Recent leaks and rumors for ASUS’ upcoming follow-up to the ROG Ally is sparking a lot of interest. The release of the ROG Ally X is becoming highly-anticipated as we learn more about its specs and price. The latest piece of information to be put other there is all about the battery life, something many people point towards as a major downside of the original device.
The original’s usage as a gaming handheld is unfortunately quite limited. Compared to the likes of the Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch, the battery life is an aspect that is lackluster, but that could be turned around with the new model.
ASUS ROG Ally X rumored to offer up 8 hours battery life
From the same leaker that brought us news of 24GB memory in the ROG Ally X, MysteryLupin, we also see that the refreshed model will be offering up to eight hours of battery life. This would be a sizeable upgrade if we’re talking about gaming only, but it does seem like an ambitious figure for that alone. Either way, this comes courtesy of a much larger battery pack that offers more than 40% higher capacity.
Considering ASUS advertises up to 6.8 hours of usage for ‘Netflix & Youtube’ on their store page but just 1.5 hours for ‘heavy gaming’, it’s hard to judge exactly where this 8 hours estimate falls. We’re obviously hoping that the ROG Ally X can finally make the device better for handheld use, comparable to that of the Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch.
How does it compare to the competition?
We won’t know for sure how well the ASUS ROG Ally X will perform in terms of battery life against the competition until it is out and ready to test. Battery life depends on a few factors that need to be taken into consideration. For reference though, the existing ROG Ally can manage between 1.3 to just over 4 hours for gaming according to Ars Technica – depending on the mode (Turbo, Performance, or Silent).
Looking at the Steam Deck, Valve advertise that the original LCD model with a 40hr battery offers between 2-8 hours gameplay, while the 50Whr OLED model is rated between 3-12 hours. We don’t expect the Ally X to feature an OLED screen, so this is something it will lack in its favor. As for the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo say that this depends on the model. The OLED model with a serial number starting with XT offers the best battery, lasting approximately between 4.5 to 9 hours.
