ASUS reveals their upgraded ROG Ally X for handheld enthusiasts

ASUS’ ROG Ally is getting a major upgrade with its new X variant

ASUS has revealed their plans for their next ROG Ally system. The new ROG Ally X gaming handheld will be officially revealed on June 2nd at Computex, and it will feature some major improvements over the original.

While the new Ally will feature the same AMD Z1 Extreme processor and 120Hz VVR screen as its predecessor, it will feature some key upgrades. For starters, ASUS has promised users a much longer battery life. When speaking to The Verge, ASUS Shawn Jen has stated that “We’re not looking at 30 to 40 percent more capacity, -We’re looking at way more than that.”

ASUS has sought feedback from the ROG Ally community, and they have listened. Users wanted a larger battery life, and didn’t care if the device was made a little heavier to achieve that. Beyond that, the Ally now features M.2 2280 SSD support. This allows users to install faster, larger capacity SSDs onto their Ally X handhelds.

The ROG Ally X will also feature a memory upgrade. The handheld will feature more memory than its 16GB predecessor. That allows more memory to be allocated to the system’s GPU. The system will also have a new, redesigned (replicable) joystick module to make the product more repairable. Currently, it’s unknown if the ROG Ally X will also feature faster DRAM.

With the ROG Ally X, ASUS didn’t want to create a handheld that was incrementally better than the original. The Ally X is an enthusiast handheld. With ASUS Armoury Crate SE 1.5, the system now has better software than ever. Add on the system’s improved hardware, and it is clear that the Ally has been improved on almost every front.

The ROG Ally X isn’t the ROG Ally 2

While this isn’t a second generation Ally handheld with a stronger SOC, it is a new product with significant design improvements. The larger battery life alone is a huge boon for Ally users. Support for larger M.2 SSDs is also a huge upgrade. Adding more memory will also allow the handheld to play more memory intensive games, and its improved ergonomics should make the handheld more comfortable to use despite its increased weight. In all, ASUS’ new X-series enthusiast handheld offers some major improvements over the original, though we will need to wait until June 2nd to see the system in action.

You can join the discussion on the ROG Ally X on the OC3D Forums.