The Steam Deck is no longer all alone in the powerful, portable gaming market. Yes, there's the Nintendo Switch and AYANEO's devices, but the Asus ROG Ally appears to the first true competitor for this niche. We'll have to see about pricing and availability given the Deck's own history and place in the market, but in the meantime we can speculate that it's more powerful than the Deck and may offer other advantages to the user. It comes with Microsoft Windows and a high-refresh, 1080p/FHD display, for two things.
The ROG Ally comes equipped with a M.2 2230 SSD, likely at 512GB or 1TB, which has the potential of adding some more cost to the unit, especially for the latter capacity. As with the Deck, it may be possible to save some money by going smaller and then upgrading the drive yourself. We offer a 1TB Rocket 2230 that's designed for small devices like the Deck, Surface line of products, ultrabooks, and more. We also offer a 2TB option in this form factor with the Rocket Q4 2230 to meet customer requests which could offer and upgrade even to the 1TB ROG Ally.
The ROG Ally also relies on a USB-C port for adding peripherals and for charging, so our other great Deck products will work here, too. This includes the Multi-Port USB Type-C Hub and of course our essential 6-Port Docking Station which, although designed for the Deck, works with a wide range of USB-C devices for charging and accessory expansion. In the future we will also offer more full-featured docks for those that want even more out of their devices and these will hold the Ally more firmly. Be sure to use a 100W charger if you want the highest performance possible for your Ally! We also have a Multi-Port USB Type-C Hub with a card reader built-in. These devices are limited in FPS output, considering the ROG Ally can push 4K/120Hz, so we will have updated versions for that experience in the future.
We also have you covered for cables, adapters, switches and hubs, enclosures and portable storage, large memory cards, accessories and much more. Whether you're a Deck fan, a ROG ally, or maybe both, we have something to help improve your experience. We are excited for this new device and will be following it closely so keep an eye out for new blogs and videos to help you upgrade and use your device. The ROG Ally's x8 PCIe 3.0 port beings some strong possibilities, for one. Let's wait and see.
(thumbnail image courtesy Asus)
