ASUS is indeed launching a Republic of Gamers (ROG) branded handheld PC gaming device in the hopes of competing with Valve’s Steam Deck.
When the manufacturer announced the ROG Ally on Saturday April 1, some assumed it may have been an April Fools joke, due to the quirky announcement video posted to YouTube.
However, the company has confirmed that pre-orders are about to start and felt the need to point out the console is “not an April Fool’s joke”. Not the best look for a new product.
Anyway, the ROG Ally will be a vessel for playing all of your games. It’ll run on Windows 11, meaning it’s almost certainly geared for PC gamers, but will be compatible with Xbox Game Pass too. Other than that, the link provided to the Best Buy retailer page tells us nothing about the ASUS ROG Ally. It’s just a place holder encouraging gamers to register their interest. No price, no release date. Nada.
However, the initial video told us it’ll combine all of ASUS’s gaming knowhow into “one single device to wear the crown” and bring “true PC performance to life on the go.”
It’ll have a Full HD capable display and a AMD Ryzen-branded APU that’s been custom made for the task. It’ll have a dual fan design to keep the device quiet and cool and can also be connected to the ROG XG Mobile eGPU enabling you to hook up to the big telly and play more demanding games at a higher resolution.
So yeah, it’s real. But you can’t blame people for thinking it was not. Check out the announcement video which had the air of deliberately-over-the-top voice over narration and… erm… zombies.
Will you be splashing out on the ASUS ROG Ally when it arrives? Or are you quite happy with your current gaming solution? Let us know @trustedreviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.