Asus is extending the warranty of its ROG Ally handheld’s SD card readers, 10 months after it acknowledged the ongoing fault.
TheAsus ROG Allylaunched as Asus’s answer to theSteam Deck. Yet, while its specs were up to par with the Valvehandheld, it had one critical flaw: Its temperamental MicroSD card slot. Asus previously stated that it was investigating the issuesshortly after launch, and now the company has updated its warranty terms for affected users.
On its official website, Asus posted the updated warranty details, which extend the warranty period of the ROG Ally’s MicroSD reader from 12 to 24 months. An excerpt from Asus’ official websitereads:
While the newly updated warranty is great for Asus ROG Ally owners, it comes 10 months after Asus initially acknowledged the faults. Last July, Asus acknowledged the “thermal stress” occurring to some SD card readers on the ROG Ally.
At the time, it was suspected the placement of the SD reader was to blame. On the Asus ROG Ally, the SD card reader is allocated alongside its exhaust vents, which can expose the MicroSD reader to hot air. Handhelds like the Steam Deck have their SD card reader on the bottom of the device, so haven’t run into the same issue.
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There is a downside for international ROG Ally enthusiasts, as the extended warranty period is only available for US customers. It should be noted that an RMA might not fix the suspected hardware fault, meaning that a replacement device may be prone to failure in the same way over time.
Rosalie Newcombe was a Senior Tech Writer on Dexerto’s UK team. Rosalie is an expert on all things handhelds, and has been picking them up since the original Game Boy, all the way up to the Steam Deck. They have covered hardware for PCGamesN and Custom PC.
