Save $150 on the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme Windows Gaming Handheld — Ideal for Dorm-Room Play

There’s so much buzz in the world of gaming handhelds right now, it’s kinda wild. I mean, the Nintendo Switch 2 dropped and it’s like everyone’s scrambling to catch up. Asus jumps into the fray with their ROG Ally handheld thing — it’s got this fancy Z1 Extreme processor, and oh boy, you can snag it for $499 at Best Buy. Yeah, it sits smack in the middle of the ROG Ally family — not the basic Z1, but not the high-flyin’ ROG Ally X either. A middle child, I guess?

And – oh wait, there’s a whole parade of competitors like Valve’s Steam Deck (which I keep almost calling “Steamed Deck,” but maybe that’s just me), MSI’s Claw, and that Lenovo Legion Go thing. So, Asus here is trying to crash the party hard. There’s gossip about an Xbox-y version of the ROG Ally floating around, which either means crazy price drops soon or just more chaos. Either way, if you’re eyeing a Windows 11 handheld right now, this is kinda the jackpot moment price-wise.

About that Z1 magic — it’s like this efficiency champ, sipping power like it’s on some strict diet, which means your games can go longer without a plug. But, let’s be real, plug it in and it’s like turbo mode. Outpaces the Steam Deck with frame rates to the moon and back – whoosh! Visuals smoother than jazz on a Sunday morning, or at least that’s what it felt like when I tried it. And yeah, running Windows 11 snugged in there, it handles most PC games like a dream. Sort of like having a mini-computer in your backpack but, you know, fun-sized.

So yeah, Asus ROG Ally gets a thumbs-up from me. It didn’t weigh down my bag like a brick, and wow, those bright colors on the screen! It was like the world’s tiniest (and shiniest) cinema right there in my hands.

Oh, and if deals get your heart racing, make sure to hunt through our Best PC Hardware deals page — it’s kinda like treasure hunting but without any dirt. We’ve got all kinds of stuff like SSDs, storage deals, the whole shebang. Gaming monitors, graphics cards, CPUs… it’s like a geek’s candy store.