The conversation around portable gaming hardware has grown more heated following the official pricing reveal of the ROG Xbox Ally series. With ASUS positioning its new handhelds under the Xbox brand, fans have begun speculating about how Sony may approach its own rumored device, codenamed Canis.
Known insider KeplerL2 shared thoughts on the matter, drawing a distinction between ASUS’s new products and the speculation around Sony’s next generation plans. According to KeplerL2, “This isn’t comparable to the PS6 Console/Handheld at all. It’s a low volume device made and sold by ASUS at a profit.” The comment was made in response to community concerns that rising hardware costs may result in prohibitively high prices for a potential PlayStation handheld.
The insider elaborated further, stating that Canis is expected to feature a compact system-on-chip design, which could allow Sony to keep manufacturing costs under control. “Canis is a very small SoC, it’s also lower power than any of the current handhelds so they can cheap out on board/cooling/battery. I think $499 is doable unless they go for a higher-end OLED screen,” KeplerL2 said. This estimate stands in contrast to speculation that a device matching even half the performance of a PlayStation 5 might easily cost over $600.
For comparison, ASUS recently confirmed the official pricing of its upcoming Xbox-branded handhelds. The standard ROG Xbox Ally is priced at 599.99 USD and includes a 7-inch full HD display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 16GB LPDDR5X memory, and 512GB of storage. Meanwhile, the high-end ROG Xbox Ally X carries a retail price of 999.99 USD and upgrades memory to 24GB, doubles storage to 1TB, and increases battery capacity from 60Wh to 80Wh.
The Xbox Ally line has already generated strong demand. Reports surfaced that the device went out of stock on the Microsoft Store, although other retailers continue to offer pre-orders. Scalpers have quickly attempted to exploit the situation, listing units on eBay for between 2,399 and 2,500 USD, more than double the official retail price. YouTuber Spawn Wave drew attention to these inflated listings on social media, sharing examples of sellers advertising the handheld as brand new or presale units with highlighted specifications.
As for Sony’s rumored project, codenamed Canis, no official announcements have been made. Based on alleged AMD documentation, the handheld is said to be a part of the broader PlayStation 6 ecosystem, capable of running games natively while also supporting backward compatibility with PS4 and PS5 titles.
