Getting to the other upgrades, the ROG Ally X sports 24GB of LPDDR5X-7500 RAM and a 1TB M.2 2280 solid state drive. For reference, the non-X model sports 16GB of LPDDR5-6400 RAM and 512GB of SSD storage, so those are sizable bumps. It’s also worth noting that the APU shares is video RAM (VRAM) with the system RAM, so we’ll be curious to see how the capacity and speed increases affect gaming performance.
In addition to doubling up the storage, ASUS also doubled the battery capacity to 80Wh. ASUS stopped short of making any specific battery life claims, but given that the run time was our chief complaint with the ROG Ally, this is a welcome enhancement.
Other changes include a new black colorway; slightly rearranged buttons, sticks, and triggers aimed at improved ergonomics; more durable joysticks that are now rated for 5 million cycles; a more precise eight-direction D-pad; two USB-C ports (one of which replaces the XG Mobile port and one of which is Thunderbolt-compatible); and a more centered weight distribution that ASUS claims makes the 70 grams of additional heft “feel lighter than the [handheld’s] 678-gram weight would imply, ensuring comfortable play and portability for all.”