Best Buy is still selling the Asus ROG Ally for only $400. Normally $600, the ROG Ally Z1 is a fairly powerful handheld Windows PC that’s definitely worth checking out at this low price. The ROG Ally is one of the best devices in the burgeoning portable PC market that has experienced immense growth in recent years thanks to Valve’s Steam Deck. The Linux-based Steam Deck is an all-around great device, but if you’re partial to Windows, Best Buy’s ROG Ally deal is the best offer we’ve ever seen. This is the lowest price ever for the ROG Ally, and Best Buy has been offering the $400 deal since December. There’s no word on when the deal will expire, so check it out while you can.
This is for the entry-level model of the ROG Ally, but it still has a lot of power under its hood. You’re getting a device with a sharp 1080p screen, AMD’s Ryzen Z1 processor, 16GB LPDDR5 6400 RAM, and an internal 512GB NVMe SSD. If that’s not enough space, you can always make use of a microSD card for a quick and cheap storage upgrade. Alternatively, you can upgrade the internal SSD with the WD Black SN770M 1TB or 2TB drive.
What makes the ROG Ally stand out from the Steam Deck is that it runs on Windows 11, allowing you to play virtually any PC game in your collection from a wide range of storefronts. That includes Steam, the Epic Games Store, GOG, Prime Gaming, Itch, and more. Best of all, you can run the Xbox app on the ROG Ally, so if you have a Game Pass subscription, you get a massive library of games that you can take on the road with you. There’s a standard array of inputs arranged over the white shell, some handy paddles on the back, and the handheld charges via USB-C.
In terms of power, the standard Z1 is a solid middleweight contender to the heavyweight champ that is the Z1 Extreme. It can easily play the latest indie games and many older AAA titles, but more demanding, newer games will require some graphical concessions to get running on it. In comparison, the Z1 Extreme offers a considerable performance boost. It has eight Zen 4 CPU cores (the Z1 has six) and a better GPU that allows for modern games to work brilliantly at 1080p on it.
That’s not to say that the base model Z1 isn’t a great handheld PC gaming console, but if graphical fidelity is a priority for you, you’ll want the Z1 Extreme model. The Lenovo Legion Go, a $700 handheld with detachable controllers and an 8.8-inch display, also uses the Z1 Extreme chipset. Meanwhile, the newly announced MSI Claw will have an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor and specs that should put it in the high-performing tier of handheld PCs.
For the price, however, you really can’t beat the $400 Asus ROG Ally Z1 if you want a handheld Windows PC.
