AUS ROG ALLY Review: 6 Months Later... The Honest Truth

[@jamesadams410]

Man my Ally made me fall in love with gaming again. As a grownup now, I don’t have time to sit down and play video games, and on the off chance I do, I go straight to competitive overwatch, COD or some other competitive FPS. With a new baby on the way and a heavily pregnant girlfriend, the only me time I get to myself is the few hours I can escape late night and on weekends to hide out on my balcony with a drink, a blunt, and my Ally. I’m actually playing the campaign modes again and getting involved in the stories I used to love so much. I’m trying new games I wouldn’t normally play if I knew I only had 40 minutes or so to sit at my laptop. Sure I have a much more powerful laptop that can play AAA at the highest specs, but if I’m in the house my time spent gaming is being clocked 😂 the Ally allowed me to fit gaming in my life again and thank you ASUS 🙏🏾 I really needed that

[@UGGSustere]

Man, find myself at the same family and gaming situation. Big up man. Gonna have to buy it too haha.

[@drizzt8965]

Wow! I so get the alcohol, cannabis, and some alone time thing! I actually really need that.....

[@JessNW0lfG4NG]

I feel your pain, in between jobs rn so I have more free time. I went with the legion go, both the steam deck and the Go seem like better options imo. Whatever handheld PC you choose, you can't go wrong with either one of the 3.

[@Kumire_921]

@@JessNW0lfG4NG To be fair the Legion Go costs 2 times more than the Asus and the steam deck is simply too limited, i can install steam on the other two while steam deck is only one platform.

[@glassjaw9384]

Damn bro we going thru the same thing 😅

[@carimpest]

The reason why the ally is trash is windows...but the reason its the best its because windows Only a pc user would understand what i said...

[@Flosstradamuss]

This is so on point 😂. Fuck windows but also can’t do fuck without windows and expect stability

[@Brae_Zen]

Fair enough

[@johndavis2938]

I never take mine outside the house. Im always close to a plug-in. I wouldn't want to have this off grid.. for just about an hour?... no thanks. But at night when my wife is watching her shows in bed, this toy is GREAT!

[@valismind]

I agree. For the most part I’ve used it plugged in, but the extra freedom would be nice 👍

[@MugShotVlogs]

This is my plan exactly. I'm not much of a tv person but my wife is. My switch has been great but I want something with just a bit more power. Also, this is my gateway to PC gaming in the way I'm used to. Just patiently waiting for mine to come in!

[@shahtayyib]

Am I the only lazy bastard that just wants to be able to game in bed?

[@bakad7424]

@@shahtayyibsame lol. I already have a beefy pc. I just want to lay in bed and play

[@shahtayyib]

@@bakad7424 my guy i hear that. after a long day of work and commuting, sitting at a desk feels like i haven't clocked out. just wanna vibe.

[@rmwilliams8193]

I play this nearly more than my 4070 desktop. Sure it’s nice to 4K at 60 plus frames. But 1080p on such a small screen doesn’t look bad at all. Plus I can lay in bed and play. I love the convenience it has also. It has the childhood game boy vibes. Handheld is just much more fun to me. Don’t really know why either.

[@samyayman2994]

I want to buy it but im afraid of stick drift , i can rely on it during hard games like COD ?

[@Funnylittleman]

@@samyayman2994I play mine quite a bit and I’ve never had any stick drift issues. YMMV but I only have good things to say.

[@chris4thewin703]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@samyayman2994it isn’t the best for comp fps games. It will run COD but the best you’re gettin in gameplay is 55-40 fps. You can tell its definitely not really built for it. I’ve had mine for 4 months now and have experienced no stick drift but with that being said I also haven’t put much stress on the sticks as someone who is playing cod would.

[@Zinyl]

@@samyayman2994 You can fix them or consider getting the Legion Go; I believe they come with hall effect joysticks.

[@RyanLBC]

the sticks are easy to replace as i just replaced my right stick due to stick drift. i worn it out due to playing cod and street fighter 6. i've owned my ally since the day it was released. began to stick drift early last month. @@samyayman2994

[@HeresHammy]

bros manicure is on point 💅🏿

[@valismind]

LOOOL

[@lunar701]

black hands? 🤨

[@yannickafonso2650]

😂😂

[@Joeystick]

Just here to say that they have done something about it, if you send it in they will repair the issue. It's the main board that is faulty which results in heat damaging the slot, not the cards. And it doesn't matter your wattage, if you have a faulty board the slot will go bad. I've had mine for 6 months now and no issues after they fixed it

[@rcinematic]

Been a console gamer and Rog Ally is my first gaming PC. Funny thing is I’ve been getting retro games from previous console on this thing. Love it!

