Users looking for a bargain on a handheld gaming console post-Black Friday might just have a reason to step off the fence thanks to a new deal on Best Buy that sees amassive $200 cut on the Z1 Extreme editionof theASUSROG Ally. The discount also comes with extras, such as a free official ROG Ally case from ASUS ($40 value), making it an even better deal than previous discounts on the console.
The ASUS ROG Ally is a powerful game console thatcompetes with the likes of Valve’s Steam Deck, MSI’s Claw lineup, and Lenovo’s Legion Go offerings, even as it offers a powerful APU built by AMD (Ryzen Z1 Extreme) in addition to a 120Hz FHD Display. It runs Windows 11 natively which allows it access to a variety of PC-centric storefronts including the Microsoft Store (Xbox Game Pass), Steam, Epic Games Store and Green Man Gaming to name a few.
What Else Does Best Buy’s ROG Ally Deal Offer?
Not only is the $200 discount on the higher end for an ASUS’s ROG Ally console offering, but the bundled official carrying case with ASUS’s ROG branding offers an effective $40 markdown on the price that users would otherwise pay for it.
Why Is It Worth Considering The ASUS ROG Ally Deal?
While the ASUS ROG Ally has been supplanted by theASUS ROG Ally X at the higher end, which offers a significant RAM upgrade in both capacity and speed, in addition to a larger SSD, twice the battery life and an overhauled cooling system, it also clocks in at an additional cost with the 1TB SKU running at $800 and the 2TB variant being offered at an eye-watering $900 versus the competition.
The ROG Ally was one of the more expensive consoles money could buy at launch, but subsequent price cuts (and the $200 discount in play currently) reposition it as a value-centric console for gamers looking to play current-gen titles, emulate older ones, or simply have a capable media device running a full Windows 11 installation on the go.
The ASUS ROG Ally trades at just $450 currently on Best Buy thanks to an ongoing discount.
Its current discount pits it against competition that is significantly weaker on the hardware front, even as it offers a superior display resolution and refresh rate versus the Steam Deck OLED which costs about the same after the discount is priced in.
With users able to add storage via a MicroSD card, the ROG Ally can be brought up to speed to the ROG Ally X’s standards fairly fast even as users can leverage a 3rd party battery (Hint: Aliexpress) to make up for its limitations when it comes to longevity on the go.
