Steam Deck Has Gone Up In Price Massively, And It Makes ROG Xbox Ally Look Great Value In 2026

Well, well, well! Valve is the next gaming hardware maker to raise its prices, with Steam Deck units now costing more; a lot more than they did just a few short weeks ago. If you've not seen the news already, the 512GB and 1TB Steam Deck OLEDs are going up by £170/$240 and £210/$300, respectively. Ouch.

That makes both models now come in at £649/$789 and £779/$949 - a far cry from the very cheap value proposition that Steam Deck was three or four years ago. Perhaps even more interestingly from our perspective, these price increases make the ROG Xbox Ally look like an even more enticing proposition.

Here in the UK, we've seen some crazy deals on the base ROG Xbox Ally recently, which is similar in spec to Valve's Steam Deck. The other day you could grab one brand new off Amazon for less than £340, which is £160 under RRP. In fact, we've seen refurbished/open box deals for as little as £270; a silly low price that some of the us in the office have been contemplating in recent days. Even if you look at the system's RRP in your region, it's likely cheaper than any new Steam Deck OLED now.

Another interesting wrinkle to this is that the higher-spec ROG Xbox Ally X — the one Fraser has been enjoying a lot since launch — is still available for roughly £850 or your regional equivalent, sometimes cheaper on discount and for refurbished models. The 1TB Steam Deck is getting very close to that number, and the Ally X runs rings around it from a specs perspective.

Anyway, we just thought this was a good time to remind folks that despite how expensive the ROG Xbox Ally models looked last year, the economy surrounding gaming hardware has changed massively since they launched, and they're starting to look like better value by the day. Should you rush out and buy one? Well, only if you're in the market for such a device - but if they end up increasing in price over the coming months and you held off, don't say we didn't warn you.

What do you make of the Steam Deck vs. ROG Xbox Ally debate here in 2026? Talk to us about this down below.