[@AmanDisini]

the ease to emulate games on the Ally is sure a lovely thing. I already have a beefy PC to play AAA games, I just wanna enjoy old console games on my Ally.

[@luisotero845]

Same here

[@Undertakerfan700]

Most retro consoles run on the iPhone dawg

[@betz6620]

Nuh uh​@Undertakerfan700

[@tonynguyen7976]

I've owned all of the major handhelds and still love the Rog Ally the most, you just can't beat it for it's weight, size, power, updates and the vrr screen.

[@letusdebatenow]

You can beat it with a steam deck 😉

[@hubris04]

​@@letusdebatenow Nah

[@spiltcoff33]

@@hubris04yes

[@letusdebatenow]

@@hubris04 Yah

[@elchugilito]

Just wondering how you could own the major handhelds? And by that, what do you mean by "major handhelds"? What satisfaction do you get by owning most of them?

[@Tadervader100]

I'm a trucker, i use mine while waiting for customers to show up and while my trailer is getting loaded. I play mostly rpg's like final fantasy and persona and some other indie games. I think it is great, even if the batter is crap and have to have it plugged in alot of the time.

[@AwfulMartian1]

I don’t get why people care about docking a portable device

[@lurky5913]

Some people buy it as their main pc setup,but as a pc owner I get you.I don't get why you should care either if you have a pc

[@KaspersArcade]

@@lurky5913 I only care because I can dock it at a friends house and play some fighting games

[@dogwithoutw]

I mean I get that people would want switch to be dockable. It has exclusives and docking it would be the only way to play them on big displays.

[@PotatoflakeJake]

I am powered through just a few solar panels so a super low power PC like this that I can dock is the only reason I can have a PC like experience for more than like 2 hours a day

[@Itslewcario]

In y’all personal option would yall recommend ROG X, SD Oled or Legion Go? I have a 7900XTX build so I’m big on fps but not picking since the factor is “Portability”. The biggest thing for me is the Anti cheat issue with ST which you can bypass but idk. ST is more outta the box friendly but I’m wondering should I go with ROG/Legion since I actually have a pc and it would feel more at home.

[@Mantelsch]

Your point on getting a XG Mobile 4090 I get, it's way overkill and too expensive. But get one of the other models, and you have a perfect replacement for a desktop. I myself switched from a gaming laptop to the Ally + XG 6850, because I just couldnt deal with a 15'6 inch screen anymore. Now I have a 27" 1440p monitor hooked up to it, and I couldnt be happier. To be able to switch from a docked setup, to something to bring along on the go is a perfect solution!

[@Hazemann]

I'm planning to buy my 1st ever PC handheld Rog Ally in coming months ❤. Then Switch 2 this year holiday ❤. CAN'T WAIT ❤

[@hamzayt9995]

Update us man what happened is it good?

[@matthicks9622]

Solid review. Thank you for not being biased and just giving your honest opinions.

[@Adam1llion]

I don't know why people apologies for the games they like? If you like COD then play it lol who CARES. There's a reason it's top 5 games being played at all times. Just play what you like man and ignore the noise. The ROG Ally is good. It will get better in the future. Keep it up!

[@CasSanchez]

True I like COD and Xbox, internet tells me everyone hates both those things 😂 I want a handheld for COD.

[@matthewknapp1857]

To improve the battery life i just use a battery bank with a magnet to hold it to the back. Over doubles the battery life!

[@Fr3e3]

Fully agree with the FPS part, I played Apex Legends ...a lot...on my PS5 which was sold because I will be moving to another country. 50-60 frames in 15W mode on the Ally absolutely blew my mind! Yes it does take some time getting used to the movement and controls but once I got the hang of it I started to regularly get kills, even scored the highest damage I ever made ven though I was against PC players :)) My only complaint would be regarding the screen ...it it was an OLED I sincerely would have given it a 10/10, without hesitation. Also : being able to play some classic games like HOMM3 in 10W mode for hours is just.....a Godsend to me. L.E. I was also frustrated with the 1 hour of gaming time and was concerned with playing on it while plugged , thankfully Asus has implemented bypass charging, basically it draws power from the charger and completely bypasses the battery.

[@parzivalg7816]

Unfortunately when you have something that can run triple A games in hand held form, the battery will always be the weakest link until battery tech takes a big leap forward. Not got one of these yet and tempted to use it instead of my laptop (which needs to be plugged in constantly anyway). For people using this with access to power then id say its ideal. Had a play on one that a guy at work brought in and i did enjoy my time with it.

