Get the ROG Ally Z1 for $450 at Best Buy

Best Buy is offering a discount on the powerful ASUS ROG Ally Z1 Extreme again. This time the discount pushes the final price well below the $500 mark, even as newer competitors continue to emerge, including ASUS’ own higher-end ROG Ally X sibling.

While the Steam Deck put handheld PC gaming hardware back into focus when it first launched nearly 3 years ago, much of the credit for making it a more mainstream phenomenon goes to ASUS’ ROG Ally offering that comes with a more capable CPU, display and connectivity in tow. More importantly, it also comes with a fully functional copy of Windows 11 onboard, making it an ideal mini PC with a screen, especially for those who are looking for a replacement for their computing or HTPC needs.

Is The ROG Ally Z1 Extreme A Good Buy In 2025?

A lot has changed since the ROG Ally initially came out in Jun 2023, with ASUS releasing both a lower-end version of the Z1 Extreme and a higher-end ROG Ally X offering and Steam offering an OLED version (and higher capacities) for its Steam Deck console. The market has also broadened to include numerous other competitors, such as MSI’s Claw lineup, the Ayaneo 3, and the more recently announced (but yet-to-be released) Nintendo Switch 2.

This makes the $700 MSRP untenable for the ROG Ally Z1 Extreme. With much better-equipped competitors in that price range, plus significant discounts to the lower-end Z1 console. At its current discounted price of $450, however, it seems to be worth considering. This deal through Best Buy represents a $200 savings, yet still brings the utility that allows it to function as an emulation console and a gaming PC at the same time. The powerful specs ensure that it can run most games, if at lower presets, fairly well.

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Should You Consider This Deal?

At $450 a pop, the ROG Ally Z1 Extreme is arguably the most capable handheld one can buy under $500 with relative ease. Best Buy is offering a free travel case as part of the equation (a $40 value if purchased separately), which makes it an even better purchase.

With 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM under the hood and a generous 512GB SSD in play, the ROG Ally Z1 Extreme has plenty of storage and memory for most titles that are already released and are expected to release in 2025. It does have limited amounts of optimization on offer, though. On the other hand, the Steam Deck benefits from a list of titles that run well on the console and has console-specific patches regularly deployed for most of the usual suspects to allow for better performance.

It also happens to be heftier than some of its competition, despite its battery life being nothing to write home about. In all fairness, the ROG Ally X fixes the battery issue, but thois does add the the weight, not to mention a $350 price increase.

For most casual gamers wanting to play their game library on multiple platforms (Epic Games, Steam, etc.), the ROG Ally Z1 Extreme is the way to go. This $200 discount makes it a much, much better option than the competition, which has remained relatively rigid in terms of pricing, even years after launch.

Buy It Now!

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