Your Asus ROG Ally gaming handheld is brilliantly white, and that won’t stand: you’ve determined your devices have to be black. Or… possibly you simply desire a rugged case that’ll survive a drop or three? Both manner, Dbrand thinks it’s bought what you want — a $60 Killswitch case just like the one it makes for the Steam Deck that’ll ship early subsequent 12 months.
“However wait,” I’ll faux to listen to a few of you considering, “Didn’t Dbrand royally screw that up? Didn’t The Verge set off a million-dollar recall whenever you of us found it interfered with a Steam Deck fan?”
Sure — however Dbrand did quickly recall them, admitted its mistake, then shipped a alternative Killswitch 2.zero that I’ve been testing for months with no subject. It’s nonetheless an impressively rugged, form-fitting shell with a great deal of grippy texture, even when I personally choose the naked Steam Deck with out the additional materials.
That is the Steam Deck model, not the ROG Ally model. Make sure you drag the picture slider deal with left and proper.
For the Steam Deck model, Dbrand changed its authentic magnetic accent mount this spring with a twist-to-lock bayonet model as an alternative. Not solely does it properly safe the included kickstand however Dbrand additionally sells and allows you to 3D print your personal common mounts so you possibly can connect the Steam Deck to different objects or strap on a giant exterior battery:
The brand new Asus ROG Ally model doesn’t have that accent mount, although — as an alternative, it’s bought a hard and fast kickstand above an enormous mesh grille to let the Ally vent correctly.
That is the ROG Ally model. Picture: Dbrand
“After final 12 months’s magnet debacle, we needed to keep away from any mishaps with the ROG Ally. As such, we’ve been working straight with the Asus ROG engineering group to make sure compatibility with their {hardware},” CEO Adam Ijaz tells me.
Asus advised Dbrand which vents are purely ornamental and that are wanted for airflow, in line with Ijaz — and paid Dbrand to design the Ally model, for that matter. He additionally says it’s bought loads of clearance for “all charging cables” and Asus’ XG Cellular exterior GPU connector. (Dbrand’s Steam Deck case, by comparability, requires a brief USB-C extension to accommodate the official Steam Deck Dock’s low-profile cable.)
Additionally ROG Ally. Photos: Dbrand
The Killswitch doesn’t make your ROG Ally flip black all by itself, BTW — there’s additionally an included two-piece matte black pores and skin that covers the elements that aren’t lined by the case. You must be capable of swap it out for a Verge pores and skin at launch, in the event you’d quite, or every other pores and skin the corporate sells — together with an unreleased “teardown” pores and skin that allows you to “see via” at the least a part of the hand-held.
The kickstand is a bulge you possibly can’t take away on the Ally model, nevertheless it does fold flat between the grips. Picture: Dbrand
Just like the Steam Deck model, the Ally kickstand has built-in slots to retailer your additional microSD playing cards in its foot. And just like the Steam Deck model, you possibly can add a inflexible snap-on “Journey Cowl” for an additional $15 so you possibly can throw the entire thing in a bag with out a lot concern for its display screen or sticks. You too can purchase the case, journey cowl, and a pair of grippy thumbstick covers as a set for $75.
