ASUS ROG ALLY vs. LENOVO LEGION GO in 10 Games

[@Hubwood]

UPDATED VIDEO WITH NEW BIOS VERSIONS IS NOW ONLINE!!! kzbin.info/www/bejne/qmPZqWaurZhgd6s

[@andrewwright.]

game detail on the go....missing a dear in Harry potter...dull looking while the Rog is super clear with dears....two of them! comprising detail for FPS ..not good

[@Hubwood]

@@andrewwright. It's coincidence if the dears appear or not. That is not related to the used device.

[@RahulKumar-vh4xr]

I just picked up the Go on a whim after being very pleased with the Ally since day 1. I mostly play Diablo and the 1% lows are much lower and there is quite a bit more stuttering on the Go than on the Ally. However, the Go screen is marvelous, the avg FPS is between 10-14% higher and the Go was so much easier to setup than the Ally. For me, I think the Go will be my home machine and the Ally will be my travel machine.

[@Hubwood]

Lol. 2 Handhelds at the same time? :D Dude is into it :P

[@WheeledHamster]

What? Or you can just bring the Go with you, you basically have two identical device? Can I borrow some money?

[@ominousview]

Not sure what you're talking about. I've read ppl saying 5 maybe 10 more fps which this guy is showing that and more at 30W. 15W is definitely optimized more on the Ally and Asus has been working on that and the Ally has had how many updates since release, a bunch. It's disappointing that Lenovo hasn't optimized the drivers and firmware since they showcased and after watching the improvements Asus has made. I wonder what OS power mode he used at 15w

[@Hubwood]

@@ominousview Did you answer under the wrong comment? 🙈

[@John-gh2lz]

​@@Hubwoodat higher tdps is when the faster ram kicks in and outputs more fps .

[@tzimisx]

For future comparisons, I would strongly suggest to look into setting the fan curves manually on the Ally. It is reaching really high temps there in a few games with the default 30W setting.

[@Hubwood]

I will.

haha, not just rog ally, basically any asus gaming laptop need a custom fan curve

[@googlewolly]

Apparently, it's damaging the SD card reader.

[@TheGigaMeme.]

The Lenovo gets better resoults because on “standard docking mode”the ally is set to a lower wattage if you manually change it on the ally they shoud peform roughly the same!

[@rennes27]

The GPU Temp on Lenovo Legion Go is pretty impressive!

[@rCrypto_Frog4148]

Yes! I noticed too, could mean the hardware lasts longer!

[@Djouzz]

It's like 5 degrees less in average it's nothing lol

[@KodaiRyu]

@@Djouzz 5 celsius degrees in average mean it more than likely last year after warranty end and ROG Ally more than likelyt break right after warranty if you play with both daily for 5 hours.

[@raven89k]

yeah sure, what's not impressive is the CPU temp which is not displayed in the video

[@KodaiRyu]

@@raven89k ROG Ally and Legion Go has APU so GPU temperature is CPU temp too because they are one package. So there is no separate GPU chip and CPU chip.

[@Analog.Digital]

Awesome video, been looking for a comparison with this level of detail. Would love to see a comparison between Ally XGM 4090 vs LGo with eGPU 4090

[@DeckWizard]

Awesome video mate! Very enjoyable watch!

[@TheFunesk]

It's funny everyone jumped on hating Asus for release it with software issues. Lenovo gets a pass 😂 "don't worry they will fix it"😂

[@reverieanimates887]

Steam Deck also had the same treatment because its “Valve”

[@AtrusDesign]

Yes but Lenovo is already better in several cases at day 1.

[@user-vp6cq4sv3d]

​​@@reverieanimates887Can you name any issues with SteamOS on Steam Deck or are you going to keep this comment knowing you probably don't even own a powkiddy or anbernic?

[@reverieanimates887]

@@user-vp6cq4sv3d In their previous firmware version, there were some issues. Steam OS used to corrupt micro SD cards because it didn't have a safety eject feature. It’s also the same issue when reformatting a disk which also corrupted it. Another issue was that thumbsticks started to drift, which was caused by an update with deadzone regression. Back then people panicked and started buying replacement parts but it turned out to be a software-side issue. The quick access menu was also inconsistent between scrolling through submenus and parent menus. Valve also shipped a large number of faulty units after launch, with numerous Decks being reported as being stuck on a black screen or simply not working at all. So all of that requires an RMA. So here’s the thing… Valve had similar launch problems with the Deck, but they have been improving their OS after a year by addressing those issues. The ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go are likely to have some rough edges initially, so whether people like it or not.

[@oo--7714]

@user-vp6cq4sv3d I have a steam deck and none of these other handhelds. The screen sometimes not wkaing up from sleep and having to do a hard shut down all the time. Crashes in verified titles like miles morales, crashes when switching from gaming mode to desktop mode. Shader cache still taking the piss, if you have it your dive will be filled to the brim and you can't open any apps, if you don't have it on games like apex will be unplayable with massive stutters even in the testing grounds map.

[@Jdawg0529]

If only the Go had VRR. I never really knew how great it was until I owned the Ally. It literally makes sub 60-fps games play/appear smooth as if they are above 60fps. If the ally didn't fry my MicroSD card I'd say its perfect for me (considering I also like the smaller size and weight of it)

[@ordeogrimm2059]

This is where I'm at too. These specs will play aaa at 40 to 55 fps for the next couple years, I just can't go back to screen tearing or v-sync input lag at 60 hz

[@Hubwood]

@@ordeogrimm2059Understandable! VRR/Freesync is a blast if you're sensitive to it.

[@thundergato84]

If only the micro SD slot wasn't bad.

[@Jdawg0529]

@@thundergato84 Like many others I just learned to deal with it and upgraded the SSD to a 2TB. If there's a revision within the next year I'll likely RMA it and get the new version, but ASUS might intentionally wait a year for all warranties to expire before doing so

[@rosemead131]

I have the ally n usually carry a 16 inch gaming monitor is funny cuz monitor only powers by usb c cable n last around 2 hours

[@jdee9117]

900p on ally is gorgeous i love 900p i usually get 60 fps on most game with rsr on

[@mosthated8848]

Yep barely can tell the difference from 1080p if the Legion gets someone to do what they did to the Ally and, add 900p this thing will chew through games at medium/low settings.

