ASUS ROG Ally - A Repairability Perspective

[@qquarzwar]

I love that you have to disassemble it to see the "do not disassemble" sign.

[@Tronicsfix]

Lol, that's true

[@ireallydontknowifiamhonest]

I suppose they probably just mean further disassembly, like removing the heatsink or battery or what not but still silly regardless

[@rambofan1]

I think it meant dont disassemble the battery itself 😂

[@jnut1246]

Kind of gives me "private sign, do not read" vibes.

[@PleaseDontMindmyDisplayName]

My door is wide open but please dont creep in

[@carlostrevino8248]

For those of us who do not have the opportunity to have these teams and be able to open them to know their components is a great class. Best regards

[@passdatsmokedogg1835]

Is this a video game

[@Omie-Wan-kenobi]

which team are you on?

[@danielcordero901]

I guess he confused "teams" with "equipment"

[@PLEYOR]

@danielcordero901 Yeah, I thought this was an auto correction from items.

[@verpejas]

Anyway, the ROG ally uses PTM7950 which is a phase change thermal interface material. In *some* devices it can be used as a safer substitute to liquid metal with same/similar performance. It was dry because thats the nature of it - stays dry under 50C and liquifies after it hits 50C. It is extremely good at heat transfer and replacing it with traditional thermal paste can for sure make the performance worse. Longevity wise PTM7950 does not dry out, as it stays dry to begin with. That's why there should theoretically be no need for replacing the TIM on devices with that material (it can shift to the sides when liquified so thats worth consideration). Not sure why my original comment dissapeared, is it censoring or just youtube, I'll repost it anyway so others won't hurt their Ally thermal performance

[@captaincrunch1707]

That stuff is awesome. Would love to put it in my Deck someday

[@verpejas]

@@captaincrunch1707 Someone replaced thermal paste on an older legion (9th gen intel) and while gaming it reached over 90 degrees, the paste was replaced a few days before he reached out to me for help. I replaced the tim with ptm7950 and it reaches ~70-75C while gaming. Awesome suff

[@kreepyguy8489]

Good to know. I have the ROG Ally but I wouldn't take it apart.

[@jackwoodhead]

KZbin moderation needs to be better communicated. Its so frustrating when you have to keep rewriting your comment because you keep using some obscure trigger word (or worse, when you think you've commented but it just silently vanishes)

[@asolram]

Yeah in this case, that amount of paste was actually the perfect amount of it :) PTM is great product!

[@KarlRock]

I bought mine last week when I got to the U.S. I straight away installed a 1TB WD SN740 1TB SSD. Then I finished Resident Evil 4 Remake on it already, and now I’m playing Baldur’s Gate 3. I’m really loving it and the graphics quality. Thanks for taking it apart, it was fascinating to watch.

[@EyefyourGf]

I was thnking of buying it,but i heard it really gets hot,so i dunno really,and i honestly dont want steam deck with current specs,so maybe i just wait and something better comes out.

[@Sharpzee]

@@EyefyourGf it does get kinda hot but its only a issue if youve got hands of a giant and your fingers touch the center of the console other than that it really isnt a problem and you can always make your own fan curve

[@GrimReaper1675]

@@EyefyourGf I have both the Asus ROG Ally and Valve Steam Deck. I feel like my Steam Deck gets hotter. The fan of the Steam Deck is also very loud in comparison.

[@juicybullfrog]

I have Asus ROG Ally and the plastic grip is actually well designed. Was able to play game for 2 hours and because of big plastic grips, You can't feel the heat for the device. Also if you put the device on flat surface, the grip also make air gap to the case so that ROG ally can breath better. Freaking amazing.

[@StopJerkingOff]

@@EyefyourGf trust me bro put on a custom fan curve and you don’t gotta worry about overheating even with the latest triple a titles if you don’t mind the fans a lil louder (still relatively quiet)

[@mathiasschneider9113]

At least some one knows repair friendliness. Well done, Asus.

