The ongoing RAM Crisis is quickening its toll on the games industry, with gaming handhelds having their prices raised across the board.
Fortunately, Microsoft's Xbox Ally gaming handheld has yet to be affected by these price hikes. In fact, it's still on the 18% discount sale it had in January for $489.99 at Amazon, giving Xbox fans a chance to experience its modest performance, high-quality screen, and other enticing features for less.
Why is now a good time to buy an Xbox Ally?
According to a recent report by Automation Media (and translated by PureXbox), the Xbox Ally X console has officially risen in price across Japan from 139,800 Yen to 169,800 Yen on ASUS' Japanese website.
When converted to US currency, this is the equivalent of a $200 price hike from its $999 MSRP. Fortunately, this price hike hasn't affected Xbox Ally Xs on US or UK soil, nor has the Xbox Ally's $599.99 MSRP price risen in Japan or any other country as of yet.
However, given that the ongoing RAM Crisis is starting to affect gaming handhelds like Xbox Ally X's price hike in Japan and Steam Deck OLEDs constantly running out of stock, it's only a matter of time before the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X seeing massive price spikes across the world.
So it's pretty fortunate that the Xbox Ally's $499.99 discount at Amazon is still on sale, even after over two weeks from the last time we covered a discount for it, especially for Xbox fans who prefer enjoying gaming on the go.
The Xbox Ally is a well-made gaming handheld with hardware capabilities and performance rates that rival those of the Steam Deck.
It features an AMD Z2 Series processor to help it run games consistently at 30fps or higher, depending on your settings. It's compatible with Xbox Cloud Gaming and NVIDIA GeForce NOW so it can play games via the Cloud, and at stable framerates at that.
The Xbox Ally also includes a 7-inch HFD IPS touchscreen display with 120HZ variable Refresh Rates, 1920x1080p resolution, 500 nits of max brightness, a 16:9 aspect ratio, and a color gamut with 97% of sRGB, so it can convey images and videos with vibrant colors and crisp details.
On top of that, it has comfy ergonomic grips, 16GB of RAM, an efficient cooling system, and dual USB-C ports for chargers and accessories.
Granted, the Xbox Ally's lack of HYPR-RX support to enhance gameplay and a small 512GB SSD storage unit leave something to be desired. However, the latter issue can be fixed by replacing the SSD with one of the best MicroSD cards we have found for Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X.
So, in light of the encroaching RAMpocalypse making gaming more expensive than ever, this could be your last chance to own one of the best gaming handhelds for a reasonable price before it potentially becomes financially unviable.
Alternative discount deal
Here are a few alternate discounts from various retailers you can use as last resorts if Amazon's 18% discount or stock on the Xbox Ally disappears.
- $499.99 at Walmart (was $599.99)
- $499.99 at Best Buy (was $599.99)
FAQ
Do I need Amazon Prime membership for this deal?
No, this 18% discount deal for the Xbox Ally from Amazon is available to the public so you don't need to sign up for Amazon Prime membership to access it.
Why are prices on gaming handhelds going up or stocks on them running out?
Gaming handhelds are running out of a stock and having their prices raised mostly due to the RAM Crisis. It is an horrific crisis where AI data centres are consuming mountains of RAM, and leaving none for any other electronics to function.
How long does the Xbox Ally's battery life last?
Without a charger the Xbox Ally can operate for 1-2 hours when running graphically-demanding AAA titles or 4-6 hours when running lighter games and streaming games via NVIDIA GeForce NOW or Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
