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Windows Central
Windows Central
Technology
Zachary Boddy

You can now drop $900 on the best gaming handheld with all the storage, but there's already one way to save a couple hundred dollars

A close-up of the ASUS ROG Ally X highlighting its ABXY buttons and right thumbstick.

What you need to know

  • The ASUS ROG Ally X is easily one of the very best gaming handhelds you can buy right now, but it's expensive.
  • Now, an even pricier variant of the ROG Ally X is set to drop in December, coming in at a whopping $900.
  • That massive price tag earns you a massive 2TB SSD to store all your games and files, and you can preorder now.
  • Best Buy is also running a promotion to knock as much as $230 off that price just by trading in your original ASUS ROG Ally.

Gaming handhelds don't get much better than the ASUS ROG Ally, and the best version of it you can buy is the premium ASUS ROG Ally X. This gaming handheld was already exorbitant with an $800 MSRP, but ASUS apparently decided that price wasn't high enough and is preparing to release an even more expensive variant. The ASUS ROG Ally X with a staggering 2TB of SSD storage is dropping on Dec. 9, 2024, and you can preorder it for $899.99 at Best Buy.

Fortunately, Best Buy is running a limited-time promotion on both the current 1TB ROG Ally X and the upcoming 2TB model that can save you up to $230 on either. All you have to do is trade in your original ASUS ROG Ally, and you can score $50 off the ROG Ally X and an additional $180 Best Buy gift card. Yes, that full amount even applies to the entry-level ROG Ally model, as long as it's in good condition and you have the original charger.

You can keep scrolling for more information on this handheld and the promotion on it, or skip the reading and hit the links below to take advantage.

🎃The best early Black Friday deals🦃

I love my ROG Ally X, but not everyone needs quite so much handheld

The ROG Ally X is very similar to its predecessor at a glance, but there are a lot of subtle refinements in the design. (Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
A second USB port, shifted ventilation, larger and more comfortable grips, and more count among those improvements. (Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
No other gaming handheld quite nails the hardware so well, even if Windows remains a double-edged sword. (Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)
Now, you'll be able to pick up an ASUS ROG Ally X with the largest SSD available, if you have the cash to splash. (Image credit: Rebecca Spear / Windows Central)

I actually use an ASUS ROG Ally X every day and owned the original ASUS ROG Ally before it, and I can state that both handhelds are excellent and the ROG Ally X really is a considerable improvement over its predecessor. ASUS currently stands at the top of the Windows-powered gaming handheld market and provides some strong competition for the Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch, so an ultra-premium flagship model isn't entirely unreasonable.

The upcoming ASUS ROG Ally X is utterly identical in every way but one to the model you can go out and buy today; that is to say, it's an awesome handheld gaming PC with great performance, ergonomics, features, and even battery life. That one difference? A 2TB SSD, which is currently the largest you can find in this form factor (even if you decide to upgrade the SSD yourself). $900 may seem steep, but you're getting the best.

That means everything great about the ASUS ROG Ally X will remain true with this model, except you'll have as much storage as possible for all the best PC games. You can read our ASUS ROG Ally X review from my colleague Rebecca Spear for an in-depth breakdown of this gaming handheld, but I'll summarize from my own experience. The ROG Ally X is the best current handheld in my opinion, just narrowly beating out the capable Steam Deck because of the excellent hardware and larger games library.

This handheld is surprisingly comfortable to hold for long gaming sessions, the battery boasts greater than average endurance, the screen still looks and feels great, and ASUS has a proven track record with consistent software and firmware support thanks to Armoury Crate. Windows 11 also gives you access to countless PC games, even if the operating system itself still feels rough in the handheld form factor. I still wish we had an OLED display option, but that may have to wait for a future upgrade.

The ROG Ally X is also supported by a healthy accessory ecosystem to make it even better, and is fully viable as a complete Windows PC with a docking station. Yes, you can hook up an external monitor, mouse and keyboard, and more and use it just like you would a desktop.

If you're interested, you can preorder the ASUS ROG Ally X with 2TB of SSD storage for $899.99 at Best Buy. You'll get your new gaming handheld on Dec. 9, 2024, just in time for the holidays. If you don't need all that storage but still want the best handheld, the ROG Ally X with 1TB of storage is still available for $799.99 at Best Buy and has amassed an impressive collection of positive customer reviews.

Either way, you can trade-in your original ASUS ROG Ally (any model, even the Ryzen Z1 variant) and get $50 off your purchase and an additional $180 Best Buy gift card to go toward your new ROG Ally X. The only requirements? That your ROG Ally be in good working condition and have the original charger.

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