When Microsoft presented its two new models of portable consoles built in collaboration with Asus, the Rog Xbox Ally and Rog Xbox Ally X, a sempterneous question was quickly heard on the net: “It’s all good all that, but it will be?”. It must be said that the classic ROG Ally are not given: currently, the ROG Ally with an extreme Z1 processor (with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage) is accessible for € 499, which actually corresponds to 30 euros more than a Switch 2, and at the same price as a PS5 in digital edition (Slim model). But this model has often been criticized for its autonomy flush with the panels: it will actually be recommended to look at the Rog Ally X model, which has 24 GB of RAM, 1 TB of internal storage and above all a battery of 80 Wh (which allows in petrol to double autonomy). The problem is that this recommended version of portable ASUS consoles is not given: it is indeed necessary to count on € 899. Or a little more than the price of two Xbox Series S, and almost two Nintendo Switch 2.
So the problem of Microsoft was as follows: will this association with Asus be an opportunity to shake up the market a little and try to offer ROG Xbox Ally more affordable to offer more aggressive competition with the Steam Deck-much less expensive, even in its most powerful form? Or will the American giant simply be content to continue what Asus started with his first Ally, that is to say by offering a similar price, closer to the € 1000-certainly taking advantage of the fact that it is anyway a simple niche market? Obviously, the answer was all found: it will be the second option, if we believe a leak from Asus relayed by the 3DJUEGOS Spanish site.
Thus, the ROG Xbox Ally (in its least powerful and cheapest version) will be accessible for € 599 – or 100 € more than the ROG Ally Z1 Extreme – while the ROG Xbox Ally X will be offered at € 899 (the same price as the ROG Ally X, despite the presence of a much more powerful chip, the Z2 Extreme). Difficult nevertheless to find any form of justification for the increase of € 100 of the basic model (there are 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB on the Rog Xbox Ally and a Ryzen Z2A chip very slightly higher compared to the Z1 of the classic Ally), if it is perhaps the new Xbox interface overlay visibly planned to make Windows a real pleasant platform for nomad players – Steamos so far is widely preferred by players of this type. Thus, the ROG Xbox Ally will embark the famous new interface, called Xbox Full Screen Experience, which will centralize both Xbox, Game Pass, Battle.net libraries, but also other digital PC games (such as Steam or Epic Games Store).
It is also recalled that the date of marketing of these two models has not yet been confirmed, neither by Asus, nor by Microsoft.
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