[@zohzie]

Use a FPS config and an exec for even more FPS friend

[@hardlyhome314]

I been playing fortnite on my ally. I thought there's no way I can get a victory royale. I've had multiple now

[@slothfratelli5546]

I love this machine i set it up like a mini xbox series x. Its rather crazy how good this little rig actually is. Barrery life is kinda what i expected for the chip set and form factor. I get about 2.5 hours with my preferred setup.

[@DWAC]

How exaclty do ylu mean you set it up like a series x?

[@DishwaterFood]

Love your French tips bro. Great video!

[@W3TFART]

Gay

[@johnsducks9816]

I think the biggest appeal over the steam deck is that 16:9 aspect ratio, it is really the only problem ive had with my deck. A lot of the times when you plug it into a tv the aspect ratio will automatically change, but it doesnt happen just enough to make it pretty annoying and make me just never want to plug it into my tv

[@Wolfgang_rw]

Thats a thing thats been holding me back from buying a deck. A lot of the games I like are 2D and those dont usually support 16:10, so they just display black bars to fit 16:9. And I hate to have a screen that’s not being filled to the edges. I know im being very picky over this, but I just cant stand it.

[@switchunboxing]

@@Wolfgang_rwHonestly the ROG Ally doesn’t look like it goes to the edge of the screen either. I saw black bars when he was saying no black bars. Granted those weren’t technically screen. But with SD OLED it might be close to that anyway since those pixels will be shut off.

[@Pillmonger]

I switched my ssd to the 2 tb. It was a hassle but definitely worth it.

[@feronous8207]

I got the OG steamdeck, used it, loved it. I got the ROG, loved it more, used it more. THEN i gave my OG deck to a friend and got the OLED version...honestly? I get fewer stutters or better mins on the deck than the Ally AND, idk, the Oled Deck feels more premium than the Ally. In essence, the Ally is better than the OG deck but the OLED Deck is better than the Ally in terms of usability IMO. Raw power goes to Ally tho

[@shto4782]

Maybe we'll get the ability to install other launchers would be great. I would like that epic games store for the free games i got there

[@LastActionPlatformer]

​@shto4782 im able to play all my free games from gog and epic on my steam deck. Yes, some games might not work due to anti cheat. But most free games are very playable.

[@Djagatahel]

​@shto4782 old comment but you can already do that on deck, you can find a ton of guides online

[@shto4782]

@@Djagatahel i saw that. But i was not impressed by the performance of the games from epic store. But i could be wrong

[@galaxyportablegamer]

The only difference is the screen😂

[@NeonPixels81]

My wife's Ally unfortunately got hit with the SD card error, and sadly since we live in Japan, ASUS basically said we're screwed. I've given ASUS two strikes now and both seem to be heating related. On my G14, the heat venting across the screen actually warped the plasic and seperated it from the screen. Now this, also heating related, issue with the Ally. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Never buying ASUS again.

[@jeremypanarello1537]

this guy does underrated reviews thanks dude i’m choosing between the ally and steam deck and this helped a lot.

[@Youngerz0606]

What did you go for?

[@Wakeen510]

Literally felt the same way . The first one I bought I returned it 3 Months later I stoped complaining about everything on here and I started having fun.

[@jinx20001]

Yeh. As an owner of deck oled and ally myself I will mostly choose to play on my deck honestly. I had the LCD deck before oled and at that time I chose the ally over deck because the actual game experience was better, the display was so much better I just didn’t want to go back to my deck but over the 6 months of owning the ally a lot of things have become clear, things like steam input just make the experience a different level on deck, having access to community driven control setups just makes some games infinitely better to play. Games like battlebit remastered and even simple puzzle games like opus magnum are a real headache on ally, needing to remap all buttons and often finding there just isn’t enough, it’s not a good experience but on deck there are setups ready to go that take full advantage of track pads for weapon wheels or gyro for aiming etc. Then the oled came along and now I just don’t touch the ally, the screen is now on par and better in some cases, brighter, HDR and dynamically changing refresh to match framerate means I don’t really miss the VRR. The battery life is on a totally different level to, 4 hours I get from my ally at 7w playing dead cells, on the deck that’s closer to 9 hours, games like slay the spire or cue club 2 squeeze out 12 hours, there’s just so much flexibility to optimize performance and battery life with deck but as you mentioned 7w minimum on ally and it’s honestly good for nothing much, cue club 2 needs around 9w minimum on ally and stutters while on my deck I get super smooth gameplay at 90fps even with 3w… even the decks OS slows down at 3w but the game is super smooth 😂😂. Yeh… ally is pretty great but the deck is just awesome.

