ASUS ROG Ally undercuts Steam Deck's anticipation, now offering a powerful Windows 11 competitor at less than $500
The ASUS ROG Ally, a handheld gaming PC, has been making waves in the world of portable PC gaming. It offers several advantages over Valve's Steam Deck, particularly in raw gaming performance, display quality, and OS versatility.
The ASUS ROG Ally delivers about 50% more gaming performance on average compared to the Steam Deck, making it noticeably more powerful for running modern, demanding games. Its 7-inch 1080p screen with a 120Hz refresh rate offers sharper visuals and smoother gameplay than the Steam Deck’s 800p screen. The device runs Windows 11, providing greater flexibility to install and use multiple game clients beyond Steam, such as Epic Games Launcher and Xbox Game Pass. This makes the ASUS ROG Ally a suitable portable Xbox Game Pass machine, enhancing access to a broad catalog of games.
However, the ASUS ROG Ally comes with some trade-offs. It is reported to be less comfortable to hold and has poorer battery life compared to the Steam Deck. The Steam Deck offers a smoother, more integrated user experience tailored to Steam gaming, especially suitable for indie and less demanding titles.
Despite these trade-offs, the ASUS ROG Ally has been well-received by the community, with many considering it the second-best option behind the Steam Deck. Community-made Steam Input controller profiles are preferred for older games that didn't support traditional joypads on the ASUS ROG Ally. Additionally, the ASUS ROG Ally can run multiplayer games with mandatory anti-cheat that don't function on the Steam Deck.
The ASUS ROG Ally is available for purchase at BestBuy.com, Walmart.com, and Newegg.com for $549.99 each. It comes with a storage capacity of 512GB, which can be manually upgraded to a 1TB SSD variant. The device can be returned to Best Buy if in good condition.
It's worth noting that the ASUS ROG Ally's post-launch patches have not completely fixed the issue of overheating with microSD cards. Therefore, individuals whose games library will mostly exist on a microSD card may find the ASUS ROG Ally less suitable.
The ASUS ROG Ally can be installed with SteamOS as an alternative to Windows 11, and switching to the desktop to check Windows Update or apply AMD Radeon graphics driver updates is a rare occurrence on the device. The ASUS Armoury Crate launcher app is frequently used on the ASUS ROG Ally.
In summary, the ASUS ROG Ally offers significant advantages in terms of gaming performance, display quality, and OS versatility, making it a compelling choice for those prioritizing these factors. However, it's important to consider the trade-offs in terms of comfort and battery life. The ASUS ROG Ally is currently available at Best Buy for $499.99, a discount from its original $649.99 MSRP.
- The ASUS ROG Ally, despite some trade-offs in comfort and battery life, delivers about 50% more gaming performance on average compared to the Steam Deck, making it a powerful choice for running modern, demanding games.
- Its higher display quality, with a 7-inch 1080p screen, offers sharper visuals and smoother gameplay than the Steam Deck’s 800p screen.
- The device runs Windows 11, enabling users to install and use multiple game clients beyond Steam, such as Epic Games Launcher and Xbox Game Pass, making it a suitable portable Xbox Game Pass machine.
- Community-made Steam Input controller profiles are preferred for older games that didn't support traditional joypads on the ASUS ROG Ally.
- The ASUS ROG Ally can run multiplayer games with mandatory anti-cheat that don't function on the Steam Deck, which could be a significant advantage for some gamers.
