This is the ASUS ROG Ally X: First Impressions

[@GameTechTalk]

Thanks Baldly Rudy, I have preordered mine at least to secure a unit until I have had more time to think this decision through. This video gave me a lot of insights on what to expect and by the sound of it, it would better respond to what my preferences are. Thanks for this showcase, great video!

[@FatNorthernBigot]

I've just bought the original Ally, as it was on offer. The micro SD slot doesn't work. I'm very pleased to say I'll be taking it to the store, and not dealing with ASUS.

[@Analyzer52]

Zero issues getting my slot fixed. Been working for 6 months.

[@FatNorthernBigot]

@@Analyzer52 Good to hear. I'll probably spring for an Ally X when it comes out.

[@hotdognobun]

I already ordered a 4tb ssd for the X. Can't wait for this system

[@plastikloser]

The same company that lied about damage to skip out on the repair, jack up the cost for no reason, then threaten to ship it back in pieces if you dont pay up, all for a janky thumb stick, that they never even fixed. No, no thanks. That was only one of many stories, i dont want to be one

[@liamfeatherstone924]

Heard somewhere it's got dolby vision now on the X too

[@ElieUnknown]

I already pre orderd the asus tog ally x but after watching all of these reviews and stuff im recosidering

[@YOUNGJBR]

Why

[@asd123465jkl]

As one KZbinr pointed out, I think specifically the ROG Ally is facing so many RMA related issues is because they didn’t take into account all these warranty costs incurred by ASUS into their pricing as they were trying to be competitively priced with products such as Steam Deck. Also it feels like ASUS intentionally cheaped out on some parts in the Ally when they didn’t need to such as bad d-pad, loose joysticks, shallow face buttons, etc. it’s because they know the worse a first gen product is, the easier it will be to create a mid/next gen product. Anyways, glad I didn’t buy the Ally. Will probably be getting this one though.

[@stvnoahc7249]

I preordered my original ally. So guess what? I’ll never buy another asus handheld again in my life. There are other choices, they aren’t getting my money anymore.

[@EXITONEZ]

I would like to know if that 80whr battery would fit in the OG ally 😉

[@m.ahussain4005]

Probably not but maybe it can fit if you replaced the back plate.

[@EXITONEZ]

@@m.ahussain4005 yea that’s what I’m thinking too. I would definitely be willing to do that.

[@Analyzer52]

No the internals are different

[@baldlyrudy]

@Analyzer52 nailed it. Sorry. I've been meaning to get back to these comments. But yeah, the internals are different.

[@figbyfig5592]

Personally i had to rma twice for a screen defect on my rog ally amd they replaced the panel twice free of charge

[@thedesolateone8260]

@ Baldy Rudy i love ❤️ your channel. Live within the UK 🇬🇧 ✨️ & have a Steam Deck 😉. I love how this can play anything without fuss 😆 Windows 🪟 properly which is a win win. 🏆 Was wondering with all that Ram & turbo boost mode. A big plus ➕️ for me is whether games 🎮 like Cyberpunk 2077 & Elden Ring can be played in Ultra Graphics. Possibly with Ray Tracing assets. Can the X handle it without additional hardware. If it's £800 quid I'd see it as probs a good investment. Quickly turning into a handheld collector. What do you feel . Need your advice or help

[@baldlyrudy]

Hey man! Just saw this! You're more than likely going to be playing at Medium or Low settings and getting around 10-15 frames on average more than the Steam Deck with the regular Ally. You also won't get ray tracing on there. With the Ally X, you'll see a slight bump (hopefully more with testing). The refinement of the ROG Ally X is pretty good though. Similar to the Steam Deck LCD to the OLED model. You will see better performance regardless of whatever Windows handheld PC you get, because they mainly use Z1 Extreme or Ryzen 8840U chips. Both are pretty comparable and stronger than the Steam Deck's custom APU. The benefits that the Steam Deck has is a complete package that's optimized for the custom APU. And the Steam Deck benefits greatly outweigh the lack of performance for many. It just depends on what you want out of your handheld.

[@ConnorORya]

I preordered mine, now its just a waiting game

[@780op]

When will the review be comimg out? Any guesstimates?

[@baldlyrudy]

Mid-July-ish. Not sure if I can give an exact date. I'll edit this if I can.

[@780op]

@@baldlyrudy ok.Thanks

[@keithbryancwong1837]

How well does sleep work on handheld devices? If you're playing a game purchased from steam, can you put the device to sleep and instantly continue where you left off 4 hours later? Will the device drain battery during its sleep state?

[@tamilvilayattarangam]

The one aspect lots of these "reviewers" will never directly show cause it is a problem till now on windows based handhelds.

