The Asus ROG Ally AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme edition is available to buy for $620 from BestBuy, an 11% discount off its $700 MSRP. The Extreme edition contains two additional Zen4 cores and three times as many RDNA3 compute units than the non-Extreme version, which is still for sale at its $600 MSRP.
Asus released the Asus ROG Ally earlier this year to compete with the Steam Deck to become best handheld gaming PC. While it certainly beats out the Valve machine in terms of specs, thanks to its faster 120Hz refresh rate, 1080p resolution, and AMD Z1 Extreme processor, a few eyebrows were raised over its inflated asking price.
The ROG Ally Extreme edition has held at $700 since it arrived on the market, until now. BestBuy is the first retailer to offer a discount on Asus’ handheld as part of its early Black Friday sale.
This may have been prompted by the arrival of the Lenovo Legion Go. This new handheld PC has upstaged the ROG Ally with similar processing power thanks to its own AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor but a larger 8.8-inch QHD 1600p display with a 144Hz refresh rate.
Essentially, Lenovo has done to Asus what it did to the Steam Deck when it released the ROG Ally. At any rate, this sale is a great opportunity to pick up a powerful handheld at a decent discount. As more devices enter the market, consumers will hopefully win out with new offers and sweeteners to win our custom.
Of course, handhelds aren’t for everyone. Some may prefer the performance and versatility of a gaming PC or gaming laptop to a portable PC like the Steam Deck or ROG Ally.