[@ryanb509]

Call me cynical but I don;t think they did those things to make it easier for us to repair, they did that to make it easier for them to. I am curious how that'll hold up over time. I had an Asus laptop where the GPU fan would start making loud obnoxious noises after about a year of use. Both the original and replacements. And I had to get replacements off of ebay because the first time it started doing it it was literally 1 day out of warranty and Asus could not just send me the replacement part even though they obviously have them to do the repair themselves. Super pissed at Asus about the hole thing tbh.

[@dariohermosillo]

​@@ryanb509repairing let's say the joystick: a normal completely soldered joystick is easy to repair/change if you have the correct tools, which allegedly asus does, but soldering them into a flex cable and attaching a conector into a daughterboard is definitely more expensive than just soldering it directly, so that didn't help them directly in any way

[@TUUK2006]

@@ryanb509 It's not that simple. The ASUS support reps probably can't just call up the facility that does the repairs and have them ship out a replacement part. They might not even have an internal system capable of doing so. They're not just going to call up the repair centre, ask for a random employee and say "get an envelope, find this part number, send it to this address and then bill god knows who".

[@nrdn_]

@@dariohermosillo The average consumer does not have ready access to a soldering pen/kit or even the know-how. Buying a replacement joystick soldered onto a flex cable is more expensive (if and when they decide to sell parts) , but it enables the average consumer to replace it themselves instead of bringing it to a third party repair or even Asus. It's a right step in the direction of repair friendliness for the average consumer, which most are.

[@dariohermosillo]

@@nrdn_ that's what I said. I responded to someone saying it was for ease of repair for Asus, but to asus directly it makes no difference because they do have the correct tools, it is thought for the end consumer.

[@brandonmcfadden6841]

That captive screw in the case you mentioned, actually serves an important purpose. The device will not turn on at all unless that screw is in all the way. There's a sensor in there that, when the screw is not in, kills all power to the device, even if the charger is plugged in.

[@brandon_nope]

that sounds annoying to deal with if you're trying to diagnose a problem

[@MisterMehdi]

Oh damn

[@stalker93160]

It's not really the screws, but there is a light sensor on the upper right if you face the motherboard, some black tape on it can let you use it unscrewed. I use this setup to put a NVME Oculink adapter and an RTX 3060 in a separate case and connects it to my Rog Ally and boot from USB without the backplate, thanks to that piece of tape ! :)

[@NeilWatchesYT]

Steve was definitely like, “I want a ROG Ally… I can write it off if I make a video, plus it’ll pay part of itself back. Sweet.”

[@tetro9999]

I love the repairability structure of the Ally, one of the bests out there. More companies should encourage self repair...

[@p3rf3ctxzer0]

They actively discourage it though. Its why I support steam deck because they actively encourage it.

[@Desalater2]

if you plaster your product in warranty void labels they dont encourage self repair its just easier to fix ones that get sent back as rma

[@muharremsuz]

They dont encourage people. They just put warranty void stickers everywhere

[@kenomenorias3200]

What do you mean? They discourage it. Even if you can, you're prone to damaging it unless you're an expert.

[@BananaBlooD9517]

@@kenomenorias3200 Waching a youtube video is good enough to replace the SSD & joysticks which are the parts you'll most likely want to swap.

[@whollymindless]

At least there are metal inserts for the screws. That shows INTENT to support repairs.

[@Tronicsfix]

Yep, love that

[@Kangamoos]

I love watching the skill in removing those warranty stickers

[@handlemissing]

Regarding the thermal compound, can't any more perfect than that factory amount. It's spot on.

[@rubberonasphalt]

Only problem is that he removed the better performing and expensive PTM7950, in place of lower performance thermal paste

[@phil_tony_corky]

Seems a good build and looks repairable, one thing with the reassembly the black sheet piece you put on last you put it back upside down the flaps were at the top not the bottom

[@TheSpotify95]

2:27 The battery part number that you would need is C41N2208, which is the model number of the battery. I know this because a lot of Asus batteries I've seen also follow a similar style of part number. Also, the nominal battery rating is 15.48V, or 3.87V per cell. The maximum charging voltage is 17.8V (4.45V per cell).

[@guily6669]

4.45V per cell? Wow I wonder how many cycles it will give always going that high to max charge...

[@ruikazane5123]

LiHv? Graphene LiPo? Like RC packs? Is it safe enough?

