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Beware the ASUS ROG Ally Reviews
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- Published on May 28, 2023 veröffentlicht
- My ASUS ROG Ally review. Looking at Benchmarks and performance of the retail units
Nomad Survival - store.steampowered.com/app/19...
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Dave2D is really nailing that "mad scientist isolated in his lab" look.
I'm starting to think that it's the "troubled dad" look lol
I’m waiting for the Kleenex boxes on the feet
i'm jealous of his flow!
giving me Rick vibes.
His hairline is getting bald lol that's why he doing long hair now 😊😅😅
It still amazes me that Windows games mostly run very well on Steam Deck despite running on Linux with compatibility layers. Software really is so important.
@Lumeron Swift I am using mint Linux on my 10 years old laptop with 2GB RAM. Works like magic
A long time ago now, like 15ish years ago, I had tried Linux out for gaming (using cedega to launch windows games, I don't know if that's still a thing)... I was amazed that not only did it run, but I was getting a higher FPS in Linux, emulating windows, than I was in even a debloated Windows install.
It's not emulation. So, good enough.
@Aaron Jonesyeah and it's only gotten exponentially better year by year in the last like 5 years or so. Still a long way to go though.
For desktops it sucks because all your peripherals usually have software components to fully utilize that are windows exclusive. And features like gsync, dlss, ray tracing and such are still nonexistent or...sketchy at best.
It is PERFECT for a tailor-made piece of hardware like the deck tho.
The Ally is almost a Steam Deck ad. It has really allowed me to notice all of the small but brilliant decisions Valve made with the Deck beyond just raw horsepower.
100% agree. I decided to buy a Steam Deck after watching this video
Trackpads. That alone is such a massive benefit of the Steam Deck.
@CosmicApe only for some people
@brianv3ntura For quite a bit. I've read the lack of track pads bothers 100s of thousands.
If the Ally had track pads, better D PAD and buttons that don't stick, I would definitely buy one and sell my deck. That is way more important to me than getting a few more FPS from a game and a better screen
I have windows on my deck and can play everything I want.
Really appreciate the extra mile you go through to deliver us the experience the manufacturer intended, instead of just using it as it and calling it a day. 🙏🏻
It's nice that they're looking into allowing more control to the device. Impatient to see what disabling cores on this thing will do, plus the potential for undervolting if UXTU allows so in the future.
With Steam Deck, the support and platform is the product. And it’s more so a product for the developers, which is why you see the new AAA games coming with Steam Deck support almost built in. A open pc console with an infinite, reasonable game store. Ally has none of that, which is why it might not fail now, but if will fail its customers in the long run. To this day you can pick up an original Game Boy and play and have a good time. That’s the Deck.
The thing about the steam deck is that the software just works and valve has constantly kept updating things. That support is unmatched
just like apple
@Francisco Junior except that Valve isn't anti consumer and supports open source.
@CNR_07 Erm, Steam was trying to be a monopoly for years and it was invented as a very strict DRM when Half-Life 2 came out. So, no, Valve is not always pro-consumer. Their store is plagued by trash/shovelware but they refuse to do anything about it because anything that gets sold on there generates revenue for them. Just because they made Steamdeck repairable (it actually saves them soooo much money to do that) doesn't mean their primary concern is the customers. Apple is a long running hardware company who has manufacturing downpat. Valve barely can afford to have one product at low volumes (in comparison). They could not possibly force the user to their own parts and pieces etc. and they could not possibly keep up with all the demand of repairs or replacements if people had issues with their devices. So, it is a marketing win. It is ensuring the community is filling in the gaps. They are a bit better with software support of course, because that's what they are good at and they want this to be about the Steam ecosystem. Again, a win for themselves first and foremost.
As long as you don't play heavily anti cheat enabled games or use Xbox PC game pass
@Phoenix Dawn Companies can have varying degrees of pro-consumerism.
You talk of apple like its the most pro consumer thing out there cause of all of its products but most of its products gets outdated after only a couple years plus those products are exceptionally more expensive do its its premium quality and expectations.