[@baldlyrudy]

10:13 I didn't get that much time to test it, but the team there said that it needed to be plugged in for the feature to work. It's essentially designed to download large games efficiently while in the mode. So there's no power drain since it'll only work while plugged in. Once I get a unit I'll be able to get more into the weeds with the feature itself.

[@baldlyrudy]

​@@tamilvilayattarangamagreed! It is a downside to Windows, so I'm curious to see how well this will work in real world scenarios.

[@celtycelluloid]

I use Hibernate on my Ally so far works great. Don't need to plug in whatsoever. And I use this for Steam games, emus, everything, they all work just fine. Battery drain is next to zero after a day or two when I return to the game. Only downside compare to my SD is this takes a bit longer to boot back into the game, but i feel it is good enough for gaming.

[@jameshumprey4446]

Steam deck oled or this new Ally Rog x?

[@baldlyrudy]

I need to get my review unit before I can say anything.

[@ryanze26]

those who have rog ally will be able to use ally x battery replacement with (maybe) custom back case available from 3rd party. 16gb (shared) ram is still enough for next few years 720p with upscaling RSR. so no need to upgrade, maybe upgrade after strix halo version available is more likely.

[@baldlyrudy]

Hm....I don't think so since they have different motherboards and layouts. The PCB for the joysticks are different sizes. The battery of the Ally X would be right up against the RAM of the Ally if it were in the same setup. It won't be a plug and play solution by any means. But I'd love to see something that allows that.

[@NoonMight]

When I’m viewing a “new updated product” (Asus Ally X) i don’t want to hear the phrase “it’s exactly the same” to the original product (Asus ally)

[@Omar-cj7zw]

Got both Ally and Legion go, i wish if Ally software engineers meet with Legion hardware engineers and create one machine.

[@TheRealChanclaVanDamme]

New to these but for gaming on the go can I play my purchased xbox games like assassins creed 3 or do I need to have gamepass. Thanks, newb when it comes to these things.

[@baldlyrudy]

Yup. The Xbox app would work the same way as it does on PC. You'll have access to all supported purchases and Game Pass.

[@frankshotta8576]

I’d like to know if this would be better then the ayoneo kun

[@johnlopez5855]

I just get my rog ally z1 and i will switch for the X for sure i only got 2 weeks use is better then spend abother memory evn tha i gat more battery and let see about sd card works better then the first version

[@cole6383]

Do you perhaps know if the Asus Rog Ally X battery can be used in the older Rog ally Z1?

[@baldlyrudy]

It can't for several reasons, but I'll explain it all in a video. But to sum it up, they have different motherboards.

[@Mike_Jones281]

He is likely prohibited from disclosing specific product information at this time.

[@ericnurko]

Are there actually any good USB4 compatible eGPUs out there? I would love the idea of getting a portable with an eGPU and have the single unit be both my portable and desktop PC, but cost aside, does the hardware even exist to make that possible?

[@hotdognobun]

I have the Razer Core X that I'm hoping will work with the Ally X

[@bindaredundat6716]

i have the lenovo legion go, turns out the bandwidth throughput causes thermals to go whack on the SSD and crash on me when gaming for about 20 minutes. (razer core X)

[@didaryerzhan6969]

maybe gpd win 4 will be, it can be connected to a docking station or to USB4 and then connected to the eGPU gpd g1

[@phrozac]

I think ASUS will improve from the controversy especially now that the Ally X is priced appropriately. The Ally was always underpriced, great for consumers but terrible for ASUS and being able to support the product. That said, the screen is still the only thing keeping me from shelling out for it. If it were an 8 inch OLED, I wouldn't think twice about immediately picking one up.

[@baldlyrudy]

Agreed! The 8" OLED would be fantastic.

[@teddytandazo1984]

Came here to hear something about the battery. I’m leaving sad cause there is nothing about the battery

[@baldlyrudy]

Well, there's not much I can talk about aside from the fact that it's 80whr. My assumption is 2-3 hours of AAA battery life, but I'd have to test it and wait until the embargo is lifted.

[@mmsauce7866]

I work a lot, so hand-held gaming is perfect for me. I have the OG steamdeck and playstation portal. I was going to buy the rog Ally, but i might just wait for the alley x. I just found out about this refresh.

[@baldlyrudy]

Early impressions seem solid. I just want to run more tests and get some numbers.

[@mmsauce7866]

@baldlyrudy honestly I pre ordered but I found your channel as well as others. I may cancel and find out more. Thanks!

[@baldlyrudy]

@mmsauce7866 you're welcome! Keep an eye out for things.

[@Kingvoakahustla]

Never gave issue with asus

[@Bxwizkid]

Did they finally fix the micro sd issue? thanks

[@baldlyrudy]

Based on what I saw, possibly. It's further away from the fan and heatsink, and there's a special hole for additional airflow between the panel and motherboard. Super interesting stuff. But I won't be able to test and compare until after I get a unit. For now, I'm hopeful.

