Cor, blimey! The ASUS ROG Ally drops to its lowest-ever price for Amazon Prime Day in the UK — the only Windows handheld to permanently replace my Steam Deck

ASUS ROG Ally handheld gaming PC in front of the flag of Great Britain
I haven't seen the ROG Ally this cheap since Black Friday. What a stunning throwback. (Image credit: Getty Images | Windows Central)

It isn't often that my people across the pond get to enjoy a genuinely great deal during the discount frenzies of events like Amazon Prime Day (and CEO Jeff Bezos is stretching the definition of a 'day' at this point). Nevertheless, in a miracle that feels rarer than rocking horse dirt, my daily-driven handheld gaming PC has been slashed to a price reminiscent of Black Friday legends.

Yes, chums, the Windows 11-based ASUS ROG Ally is £399.99 at Amazon UK, down from its usually eyebrow-raising £599 RRP as a Prime Day deal. Yes, that's an exclusive price for Prime members, but you could always start a 30-day trial of Amazon Prime and just.. cancel it later. I won't tell anyone. Frankly, it almost feels offensive to have ignored my Steam Deck for as long as I have, but the Z1 Ally is utterly consuming my recent evenings.

ASUS ROG Ally (Z1 Extreme)
512GB SSD
Save 21%
ASUS ROG Ally (Z1 Extreme): was £504 now £399.99 at Amazon

"I will say that without a shadow of a doubt that my ASUS ROG Ally defied all my early scepticism, and now sits among my favorite gaming devices of all time. I can't recommend this thing enough." — Jez Corden

Windows Central review ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

✅Perfect if: You want to play multiplayer online shooters that rely on anti-cheat, or just prefer Windows over SteamOS.

❌Avoid if: You're looking for the most powerful handheld available. For that, check out the ROG Ally X.

👉See at: Amazon.co.uk

I swear, I'm not a Windows handheld shill

Whether you're a Steam gamer or partial to PC Game Pass, the ROG Ally runs it all. (Image credit: Windows Central)

"Oh, the guy from Windows Central is promoting a handheld gaming PC that runs Windows 11? Big surprise."

No, I get it. It's easy to understand why people might think I'm accepting bags of cash under the table to promote a device that runs Windows 11, but that's not the case. Ever since our own Jez Corden fell in love with the Lenovo Legion Go and palmed off his ASUS ROG Ally to me, I find myself using my Steam Deck less and less.

Not because I prefer the Windows 11 experience on a handheld over SteamOS, my goodness no. Trust me, I do not enjoy running Windows Update so often (and Microsoft Store updates, companion app updates, etc.) but I'm just so used to the OS that it doesn't bother me that much. Besides, it runs literally everything I play without any real issue, especially if I drop the resolution and use something like Lossless Scaling to give it a visual bump.

If you're looking for a handheld that doesn't suffer from anti-cheat blocks and works just like your Windows PC, this is it. No need to settle for the non-Extreme Z1 unit either, this is the full-fat ROG Ally, warts and all. I love it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go back to annoying my partner by decorating our beautiful house in Valheim with some of the ugliest furniture I can build.

Ben Wilson
Senior Editor

Ben is a Senior Editor at Windows Central, covering everything related to technology hardware and software. He regularly goes hands-on with the latest Windows laptops, components inside custom gaming desktops, and any accessory compatible with PC and Xbox. His lifelong obsession with dismantling gadgets to see how they work led him to pursue a career in tech-centric journalism after a decade of experience in electronics retail and tech support.

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