[@Cakebattered]

What problems did you come across on Battlebit remastered? Steam sees the Ally as an Xbox Controller, so you can still use Steam Input on the Ally. There's even a community layout designed specifically for the Ally?

[@jinx20001]

@@Cakebattered does it have a setup now? thats good, i last checked it a couple months ago to be honest so maybe now there are more setups but its never going to be at a level offered for steam deck, there is just so many more options. last time i checked and tried to play battlebit remastered with ally it was nothing but a headache, not enough buttons to map everything needed, there was no gyro at the time ofcourse, no track pads in a game like that dont help, accuracy is massively reduced using sticks while track pad offers finer control and ofcourse weapon wheel options on left pad to, theres no native controller support in the game ofcourse currently which adds to the headache. Its just a completely different experience on deck and usually is when it comes to steam input... Ally just does not get the love through steam so rarely is a setup made specifically for the ally, there may be general controller setups but they wont take advantage of the gyro usually or the back buttons etc so it becomes very limited in scope what you can do.

[@Cakebattered]

@@jinx20001 I've had my Ally since release day, and never started using Steam Input until a few months ago. Never had any issues. Not gonna lie, I had my Steam Deck for a year, and only used the trackpads to navigate in Desktop mode. I think that will be true for most people coming from mostly console gaming.

[@Kryptons_takeoff]

Lies deck can’t hold 60fps 😂. Not to mention 90fps. You should try plug it into your tv proof.🚮

[@jinx20001]

@@Kryptons_takeoff also… it’s a handheld, why would I plug it into the tv, I have consoles and a high end pc for that.

[@KodukoLoL]

I can't decide between the deck oled and this one. Most games i play aren't from steam so the windows os could be worth it (also for multiplayer anticheat reasons) but low watt performance from the steam deack is unbeatable as well as the oled screen. And ofcourse the steam deck being 100€ cheaper rn

[@Bot65689]

Same boat bro , I have so many more games on Xbox

[@steamboy9538]

You can put windows on an sd card and switch between steam os and windows, I did it on my steam deck.

[@UnrelatedNonsense]

Do you think this would be a solid choice for 1080p gaming with older games like fallout new Vegas, Skyrim, and The Old Republic?

[@Steelbooking541]

Absolutely, it’s a solid system for more demanding games than those!

[@MetalCharlo]

Bro I'm playing Re4 remake 1080p 60 fps

[@AS-qk1kb]

I love the ROG Ally. Once I upgraded to 2tb and picked up an Anker Prime powerbank, this thing rocks almost every game I throw at it. I think it outclasses the Steamdeck to be frank.

[@netrodex]

oh nice! I went with 2tb too :) anker prime powerbank huh? it is good to you so far? I bought the Anker powercore 140w one. will this be ok?

[@SonicDestiny]

I think this is only for niche market targeted for only specific kind of people compare to steam deck.

[@Exile5252]

Rog Ally is the best investment I have ever made, I didn’t want to play the newest best possible games. I only ever wanted to play smaller older games like Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas and Oblivion along with Lethal Company.

[@quantic7722]

That SD card issue is no joke. We have had 7 in my work with broken SD card readers

[@gamingwithkev8208]

I just got mine last week and so far it's good. I love the fact it has windows and it's a really powerful machine. I have many laptops so I don't have to use this for work but something about it makes me want to switch to it to do my homework. Only thing I don't like is the rgb isn't really truly customizable.

[@Toasted-Cat]

Native Windows support almost made me buy it, but the price is a deal breaker for me

[@mrscopes2852]

you can also install an internal ssd, I replaced mine with a 2tb drive and it was cheap and easy

[@Keysh_aVibe]

Nice video! What dock do you use to connect to your monitor ?

[@lilqiqi619]

The sd card slot position is really a design flaw.

[@joestuehmer7967]

As long as you don't put any aaa games on the sd card its fine

[@theprofKMB16]

@@joestuehmer7967Please be the case. I just bought the regular Z1 and I will receive it this weekend. My bro is going to hook it up for me. The only console games I asked for are PS1, 2, 3, N64, DS, Dreamcast and he said he will put WWE 2K24 on it for me from his Steam. All of that will be on the internal. I have to get an SD card.

[@xProErax]

I'm just hoping that buying the basic Z1 model will end up working out for me since I don't play massive games like baldur's gate or cyberpunk that definitely would make the processor chug. As long as you can play modern indie games like Rivals of Aether 2 that I'm perfectly fine

[@switchunboxing]

If someone is considering picking this up for Dead Cells like you mention… just get a Switch OLED!! Half the price.

