ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X: AMD Ryzen Z2 fleas that blow hot and cold

It was a secret of Polichinelle well kept by Microsoft, Asus and Xbox – Although we have seen visuals of the console – which was Unveiled this Sunday during the Xbox Games Showcase : not one, but two Xbox Rog Ally.

A ROG Ally + an Xbox controller = ROG Xbox Ally (X)

Thus, the console takes over the Rog Ally X from Asus with its 7-inch Full HD screen at 120Hz, an 80Wh battery (60Wh for non-X) and in large part its design. Let’s be clear, Asus and Microsoft were not too “trampled on” by taking up the whole shell of the Rog Ally and by grafting two handles of Xbox controllers. Suffice to say that ROG Ally’s R&D has been profitable for these two models.

We will therefore be entitled to: the ROG Xbox Ally X with an AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor for demanding players (those who want the maximum), and the ROG Xbox Ally with an AMD Ryzen Z2A chip for those who wish more autonomy, but if we had to translate marketing speech we would say: those who do not have the means to afford the X version.

A ROG Xbox Ally X for performance

The Rog Xbox Ally X has the latest AMD processor for portable consoles, the Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme. This processor incorporates the latest designer technologies: 8 Zen5 cores (3 Zen5 + 5 Zen5c), The same as those of the Ryzen 9 9950X And being able to reach 5GHz!

The GPU part is made up of 16 RDNA 3.5 GPU cores that we have already encountered in the Ryzen AI 300 of laptops like the Ryzen AI 9 370HX. This is actually a graphic part called Radeon 890m.

We should therefore find performance in play similar to those obtained during our test of ZenBook S 16 OLEDwith the only difference that the Rog Xbox Ally X should be able to allocate a larger video memory envelope to its GPU, unlike the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, and therefore be potentially more efficient in some cases.

A ROG Xbox Ally for Xcloud and GeForce NOW

For the Rog Xbox Ally, our Triumvirate offers a Ryzen Z2A chip with the so -called “dated” design. To make very simple, the chip takes up the same technical characteristics as that used by Valve in the Steam Deck (released in 2022 and designed by AMD), namely: 4 Zen2 cores with Multithreading and 8 GPUs of RDNA 2.

Suffice to say that we are far from a lightning lightning. However, this should be better than the Rog Ally with the Ryzen Z1 and its 4 GPUs Rdna 3 cores. But where the shot is that on the steam deck, the definition of the screen is 1280×800 px, while on the Rog Xbox Ally, it remains in 1920×1080 px, twice as many pixels to display, which divides almost two second. The passage in HD definition is not viable, as it would drastically degrade the image quality.

The Cloud Gaming therefore seems to us to favor for this Rog Xbox Ally if we want to take advantage of the latest AAA games. On the other hand, games not requiring excessive graphics resources should work without blinking.

And the prices in all this? No more than € 500 for the Rog Xbox Ally

The ROG Xbox Ally (non-X) should, in our opinion and in view of the equipment used, be sold under the € 500 to find its audience. The first competitor in mind is the Steam Deck OLED, sold in its basic version € 579 with an almost identical processor and the same storage options. However, the Steam Deck Oled keeps a big highlight: its screen, without common measure with the IPS screen of the Rog Xbox Ally, despite its responsiveness.

The price of the Rog Xbox Ally X should replace the Rog Ally X which only differs with its previous generation chip, the Ryzen Z1 Extreme. The latter is currently offered at € 899 and it is not seen too much how the price could be lower, unless Microsoft subsidizes its portable console in order to ensure its promotion.

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