[@garycornhouse4276]

Why they didn't put the SD slot at the bottom is a very odd thing, putting it right next to the hot air vents was a poor design choice and they haven't changed it.

[@mankrik3665]

Is it waterproof if I drop it in the toilet?

[@baldlyrudy]

Maybe. I'd have to test it.

[@mankrik3665]

@@baldlyrudy hahaha

[@WandGuitar]

Just flush it. lol

[@darth_dunedain106]

Really interested in the device, I am currently within the 60 day period for best buy on my rog ally z1 extreme. I have to return it by July 6th to be able to return it. I think it's worth returning and getting the new one but would love your thoughts. Also would love to hear your thoughts on how much of a difference I can expect in performance, I play games like fortnite, Baldur's Gate 3, Horizon Forbidden West, Rocket League, Elden Ring, Assassin's Creed Black Flag and more. Also where would the balance be between the allocation of ram vs vram, wish it was 32 gb but still solid improvement.

[@WillySou]

If you you can still return your Ally OG and you don't mind the price bump and waiting a couple of months then you should definitely do it.

[@zeni1hp]

Mine is July 21st, almost made it haha. I’m definitely returning it though, already preordered the X. I got the Z1E and a 1TB SSD (separate), so the cost is damn near the same for the X. I play similar AAA games and while OG performance is great, since we’re within the return window, might as well grab the final iteration of the Ally 1.

[@samushamu7372]

Same boat. Got the og ally z1 extreme just to see if i'd even like a handheld and figured I could return it once this got announced. But got it at a great price open box for $465 total and with this being announced at $799, honestly might just keep it and deal with the quirks and wait for a Rog Ally 2. I don't know if $400 more (865 total cost for the preorder after tax) justifies the jump, even if the improvements are that great.

[@darth_dunedain106]

Yeah I got a 2 TB ssd for my original one, do you guys plan on upgrading your ssds?

[@zeni1hp]

@@darth_dunedain106 I will probably stick with the 1TB and roll the dice with a Samsung Evo 512GB card.

[@julianf40ify]

Already pre ordered mine on best buy now what shall I do with my og ally lol 😅 maybe sell or give away to a family member

[@ItWasAllPartOfMyPlan]

You should of held off bro, knowing Asus they'll prob drop the Ally 2 within the next year

[@chillfenrir6050]

@@ItWasAllPartOfMyPlan he'd still get a year of use out of the system. Also that's like saying why get the ally 2 when it drops when you could just wait for a better device. In the PC space there's always going to be a better device in a few months

[@didaryerzhan6969]

We all know why we came here, why wasn’t there a single word about the battery and how long it will last? check at least one game with some tdp

[@stephenhenderson9979]

I just got my Ally last month 😢

[@DeadWolf_BS]

Whats your opinion on the Ally?

[@baldlyrudy]

I would return it if you want the X, just my 2 cents.

[@nathanjuan6042]

@@DeadWolf_BS I have mine for 6 months already and that 1T M.2 2280 SSD and that higher and faster shared ram is very tempting. Anyways my ally can still play anything you throw at it its just that 512gb is not enough for todays modern AAA games due to the fact that most of them are open world and majority of them are 100+gb like Ark survival evolve is already 400gb, COD MW 275gb, Black Opps 175gb, Starwars Jedi Survivor 155gb, baldurs gate 3 150gb, Starfield 140gb, Halo 137gb, borderlands 135gb, GTA 5, Horizon 5, NBA 2k24, FF15 Cyberpunk 2077 are all big size heck even the new upcoming PC games like FF7 Rebirth and every update their file size goes bigger and bigger. That M.2 2280 SSD on the ally X just means that we can buy a regular sized SSD and a much cheaper one like what we used on PC and laptops and can upgrade it up to 4T.

[@Sportek24]

scary buying this thing i want it but damn so many bad things about this handheld

[@baldlyrudy]

What's wrong with the handheld?

[@cheeseswears]

i don't think knowing that Asus will cater and kiss ass to reviewers as a good thing, as it might lead to biased reviews.

[@baldlyrudy]

Nah. Trust is a currency, to quote the Phawx.

[@lambolim2178]

You play Xiaoyu the broken character 😂

[@baldlyrudy]

Actually, I was playing Kazuya. Not sure why, but I was put into the 2P spot when I was playing. 😅

[@cs-ge5kx]

7 inch screen is to small they need an 8 inch then I buy one

[@baldlyrudy]

You think so? I feel like 7" is fine. I just don't want it to be like the Legion Go. The screen is gorgeous, but it's almost too big at 8.8 inches.