[@slowentropy4531]

Very difficult device though, I love my OLED switch as I really enjoy Nintendo's games. But I'd love this as well for PC/Xbox games. Being a Dad these hand help devices are so good. At half the cost of a top tier mobile phone they really are a bargain

[@switchunboxing]

@@slowentropy4531 It’s not half the cost here in the US. Ally is $700 and flagship phones are $800. You can pay $200 more and get an iPhone 15 Pro for some really good gaming power but even then, carriers have deals to shave hundreds off the price. Sometimes marking it down to zero dollars. But honestly I wouldn’t even compare this to a smartphone. I have a great iPhone already. I want a gaming device.

[@DoomGamer2163]

The Asus Rog Ally Z1 Extreme is $400 at Best Buy rn

[@fightnight14]

Dead Cells on Switch loads so slow after every run. Idk why but it's annoying thats why I stopped playing it there

[@DrunkStormtrooper]

Got mine a couple weeks ago I’m in love with it

[@switchunboxing]

That’s wrong about nothing being done about the SD card slot. There was an update that ran it cooler to prevent that from happening so often. Regardless it’s a big turn off for this system. Looking at Legion Go!

[@Mircull]

Im chossing between Steam Deck and Ally, how games withot native support of gamepad plays? Civilization 6, BG 1-2? Or Ally not for this games?

[@netrodex]

you mean the trackpad? or actual gamepad? if it doesn't have support, you can edit to the controls yourself with the steam, or a third party software and in game setting. The ally can play many many games, but if you want to play on a handheld with a mouse in mind... the steamdeck it's for you. the ally doesn't have a trackpad :(

[@JulieeeXxX]

I love my Ally ❤ only complaint i had so far sometimes games dont load up on xbox cloud gaming :/ but a few app resets and it gets working :)

[@Jaxv3r]

I don't know if that particular issue is the Ally's fault or Microsoft

[@mrwayne5158]

I wanna buy one to bring it to work. I can play without anyone knowing lol. I just need to know if it works with steam and doesnt need gamepass or a console connection.

[@Trucho1996]

Works with steam

[@cole6383]

Thank you for the great review. Random question, I heard the battery life when gaming isn't the greatest but whats the battery life like when doing general things like watching youtube, listening to spotify, streaming movies etc?

[@netrodex]

for what I heard, depending on the setting like a gaming laptop, 4 or 6 hours. I think my steamdeck with windows on it went for 6 hours. I would say it's not bad. low brightness helps a lot!

[@cole6383]

@netrodex I actually wound up buying the rog ally. It's a pity about the battery life its teeeerible but other than that it's an amazing device.

[@netrodex]

@@cole6383 for Triple A games... many handhelds are gonna be like that unless we see a huge advancement on the battery. Or running the games in low, but it renders as 4k without pushing much power. I tested on the steam deck, and... the deck only gets a bit more. But yeah it's an amazing device! the APU within it's better for what I do.

[@123benley]

Clip on external battery pack for long game play sessions that can go into a dock to recharge would be a useful add-on

[@applemonkey_1874]

those little pink heatsink pads work pretty well for the SD card issue along with removing or replacing the dust screen with something with more airflow.i went with just removing them.

[@ogi7220]

Are recommending both z1 and z1x? Thabks fkr the review!

[@SG0041]

Im looking to buy my first handheld (yes i will dock it as well from time to time) im deciding between the steam deck oled and the new ally x, which one would you all go for?

[@ScaredyZ4Walls]

As a former steam deck owner...(. Lost it due to a bubble bath whoopsie ) I must say, the ally X has been such a beast when compared to the deck. I feel like it's a legit upgrade

[@tonyhamilton7785]

Why isn't it a complete full screen? Why the borders?

[@DesignerDigital]

Dude, I dint know about you, but you seen like a chilled tech guy, subbed.

[@PreacH0921]

I LOVE my Ally! It is incredible! So many use cases

[@jredubr]

The ROG Ally only makes sense if you want to play plugged-in. For all other use cases, the Steam Deck Oled is superior.

[@NoPunk1982]

This is the best "dad" companion I have ever purchased

[@TheOneAndOnlyDietBread]

Can you link the version on this rog ally you never mentioned it. Also have you done anything to uprgrade or mod the device via opening it up?

[@user-vs9nz2pr6n]

To expand the rog ally storage there is small size 2tb SSD on internet that you can buy to modify your rog ally seem to be working perfectly fine without any issue

[@h.e.r.o_2434]

Cool

[@frankconsidine5989]

I had the steamdeck it was really good at steam games. They ally is really good all around, and I use the ally offshore. It runs rhino 8 cad really well. Sold the steamdeck to my friend never looking back.

