Asus has revealed that a cheaper version of the ROG Ally will arrive later this year, but you probably shouldn’t wait for it.
Asus has finally given its hotly anticipated ROG Ally a price and release date (you can read my full thoughts on the device in our Asus ROG Ally review). The flagship model, the one I reviewed, arrives on June 13 for $700. But a cheaper model is on the way for only $600 later in the year.
It rarely pays to be an early adopter, so you might be tempted to wait for the cheaper model. I wouldn’t hold out for it, though. The base model comes with the Ryzen Z1 processor, not the Z1 Extreme, and it’s looking far less powerful.
The above chart from AMD shows a relative idea of how much weaker the Ryzen Z1 is. Sure, it can hold up decently in a game like DOTA 2 or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, but it’s around half as powerful in Red Dead Redemption 2 and even worse in Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
