What you need to know
- The Asus ROG Ally is an upcoming gaming handheld that runs Windows 11 and is a direct competitor to Valve's Steam Deck.
- The official ROG Ally launch event takes place today, May 11, at 10 a.m. Eastern and will discuss the handheld's specs, release date, pricing, and other details.
- Panelists from Xbox, AMD, ROG, and Asus will also discuss the handheld's future during this event.
Last month, Asus Republic of Gamers (ROG) announced a brand new gaming handheld that runs Windows 11. The company has specifically stated that this device is a direct competitor to the Steam Deck, however, many of the handheld's specific specs, release date, and pricing haven't been made known yet. This is all going to change this week during the official ROG Ally gaming handheld launch event that will be streamed online on May 11.
There is a lot of hype for this device. There have been Windows-powered handheld PCs before, but this is the first in a long time from a major manufacturer. Toss in a partnership with AMD and Microsoft, and it's clear this is a big deal. Gamers everywhere are eager to know more about it, how much it's going to cost and when they can get their hands on one. That all changes today.
We'll go over where and when to watch the ROG Ally launch event and dive into what information we expect to hear during the stream.
How to watch the ROG Ally event
The ROG Ally gaming handheld launch event is happening on Thursday, May 11, 2023, at 7:00 am PT / 10:00 am ET / 3:00 pm BST.
This event will be streamed online and can be viewed on ROG's official YouTube (watch in the embedded link above) or Twitch channels.
ROG Ally launch event: What to expect
The ROG Ally gaming handheld launch event will go over this new device's pricing, release date, and ROG Ally specs to really give an idea of what the ROG Ally vs. Steam Deck situation is. We'll finally learn whether or not the ROG Ally price leak was accurate.
Shawn Yen, the Product Management Director of Gaming Business Unit at ASUS, will be the keynote speaker and likely the person to give all of the juicy ROG Ally details we want to learn about like how to preorder the ROG Ally or even enough details to know what the ROG Ally vs Steam Deck situation really is.
At some point, Yen will be joined by Roanne Sones, CVP, Head of Xbox Hardware from Microsoft as well as Frank Azor, Chief Architect of Gaming Solutions and Marketing at AMD, to talk about "the future of portable gaming" with Jake "SolidJake" Kulinski who is a Live Video Producer at ASUS and Host of ROG Pulse as their moderator.
Windows Central's take
It's promising to see that this ROG Ally launch event will feature spokespersons from both Xbox and AMD, considering that a custom AMD Zen 4 APU chipset is inside the ROG Ally and that handheld users are likely to access Xbox Game Pass for PC on the device. It already shows that the ROG Ally is intended to be a gamer's universal device for accessing all PC gaming services and storefronts and will have more freedom than Steam Deck in that regard. I personally expect to hear more about the capabilities of the AMD SoC and Xbox's relationship with ROG Ally during the event.
The ROG Ally isn't just the first handheld gaming device that could seriously challenge the Steam Deck. It could also spell doom for Valve's handheld since it will offer so many more possibilities without requiring any hacking. We just need to learn a few things about the ROG Ally first to see how it really compares to Valve's gaming device.
If Asus manages to keep the ROG Ally at a reasonable price point, give it decent battery life, and provide the smoother gameplay experience that it claims its handheld is capable of, then it will undoubtedly be the better handheld between the two.
This is due to the fact that its Windows 11 OS will allow it to access more games and services than the Steam Deck right out of the box. This likely means that the ROG Ally will attract Valve's own customers since the ROG Ally should theoretically be able to access all Steam games, not just Steam Deck-compatible ones, which will make it a better gaming system even for those who only have PC games on Steam. I personally cannot wait to learn more about it.
