Rising tech prices driven by memory costs

The increase in prices in the technology sector in 2026 has been driven primarily by the rise in the cost of memory. Data centers dedicated to artificial intelligence are absorbing an increasing share of RAM production, leading to higher costs for consumer devices. There are already discussions about future consoles potentially costing more than 1,000 euros.

Discount on a portable gaming console

At E.Leclerc, the ROG Xbox Ally is being sold at a lower price than usual. The store is offering it for 549 euros instead of the standard 599 euros, exclusively on its website. This promotion runs until November 1, 2026, and free in-store pickup is available. The discount is modest, but it comes at a time when prices are generally increasing.

Portable PC with gaming features

The ROG Xbox Ally is a portable gaming PC developed by Asus in collaboration with Microsoft. It runs on Windows 11 and features a full-screen interface similar to that of an Xbox console. It includes the Game Pass, as well as Steam and the Epic Games Store. The Xbox Play Anywhere feature allows users to continue playing a game started on a PC or Xbox console, in compatible titles.

Design and technical specifications

The device's handles are shaped like an Xbox controller, which should make long gaming sessions more comfortable. It features a 7-inch touchscreen capable of displaying Full HD at 120 Hz with a brightness of 500 nits. It is compatible with FreeSync Premium, a technology that synchronizes the display with the graphics chip to avoid screen tearing. The device is powered by an AMD Ryzen Z2 A processor (4 cores, 8 threads) paired with 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory.

Performance limitations of the device

This device has its limitations. The Ryzen Z2 A is based on the Zen 2 architecture and RDNA 2 graphics, both of which are older generations from AMD. It is significantly less powerful than the Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme (Zen 5 and RDNA 3.5 architectures) found in the ROG Xbox Ally X, the larger model equipped with 24 GB of memory. The graphics portion of the Z2 A has half the number of compute units (8 versus 16).

Comparison with competitors

At this price, the ROG Xbox Ally offers a 50 euro discount, or approximately 8 percent, which is not particularly impressive. However, the console includes 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory, precisely the type of memory whose price has been rising for several months. Since the price increase decided by Valve in late May, the Steam Deck OLED 512 GB, its most direct competitor, now costs 779 euros, which is 230 euros more than the ROG Xbox Ally at this price point.

Promotion details and value for money

E.Leclerc's offer ends on November 1. The official price of the console has not changed since its launch at 599 euros, despite the memory shortage. If you are looking for a machine to play your PC library on the couch or on the go, without targeting the highest graphical settings, you save 50 euros on a configuration with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage.