Best Buy is offering a big discount on the Asus ROG Ally Windows gaming handheld during its Black Friday in July Sale. The base model ROG Ally with the custom Z1 chip is available for only $400 (was $500), which matches the handheld’s lowest price. Alternatively, you can step up to the ROG Ally Z1 Extreme, which offers better performance for graphically demanding games, for $550 (was $650). Other PC gaming handhelds, including the Lenovo Legion Go and MSI Claw, are also on sale for big discounts. These deals are available through July 17 when Best Buy’s sale ends alongside Amazon Prime Day.
The Steam Deck remains the most popular PC gaming handheld, but if you’re partial to Windows, the ROG Ally line is arguably your best choice. It’s certainly the most popular Windows gaming handheld at the moment, and it’s also the most affordable, regardless of whether you pick the Z1 or Z1 Extreme model. If you decide to pick one up–or if you have a Steam Deck–you should check out Best Buy’s huge discount on the ROG Ally Charger Dock. This handy accessory is on sale for only $30 (was $65).
These ROG Ally deals have arrived with just one week remaining until the launch of the ROG Ally X, a higher-end handheld that retails for $800. The Steam Deck remains the most popular PC gaming handheld, but if you’re partial to Windows, the ROG Ally line is arguably your best choice.
$400 (was $500) | $550 (was $650)
The $400 ROG Ally comes 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, which is on sale at Best Buy, too. If you want to upgrade your SSD without spending over $100, the Corsair MP600 Mini 1TB SSD is discounted to $90 at Amazon.
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.
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.
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. But you also have more to choose from on the Windows gaming handheld front during Best Buy’s sale.
Best Buy also has deals on the Lenovo Legion Go and MSI Claw. The Legion Go has a massive 8.8-inch display and detachable controllers (like the Switch) and makes use of the Z1 Extreme chipset, too. You can save $100 on the Legion Go, which drops the price to $600. The MSI Claw, meanwhile, is fitted with the new Intel Core Ultra processors. The MSI Claw with the Core Ultra 5 chip is discounted to $600 (was $700), while the more powerful Ultra 7 model is down to $650 (was $750).
