I am no longer asking: I need you to buy an Asus ROG Ally. Why? Because it's the most fun I've had with PC gaming for years, and it's currently just $549.99 (was $649.99) at Best Buy right now, or $499.99 if you have a Best Buy Plus membership. Yes, even though it's Amazon Prime Day, the best discount on this stellar handheld isn't actually from Amazon.
• Shop more early Prime Day deals
Sure, you could just go and buy one of the best gaming laptops, but those are expensive and not comfortable to play games on in bed (which it turns out I do a lot when given the opportunity).
The ROG Ally is a fantastically-designed little handheld that manages to pack a lot of power into its dinky chassis thanks to the AMD Z1 Extreme chip, letting you play virtually any game from any digital PC storefront; you might need to crank the graphics down a little for Cyberpunk 2077, mind.
Not in the US? Scroll down to see the best deals in your region.
Today's best Asus ROG Ally deal
I've owned a ROG Ally since it originally released last year, and both me and my partner have got plenty of use out of it – in fact, it even finally encouraged him to properly take the plunge into PC gaming, and now I'm sorely tempted to buy a second one just so I don't have to sit at my PC when we play Borderlands together.
It's a well-built device, with responsive buttons and sturdy thumbsticks along with some pleasingly bouncy triggers. Unlike Valve's Steam Deck – which I love, sure – it runs Windows 11, which can be a little awkward to use on such a tiny touchscreen, but offers you access to every PC gaming storefront out there: I've got games from Steam, Epic, GOG, Itch.io, and more installed on mine!
I know that $550 is still no small sum of money, but here's the thing: you're absolutely not getting even a half-decent gaming desktop or laptop for that sort of money. If you or your loved ones want to get into PC gaming but can't afford the often-high barrier to entry, the Asus ROG Ally is an excellent workaround that will keep you entertained in comfort for years to come.
Oh, and by the way, if you're only planning to play less graphically-intensive games (I'm thinking Stardew Valley here), you can pick up the standard Z1 chip model of the ROG Ally for $399.99 at Newegg – also $100 off, and an equally good deal for a slightly less powerful version of this lovely handheld.
Want the latest US deals straight to your phone? Follow the TechRadar WhatsApp deals channel!
More Amazon Prime Day deals in the US
- Amazon Devices: up to 50% off Echo
- Appliances: deals on coffee makers and blenders
- Health: 45% off Oral-B and Philips
- Laptops: best-ever MacBook Pro deals
- Phones: power banks from $17.99
- Smart home: Ring and Blink from $17.99
- Tablets: Fire tablets from $49.99
- Toys: up to 20% off Lego and Hasbro
- TVs: cheap TVs from $73.99
- Vacuums: up to $450 off Dyson and Roborock