[@DJCJ999]

Not much in it if you ask me.... given the price crash of the ROG I think the smart money is spent on the the Ally....

[@X862go]

same

[@marcusateg7601]

I purchased the ROG Ally Z1 Extreme now during the Black Friday sales. Watched a ton of comparison videos, charts etc. But the deciding factor was actually the price, managed to get a hold of The ROG Ally Z1 Extreme for around 568 euros, so im not realy sad about it lacking in comparison on some of it's aspects compared to the Lenovo Legion Go.

[@DDL-n2u]

Same boat, got an Ally open box in the states for $490 US. Sold my Steam Deck and this thing is nuts. Its faster than my HP Omen 30L Ryzen 3700x. Absolutely incredible.

[@portanrayken3814]

@@DDL-n2u i did the opposite sold mine for the steam deck oled

[@musimejmae4734]

@@DDL-n2u Bro compare the way the homeboy talks about the Legion Pro VS the Rog Ally, you can just tell the Legion go is his personal preference, yet we can agree that the ally is by far better than the legion Go, i own both devices btw.

[@cristiangomez4537]

​@musimejmae4734 it's subjective I own both and prefer the go there is no right and wrong here 🤣

[@DimiArt]

same got a z1 extreme for cheap used, love this machine! smaller than steam deck and legion go, better performance than steam deck. Light weight

[@artpickers9655]

Quite tempted by the Legion Go, the extra screen size and performance make it better for me than the Ally, just need to see how the bugs are ironed out by Lenovo I guess. Great video though as always

[@sonicdie1]

Performance isn’t that great on the Go I would recommend going with the Rog Ally!

[@YourFather311]

I have both and I love them equally just waiting for legion to bios and graphics update roll out

[@blackpearl09101]

Same I'm waiting for a year when most things are well managed to get it, might be in next april or around september.

[@sonicdie1]

@@YourFather311 I prefer the Ally due to the lack of Performance on the Legion Go until they release bios updates and newer drivers

[@wozzielfc401]

I went ally . More ironed out and the speakers on the go oh my there bad 😅 I know people use headphones but still and no VRR well just a no brainer really

[@Triple_D__]

Finally someone who does a great job of comparing games. Thanks! I’m leaning towards the Go I just really hope it can run Fallout 4 okay since that’s the main reason I’ll be buying a handheld…

[@Hubwood]

Fallout 4 will run perfectly fine! :)

[@Triple_D__]

@@Hubwood Appreciate the response, in that case I’ll be ordering one next week!

[@2gunzup07]

Why fallout4 a very old gm

[@nicksugoi9366]

​@@2gunzup07 why is have restrictions to play old games dude? You really got some nerve to have your rules to yourself?

[@2gunzup07]

@nicksugoi9366 saying I'm buying a something to run a 10 year old gms is like saying I'm looking forward to play tekken 2 or sf2 or I want something to run crazy taxi you should have enjoyed those gms 20 years ago

[@jneo8808]

We just really need 32GB of RAM with VRAM options as far as 16GB. These devices would be unstoppable at that point.

[@johnong9860]

Dumbfk you don't even need 32 gb of ram for these devices

[@jneo8808]

@@johnong9860 Okay 😆

[@beyondtheads]

What's wrong with you? @@johnong9860

[@beckinbinderin]

@@johnong9860 You do if you're doing something a little more work related.

[@satno4224]

​@@beckinbinderinwork related? my brother in christ it s a gaming console 😂

[@ibapreppie]

I switched from Steam Deck to Legion Go, and never looked back. Also there was a brand new firmware update for the Legion Go as of 1/3/2024.

[@AnthonyMartinez6567]

Legion GO is just too massive in my opinion. The ally is the perfect to go size in my opinion.

[@miguelfernandes8996]

Agree, it's the closest to the switch even the switch being to big sometimes, but to have a nice screen I'll go with ally and a good power bang attached

[@cezarstefanseghjucan]

Hmm, you made me interested.

[@MithosDagon]

I love my Ally, and will probably just skip the Legion go. Armory crate has grown on me (and it has gotten some updates). The last of VRR and portrait screen is a buzzkill for me

[@hitbm4755]

There are some disadvantages to VRR screens as well (I have one for my PC), mostly that human beings can notice the Refresh Rate dynamically changing in real-time (especially bellow 60Hz) which will happen quite frequently on these handheld devices. For me the Legion GO actually seems more appealing in that scenario with the fixed High Refresh rate. In addition, enabling VSync on 120Hz and setting locked frame-rates to factors of 120FPS should in theory eliminate stuttering.

[@MithosDagon]

@@hitbm4755 Not sure what disadvantages you are referring to, as whatever you think it might look worse and more noticeable on a VRR screen within its fps range will look way worse on a screen without VRR. Also not sure what you mean by “fixed high refresh rate” as that won’t matter if your device can’t output fps that high.

[@ivand5699]

@@MithosDagon He is referring to the flicker that some people can notice when the screen drops below 60hz (it happens to me with the steam deck below 50-60hz), if the screen is fixed the only problem is screen tearing. Any way i think that VRR is the way to go.

[@goathonks8183]

The screen is landscape, it was confirmed by lenovo. The portrait was only on the early prototypes because they just took out the screen from one of their tablets for testing, etc.

[@MithosDagon]

@@goathonks8183 The retail units are native portrait display. Lenovo made a mistake or lied. Otherwise link me current article where they say they will recall their retail units and give everyone landscape

[@deadly134]

For me the go is hands down winner. I travel a lot for work and I’m mainly a fps and competitive shooter player so the fps mode is a game changer for me.

[@Al3xDk]

outside any arguments and comparison, this one at 0:55 is almost enough for me ! Look at this screen difference 🤩

[@FastRedPonyCar]

Definitely on the fence with these two devices. I'll probably be making a decision after Christmas so it will be interesting to see if Lenovo make any meaningful updates before then. Not sure I can live without VRR now that I've gotten used to it on my OLED TV. Absolute game changer with Gsync

[@nickfromohio6032]

Same. I'm literally looking for someone to tell me which to get. Haha😂 I already have Steamdeck.