[@xjchase]

Have you used the legion go yet? Id be interested to hear your comparison between those 2, since you chose this on over the sdeck.

[@stvnoahc7249]

I have an ally and a oled deck. For anyone who only has fragmented time during the day to game a little. Just remember the ally/windows doesn’t handle quick resume very well. Just imagine this, you have 15-30 mins to play. You turn on your ally and it needs an update. Let’s say you decide to update it right then. It takes 8 mins and boom your battery life is down to 80% because you forgot to change the tdp. because it doesn’t have quick resume, it takes another 5 mins for your AAA game to load. Oled deck doesn’t need updates as often and it’s snappier than windows. You turn the deck on and your game is where you left it at, 2 nights ago. And the battery life is much much better than the ally. Rog ally is a great windows handheld. It is more powerful than the deck. But the deck, especially the oled is so much better in so many areas.

[@Dan_Lynch]

Strange you would lie about so much here. Like it isn't easily disproven. What is your plan? You definitely don't have an Ally, and don't have a deck. You got enough wrong about both to show this. Try harder next time to make things up. Or just don't and be a better person.

[@Am4t3r4su]

@@Dan_Lynch Literally nothing he said was wrong. The Ally is a PC handheld with windows. Deck is steam only with linux. The battery life and simplicity of the Deck far exceeds the Ally. It functions exactly like a switch with more power. There is a reason people do not llike Windows 11. I downgraded straight to 10 on my PC cause windows 11 is straight cheeks compared to 10.

[@AzNstat]

Elden ring dc's after awhile on the steam deck won't just resume after sleep. Also there are always updates on desktop mode and having to reconnect the WiFi everytime sd goes to sleep is kinda annoying.

[@kennynunez6792]

Great device. Hopefully the V2 fixes the sd card issue. Im tempted but still on the fence.

[@ryansmith2772]

This is where I’m at. I don’t want to wait until 2026 for them to come out with an upgrade. Wish it was sooner

[@kennynunez6792]

@@ryansmith2772 by then other devices will come into the fray. I’m ok to get one today but not ok with a potential fried sd card.

[@donaldbraugh2314]

Well it seems you got your suggestion as to the battery improvements on the Ally X

[@charthers8903]

Is it good for emulation purposes only?

[@netrodex]

yes hahaha many emulators will work just fine. but... it's easier on the steam deck. Just keep it in mind if you really want the ally. When I say easy, it's because of the navigation UI. but Emudeck it's on windows as well, it will make your life easier

[@rammuljani2799]

Still waiting on the Steam deck video and confused about which handheld to buy. Steam deck oled?

[@elitedoller4958]

It’s on sale for 400 at BestBuy. The non extreme one.

[@panther189_]

It's a trap! Only get the extreme

[@elitedoller4958]

@@panther189_ I got the base version. I already have a gaming pc with an rtx 4090. I don’t need the handheld to be powerful. Just to play casual games lol.

[@mrman6035]

​@@elitedoller4958how's it been so far? You try out the SD card slot?

[@DoomGamer2163]

@@panther189_ Yeah, and the extreme is open box for $400, the non-extreme isn't worth it

[@khalifa6413]

Is it possible to play it with a Powerbank? If so, what Powerbank? I just want to play games with freedom and comfy 😅

[@nybigmike22]

I'm thinking about purchasing this because i heard it's the best option if you have game pass ultimate. The one question i have is, can i download games to this, or is it streaming only?

[@Figaloup]

Les deux :). J'ai le gamepass ultimate sur la rog ally et c'est magnifique. Enfait tu peux installer pour ne pas être trop tributaire du réseaux et éviter des latences. Mais bon si ta une bonne connection, tu en auras pas . Quand tu install il faut forcément toucher aux configurer in game et armory.

[@maxryan9052]

As a casual gamer i share literally none of the complaints about it being hard to use. Its been straightforward and easy. The only thing that might have been helpful is a stylus for typing.

[@coolcashew365]

Hi, how is the sleep/hibernate mode? Is it stable?

[@switchunboxing]

Is that a pretty awesome mic? I really need to stop using shotgun since I move around so much.

[@vancemah8407]

I was recently on the fence between the ROG Ally, SD OLED and Legion GO. Ultimately decided on the deck as I've a fairly powerful gaming laptop to play at higher settings. The ROG Ally misses the point of a portable gaming device if you are tethered to the wall or battery bank 80% of the time. Sure you can tweak the settings to match the OG SD for battery life but the time it would take to fiddle with settings is just not for me. The Legion Go on the other hand is just to huge to lug around for me, the SD is the "just right" choice for me in terms of size. I'm sure there are people who love the Ally or the LeGO for what they are and that's OK. With the current choices in the market today, it is a great time to buy a handheld PC.