[@tommiealdridge]

When you shot a close up of the steam deck it Deffo looked like the cheaper system. That ROG handheld is something else😮

[@RainTheUpriser]

That’s because the Steam Deck literally is the cheaper system lol

[@Thorwk1]

the base version of the ROG Ally is $200 more expensive than the base steam deck.

[@leepicgaymer5464]

because it is

[@jvtech388]

I expected the Ally to be impressive and it definitely is, but I was shockingly surprised at how good those speakers sound and they get fairly loud without sounding tiny or distorted. Very impressed

[@andrewknutson91]

That thumbstick design just blew my mind. That is extremely convenient and very cool that they did that. Good work, Steve!

[@stevew145]

ASUS sells parts on their website. Also,, the thermal paste they use is actually very high quality. They use Liquid Metal in their laptops but obviously can’t use that in a handheld. Even stuff like nth1 is worse than whatever asus used.

[@cS-jr8du]

Yeah I saw the screen on there. They sell it in the whole front assembly

[@MikoYotsuya292]

Hats off to Asus for good repairability. Nearly as good as Steam Deck, just the availability of spare parts for the Ally may be an issue in the future.

[@francistaylor1822]

Yeah thats the biggie. Good on them for repairability though but without volumes for sale theres going to be no real stock of spare parts Ill bet

[@kuzuriii]

Can you please investigate the memory card slot heat fail issue , and maybe you will come back with the solution on how to prevent it ? Would it be so cool

[@6581punk]

I have an ASUS gaming mouse that I bought because it has 4 screws and it opens up for easy repair. Just a shame their control software sucked, I couldn't get it working to switch off the LEDs so I just pulled the LEDs off the PCB.

[@TheBlackMage3]

This makes me more intrigued by the Asus ally. I'm glad they made it easily repairable. Some of their laptops have been a nightmare to work on.

[@TriflingToad]

My theory is that they did it to compete with the Steam Deck. Since the SD is very repairable/moddible ASUS would have to do something similar to not look greedy.

[@murcegao-dois]

*The "stuck" screw pushes the two parts for easy opening. But you started on the other side and didn't see it. haha*

[@BaNenKy]

The purpose of thermal paste is to improve metal-to-metal contact due to the microscopic air gaps created by the imperfections of the materials. Putting more thermal paste can become worse as it increases the thermal resistance. In the video you can see that it is applied perfectly.

[@robertrft]

My first mod was a 2tb ssd and this thing has been amazing so far.

[@2000vitaly]

If someone doesn't know, modern laptops do not use thermal paste. Manufacturers put a special thermal pad that performs better and does not need to be serviced.

[@kujitolive106]

Having broken a joycon while trying to replace a drifting analog, this seems MUCH simpler to do, and the whole console honestly looks much easier to open with respect to others. It feels good that they made it simpler, it's likely for their own sake, but still it's a win win situation

[@StarlightStream]

I feel there are some cons but also a bunch of pros when it comes to this console. The explanations are really good.

[@triadwarfare]

5:18 the Ally already has replaceable sticks. I believe they use the same sticks as GPD3. If you want a Hall Effect version, OneXPlayer's selling it, but there would be interference in the left analog stick but can be resolved by adjusting the deadzone or attaching a magnet. I think there's a video about that.

[@MyAdventurr]

I saw some tesla chargers on ebay that could use some fixing and thought of you haha. Might make an interesting video. And seems to be within video game console pricing. This was another great video! I realized it would be cool if these companies hired someone like you to gauge repairability on prototypes before going to mass production.

[@krahwinkel9503]

Seems that it is build to last - or can be repaired. Not bad.

[@Notpoop906]

5:44 I like the way he almost said ""BW one hunna" hahah like it's a rap name

[@jc74435]

There are already spare parts available for ordering. Good job Asus

[@seanstalcup2071]

Dell laptop tech here. this thing has alot of laptop design choices. wanted to tell you a few secrets. You mentioned the arrows denoting the screws on the board, most laptops are like that. Also the numbered screws on the heatsink, the numbers are the order you put the screws back in so your paste evenly spreads. The rubber things in the speakers are sound dampeners and most laptops have those too. very good design on this thing overall, the non-soldered sticks were quite a surprise.