[@FastRedPonyCar]

@@nickfromohio6032 I ended up getting the Ally. It was $100 off at best buy. I like it so far but haven't gotten to spend a ton of time with it. ASUS are updating it like crazy too. I was going to get the OLED steam deck otherwise but glad I went with the Ally just to have that extra power if I want it.

[@mannionsmemories5753]

As someone who just returned the legion. Don't get that one

[@SpruceX]

@@mannionsmemories5753 why?

[@JamieR]

Not just that, but with the low fps on these devices it'll make the experience night and day difference in terms of smoothness.

[@carterjeffers9798]

I like the legion better in appearance and the ram bump to 7500 is nice. But lack of VRR means I won’t switch! I wish they would’ve added a vrr screen:(

[@ominousview]

Don't be scared of that.. been playing the same games as on my Ally and no issues without VRR

[@Nauzhror1216]

Genuinely don't think VRR matters much, at all. My laptops display does not support it. I have NEVER noticed tearing on it.

[@ytmaxxammo8591]

At the resolution of such a size of screen VRR is not a dealbreaker by a long shot. I have both Ally & Go. Almost unnoticeable.

[@diegonogueira180]

@@ytmaxxammo8591who is the best ?

[@POVGAMER05]

Very noticeable don’t listen to this ppl vrr makes a massive difference, I mean massive

[@BossMan302]

Idk why you’re running everything at 720p ? I run my Ally on 1080p exclusively and never had any issues on any AAA game. I get my GO on Monday can’t wait.

[@Lord-jq7hv]

So which one is better?

[@Webshots-hy1kz]

Ally ❤​@@Lord-jq7hv

[@fanxykid1518]

Yea. Which better ?

[@spike178]

Going to wait 3 months before buying any handheld, to see what happens with the software/ bios/ drivers on these devices. Legion Go looks the best, really want a big screen to see what Im doing while AAA gaming. Will be plugged in all the time and at home.

[@Riptor_WL]

Buy a PS5/XSX or a PC instead if you want to stay and play at home xD

[@stazzy5858]

Yeah fr, i was on board until he was like "Will be plugged in all the time" Might aswell get a PS5 for less @@Riptor_WL

[@TheRanking96]

does ROG ally win also when it comes to 20 watt TDP? I think thats the best TDP for these APUs. Thank you very much!

[@X862go]

18

[@wozzielfc401]

I grabbed the ally this week . Portability , audio and VRR were the 3 things that put me of the GO . I really don't want to be carrying something as big as that in my bag . The Rog ally is already heavy enough 😅😂 but its the right size for me as Desktop is my main PC gaming headquarters . This is for bed and on the go . Very hard to compare as you say the chip lottery . Will be all different let alone people's tweaks.

[@molsen7549]

I agree with you on everything but the display size. I would love a larger display even if I had to sacrifice some portability.

[@wozzielfc401]

@@molsen7549 hey thats fair mate . Each to there own. We all cant agree all the time 😁 thats just my views of it . Have the Rog Ally and so far its been flawless once you figure out how to use it . Legion Go im sure next model with have VRR and im looking forward to that incase

[@oo--7714]

What about the sd card reader though? Do you even use it?

[@wozzielfc401]

@@oo--7714 nah I just put in a 2TB nvme lolz . I mean I rather play my games off a proper hard drive then a sd card though so that didn't worry me .

[@officerminiwheats]

@@oo--7714 I've had my Ally since June 2023 and the sd card reader is still working fine. I just haven't left the cards in long term

[@kramerrichardson6008]

even with higher frames per second the ally is still way smoother in these test, i noticed so much hitching and stuttering on hogwarts legacy. The legion go isn't better optimized lol, it all boils down to the faster ram speed.

[@imraansarwar4148]

Great Video! Exactly what i was looking for a fair comparison on the screen resolution.

[@Methsman]

The legion go will optimize more at lower wattages with driver and bios updates, as we saw with the ally

[@Hubwood]

Let's hope that it will!

[@frankcoley1537]

To all the people who said VRR doesn't matter. I could literally tell the difference when he rotated the camera on the Legion Go almost instantly. Rewatch it again and you'll notice it. The ROG Ally VRR smooths out the refresh of hz. While the LegionGO is straight Vsync

[@miguelfernandes8996]

Thank you, didn't know about the vrr think! That's awesome I hate stuttering wich I've had my entire life playing games on the pc, never had a chance to buy a new monitor 😂

[@monkeymonk4976]

I don’t own either, so I just bought the Legion Go. I want to use an SD card and eventually an EGPU and a nice monitor to turn it into a desktop as well. I believe the software will improve in the next month or so. So hopefully I am happy with my purchase.

[@Hubwood]

Enjoy :)

[@buckbuckgoose92]

Would an egpu work with the go?

[@oz85]

@@buckbuckgoose92there is a video on ytube where LGO is used combined with a GPD G1 and it works perfectly. I’ll buy this combination

[@Hubwood]

@@buckbuckgoose92 yes!

[@ForsakenFenix]

@@buckbuckgoose92 ETA Prime has a video up using a eGPU.

[@phuanpwan]

Legion GO might be my first handheld, hope playing at the low TDP will be optimized soon

[@LividAardvark3911]

My understanding is you don't actually want to be using Legion Go's 30 Watt mode atm. You really kinda wanna stick with their 20W mode. That's where those terrible 1% Lows are coming from and other oddities. You will get better performance not using them until they work out some of the software.

[@Hubwood]

I was getting less average fps with the standard turbo mode. Didn't check the 1% lows in that case though. Will have to test that :) thx for the heads up!

[@redrag0n_]

I have tested both and Ally outperforms Go in almost all games at 1080p, 30W, medium-high settings.

[@VioletGiraffe]

Should have selected either 8 or 4 GB of VRAM on both. Because this comparison is not about how much VRAM is optimal or how many FPS each device eeks out; it's about which one is faster, and that requires equal settings. It's really odd that you didn't select either 4 GB on both or 8 GB on both. Some games might suffer from VRAM deficit on the Legion and others might suffer from RAM (system memory) deficit on the Ally.

[@Hubwood]

That would only be true if both handhelds handle the pre allocated vram identically. Im currently testing all 3 VRAM configs for the LEGION go to compare them to each other. I just don't have the time to do everything at once. It's hard to compare these devices "fair" since for example on the LEGION GO the 15W profile is yet totally unoptimized and not strong enough whereas the 30 Wat Proifle is faster on the LEGION GO and not that optimized on the ALLY. It's only to get an "idea" of what to expect and overall both Handhels are in the same Ballpark more or less.