[@cs-ge5kx]

@baldlyrudy 7 inch is to small and I hate dealing with windows 11 steam deck is so easy to use

[@baldlyrudy]

@cs-ge5kx definitely agree on the Windows bit. I was talking to reps at the ASUS booth at Computer about the Windows jank problem. Hopefully they can make Armoury Crate feel better and more intuitive.

[@RickyD1968]

I know it is all about greed and profit but I wish companies like Asus would stop doing what just happened with the ROG Ally X as example they upgrade a little but it is not quite a version 2 yet and then when you buy this model 6-8 months from now they will come out with ROG ALLY 2 and this model will be totally upgraded. So why didn't Asus just totally upgrade the ROG ALLY and be done with it ???????? PASS !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@baldlyrudy]

I totally get where you're coming from. The Ally X is coming out a little over a year since the first Ally, so it's similar to a yearly refresh. This is close to the Steam Deck with the OLED model. The original Ally released in June 2023, and the Ally X is releasing on July 2024. Just looking at the specs, the Ally X addressed all of the issues that I personally had with the original Ally. In terms of an Ally 2, I don't think the tech is there yet. Hence, why they're going with the Z1 Extreme again. I was hoping for a Strix Halo chip, but I'm guessing they're saving that for the Ally 2.

[@RickyD1968]

@@baldlyrudy Exactly it is a scam so when the version 2 after X comes out you will end up with 3 Rog Ally's costing around $2400 so you could have waited and purchased a bad ass gaming laptop or desk top PC ?

[@baldlyrudy]

@@RickyD1968 no one is making you buy the product though. No one is scamming you. What you're saying could be said for any other product in the PC space that has a yearly release. You can upgrade your GPU on a yearly basis, but why would you when the improvements are incremental? Does that make the GPU market a scam? Why not just save up and get a super computer that costs $10k instead of buying a $2000 GPU every year? Heck, it could be said for any product. Would you rather spend $10,000 on a cheap sedan every year or just spend $50,000 every five years on a luxury car? The same could be said for TVs, monitors, sound systems, etc. At the end of the day, no one is making you spend money. Spend your money however you want.

[@Primal_Carnivore]

Screen way to small

[@EyPapi0429]

Yes compare to Legion Go which is what i have.

[@frostybe3r]

Bezels too big, no OLED, and made by Asus, hard pass.

[@sophieedel6324]

ok bye, OLED is terrible for text btw.

[@sophieedel6324]

"GamersNexus" used 1 RMA contact point. There are multiple in the US, and many others in Europe and Asia. Many people say they never had any issues with Asus. I think it is kind of ridiculous to base conclusions on 1 person's anecdotal evidence. I'm sure there are issues at Asus, but my God, it's 1 person making a clickbaity video.

[@madmyc6836]

Gamer nexus asked their audience to submit issues they have had with the rma process and they got thousands of responses with email evidence. It is not just anecdotal evidence from one person.

[@blissurzu7216]

There's a whole subreddit dedicated to demonstrate ASUS RMA Process. It's literally 50/50 at this point. Some people say it's phenomenal and others say it's a nightmare.

[@danielhulan3058]

Check out tech notice and their interaction with asus rma. It was bad. That happened in Europe. So, it's fair to say that their rma department has some issues.

[@baphomathedude8057]

Tell me you didn't watch the video without telling me you didn't watch the video. Because if you did you wouldn't have said something this baseless.

[@TrueDesire존]

​​​ my Asus repeater several years ago melted the wall socket.. One laptop I had in the GTX 950M days turned the screen into a rainbow 1 week after the warranty ran out.. One Intel and one AMD board both Asus died within 3 months of each other, I had the AMD board and my friend the Intel. Again just a month or two after warranty ran out.. I also had to RMA 3x GTX 580, that took me just about 5-6 weeks in total (one at a time) to sort out before I canceled and went with AMD 270X crossfire. I ONLY have bad experience with Asus/ROG. Thankfully my laptop with i9H-12 and RTX 3070Ti got covered with warranty, sold the replacement quick as hell when I received it 😂

[@shmand]

$799????? Lol Hard pass

[@SneakyCaleb]

Much rather have the steam deck OLED

[@m.ahussain4005]

Steam deck oled doesn't run windows.

[@smileIIIL]

Fisrt

[@MikoBaiko]

it’s so ugly 😪

[@The_Supreme_Savage]

🤨How??? Y'all all been asking for black rog ally now that we get one y'all want to complain and say it ugly🤦🏿‍♂️

[@TwistdPlays]

@@The_Supreme_Savage facts

[@baldlyrudy]

​@@The_Supreme_Savagetruth

[@yoshikagekira2132]

Looks like 💩 😂

[@MikoBaiko]

@@The_Supreme_Savage it can still be ugly both can be true

[@photek9319]

899 in europe