We can finally confirm that the ASUS ROG Ally, a Windows 11-based Steam Deck competitor, is headed to the local market, months after its official announcement. Even better, the Philippines will get both the regular and Extreme variants announced at launch, with the latter going on sale before the other.
(Update, July 20: The ASUS ROG Ally is priced from P39,995 [$733] in the Philippines!)
(Update, July 10: We have the ASUS ROG Ally’s Philippine launch date!)
Unfortunately, we can’t share the local pricing and availability details yet, as they are still under local embargo. In the United States, the base version of the handheld console starts at $599.99 (around P33,607). The faster, higher-tier model that includes an AMD Ryzen Z1 processor and a more capable GPU is priced at $699.99 (P39,208). Regardless of which kit you choose, the console will ship with 512GB of PCIe Gen4 storage, which can be upgraded at any time.
That said, many consider the ASUS ROG Ally to be an attractive alternative to the Steam Deck, especially on the local market where the latter isn’t officially supported.
ASUS ROG Ally launch highlights, in case you missed the event
Not to mention, the lack of retail support has made the Steam Deck more expensive in the Philippines compared to other countries that sell the console for as low as $399 (P22,350) for the base model with 64GB storage. A quick search on Lazada and Shopee will reveal that the Steam Deck starts at around P27,000 ($482) here.
It should also be mentioned that the ASUS ROG Ally is a much more powerful handheld, sporting a custom AMD Ryzen APU inside and boots Windows 11 out of the box, bringing support for Windows apps, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Cloud Gaming without the need for tweaks or installing third-party software.
Running on a similar resolution and APU wattage, ASUS‘ ROG Ally is roughly 50% faster than the Steam Deck. It also scales higher, too, going up to 30 watts (or higher) in Turbo mode with the charger plugged in. By comparison, the Steam Deck tops out at 15 watts. Notably, the ROG Ally packs a bigger and faster screen as well, making it better suited for gaming and streaming videos.
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