[@slonato2004]

Totally agree, 3 and 4 Gb is not fair comparison

[@Hubwood]

@@slonato2004 I repeated the test in a new video with same ram. Check it out.

[@VioletGiraffe]

@@Hubwood, thank you!

[@iamkurogane]

It’s really the screen that does it for me. Also the Go feels better in my hands in long sessions compared to the ally. Also I shilled out on GeForce Now and the games look marvellous on the Go’s massive screen

[@aikafuwa7177]

While performance wise the Legion GO on average show a small bump in performance in max tdp scenarios, it is not enough to make up for all the really annoying issues and it really feels like that it is a mess. Lenovo Legion Space is borderline useless, makes Armoury Crate look like a miracle in comparison. You can not reconfigure any of the controller buttons, sticks, etc. to anything you would really want. There is the touchpad but there is no right click or left click and you can not assign any of the button to be right click or left click, ..... wtf lenovo!?!? This make using the right stick, and right bumper/right trigger in desktop mode on the Ally for mouse looks like a genius implementation. Additionally whether if the 1 or 2 controller is attached changes how the controller behaves. The best thing about the detachable controllers is that you can leave the pointless non-configurable controllers at home, get the weight saving and use it like a small tablet. The on screen performance monitor fails to stay on screen, just try it with BG3, you can not see it anymore. The faster memory is not getting you better fps in 2077. Stupid AMD software keeps crying about the wrong edition and you just can not pull up the AMD Adrenalin UI. The FPS mode is a gimmick, you can not play competitively against someone using a real gaming mouse (think G502, G pro, Deathadder, EC2 etc.). A really serious problem that plagues the Legion GO is that it is actually a portrait screen. And when it shows it is nasty and make the whole thing feel half baked. Old games, dosbox stuff will have all sorts of fit with this that would never be an issue on the ROG Ally. WTF is with the portrait screen anyways?! You launch a linux installer, or Acronis, or anything else text based direct booting some liveCD iso and this crap is just going to mess with you. Annoying as F!@$%!!! On top of it all the SSD run way too hot, temps while gaming using the max power tdp profile cause the SSD to hit 75C or higher, seriously?! In contrast the SSD in the ROG Ally is still a hair below 60C. The thing that was suppose to be the saving grace, the TB4 E-GPU, that is so hit and miss, it works with some and fails with others, just blue screens over and over. I really want to like the Lenovo Legion GO, but it feels at this time to be really half baked. It also just feels heavy. It its best mode of use is without the controllers and having it stand on its own kick stand, and with whatever kb/mouse and controller you would really want. And the final insult is that Legion Go Space puts the "store front" front and center, that is just obnoxious. It is trying to sell you crap all the time, whereas the Amoury Crate puts your game library front and center.

[@Hubwood]

Someone is angry here 😬 Keep in mind: it was released 3 days ago. The ALLY did get alot of optimization since it's release.

[@aikafuwa7177]

@@Hubwood I paid real money and I get half baked product ... why should I not be angry? Not that I am, but I would think anyone should be justified if they are angry. Optimization is not the issue, the issues are myriad, and range from stupid to serious. I am trying to decide if I should return the thing to MicroCenter and get a refund.

[@naxhoX97]

​@@aikafuwa7177refund the lenovo go bro, ally is better, at launch ally was doing better and somo had the sd problem

[@malikon6953]

I think it's hilarious all the LGo fans saying how it would just absolutely destroy the Ally, and it only gets a few more FPS. They have the same exact CPU/GPU running at the same speed. The only advantage the Go has is the Ram MHz is slightly faster, but that's not going to make a huge difference, and it doesn't. The Go gets a few more frames. All the portable handhelds are pretty cool. The Steam Deck, the Ally, the Go. So seeing people arguing and 'picking teams' online is sort of ridiculous. If you want ultimate performance build a monster desktop. Enjoy the portables for what they are.

[@Search_GG]

I genuinely never saw heard or read somebody saying that the legion go was going to destroy the rog ally.

[@FirstnameLastname-gz8hy]

Not to mention the screen on the legion is almost 2 inches bigger, meaning 800p still has a lower pixel density than 720p on the rog ally. So you’ll be getting an image that looks more pixelated, and you’ll be getting less frames running at 800p legion than 720p on the rog ally

[@gamedayindia4329]

​@@FirstnameLastname-gz8hylol i bet you own rog ally .

[@Hubwood]

That is true BUT 800p on the Go look better than 720p on the Ally since its exactly 1/4 of the display resolution making it sharper than the interpolized 720p on the ALLYs 1080p screen t.b.h. To the first post: I mean I had it coming with this video, but it's always like that with hardware. 2 teams trying to convince each other (and themselves) that "their" Device/GPU/Car/Peanut Butter is better ... 🤷‍♂️Humans :D Edit: Seeing your edited post: Well said ;)

[@gamedayindia4329]

Well no one is saying that legion go should destroy ally . But for the same price , apart from the better performance , the legion go comes with detachable controllers , Hall effect sticks , fps mode , bigger battery and two touch pads . So ya overall , ally stands no chance in front of legion go for first time buyers.

[@yougenius663]

Amazing comparison ! Been anticipating for this. Thnx!

[@KillerX13]

Hi. Does the Legion Go has the "Battery Charging Bypas" feature like the rog ally ?? I can't find any info on the net...

[@JohnStenborg]

…yes…kicks in when usb charging and playing…

[@krysivory493]

I'm getting a LEGION GO! I've always loved Lenovo.

[@sonicdie1]

It’s not a idea to get it at the moment it lacks alot of performance issues compared to the Ally where it has more performance and power then the Go

[@FahmiK7]

Which one is better for on the go gaming, and playing on battery? And which battery would last longer on the go?

[@NinoPerez-o7x]

Only reason I am considering the LGo over the Ally is because of the detachable controllers..coming from a Switch owner that has gone through various joy cons

[@V3ntilator]

Lenovo Go uses drift free controllers.