[@GreenLeefMusic]

Thank you for this 🙏🏻 I have a minor little chunk of the white casing that came off near the middle upper area by the screen. I also have aome grinding noises with my left thumb stick (accuracy still unaffected as of yet tho) and my display itself seems to have an issue with gray translucent type textures where it diskplays a pattern-effect that shouldn't be there, even though that isnt a huge deal as of yet and otherwise unnoticeable. With GN latest video on Asus RMA I no longer want to take the chance with warranty for the sd card slot and screen / thumb stick. I am just going to fix everything myself except for the SD card reader, so this video will be of great help to me. I have heard some say that the SD card issue is related to weak solder points on the reader itself so i may try to get it re-soldered since worstncase scenario it didnt work anyway (nothing to lose). I wish you a speedy recovery and a thank you for the years of content that have been invaluable to me and many others. 🙏🏻❤

[@Tronicsfix]

Thank you for the super thanks!

[@Vinny200]

If only all tech was this simple, very good of them in making it easy..likely reflected in the price but still. Very very nice.

[@FennecTECH]

ive opened mine up and am insanely impressed with repairability its little things like all screws being obvious where they go (no 2mm longer screws so no longscrewing it ) non glued battery easy access to high wear componets like thumbsticks and a website where you can buy almost every componet About the only way they could improve it is slotted memory but unfortunately thats just not something thats viable on a device of this formfactor

[@carlosenrique1442]

Hello, that's definitely the information I need before every important purchased, thanks.

[@Gokul_Yt]

Asus Engineering team: S tier Asus Warranty and technical support team :F Tier

[@hazi91]

Nice, finally analog sticks that can be replaced without soldering. Hope it became standard one day.

[@mentalwellness1056]

It's been a while since I have seen this Channel you helped me fix my release day ps4 slim thanks for having quality how to videos.

[@jstathellis]

And now over heat it uses special thermal paste. Remember to plug it in before you turn it on, make shure the charging light comes on.

[@leepicgaymer5464]

Hey Tronicsfix, i hope you read the top comments regarding the Thermal Paste situation. Because it could cause overheating not using the thermal paste Asus uses

[@kulilin3104]

It looks like they use Honeywell PTM7950 rather than thermal paste for the APU.

[@creaturalshade7054]

Needed this at 1am. Looks like a good product. Thanks for the teardown and review; I want to buy one of these. It's almost as if the console's designers have repaired a few in their day. Thermal paste aside. Lol 🤘🏼

[@stillblazinkush]

I really appreciate what you do.

[@vishalnm3836]

Love the new format, please do it for all new products

[@bennysnod4928]

the bumbper button is awsome

[@webdev1020]

Thumbstick replacement would be sick this is nice and streight forward

[@mdtahsinhossain9054]

Bro you're my go to yt channel. Please make Videos more frequently.

[@thekingofcool1641]

I have a Steam Deck, but these machines are still very early technology. Wait a few years and we'll see ones much stronger and better.

[@Karlenk0]

Pretty cool seing some red pcb, it isnt very common

[@gangwu4541]

Looking good here. I wish all device has a removable battery like the one in Ally.

[@ceefusjenkins2281]

Let's see if you can fix the SD card issue :)

[@Aaron-zl5gq]

Damn that battery looks super easy to replace I am impressed

[@ceefusjenkins2281]

Great teardown! Thanks for the info!

[@ianburkard]

Crazy to see a teardown on a new product. Sucks that those main left and right buttons are hot welded. It would have been amazing if they had dropped some threaded metal sleeves in there, like the other main screws. Yet another thing that will make repairing or customization more difficult.

[@johnnyd5186]

I just love how you try to remove that connector pulling on the wires and immediately out of instinct give yourself a good warning 'don't pull on the wires kids" lol

[@B2ys]

taking new device disassembled is Bravery🫣 my best channel❤

[@DanicaDaystar]

The captive screw is to help you open the halves up without a pry tool.

