While the prices of home consoles and components are on the rise again, the portable console ROG Xbox Ally (Z2 A) makes the opposite movement. The co-branded model Asus ROG And Microsoft Xbox sees its price drop sharply, to the point of once again becoming a real option in the face of Steam Deck OLED 512 GB.
Launched at €599 in France, the ROG Xbox Ally never really convinced us in terms of value for money. Between the promotions which are multiplying at €499.99 and the occasional reductions at certain merchants, the question comes back to the table. Xbox Ally drops in price, but is it finally the right time to take advantage of it without hesitation?
Xbox Ally below €500: why does this price drop change everything?
Officially, the ROG Xbox Ally is displayed at €599 compared to €899 for the ROG Xbox Ally. Opposite, the Steam Deck OLED 512 GB is priced at €569, which placed the Ally in a complicated area. In the United States, Amazon has already increased its price from $600 (around €550) to $499.99 (around €460), a sign of a global repositioning.
In France, theAsus eStore hit hard with a ROG Xbox Ally Z2 A going from €599.99 to €499.99. Cdiscount has already offered it at €499 around Christmas, and at €529.39 during sales with a promotional code, when other brands like Fnac Or Baker often stay between €549 and €599. We are no longer talking about a small discount, but about a real course correction below the symbolic bar of €500.
What is the ROG Xbox Ally (Z2 A) worth at this new price?
For this price, the ROG Xbox Ally Z2 A has an APU AMD Ryzen Z2 A (4 Zen 2 cores with RDNA 2 GPU), 16 GB RAM LPDDR5XA 512GB PCIe 4.0 SSD in replaceable M.2 2280 format, a 7-inch 1080p 120 Hz screen FreeSync Premiuma 60 Wh battery and Wi-Fi 6E. It runs under Windows 11 with the Xbox interface and direct access to the Game Pass.
Concretely, the Xbox Ally manages “reasonable” 1080p very well on indie games, AA titles and a good part of the Game Pass catalog, provided you adjust the settings. Recent large AAAs require more compromises on resolution and details, and you shouldn’t expect desktop gaming PC performance, but for a portable machine at €500, the level remains solid.
In terms of comfort, the grip is reminiscent of a stretched Xbox controller, with a well-distributed weight. The other side of the coin is Windows 11: updates, drivers and launchers to manage, less “console” than a Steam Deck. The Ally
Where to buy the Xbox Ally on sale, and is it a good time to buy it?
The best offers seen recently are around €499.99 on the Asus eStore or Cdiscount, sometimes with codes that bring the price down a little further. Before buying, a glance at a comparator like Idealo allows you to check if Fnac Or Baker have not aligned their prices.
If you are already a Game Pass subscriber, want to enjoy your Steam, Epic or GOG libraries on the go and Windows doesn’t scare you, this price drop makes the ROG Xbox Ally very attractive. Compared to the Steam Deck OLED at €569, it focuses on 1080p 120 Hz and the flexibility of Windows rather than the OLED screen and autonomy.
On the other hand, if you are looking for a completely plug and play experience, Valve’s solution remains simpler. But for those who have been waiting for an Xbox portable console around €500, the current window clearly looks like the best opportunity since the launch of the ROG Xbox Ally.