Sony parted ways with the PlayStation Vita in March 2019, but it may be looking to get back into the handheld game soon. According to rumors shared on reddit, the ROG Ally, ASUS’ new handheld PC and Steam Deck competitor, was designed as a direct answer to a next-generation handheld that Sony is secretly developing. There’s no indication as to whether this might be the PlayStation Vita 2, but Sony has been rumored to reveal new hardware in the relatively near future, which are said to go beyond a new, drive-less PS5 console and PS5 Pro model with improved performance. The ASUS ROG Ally will be available in 512 GB ($649) and 1 TB ($899) options beginning in October, according to the leaker.
ASUS ROG Ally vs. Steam Deck
| Asus ROG Ally (Source) | Steam Deck | |
| CPU | AMD Zen 4 SoC built on TSMC 4nm | Custom Zen 2 “Van Gogh,” 4 cores, 8 threads, 2.4 – 3.5 GHz |
| GPU | RDNA 3 GPU | 8 RDNA 2 CUs, 1.0 – 1.6 GHz |
| Memory | Unknown | 16GB LPDDR5 |
| Storage | 512GB NVMe SSD (in photos) | 64 eMMC, 256GB / 512GB NVMe SSD |
| Connectivity | Unknown (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth assumed) | Dual-band 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Ports | USB – C, Asus XG Mobile external GPU connector. Headphone, UHS-III micro SD, Fingerprint Sensor | USB Type-C with DisplayPort, 3.5 mm headphone jack, microSD card reader (UHS-I) |
| Battery | Comparable with Steam Deck | 40 WHr |
| Display | 7-inch 16:9 display | 7-inch 16:10 display |
| Operating system | Windows | SteamOS |
| Dimensions | 280 x 113 x 39 mm | 298 x 117 x 50.5 mm |
| Weight | 608g | 669g |
| Price | [$649 to $899] | $399 to $649 |
From a reddit post:
- purposely missing Hall effect thumb sticks and other features to match $649 steam deck price
- 2 Models and 2 colors (white and black, 512GB $649 1TB $899
- Custom Asus OS is still being worked on (can link steam, Epic, Origin, and XBOX Gamepass to the OS and it will be able to sync achievements and screenshots etc)
- October release date, Microsoft to help promote gamepass on this device
- Asus employee aware of Sony handheld secretly being worked on (no info besides that) which is why they approached Microsoft months ago due to more competition coming soon besides valve
- Supports eGPU
- Supports VR
- Biggest hiccup is the design, gyro controls not functioning properly with windows
P.S believe me or not this is all I know and was able to play around with while asking questions