The flagship handhelds powered by the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processors for gaming, including Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go have reportedly been available at their lowest ever prices by VideoCardz.
Although both devices originally had MSRPs of $649 and $679 (starting at $699), they are now available for record low prices of $499 for the ROG Ally Z1 Extreme and $544 for the Legion Go. While the $544 price for the Legion Go may fluctuate, the $499 Best Buy promotion for the ROG Ally is confirmed until tomorrow.
More About the AMD Ryzen Gaming Handhelds
So, what’s driving these significant discounts? There are a number of factors affecting the market. Handhelds with the Ryzen Z1 Extreme, which included the Radeon 780M iGPU, as well as high-end Ryzen 7000 and 8000 series CPUs, have yet to be released to the public, however, they have been dominating their competitors in integrated graphics performance. In order to achieve their absolute maximum power and performance, such handhelds had to be plugged in.
Intel is finally beginning to match integrated graphics performance, and AMD’s most recent next-gen Ryzen AI 300 Series APUs are already overshadowing the Radeon 780M in iGPU performance. A GPD Pocket 4 disclosed a potent combination of a Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 with Radeon 890M iGPU, boasting 16 RDNA 3.5 Compute Units, while the 780M only had 12. This signifies that handhelds with such capable CPUs are just around the corner.
For these devices, the most immediate pressure probably is coming from the new high-end handheld on the block: Asus’s ROG Ally X. Priced at just $799 the Ally X might not be cheap but it offers important system RAM and design upgrades that make existing other Z1 Extreme handhelds look compromised. If these deals are indicative of where the market stands now, that could mean Valve will need some heavily competitive pricing on its handhelds specifically with respect to Z1 Extreme-class handheld competitions which gives further and more serious lookers for potential steam deck OLED competitors.
It’s expected that more handhelds featuring the Radeon 890M will soon enter the market, potentially making the ROG Ally X a less appealing investment. However, these devices are not yet widely available, with most anticipating their arrival by the end of the year in limited quantities. For now, Z1 Extreme handhelds still offer strong value, particularly at the new $499 price point.
FAQs
Why are the Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go prices dropping?
Market shifts and upcoming releases, like the Asus ROG Ally X, are driving the price reductions.
How long is the $499 price for the Asus ROG Ally available?
The $499 Best Buy promotion for the Asus ROG Ally is available until tomorrow.