[@timotheviands7562]

Detachable controllers are a must. What happens if something breaks or a button breaks or anything like that with the rog ally you now have a paper weight

[@V3ntilator]

@@timotheviands7562Rog Ally have the cheap analogue sticks that will drift sooner or later. Already been a issue for many already. Lenovo uses the proper ones that won't drift.

[@theunknown7441]

Goodluck saw more new reviews and it sucks

[@V3ntilator]

@@theunknown7441Rog Ally?

[@vladislavkaras491]

Thanks for the comparison!

[@Eraldo_Coil]

I like the portability of the ally

[@ocosmosinfinito]

The screen probably helps Lenovo consume more and engage less final performance on the GPU when using 15w while 30w has enough power to make the least difference.

[@techstation365]

Something odd with the Legion Go using more RAM and able to pull ahead. The 6GB VRAM setting is simply limiting the Ally in terms of sheer memory usage.

[@AbrahamZX1]

Not sure why he didn't match the VRAM.

[@Hubwood]

Because the Ally has issues with 4GB only. The Legion Go didnt. If I would have used 4GB VRAM for the Ally people would have killed me xD

[@AbrahamZX1]

@@Hubwood I think there are very conflicting reports on this. I read that 3Gbs was the sweet spot for the Ally based on some testing someone else made. I run my Ally with 5Gb of VRAM, if I remember correctly, but I never had issues when running it with 4Gb out of the box.

[@Hubwood]

@@AbrahamZX1 Check out this excellent video by Filterless in which he tested this VERY detailed: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sIGxp6CdbdycZqMsi=E6pRaMYBQlfK4bOo

[@khalilnascimento]

After have tried both, a realized that the impression a had while watching the review was in fact correct. The image on the ROG is more clear and although the fps may seems lower, in reality the ally was more fluid and with less stutter.

[@_thatGuy_87]

I was gonna get the ally based on the fact that its lighter, a little cheaper where I’m at rn, mostly other videos have made it seem that the legion has lower fps on every game (strangely the opposite of this one), and don’t wanna deal with the issues with a native portrait mode display (sounds absolutely HORRIBLE dealing with the issues that will no doubt come up randomly here and there for the entire lifetime of this product). Though based on this video I’m more annoyed than ever because yes the legion go already has a lot of its own bonuses like the removable controllers/mouse mode, screen size and resolution, as well as color according to this video is also better, not to mention the fps results shown…

[@NadeemAhmed-nv2br]

It has lower FPS because it's set to 1200p while ally is set to 720p. Change go to 720p and it wins hands down

[@unknown_model]

I’ve been waiting for THIS video 😃

[@JhustineProvido]

Keeping the Ally. I am not upgrading unless it's a different chipset :) both are great devices I honestly think the Legion Go is better. the lack of VRR seems to be fine

[@anonymousguy1029]

The SD card reader isn't 😂

[@jmelz155]

@@anonymousguy1029Its very easy to upgrade the ssd to 2tb. You don’t need an sd card

[@anonymousguy1029]

@@jmelz155 but should you have to?

[@HarleyGC7]

@@jmelz155 Attitudes like that allow companies to continue get away with releasing broken hardware.

[@AmazonWebService98]

@@HarleyGC7 Attitudes like what ? ASUS sends you a RMA and fixes it. Not every single unit has that problem . So what is your point ?

[@sanavsingh7298]

good effort there 🤝

[@jasonh4534]

The battery performance difference may be due to how the Legion Go balances power between the CPU and GPU… Which I believe is tied to the “OS Performance” setting. Try testing games with that set to “Efficiency” and see if that changes the results.

[@Hubwood]

Just checked it for Hogwarts Legacy. When I'm on Battery using the 15W mode there is no difference between changing the OS Power mode whatsoever. THOUGH on the 30W Custom Mode with the maximum 30W on battery, changing the OS Power mode has an effect and helps with the weird frame drops, yet it's still performaing significantly slower and more stuttery than on the 20W mode. An issue Lenovo defenitely will have to adress.

[@jasonh4534]

@@Hubwood So it definitely has an effect, but needs some work it seems. I am sure more improvements will be made. The faster RAM seems to help, as the shared RAM aspect has always been a limitation for APUs, and I would expect that after tweaks by Lenovo, we might see an uplift in 1% lows.

[@Hubwood]

Yeah I hope so. But I guess we will see improvements over time.

[@cheerful_crop_circle]

​@@Hubwood Do you have to play handhelds with the charger plugged in order to have the maximum performance or there isnt much difference between plugged and unplugged?

[@james8606]

Great to see the Go Woking well but still happy I went for the Ally as for me I don't want table top or detachable controllers/FPS mode. I don't game that way but definitely cool for people that do

[@mith2946]

Yeah it's funny it's supposed to be a plus but it's the only reason I'm hesitating. I want it for the screen, I don't need this weird controller stuff. I wish Steam made one with a nice screen.

[@YOUNGJBR]

@@mith2946honestly it’s cool it’s a plus like you said and yea wish Valve did a SD with a bigger screen.

[@footfiles]

I agree, holding a controller in the vertical position as a mouse doesn't make much sense. If I needed to game that way, a small bluetooth mouse would work even better.

[@hitbm4755]

@@mith2946 but you do not have to detach it, and if they are at a similar price point it is definitely a nice feature to have.

[@rCrypto_Frog4148]

@@footfiles You can still hook up your own mouse. Duh

[@Daxter609]

Yup I definitely wait on the Legion Go ironing out its issues. Also have you considered doing performance comparisons between it and the Ally at 20 watts?

[@Hubwood]

If i can find the time. Got alot of videos in the pipeline ;)

[@higgsbosonfan]

Fortnite gives you the option to pre-install DX12 shaders in the game launcher. This removes the stutter with a slight hit performance

[@zomg346]

Ally and go owner here and legion go is so good. Tried 800p medium d4 and with no fsr I get 85 fps and fsr quality 120.also 800p look really good specially the game text compared to ally 720p it was so blurry.also temperature of the go is so much better i never seen it above 72 c even in 30w while ally get easy 90c

[@AmazonWebService98]

dont know how u will ever get to 90 C mine doesn't get above 60 C ever

[@zomg346]

@@AmazonWebService98 maybe on balance mine hit easy 88 and so did in this test

[@abdullahharman174]

​@@AmazonWebService98mine 90c turbo all day 😂

[@hitbm4755]

@@AmazonWebService98 probably depends on the climate in your country.