[@shto4782]

Respect your choice bro 👍🏻

[@uncoiledfish2561]

The time it would take to change settings? 🤨 really weak argument. I’ve got portable handheld games that run on lower wattage, for when I travel with this thing. And then higher performance games for when it’s plugged in,☝️Or a power bank that I slap on every now and then for both out or at home. Which the steam deck needs too. As someone that never ever played story games until I bought this thing. You underestimate how good it is to play triple A games while in bed at night before going to sleep.

[@vancemah8407]

@@uncoiledfish2561 Good for you, man. I respect that. That's what I'm saying- choice. Me, I just don't want to be bothered by that. Changing / optimizing settings, for you, might be a weak argument. But that's relative. We got choices, you do you. 🤛

[@mortenpotzdidler2790]

​@uncoiledfish2561 It's particularly strange argument because the Deck isn't a Switch or something; you have to "mess with settings," on it as well. That's the nature of all these handhelds: they are, in the end, running PC software, after all. A few months ago, I couldn't get Bioshock to run on Steam Deck. More to the point, it was a 2016 remaster of a 2007 game that should have run easily, yet was topping out at about 10 FPS. Eventually, I figured out that it was somehow choking on the TDP/multithreading, and I had to drop to 10 watts. It ran perfectly after that. I've had similar problems with 2D games that I forgot to drop the power profile on when using the Deck. But that's the thing: these types of strange headaches pop up quite often in PC gaming, and the Deck has to deal with these things as well. A more console-like UI doesn't really change the fact that settings are an issue. What Ally does is offer more options. For instance, I was having trouble getting a solid frametime/FPS off Robocop Rogue City on Ally. That is, until I shifted from 4 GB of VRAM to 6 in Armory Crate. Combined with the easy ability to ramp up the wattage, I find that the game can run on high settings with minimal dips; it feels no worse than Robocop: Rogue City on Series X's Quality Mode. In fact, it runs at 45+ FPS on Ally. Similar testing of the VRAM setup has made Cyberpunk 2077 end up crushing what I can get on my Deck. The settings issues that these devices carry is a pain, but it can also lead to great performance gains if the user sticks with it. Both Steam Deck and Rog Ally reside in this category. Difference is, the Rog Ally has notably more juice to work with, along with the openness that Windows provides (less intuitive than Steam Deck, but also arguably more rewarding, as I can access all my PC game accounts).

[@carlos10571]

Is the regular Z1 better now?

[@StickyGeko]

Can the steam deck play cod, halo, gamepass etc with no faff?

[@AzNstat]

Nope

[@mckinleyostvig7135]

Steam Deck can't play any game with an anticheat or anything not on steam.

[@Riz1003]

What games can you play on either? I love COD games, would you suggest ROG or steam OLED?

[@ELVENEVN]

Cod doesn’t work on steam

[@mckinleyostvig7135]

Can't play CoD on Steam Deck.

[@30zSamu]

@@mckinleyostvig7135You can if install Windows to SD.

[@AzNstat]

If the Ally ROG had a bigger battery and Windows 11 had better optimatisation for handheld devices it's pretty much a home run for the ROG

[@HuberttheLMS8F8375]

I honestly would buy it, i mean, as it is, it’s a pretty neat device, but a bigger battery capacity would really do it.

[@madarasoun3018]

The only thing I don’t like about Steamdeck is joysticks placement. Rog Ally did right on that. And to me it’s a big deal.

[@timaaaahhhh]

Did you ever get banned for playing COD on it? I heard switching the TDP on the fly triggers some kind of anti-cheat ban.

[@lagunriv]

I hate how youtubers don't talk about the problems with the battery (Too short), problems with overheating, problems melting micro SD cards, problems, BIOS and problems with Asus software, this is not the perfect handheld yet, it's a good DEMO of how much we can reach now someone needs to optimize all those things to make the perfect handheld system, I suggest to save and wait for that who ever do it ether Valve or Asus or Lenovo or any other company in disposal to enter to the competition.

[@monkeytrident]

Which games are you lot playing on your Rog Ally top 10 in order ?

