The Steam Deck is flowing happily ever after and works pretty well. If it stands up to other machines of its kind, a new major competitor is coming soon.
The Steam Deck is still talked about a lot today, and valve is already thinking about the sequel. When it was announced, many players saw it as a real alternative for playing big games on the go, without burning their PEL either. Because if the Steam Deck is a box, it is however in no way a revolution. You may not know it, but the competition is already tough in the sector.
Other very powerful consoles/laptops exist, such as ONEXPlayer or AYA for example. However, The Steam Deck had two big arguments to torpedo the competition: an attractive price, half the price of the big pieces on the market, and the optimization of its hardware with the huge Steam library. However, a new competitor will enter the scene and could also hit hard. Its name, Asus.
ROG ALLY, le Steam Deck killer ?
Asus is a well-known brand of PC users. The firm has largely developed in the gaming sector by offering peripherals, and even its own gaming brand. It is also with it that Asus will soon launch an assault on the sector of mobile gaming platforms. Mix of consoles and PC to carry everywhere.
Recently, the firm announced the imminent arrival of its ROG Ally, a Steam Deck in the colors of the Asus gaming brand that includes promising features. We are talking here about a 7-inch screen which displays a resolution of 1920×1080 and can push its brightness up to 500 nits. We are therefore above the capabilities of the Steam Deck on paper. In addition, the ROG Ally will run natively with Windows 11, which means that PC games, or even the Xbox Game Pass catalog will be easily accessible.
- Steam Deck
- APU AMD Zen 2 quadricœur – RDNA 2
- Screen 60Hz -16:10 – 7 inches – 1280×800 – 400 nits
- ROG Ally
- APU Zen 4 (custom 4nm) – RDNA 3
- Screen 120hz – 16:9 – 7 inches – 1920 x 1080 – 500 nits
No, it’s not a joke and the machine would be very powerful!
The thing is, when the announcement was made at the very beginning of April, no one believed it for a second. Everyone thought this was just another April Fool’s joke. There was a bunch. But no, the machine is indeed real. Asus outright re-confirmed the announcement a short time ago on Twitter. Moreover, a handful of Youtubers specialized in the field have also been able to have a prototype of the machine in their hands. And if they don’t have knowledge of all the elements, they agree that the ROG Ally would potentially be twice as efficient as the Steam Deck, just that.
A design close to the Steam Deck, but not too much
For now, however, apart from the technical elements above, we do not know much about this new machine. As the Youtubers point out, the price has not yet been given and for the moment these are only prototype versions, although advanced. Moreover, the design of the prototype meanwhile refers us to the remains of ROG hardware. It’s clean, a bit angular and it still retains this somewhat “cyberpunk” note. We note an ergonomics which seems to be quite similar to that of the Steam Deck with buttons placed in the same place, triggers above the screen as well as two others at the back. The joysticks, on the other hand, are asymmetrical and there is no trackpad on the front. Some differences therefore, but we are very close to the competition. Finally, note the presence of a jack connector, a Micro SD card slot or a USB-C port.
For the moment, Asus has therefore given neither price nor any additional information. But it shouldn’t take too long. Let’s just hope that this time he won’t miss the boat to make his communication.
