ROG Ally Prices Itself At Unexpected $700

Earlier this month electronics manufacturer ASUS showed off a new device they plan to introduce to the market later this year: the ROG Ally, a handheld with a large screen that promises to make PC games portable. A device like this already exists, of course; it’s called the Steam Deck — but it’s about to get competition.

The ROG Ally has a more powerful APU than the Steam Deck and, more importantly, an official Windows 11 OS, which should greatly improve compatibility. The Deck went with a Linux OS to keep costs down, but is able to run some Windows games via complicated trickery (it’s not an exact science, though, hence there are a lot of incompatible games). Given all this, and the fact that ASUS makes expensive hardware, we expected the price to be $1000 or more (or at least $999).

It’s not. The Verge reports that ASUS somehow plans to sell this thing for just $699.99. That’s still more expensive than the Steam Deck’s priciest model, but not by much. That should raise some eyebrows at Steam.

Competition is good. It’s how capitalism is supposed to work. A highly competitive market keeps sticker prices low and gives the consumer the best deal. The ROG Ally is designed to improve on the shortcomings of the Steam Deck, and Steam will have to deal with these shortcomings soon if they want to stay in the race. Winner: You.

There are still obstacles in the way to ASUS taking this market, however. We still don’t know what the battery life is for the ROG Ally, and the Deck’s battery life is short as it is for modern games. There’s also the fact that the Ally looks…ugly. Its 2000s XTreme Skateboarder design would make it embarrassing to bring out in public, and there better be a way to turn off that garish glow around the thumbsticks.

If you have a Steam Deck, your device hasn’t been declared obsolete yet.