Asus ROG Ally hands-on: First impression

As promised, Asus on Wednesday (July 12) released the new handheld gaming console ROG Ally in India.

It is now available on Flipkart and Asus authorised stores for Rs 69,990. In India, the company is offering only the top-end model with a 4nm class AMD Z1 Extreme processor.

Asus ROG Ally hands-on: initial thoughts 

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a few minutes playing the Forza Horizon 5 game on the ROG Ally. The device was super smooth and the controls are ergonomically placed on both sides, corners, and the back too, to deliver the best gaming experience.

Controls on ROG Ally include A B X Y buttons, D-pad, L & R Hall Effect analog triggers, L & R bumpers, View button, Menu button, Command Center button, Armoury Crate button, two assignable grip buttons, two full-size analog sticks with capacitive touch and support HD haptics and 6-Axis IMU.

Users can connect several old compatible PCs and even monitor or smart TVs to enjoy the games on the big screen.

The buttons are really tactile and haptics too, are powerful, and they really enhance the gaming experience.

The new ROG Ally sports a 7.0-inch LCD IPS screen with 500nits brightness and is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus. It supports 120Hz refresh rate, 7ms response time, Dolby Vision, AI noise-canceling technology,  Hi-Res certification, Dolby Atmos, a built-in array microphone, and a two-speaker system with Smart Amplifier Technology.

The LCD panel is really good; the colors on the screen look rich and vibrant, which further enhances the gaming experience.

The screen is a full HD (1920 x 1080p) IPS panel with 100% sRGB and supports 120 Hz refresh rate, 7 ms eDP1.4b, and offers up to peak brightness up to 500 nits. It supports FreeSync Premium technology to deliver tear-and-stutter-free gaming. 

The screen is very sensitive and responds instantly to the finger touch with no noticeable lag.  Also, the display is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus and Gorilla Glass DXC.
As far as connectivity is concerned, it supports Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and comes with ROG XG Mobile Interface and USB Type-C combo port --  USB 3.2 2nd Gen and DisplayPort v1.4 and also features a 3.5mm audio jack and SD card slot too. It supports WiFi 6E (802.11ax)  and Bluetooth v5.2.

It houses a 40 Wh battery and supports 65 W USB Type-C PD 3.0 charging. With a full charge, it can last for close to two hours. Thanks to the correct placement of the port for the power cable, users go on for several hours without any issues.

Also, it features two fans to dissipate heat efficiently and ensure the user plays for several hours without any issues. Given how powerful the processor is, the ROG Ally didn't even show any sign of lag-ness at all.

As noted earlier, it houses  AMD's 4nm class Ryzen Z1 Extreme octa-core processor (16-threads, speed up to 5.10 Ghz) with AMD Radeon Graphics (speed up to 2.7 GHz and operate up to 8.6 Teraflops).

It should be noted that Asus has also made another variant with AMD's 4nm class Ryzen hexa-core processor (can clock CPU speed up to 4.90GHz) with AMD Radeon Graphics (speed up to 2.5 GHz and can operate up to 2.8 Teraflops).  However, this is not available in India.

In the device, the company is offering a special Armoury Crate SE feature similar to the ROG Phone series, which allows users to custom set controls and offer control panel overlay to deliver a better gaming experience.

The Ally runs Windows 11 and comes with 16GB LDPPR5 6400MHz RAM, available for up to 512GB of NVMe M.2 2230 PCIe Gen 4 storage (expandable). 

And, to ensure ROG Ally has as many games as possible, Asus ROG is collaborating with  Xbox Game Studios, Capcom, HoYoverse, Level Infinite, 505 Games, Team 17, Nacon, Techland, Squanch Games, and Fatshark, among many other gaming developers.

The ROG Ally users can play top multi-player games such as NBA 2K23, Moving Out, and Street Fighter V. Also, ROG Ally users will be getting three months of free access to the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription.

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