[@abelareiza9269]

I'm sorry, is that the normal Ally or the Z1 Extreme version? Thanks

[@Hubwood]

Z1 extreme

[@Channel567-7]

Both are great machines, I personally prefer the GO, it is fabulous to have the larger screen. A wonderfully put together vid, not easy to do in reality.

[@edibarehye]

no vrr... big change

[@muhdiqwansolleh1969]

Llg no vrr?

[@edibarehye]

@@muhdiqwansolleh1969 yes no vrr

[@nemanjap7244]

Very well made Video. Subscribed

[@Hubwood]

Thanks and welcome :)

[@ryanisright3559]

Can you compare battery life between them?

[@tykendrick800]

From using both. The go definitely have better battery. I can kill the ally battery in a hour or less paying mk1. Hasher killed the go battery yet from 1 session

[@ryanisright3559]

@@tykendrick800how many hours would you say? The go vs the Ally. The difference I mean

[@tykendrick800]

@@ryanisright3559 I got to play around with it more. And for me, that won't be until the new updates come out. It's unplayable for me due to analog deadzone problem.

[@OblivionPrime]

@@ryanisright3559 its like a 45min difference from 40w vs 49w if we use 20w from battery If im calculating it right XD

[@ELECTRONXX]

I am buying lenovo Go bcoz of it's big and better screen and detachable controller. If ally do this improvement in next handheld I will definitely go for ally.

[@AJerseyJohnnyEntertainment]

I know I want the best of everything, but if I had my choice I'd take the steam decks controls (mainly the track pads), with the next generation of cpu/gpu combo, and please 🙏 an OLED screen. My eyesight is going on me, I need Brightness on 100% or I need the giant magnifying glass/light add on we used to have for the original Gameboy. Lol You have to be a certain age to understand what add on I'm talking about. 😅

[@Hubwood]

I'm close to 40 and my eyesight is 100%. Still smaller screens like on the Ally are becoming really stressing for my eyes after a while. The Legion GOs 8.8 Inch is really helping in that case...

[@j1nftw1n]

Aye yo I forgot about those magnifying light til I saw this comment! Man how the time has passed haha.

[@AJerseyJohnnyEntertainment]

@j1nftw1n , haha I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers them. 😅 I remember being so disappointed that first Christmas that the screen on the original game boy wasn't back lit. EVERYONE, had a gameboy.

[@IntergalacticDustBunny]

If your on a tight budget, the Steam Deck is the best bang for your buck (especially if you can get a 64GB one and upgrade it yourself), The ALLY could've been great but the QC issues, the tiny battery that really kills it's portability and design flaws crippled it out of the box. I got a like new ALLY for less than $300 and I would say it's worth that, but not the asking price. Have yet to see the Go in person, but from what I've seen online it looks impressive, I do want one but it's out of my budget at the moment.

[@emerald85]

Lenovo legion go doesn’t have a default tdp setting of 30W , u have to manually set to it . And the fan noise is much louder than ally

[@zephyrus2569]

How is the cooling on the Ally and the Go? Can they maintain the performance you show consistently, or do they overheat and slow down after a while?

[@Hubwood]

The GO has slightly better cooling. I was using full Fan Speed Mode in all tests and temeprtures we're maintained. No throttling.

[@zomg346]

My go never goes above 72 c while my ally easy hits 88

[@vergeofwill]

@@zomg346 mine at 18W doesn't go above 57

[@charlierose1708]

Update the bios and the rog pulls ahead it performs way better on the new bios and firmware.

[@SCORPIO2011]

And you have a video of both to prove this .just asking because seems about right what I’m watching.Plus this is on 4gb ram on go .If you change settings to 6 or 8 you would get a different reading to the ally ..

[@Hubwood]

No it doesn't. I've been doing some research. In some games 331 is slightly slower and in some it's faster. Nevertheless both devices still can be optimized :)

[@X862go]

you should make them the same for testing @@Hubwood

[@X862go]

the more you change the further it invalides testing

[@X862go]

i am running 4gb vram and getting 33 5 fps more then you are on the same bios btw that could just be my unit @@Hubwood

[@heftyroom61610]

I would say that when you are about to buy a portable gaming PC one of the most important things is the battery life and ergonomics, the performance is marginal given that between Steam Deck, Asus and Lenovo there is not such a big leap in performance to justify the purchase of one over the others. A fundamental factor for me in the choice was also the operating system. Steamdeck will be very fast with its SteamOs, but I prefer to have a slightly buggier system like Windows which however allows me to do everything I want and play any game possible.

[@Rissulko]

@6:09 that temp difference

[@tasul1414]

In your opinion, which is better, do you advise me to buy it?

[@Hubwood]

In my opinion if you're unsure you should watch my video in whicj I compare the two. Also be aware that Lenovo fixed almost all the issues with updates. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hn2oeWWggcyijpIsi=Pna-xmx2eQH15zD8

[@VizioN-Scope]

Great video. Very useful and I feel better about my purchase now. I own the Ally & Go too. Just a heads up. Do you know that you still have the plastic sheet on the trackpad?. I can see it in the video.

[@Hubwood]

I do know that xD didn't feel like peeling it off yet since I might sell it in 2-3 months after I'm done with all my tests :)

[@diegonogueira180]

Who is the best ?

[@stephenj37824]

With 10% more pixels to fill at 800p vs 720p in portable mode combined with the reality that you aren't going to be running over 20 watts on battery makes me think the bigger battery will be basically used to run about 10% more watts to fill those extra pixels. Also at lower clock speeds on the GPU I'm guessing the RAM speed advantage won't be as noticable when on battery. The picture is becoming clear that each device has a slightly different usage case. Legion Go is a handheld that is better suited for occasional on the go and a better docked / kickstand with controllers removed while plugged. ROG Ally will be more at home on battery on the go at lower wattages where vrr will smooth out lower frame rates and it's size/weight make it more portable as well. Both are devices to be excited about filling slightly different niches in this exciting market.

[@rcinematic]

I’m thinking of handheld gaming and been researching on devices. I prefer gaming on Xbox and currently have GamePass. Am I able to download gamepass games on these instead of streaming? Thanks

[@Hubwood]

Yes. You can use all game pass PC games, as this is basically a portable windows 11 PC.

