Ally handheld price cut

ASUS’s new ROG Xbox Ally is now listed at $599.99 on ASUS’s own store, and that number is the surprise: it puts a full Windows 11 gaming handheld within $50 of Valve’s Steam Deck OLED starting price. (asus.com) (steamdeck.com) That matters because these machines are no longer being compared only with Nintendo-style handhelds. ASUS is selling the ROG Xbox Ally as a portable personal computer that boots into an Xbox-style full-screen interface but still runs regular Windows underneath. (asus.com) The base ROG Xbox Ally uses an Advanced Micro Devices Ryzen Z2 A chip, 16 gigabytes of memory, a 7-inch 1920-by-1080 screen, and a 120-hertz refresh rate. Valve’s Steam Deck OLED starts at $549 with a 7.4-inch 1280-by-800 OLED screen and a 90-hertz refresh rate. (asus.com) (steamdeck.com) The tradeoff is software. Valve’s Steam Deck runs SteamOS, which is built to feel like a console, while ASUS is leaning on Windows 11 plus Xbox Game Bar and a custom Xbox full-screen mode to make a computer feel simpler in your hands. (steampowered.com) (asus.com) ASUS is also using the Xbox name to solve a problem older Windows handhelds had. On the ROG Xbox Ally, ASUS says the device drops straight into an Xbox-style home screen, and the Xbox button opens Game Bar for settings, captures, and switching games. (asus.com) There is still a much more expensive version sitting above it. ASUS lists the ROG Xbox Ally X at $999.99 with an Advanced Micro Devices Ryzen Artificial Intelligence Z2 Extreme chip and 24 gigabytes of memory, so the $599.99 model is clearly the mass-market play. (asus.com) That price reshapes the shopping math. A buyer looking at a $549 Steam Deck OLED now sees a Windows handheld with a sharper 1080p panel for about the same money, while a buyer considering a small gaming laptop under $700 now has a pocket-size alternative with the same game stores. (steamdeck.com) (asus.com) The bigger fight is over where people buy games. Valve wants the handheld to keep players inside Steam, while ASUS is pitching one machine that can open Xbox, Steam, Epic Games, and other Windows game stores from the same device. (steampowered.com) (asus.com) If ASUS holds that $599.99 price through the holiday 2025 launch window it is advertising, the handheld market stops looking like a niche for enthusiasts and starts looking like a normal consumer electronics shelf. At that point, the question is less “should I get a handheld” and more “which ecosystem do I want in my backpack.” (asus.com 1) (asus.com 2)