Most corporations will keep away from making actual product bulletins on April Fools’ Day, because the information will inevitably get buried below a mountain of pranks from corporations incorrectly assuming they are often humorous. However not Asus. It used April 1 this yr to announce its first handheld gaming gadget, leaving followers questioning if it was actual… till Asus confirmed the ROG Ally this morning on Twitter.
Asus ROG Movement Z13 Gaming Pill Overview
Not like latest handhelds from Logitech and Razer, that are primarily designed to be used with both sport streaming companies or Android cell video games, the ROG (Republic of Avid gamers) Ally sounds prefer it’s being positioned as a handheld gaming PC, much like the strategy Valve took with its Steam Deck. No less than, that’s if we go off the restricted specs and options revealed throughout a considerably unhinged announcement video Asus shared on YouTube on April 1. (Why are there zombies on the finish?)
ROG ALLY – ROG’s First Gaming Handheld Console
What we do know is that the ROG Ally might be a Home windows gaming handheld powered by a custom-made and APU (accelerated processing unit, or a processor with built-in graphics capabilities) from AMD. For reference, the Steam Deck additionally makes use of a {custom} AMD APU, though we wouldn’t be shocked to see the Ally boasting more moderen tech, as Valve’s APU makes use of a Zen 2+ processor and RDNA2 graphics, that are a number of generations behind. Boasting, “Full HD gaming,” the Ally’s display screen will in all probability max out at a 1080P decision, and the hand held seems to function a pair of quiet cooling followers to maximise efficiency whereas making certain the gadget doesn’t get too heat to truly maintain.
The ROG Ally will play AAA video games natively from varied sport libraries, and whereas it can inevitably require efficiency tweaks and compromises for sure video games to play easily in handheld mode, the gadget may be docked and linked to the ROG XG Cell eGPU, permitting extra demanding video games to be performed in full high quality on a bigger display screen at better resolutions.
Particulars on when the Asus ROG Ally might be accessible or how a lot it can value haven’t been disclosed but, however Asus’ tweet this morning is pointing players to a touchdown web page on Greatest Purchase’s web site, the place they will signal as much as be notified when the hand held is prepared for pre-order.
Except for out-of-the-box eGPU assist, what appears most noticeable right here is that the hand held seems to be a contact smaller than the Steam Deck, and bears the identical sort of over-the-top branding as ROG laptops. We’ll see how effectively it will possibly compete with different Steam Deck options just like the Ayaneo Geek after we can really maintain it in our palms, hopefully with out being interrupted by zombies.