This Asus ROG Ally price leak seems too good to be true

If this is the price of the Asus ROG Ally, it's going to be a very, very popular device

(Credit: Kevin Lee/The Shortcut)

The Asus ROG Ally is set to go head-to-head with Valve’s Steam Deck when it releases on May 11. And as

Matt Swider

noted in his Asus ROG Ally hands-on review, it could be the Steam Deck 2 many have been waiting for.

However, due to its extremely impressive technical specs, many have speculated that the Asus ROG Ally would likely be an expensive device and unable to match Steam Deck when it comes to price.

An Asus representative recently said that the ROG Ally would be less than $1,000 “for sure”, but it turns out it might actually be $699.99 – and that’s for the high-end AMD Z1 Extreme model. For comparison’s sake, the top-spec Steam Deck is also $649 and isn’t nearly as powerful.

➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: Asus ROG Ally price

• 😬 An Asus ROG Ally price leak suggests big trouble for Valve’s Steam Deck

• 🤯 The top-spec ROG Ally could cost just $699.99

• 😲 That’s only slightly more expensive than the Steam Deck

• 🆚 It also means the vanilla Asus ROG Ally could be more competitively priced

According to The Verge, reliable gadget leaker Roland Quandt as well as a leak from SnoopyTech have provided marketing materials and data that prove the Asus ROG Ally price is indeed $699.99 – which should worry Valve immensely.

As The Verge notes about the price leak, they’re “pretty sure it’s the real deal” though we won’t know for sure until May 11. If the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme model is $699.99, it means the vanilla ROG Ally could be even more competitively priced when stacked up against the Steam Deck. For reference, Valve’s entry-level Steam Deck with 64GB of eMMC storage is $399.

If the Asus ROG Ally price leak turns out to be true, there are still a few more questions that we need answers to. For starters, Asus needs to show that games run well on its device as it uses Windows 11, which isn’t exactly optimized for a handheld gaming experience. Microsoft seems to be working on that, however.

Second, battery life will also be an important metric to note. If it can match or better what the Steam Deck is capable of, then that will probably be enough for most. I’d personally like to see three to four hours as a minimum, as a two-hour battery life feels like it defeats the point of a portable device, honestly.

We’ll know more on May 11 when Asus is holding a launch event that should give us the same price and reveal more juicy details that players will want to know. Those who bought a Steam Deck when it went on sale may be feeling a little envious if it does retail for $699.99, however.