The Asus ROG Ally is on sale for its lowest price yet this weekend

Now that the new and improved Asus ROG Ally X has arrived, we’re starting to see some great deals on its predecessor, the Asus ROG AllyThrough August 19, for example, the Windows handheld gaming console is available at Best Buy with a Z1 Extreme chip for its lowest price ever, $499.99 (or $150 off). That’s nearly half the price of its successor, which costs $799.99, making it a good alternative if you’re on a tighter budget. The entry-level model with the Z1 chip is also on sale for $379.99 (or $120), but given the performance drops, we recommend sticking with the Extreme configuration.

At this price, Asus’ standard ROG Ally offers good value, though it didn’t impress us as much as the ROG Ally X in terms of comfort, performance, or battery life. It’s still more powerful than Valve’s Steam Deck, though, thanks to its Z1 Extreme chip and improved performance when the console is plugged in and engaged in “Turbo” mode. It also has a quieter fan and a larger 1080p display with a 120Hz variable refresh rate, the latter of which is surprisingly smooth for its size.

Unfortunately, its battery only lasts four hours at best, which is disappointing given that it’s designed to be a portable gaming PC. It also held back Windows 11, which isn’t well-designed for small handhelds. That said, Valve is working on adding SteamOS support to competing handhelds like Asus’ ROG Ally, so we could perhaps see it run an alternative operating system in the future.