A body-built version of the Steam Deck, the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme is a portable console that makes no concessions on performance. The problem is that it is usually much more expensive than its rival. Fortunately, today we can find it on sale at 484.99 euros instead of 799 euros thanks to a promo code.
In the portable console market, the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme is a reference that is among the best. This kind of small Windows PC embedded in a pocket format particularly impressed us with its performance and in particular its ability to provide 1080p in medium at 60 FPS with great ease. In short, a “rival on steroids” of the Steam Deck, as we have nicknamed it, and which can be found today with more than 40% reduction.
The main points of the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme
- An excellent 120 Hz anti-tearing screen
- A powerful Z1 Extreme APU chip
- Armory Crate SE, the best interface for Windows console
Launched at 799 euros, the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme is currently available on sale at 484.99 euros on Rakuten (via the seller Boulanger) with the promo code CELL TEN15. The latter is only valid today, this Wednesday, December 18, 2024.
If, subsequently, the offer mentioned in this article is no longer available, please take a look below to find other promotions regarding the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme. The table updates automatically.
A sublime screen, quite simply
The Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme has serious advantages, starting with its screen, which we appreciated so much that it received an excellent score of 9/10 during our test. It’s simple: we’ve never seen a better screen than this one on this console format. We are therefore entitled here to a 7-inch IPS LCD panel which offers a maximum definition of 1920 x 1080 pixels, while the Steam Deck is satisfied with a 7-inch screen with a definition of 1280 x 800 pixels. . Better yet, the ROG Ally Z1 Extreme panel has a refresh rate of 120 Hz, which therefore promises exemplary fluidity which is very appreciable in games where responsiveness is essential. The screen also covers 97.1% of the sRGB space and 68.8% of the DCI-P3 space. In short, almost flawless. But it probably would have deserved a 10/10 if it had been OLED…
In terms of software, the ROG Ally Z1 Extreme has Windows, which has the clear advantage of offering full compatibility with any PC game, unlike the Steam Deck. You can therefore play all the titles available on Steam, Epic Games Store and PC Game Pass. Riot Games games can also be launched. On the other hand, Windows is unfortunately not particularly well suited for this type of device. SteamOS is much more optimized for console use, for example. Fortunately, Asus has made the experience more intuitive with its in-house interface, Armory Crate SE, an optimized (and feature-rich) version for the ROG Ally of Asus’ already well-known management software on its gaming PCs.
High-end performance
In terms of performance, the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme contains a Z1 Extreme chip specially developed by AMD with support for its Zen 4 and RDNA3 technologies. Here we are treated to an 8-core, 16-thread APU with a boost of up to 5.10 GHz. Everything is coupled with a 12 CU Resizable BAR compatible Radeon GPU and 16 GB of LPDDR5 6400 MHz RAM. Concretely, the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme is capable of delivering 1080p in medium at 60 FPS with ease, and to top it all off, the cooling perfectly accompanies this ultra-high-performance chip.
Finally, regarding autonomy, don’t expect a miracle: if the console can last around 6 hours in Silent mode with various optimizations, it runs out of steam after an hour in Turbo mode. Everything will of course depend on the game launched, the brightness level chosen or even the resolution. In comparison, the ROG Ally Z1 does better.
To find out even more, don’t hesitate to read our full review of the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme.
In order to compare the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme with other models that we highly recommend on Frandroid, we invite you now to consult our guide to the best portable consoles of the moment.
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