[@bradleybrewer9576]

I want a hand held PC and I did by the gpd win 3 but it stopped turning on after about 2 months of use. That said it had a Intel CPU and I had had a lot of issues in the past with Intel vs any AMD CPU. I think it could be worth getting the ROG ally just because it has a AMD CPU

[@MyFatherLoves]

By far my favorite thing about this console is the price/performance. It's more powerful than an Xbox or PS5 and comes with a 120hz FHD monitor. 4K would be wasted on something this small so it's unnecessary. If the ROG Ally 2 comes with an OLED option and a 1TB ssd option, I will be getting it day one and selling my xbox.

[@dakotadirden9834]

My only complaint is i wish i got the extreme instead of the base model

[@PapiLoveCrypto]

I love the rog ally, best handheld money can buy imo. Minimal glitches, full windows capabilities great front end software, great performance, great support and awesome style plus features. Only downside is battery life but i do play plugged in.

[@lolo2k]

Does it support suspending games like the deck?

[@elastaaa]

This was convincing enough, very well spoken.. But I am now waiting for the steam deck review now only then will I be able to make a final decision between the two

[@dekotamaynard4220]

Rog ally.. got one for my girlfriend and she loves it to death

[@jjayala]

I love mine but as it's getting repaired via a repair bootloop that the bios wouldn't let me get out of it. I love it but I just don't think it will last me super long. It seems that the lucky few who got a consistent working one will be able to say the opposite tho.

[@187not]

I don't have a PC is this a good option? I want to play Last Epoch.

[@netrodex]

this like he said it's a full flagged PC. you will need a keyboard and mouse and possible a monitor to enjoy this portable device a bit more. but yeah! it's a good pc. lasr epoch? yep it can take it.

[@DoomGamer2163]

Yes, it's basically a normal PC but portable, and since it's Windows 11, you don't have to worry about compatibility

[@netrodex]

@@DoomGamer2163 agreed! been using it as my main machine for about two weeks now. solid. but it's better docked of course. but hell you can even connect on your tv. if you won't game, any cheap mouse on keyboard will do. also it's upgradable up to 2tb SSD

[@DoomGamer2163]

@@netrodex Pro tip: if you get one of those m.2 adapters off of amazon, you can get a 4tb 2280 for $255 at Best Buy and have a ton of storage, that's what I might go for

[@Congaman41]

Been mobile game to long. Just cant aim in pvp with a joystick. Im all over the place. Any advice from more experiended users?

[@michaelcroff7097]

Gyro firmware coming 6 months after release is nothing. We waited four YEARS for the gyro firmware update for the Blackmagic Pocket 4k and 6k 😅

[@JhustineProvido]

can't put the ROG Ally down im a day 1 owner

[@shto4782]

That's nice, great handhelds

[@gmetals]

Is this still good for warzone?

[@RorschDG-2]

What do you have the deadzones on? Playing COD is a pain, and since you play COD and mentioned it I wanted to ask those settings.

[@zirigdum]

nice review bro

[@DoubleDrastik]

I CV got mine for a week now amazing handheld i got a logitec mouse with usb dongle in the dock charger and i use a rii i8+ bluetooth mini keyboard and i got my self a portable pc set up which is lighter and more powerfull then my 4 yo legion 4800h +gtx1650 laptop and i also have a m2 mbp 13/19 2023 edition with the fast ssd but out of all the devices ilike the ally most. If i was to add aomething to it it would be battery life in exchange for more weight or slightly thicker device and a keyboard i fabcy the ayaneo slide because of the bigger battery and key board but all with all asus has a promising product hope its not a one timer id happily upgrade to a new one in the future if they improve on the former

[@Anomic-mo9ji]

My wife will catch me if I come out of the bathroom with my laptop but she still thinks this is an ereader 😊

[@gambaownsus]

Bro I'm from Montreal. Went to the Geeksquad from Angrignon and they said they had many returns. Ordered a Steam Deck Oled and will probably test it through the 14 days return policy. If it's not my need, I'll go ahead and buy the Rog Ally. It has a 30 days return policy. Difficult choice. I'm a Windows bro myself and I do not know exactly what my needs are.

[@KingDylan93]

Set up a shared storage dual boot setup and set up clover for the dual boot manager. Search for shared storage steam deck and watch that video guide

[@mrelemantal4743]

So i kinda wanna get one of these to play ESO maybe some battlefield games how does this hold up on those titles

[@kpridezzang]

New kind of Battery is gona be next big tech because we definitely hit a wall with batteries right now so if these companies invent small batteries that last alot longer will be the next big next gen tech

[@jj515789]

Can we get those deadzone adjustments???

[@MetalCharlo]

yup

[@tonymack6057]

Can you play madden or 2k on this thing smoothly??

[@alexanderquiles7876]

You should try the Skull & Co Ally Gripcase.