[@diegogutierrez9717]

For me the problem with those machines is that the are not portable for me, too big and heavy, hope one day they fix it

[@TheSixthSLoT]

I get the feeling you're looking for something pocketable, like the 3DS was. That's kind of a rough fix. The closest any of these companies ever came to with that is with the GPD Win 4, but the compromise with smaller is that the heat transfer from unit to hand. One guy on reddit said it was legit painful playing his Win 4 when he ran higher end games due to the heat. A lot of components need to be able to fit into these shells while also keeping the heat off of peoples hands, and it's a balancing act that requires a size compromise. People complain about the Steam Deck's size, but Valve stated it's by literal design that the Deck is so long, as the heat mostly comes from the center of the unit, thus making it longer keeps the hands off that part of the shell. The ROG Ally is currently the smallest of these handheld PC's that can run AAA games while keeping heat transfer to an A+ minimum. There are some pocketable sized hand held PC's coming down the pipeline, but you might want to reconsider. Not a lot of people think about the heat until they spend big money. It happened to me with my GPD Win 2021 edition. That thing gets uncomfortably hot to where I didn't like using it sometimes.

[@diegogutierrez9717]

@@TheSixthSLoT exactly i would like something to put in my pocket, the most i get is nintendo switch lite, i hope that in the years to come the cpu become more efficient, meanwhile i will keep playing in my laptop at home and with my nintendo DS outside

[@semihozgur3849]

Hello, I have a question. Does the Lenovo Legion Go allow two people to play games together like the Nintendo Switch, for games like FIFA or Mario Kart, for example? I would be very happy if you could answer my question. Have a great day!

[@fagnernunesbarros9294]

No. The controle doesn't work like switch. You'll need other control conected to play with other person.

[@darend8896]

In Canada a new ROG is $1015 after tax. A nice lady sold me a used one for $640, I'm loving the rog!

[@snowmean1]

Yeah, Ally is getting surprisingly many returns, so can be found second-hand pretty cheap.

[@DanielMoss-y8z]

Hy, How do you generate that detalied stats on handhelds ? It looks very nice and usefull. Tanks for your help.

[@Hubwood]

Witz msi afterburner in combination with the included RTSS (Windows only)

[@deadpain2483]

Go with legion. Not for performance. But for temperature. Many steam deck died because of heavy cyberpunk gameplay that made the device very hot. This one is unbelievably low from 63-67 which is great for lengthy play. Display is big enough to enjoy the scenary without stressing the eye or neck.

[@cheerful_crop_circle]

But Legion Go is so big with uncomfortable design

[@Cooksmaster01]

you can bump up the vram to 8 on the rog ally. the form factor and price point of ally plus the amount of updates that asus is coming out with regularly makes is a much better device in my opinion.

[@Raebo911]

Man, I've been obsessed with the Legion Go, despite the fact that I will NOT be getting one. In a lot of ways, it's better than the Ally (more frames at high TDP, higher resolution, can be used as a tablet, among others), but in some ways, it's worse (no VRR, portrait-based screen, less frames at lower TDP, among others). And it's the exact same chip as the Ally. If I'm gonna buy another one of these things, it needs to have a stronger chip. Still, if I didn't already have an Ally, I'd definitely go for it. But I still love my Ally.

[@Hubwood]

And both are great in their own way :)

[@hitbm4755]

The lack of VRR isn't necessarily a disadvantage at that high refresh rate and you can notice refresh rate dynamically changing with VRR once it drops below 55FPS.

[@Hubwood]

Jesus, of course it does. Why wouldn't it .. they both have the same hardware performance wise. Why wouldn't the LEGION Go perform that way?

[@junelsvtecturbo777]

My ally has the performance you are getting on your legion go I do have a more updated bios then the one you were running in this video I have bios 331 can you update the bios on your ally and try it again?

[@Hubwood]

When I was recording the Ally games, the newest BIOS was 330 which was slightly slower and more unstable in many games. So I went with 323. I didn't have the time yet to re-run all games but I might do a small re-run of this video in a few weeks once the LEgion Go did get updates aswell.

[@heliosblight9872]

​@@Hubwoodthe performance on 331 is allot better than on 232 atleast for most games

[@X862go]

nice they are both z1 extreme so maybe you should take the fps after 30 min for heatsink 18 watt mode should be the best !

[@Hubwood]

What do you mean? :)

[@alexgibson7960]

I'm honestly kinda stuck. I really like the legion, go for the screen and track pad. But I really like the rog Ally for the better portability

[@JayDuBs44]

the go actually has better portability once you remove the controllers a small laptop or camera bag is perfect

[@zomg346]

Legion go is way more comfortable they did really good job it’s just as comfortable like steam deck I been playing for 4 hours on go and didn’t feel anything

[@vergeofwill]

@@JayDuBs44 how is that better having to carry a mouse and keyboard? Ally is in all in one smaller device so ofc it has better portability

[@JayDuBs44]

@vergeofwill read my comment again I said nothing about a mouse and keyboard. I said you can take the controllers off so the hole device can fit better in a compact bag...

[@kaiichinose9590]

I don’t think anyone though the legion go would destroy the ally. From now owning both I prefer the legion go over the ally. I like the ally speakers a little better. First the size of the legion it feels light and its ergonomics are much better than the ally unless you get a grip case. I like the built in kick stand. I prefer the color, I like that I don’t have to worry about my SD card frying even though I don’t use it. I prefer Lenovos customer service by far. I’m just glad there is a market for everyone. This is a good side piece to my pc while on the go. But I still got my switch Oled and ps5. Always represent.

[@Marco-zw8eh]

Hey. I have the same dock for the Asus Rog ally and can only select 25w trurbo mode. Why? 😕

[@Hubwood]

You need a stronger psu. That's why I used this 100w Charger as shown in the video.

[@Marco-zw8eh]

@@Hubwood Ah, you don't even use the power supply that came with the Asus?😅

[@Hubwood]

Nope. Not when I use the dock :) cause otherwise it won't be able to utilize its full power as the docks takes away some of that otherwise :)

[@X862go]

wow the 1% lows on the go are a no go for me lol!