[@grantrule6593]

Great Video Steve

[@Tronicsfix]

Thanks 👍

[@R.O.T.C._SEEM]

My luck sucks so these videos are very helpful. Had a Nintendo switch for a year and a half and it just randomly died on me. The system literally looks brand new because I had a case and took great care of it.

[@nojuanatall3281]

I'd start with swapping the battery. Especially if you have a first gen switch.

[@Robbie-mw5uu]

Nintendo Switches don't just "die". You need to enter recovery mode.

[@R.O.T.C._SEEM]

@@Robbie-mw5uu Got it fixed before Christmas and gave it to my son. The people who fixed it said the GPU was fried. He said it was the best system he ever had to fix but he wouldn't fix it without taking a board from another system. Cost $80 bucks

[@fuurinkazan164]

Wow this is a great video. I was wondering how repairable the device would be long term and assuming there are parts available this looks amazing. Please do more videos like this for new and relavent tech like this!! (I still love all the retro stuff too, it's all great)

[@rexaifi]

I saw someone from Ally reddit mod their Ally using the Zephyrus G15 battery (90wh) and soldered a 32GB RAM module, just insane how far mod goes with this Ally

[@TorontoDemon-wv1nv]

I respect people who go that far id be terrified to do all that just for a somewhat small performance increasr

[@kalobhunt9001]

That sounds like a good video where you take it apart and see if you can send it in for warranty repair and see if they can tell.

[@I_am_Allan]

14:43 is gonna be my metal band name. "Isolation for Vibration"

[@SansBalance]

Great video; much appreciate your insight. For future reference, you may want to check on how durable the buttons and D-pad are for this class of devices. Especially with early gens products, there is always some default anxiety about durability and repair-ability. (Which has absolutely, positively, nothing to do with my experience of having to replace S*ny's Dual Shock 4 face buttons' plastic membrane again and again and again and ...) Also, specific to Asus Ally: a lot of KZbinrs aren't impressed by its D-Pad. If you can put together video on how to source and replace with a better D-Pad, I think you may get a lot of views from Ally owners and those interested in getting one.

[@SansBalance]

One last thing: the Ally has a problem with overheating SD cards. While Asus has pushed out a firmware mitigation that spin up the fans more, if you can figure out a hardware hack to keep the SD card and reader significantly cooler, it may bring a peace of mind to many.

[@SeleDreams]

@@SansBalance i'm guessing a workaround would be to add thermal insulation tape around the micro sd port

[@AarPlays]

"You broke the warranty sticker we dont have to honor it" Every US Customer: "See funny thing about that... FTC says otherwise"

[@AK4Ever1234]

I love how this device is very repair friendly, you can probably buy all the components and "build your own".

[@BigEightiesNewWave]

The Lenovo GO already has this beat.😇

[@sirkyoj1]

I think it has thermal paste that liquifies after a certain temperature. Did he out tire same stuff on it?

[@Robbie-mw5uu]

no he put in an inferior thermal paste

[@Onion_Knights]

about the thermal paste that Asus didnt do it correctly, totally agree.

[@mdsadik1661]

Awesome video Bhaijaan 😊🫡🔥🥶✌🏼

[@Grekton]

Love the red PCB

[@willkra]

Alot of very impressive design there! Great teardown Steve!

[@kopbabakop1886]

My favorite GOD OF FIXER LOL

[@TomsBackyardWorkshop]

First Im hearing of this system.

[@I_SuperHiro_I]

That sounds like a “you” problem. Oh, that’s quite good. I’ll be using that.

[@darthv72]

Johnny 5: "No disassemble"

[@linuxares]

The "Do not disassemble" is actually for the battery. Not the rest of the device.

[@SeigneurAo]

Do you think you could make a video showing the hardware you use for your content (soldering iron, screwdrivers, camera, mic, etc.), at some point ? I'd be particularly interested by the reference of your digital microscope.

[@anhnhvn]

Most of his tools are listed in the description.

[@dpelayo86]

Can you fix my PS3? It only works by pressing the on and off button a second time after the first try. I know it sounds weird but I’m really hoping you can help me.

[@TheOneAndOnlyTBash]

supposedly you can use the hall effect sticks from the one x player as replacements for the ally same hold down and cable

[@Folsomdsf2]

fyi the sholder buttons have official repair instructions that include sliding in a new one and screwing it in with self tappers.

