The Asus ROG Ally Extreme Bundle Returns with a Discounted Price of Just $450

The Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme is discounted to $450 at Best Buy. Normally $650, the deal slashes $200 from the price of the popular Windows gaming handheld. You’ll also get the official Travel Case ($40 value) with your purchase. The ROG Ally has been the most popular Steam Deck alternative since its debut in June 2023, and while Asus has released more powerful models over the past year, the Z1 Extreme offers the best performance for the price in the Windows handheld space–especially when it’s available for only $450.

$450 (was $650)

The ROG Ally Z1 Extreme comes with a sharp 1080p screen, AMD’s Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor, 16GB LPDDR5 6400 RAM, and an internal 512GB NVMe SSD. Compared to the $500 base model ROG Ally, the Z1 Extreme has two additional CPU cores and a better GPU, which can make a meaningful difference with newer, more graphically demanding games.

The ROG Ally offers impressive performance for the price. It’s not going to play graphically demanding games at the highest settings, but you still can play many AAA titles in 1080p resolution with at least 30fps. Even at its full $650 price, the ROG Ally’s performance is admirable; at $450, the ROG Ally Z1 Extreme offers incredible value.

Admittedly, you can fill a 512GB SSD fairly quickly these days, but the ROG Ally has a microSD card slot that allows you to expand your storage for cheap. For instance, you can grab a SanDisk Ultra 1TB microSD card for $79 at Amazon. Alternatively, you can upgrade the internal SSD with an M.2 2230 NVMe SSD. One option here is Corsair’s 1TB MP600 Mini SSD for $75 (was $110).

It’s worth noting that Windows can be cumbersome on gaming handhelds, unless you pair it with a traditional mouse and keyboard setup. Asus does have a proprietary app called Armoury Crate that gives you a more traditional console-like interface for gaming, but you’ll still need to spend some time navigating Windows 11.

For a smoother overall experience and to turn your handheld into a hybrid desktop PC, we’d recommend pairing your ROG Ally with a docking station. There are plenty of budget-friendly docks, including this popular JSAUX dock for $30 (was $40). It’s on the pricier side, but Razer recently released a Chroma RGB-enabled docking station. You can order the Razer Handheld Dock Chroma for $80 at Amazon.

Asus also makes a 65W Charger Dock, which has ports for USB-C, USB 2.0, and HDMI 2.0.

The Steam Deck remains the most popular handheld gaming PC by a wide margin, but the Asus ROG Ally is a great alternative for those who want a Windows machine. Following the success of the ROG Ally Z1 Extreme and Z1 models, Asus released the ROG Ally X last year. While it retained the Z1 Extreme chip, the ROG Ally X is fitted with 24GB RAM and other welcome improvements such as better battery life, upgraded analog sticks, and increased storage capacity. The ROG Ally X is substantially more expensive, especially right now, at $800 for a 1TB model and $900 for a 2TB model.

Here’s the full ROG Ally lineup, but the Z1 Extreme is the only model that’s on sale.

2025 is shaping up to be another exciting year for handheld PCs. On February 14, Lenovo released the Legion Go S. The Windows model of Lenovo’s upgraded handheld features a new Ryzen Z2 Go Chip, 32GB RAM, and a 1TB SSD.

In May, Lenovo will release a $500 model of the Legion Go S with SteamOS, the same operating system used by Valve’s Steam Deck. This model features the Z2 Go Chip, 16GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD. It will be the first third-party handheld to run on SteamOS.