 | Zen 2 |
| CPU cores (c/t) | 8/16 | 6/12 | 4/8 |
| Frequency | 3.3-5.1GHz | 3.2-4.9GHz | 2.4-3.5GHz |
| Cache (L2/L3) | 8/16MB | 6/16MB | 1/4MB |
| GPU | RDNA 3 | RDNA 3 | RDNA 2 |
| GPU CUs | 12 | 4 | 8 |
| TDP | 9-30W | 9-30W | 4-15W |
Of course, the Ally has the better screen – a 7” 1,280 x 800px (16:9) 60Hz panel – so there are still reasons to prefer the ROG Ally over the Steam Deck. Check out our review for more details on the display, the controls and the other features.
If you’re still interested, you can find the Z1 version of the Asus ROG Ally on Best Buy in the US. In Germany, this version is available on Otto for €710.
