STACK #224 June 2023

GAMING FEATURE

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IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE GAMES As the ROG Ally is a full-powered Windows 11 behemoth, you have the ability to do your general everyday tasks on the go, ranging from email and word processing to web browsing and watching media. ASUS are also releasing accessories that allow connection to a monitor or TV, so just hook in a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse combo and

If you want to take your PC gaming on the go then this is a big month, with the launch of the impressive ROG Ally handheld gaming console.We’ve been playing with one and managed to drag ourselves away just long enough to let you in on some of what to expect. Words Amy Flower ROG ALLY YOUR ANYTIME, ANYWHERE GAMING FRIEND

you’ll have a complete computing setup.

As far as connectivity goes, the latest Wi-Fi 6E is supported, alongside Bluetooth 5.2. Weight?! If the impressive specs aren’t enough, the ROG Ally also weighs in at just 608 grams. As a comparison, a Nintendo Switch with Joy-Cons attached weighs around 400 grams. In use The really impressive stuff starts when you get playing. This is one seriously powerful portable gaming unit, and when we were flinging a Hoonigan special around Mexico in Forza Horizon 5 or going stealthy in The Last of Us: Part I , we had to sometimes stop and acknowledge how good we have things with the ROG Ally. When pausing from the heat

First screening What initially strikes you about the ROG Ally is just how good it looks. White, with sleek, angled lines and reflective highlights, it looks like a gaming device without screaming it. Turn it on and the really impressive stuff begins, as the seven-inch

• The ASUS ROG Ally is available Jun 13

Gorilla Glass touchscreen bursts to colourful life in all of its 1080p glory. Not only does the ROG Ally’s screen bring the resolution, it can also run at up to 120Mhz, for that ever-so-smooth action. It also delivers 500 nits of brightness, as well as Dolby Vision HDR where supported, and boasts a perky 7ms response time. In control… The controls, including two thumbsticks (with programmable RGB lighting) and a D-pad, are formatted in asynchronous Xbox style, with full control over settings such as dead zones. As well as the classic A-B-X-Y and four shoulder buttons, there are two programmable paddles on the Ally’s rear. A pair of further buttons flanks each side of the screen, variously controlling view changes, Command Centre settings, Armoury Crate settings, and menu toggle. If you’re jumping from a controller to the Ally it doesn’t take long to feel at home at all. Power! Booting the system is a speedy process that lands at the typical Windows 11 login screen,

but once you’re in the ROG Ally brings up the

Armoury Crate games menu. Here you can access and sort

your games arsenal in various ways, with the ability to combine favourites from all the usual suspects such as Xbox Game Pass, Epic Games, and Steam. Basically, your ROG Ally can play pretty much any PC game that’s out there. A look inside Peeking inside the ROG Ally, at its heart beats an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU (that’s a CPU and GPU hybrid). Three operating modes are supported: Silent (9W), Performance (15W), and Turbo (25W, or 30W when AC connected). Unsurprisingly, battery usage depends upon which mode is set. We were playing several premium titles quite fine in Performance Mode, although bumping up to Turbo does often offer higher game specs and a smoother experience. Memory-wise, there’s 16GB of DDR5 RAM, alongside a 512GB SSD drive and, if that’s not enough storage, you can insert a MicroSD card as expansion.

of battle it’s also a good time to note the lack of heat from the unit, with ROG’s dual fan intelligent cooling keeping things chilled and whisper quiet. Unlike the inbuilt speakers, which support Dolby Atmos and pump out impressively oomphy sound for a handheld. Wow! We’ve barely scratched the surface of how impressive the ROG Ally is. With specs more akin to a new-gen home console than other handhelds, customisation options aplenty, expandability, and the power of AMD’s latest chipset inside, it really is a game changer for those who wish to take their PC gaming on the road, or into bed, or out in the backyard, or…

JUNE 2023

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