[@Hubwood]

That's just on ACV really... Did you see the other benchmarks? 🤔

[@anubhavgupta2348]

😂lol

[@anubhavgupta2348]

😂

[@jmelz155]

I love my Ally (2tb ssd) but I will get the Go when it’s updated enough.

[@vlv723]

If only Lenovo was smart enough to have a 32GB RAM option, the Legion Go will blow every single Portable PC (including the Steam Deck) handheld out of the water. Appreciate you taking the time showing the comparisons. I might get this once I see a certain cashback site has a 10% back offer at Lenovo directly.

[@Hubwood]

32GB would defenitely crown the king of handhelds... imagine 8-12 GB VRAM and still having 24-20GB Ram left. :-O But I guess that would mean people wouldn't buy any new devices until around 2028 😅

[@duvaughnbutler7916]

That was so dumb that they didn't do this why not idiots 🙄

[@Hubwood]

Because they wouldn't be able to sell new versions in 2 years from now and charge us double :D A 32GB handheld would probably last 5 years :P

[@doohof1016]

U are insane, bigger ram will kill laptops 😂 some gpu can use shared up to 8gigs

[@cheerful_crop_circle]

Hell no

[@ominousview]

I know you used 15W balanced mode for the battery test but what OS power mode did you use

[@Hubwood]

Performance mode. when using the 15W Mode switching between the 3 OS Power Modes has no effect. Just tested it on Hogwarts Legacy as we speak since other users mentioned it.

[@HarleyGC7]

Legion Go performing better and also cooler without the various updates that the Ally has received recently! Very very impressive

[@innavoiglopez]

I bit the bullet too early. Should've waited. Well, good things are coming for LeGo.

[@cheerful_crop_circle]

​@@innavoiglopezno

[@johnfreeman5956]

Nice video man! I was literally asking myself this earlier today when I had the chance to get hands on with an ROG Ally.

[@andersandersson4133]

I would buy the Legion Go if I had to buy any of them. But I think a larger gaming laptop is my way.

[@KeiGGR]

The problem with a gaming laptop it that to game on it properly you would need to use it on a surface, at that point may aswell just get a desktop PC. Unless you travel around, that is.

[@andersandersson4133]

@@KeiGGR I am "old" so I want a larger screen 15" or larger and a more powerful GPU. I want a computer that is portable and can do all that I want. Play the latest games with good FPS and do work (coding), have the possibillity to have several VM:s running at the same time.

[@cheerful_crop_circle]

​@@andersandersson4133 What do you think about 18 inch screens?

[@andersandersson4133]

@@cheerful_crop_circle 18" can be fine, but I want it to fit in a bag and are usally a bit on the heavy side. 16" today are like the old 15" in size so 16" maybe fits me best.

[@SammySosa-q3q]

Why are you running an old bios 331 bios on the rog ally has improved performance

[@Hubwood]

When I recorded the ALLY Videos, the newest BIOS was 330 which was slower on most games, so I went with 323. 331 came out October 24th. I didnt have the time to re run all benchmarks. Takes forever.

[@Scrappy_ill_fold_ya_Doo]

I'll stick to the Steam Deck 😂.

[@Slyliner89]

why are the temperature of the gpu is at fortnite almost the same but in all other games like 10C degrees difference? and it´s very interessting (and thanks at all for this video :) ) that the legion is everytime less hot than the ally. i read so often (from persons who have both), that the ally is more quiet and "feels" colder than the legion. edit: hab am ende festgestellt, dass du deutsch sprichst, was es für mich einfacher macht. fortnite interessiert mich nicht, aber warum gibt es dort fast die selben temperaturen? weißt du warum? auch würde mich interessieren, wie sehr unterschiede in der lautstärke sind, da ja oft behauptet wird, die kühlung im ally sei besser, in deinen vergleichen aber jedesmal das legion kühler war. habe mir letzte woch ein legion bestellt (kommt die nächsten tage) und bin bis zu diesem video am überlegen gewesen, mir einen docking station mit lüftern zu kaufen. wenn ich mir die zahlen in deinem video anschaue, ist dies aber überhaupt nicht nötig. p.s.: hab gleich mal ein abo mitgenommen und einen "daumen hoch" dagelassen :)

[@Hubwood]

Check out my follow up video with new drivers and BIOS versions. Provides a more realistic result on that matter

[@leeroyjenkins9992]

But what does the go do when using its full screen resolution?

[@airzero4k]

Laptop gaming wins🎉

[@Hubwood]

😂 Well, yeah but Handhelds have their justification. In Bed. On a Train, etc. But me personally prefer the bigger Laptop Screens aswell. Just easier for my eyes 🤷‍♂️

[@OblivionPrime]

I'm a laptop gamer but i still own an ally and steam deck XD

[@thundergato84]

​​@@OblivionPrimeI'm debating between the Ally, and Go. It sucks that the Micro SD slot goes out after awhile on the Ally.

[@bdk323]

This is an easy pick with the Ally having the SD issue I just cant think to buy it if it were to fry my card. Also we are talking day one legion go with no time to optimize. If you read reviews of the Ally at the start they were toasting it for similar issue which asus has cleaned up so you gotta give Lenovo some time .

[@Hubwood]

Yeah the LEGION GO is impressive for it's launch day performance. Though they had half a year more time :) The SD thing is clearly a bummer. My ally is affected and I have to send it in (for free) so ASUS can fix it...

[@footfiles]

True to an extent, except that you can't change the Go's screen (landscape problem) and no VRR.

[@bdk323]

​@@footfiles The screen issue can be fixed with software though it also bothers me and initially I was concerned about VRR until I read this huge Reddit post on it going in way more depth than I was concerned with or able to digest and my VRR concerns were gone.

[@MithosDagon]

@@bdk323 a screen with a native portrait and no VRR can’t be fixed with software

[@Hubwood]

do you have a link to said reddit post?

[@relikkx]

Since both are using ryzen processors, can you enable FSR 3 to increase frame rate of games?

[@Hubwood]

Yes

[@relikkx]

@@Hubwood holy shit that's ground breaking

[@gamer21152]

Which is better

[@handheldzilla7279]

Bios 331 does actually improve performance so u should be using that for a fair test

[@Hubwood]

Filterless just released such a video. His tests are similar in most tests though the ally improved in some.