[@LordPrecision]

I think that these are less warranty stickers, because they're banned now, but more like "Warning!" sticker - to tell the person who is disassembling a sign that they need to thin what exactly they're doing

[@captaincrunch1707]

And it tells the repair people if somebody has already been in their tinkering

[@LordPrecision]

@@captaincrunch1707 And it's good - makes RMA work faster. Tamper seals are good in electronics unless they're abused. Warranty stickers are bad, but a sticker that simply tells RMA technician that nobody opened the device, and it may be simply thrown into "repair or recycle" bin, while customer is simply been given a replacement device. There need to be a balance!

[@elscarface1]

Yus! I was waiting for this 👍😁

[@_DarkKnight]

Can you do a video on increasing VRAM of the laptop by using the RAM Chips from donor laptops?

[@lighthammer3478]

So I bought mine on launch day with the 65w HDMI adapter, couldn’t get the adapter to work/detect on any monitor or the console, was also having issues with performance, hardware errors in the event viewer for the internal SSD and also had issues playing games from the micro SD card, unfortunately had to send them both back to ASUS, wanted a replacement but they didn’t have them in stock at the time, however for the time I did have it, played a bit of D2 and it was superb, just really disappointing that I had to send it back, not purchased another unit yet and not sure I will, but great video and looks easy to repair and upgrade the SSD

[@jameslaw3342]

You're lucky you got your money back they wouldn't give me mine faulty SD card reader

[@mr.charchar]

Dang I really want one, but I hope it works and doesn’t have any problems!

[@shadowrg1]

On the thumb stick boards it looks like you dont have to unplug the connector for the little vibrating motors. Looks like you only have to take the ribbon cable and screws out and the board pops up

[@greengant]

So nice to see something that’s doesn’t induce nightmares to repair it. 😂

[@clementdelmas91]

beautiful conception

[@KDMFrost]

3:23 oh boy. Asus is definitely going to put more warranty stickers on now 😂😂😂

[@matthewhardwick8208]

I'm really glad you made this video. I was thinking about getting this and from what I'm seeing with the internals ... it would be a worthwhile investment for me. It's basically a Steam Deck 2.0. The only difference being a Windows OS instead of Linux. But I already have the Steam Deck so I can have the best of both worlds.

[@Tronicsfix]

It seems to be pretty well built

[@cS-jr8du]

I actually own both and it’s pretty worth it to own both. My steam deck has become an emulation machine and I use the ally for actual PC games because of the extra power

[@HNedel]

Dual booting steamOS and Windows would be nice, that way you could go with a 2 TB drive in the Ally and still spend less than on two devices

[@GenGamesUniverse]

Nice info! I was wondering what the differences were between this and the Steam Deck.

[@cS-jr8du]

@@HNedel once chimera os improves I’m actually thinking of doing that lmao

[@MinhDaChink]

For now it’s gonna be a pain in the butt until Ifixit get the okay to get or make parts if the rog ally needs repairs or maybe even upgrades

[@Tronicsfix]

Hopefully they make parts available at iFixit

[@MinhDaChink]

@@Tronicsfix i hope so too im slowly waiting for the ally bios updates get better and the battery but as of now we have to wait until we get good news or the bad news

[@fu1r4]

To remove warranty stickers you can either use IPA or a hair blower ... Don't use a heat gun, it will be too hot.

[@SuperLemonAdam]

"DO NOT DISASSEMBLE" and why does the device look a little like Johnny 5 when you said that lolol

[@Robbie-mw5uu]

this dude is a fool for removing the factory thermal paste which was not only a perfect application but a superior thermal paste

[@MobileDecay]

You downgraded the thermal paste. Lol.

[@WubbedGing]

As painful as this was to watch this is gods work youre doing lol😅

[@Tronicsfix]

Why was this painful to watch?

[@sdlion7287]

It looks like a great design for a revision with less repairability. Sorry for the cynicism, but having repaired a few ROG laptops and dealt with their e/real support, my impression is that they don't care about the user. These first versions might be the chosen ones, try to grab them before they change their assembly line!