Valve compared to apple doesn't have that many products and as for shovel ware that's every store front from steam to epic to even on consolse like playstation and switch.
I think the last issue wouldn't be a huge a problem for me if ASUS would allow trading in older ROG Ally's for a discounted newer version in the future. I'm really hoping that ASUS could polish its system better in the future because the Ally has my vote when it comes to hand-held gaming devices in the market.
THIS is why I dig Dave's reviews. He WILL point out the flaws. He's my top one and Jarrod's. They think about the consumer first and if it's worth our money or if we'll even like it. I did not know that the steam deck was made to last a few years. It's a good point on it and would love to hear from Asus or if they'll make the new Ally 2 more long lasting. Either way, now I got doubts. I might still buy it, especially cuz my vacation time is coming up and need one or a laptop. Either way, thanks Dave. You rock!
The performance for these devices seems to be in a good spot. I'd love to see people make more efficient batteries that last longer someday.
I love this thing, it’s a great hand held, it also works well as a mini computer, turbo mode is insane when it’s plugged in. I like to play Darkest Dungeon 2 at 4K and steam deck really struggles (you can tell by how slow the coach moves), while is plays and looks fantastic. Had it running Spider-Man at very high in 4K. So yeah definitely for retro games, steam deck is probably better. Windows is annoying on a handheld, but once you in a game it’s amazing.
My wishes as a Flow X13-XGM owner for the next Ally version:
- Larger Screen easily 10"+
- Strong kickstand
- Trackpad
- Removable controllers
- More buttons
- Another USB port
- Maxed out SSD option
- Camera front+back
- Detachable Keyboard Cover
The work that Valve has done behind the scenes to support the Steam Deck is really unparalleled compared to any gaming device I’ve seen. They have made it drastically better compared to a year ago. They even do stuff like release support for controllers and other external hardware that they don’t even manufacture. They’ve been killing it. I hope that ASUS does the same with the Ally, but it’s a lot to live up to. We will see!
Very unlikely to happen. Valve doesn’t make money on the Steam Deck, they make money from people buying games on the Steam Store. So they have a financial interest in supporting the Steam Deck for as long as possible. Asus only makes money from the initial purchase, so its in their best interest to release a new model as soon as possible and hope you will buy it.
@FeeZee damn this is a great point. While I don't believe that they don't make ANY money on the steam deck (sure, I'm sure the profit margins may be a little tight but their is surely a profit margin nonetheless), you're right in that their bigger interest would be in ensuring that people continue to buy their games on the steam store which forces them to make sure that steam deck is always in tip top shape!
@FeeZee Asus makes better and more powerful hardware for the right price, valve wont win competing with ASUS in hardware. Software is also looking sticky for valve because ASUS has connections with Microsoft.
Not to mention that Asus has a terrible update support on their ROG phones
@Peaceful Terrain
“Software is looking sticky for valve”
Bud, as long as Valve keeps updating SteamOS like it does now, there is no way that’s gonna happen. Microsoft has been very bad with their software updates and unless they release their own handheld console, I do not believe they are gonna bother updating Windows for handheld devices.
As always, Dave's heart is in the right place and is so big Asus might finally listen to him and us. If Asus announces a new ROG Ally in the near future, I fear this device will have better lifespan from using SteamOS bases firmware.
We need to wait until Asus fully updates Armory Crate. When they add the ability to disable cores, I think that is where we will see the biggest gains in low wattage performance. Going from 8 to 4 cores should (in theory) boost performance of the remaining 4 cores while maintaining the same low 9w. If that theory holds true, then the RDNA 3 and Zen 4 APU should out perform the Deck's RDNA 2 and Zen 2 APU purely from efficiency. Again, no way to confirm this until Asus releases that feature.
The Ally is already getting support before it’s official release. Considering that, it’s impressive and I’m sure Asus will continue to support the handheld. If the reviews have any use, it’s to show how much Asus is listening to feedback. Steam deck was no angel day one, that system was giving me tons of issues, it’s a process but hopefully enough Asus continues to listen to feedback to help this handheld grow like the Steam Deck has.
OMG thank you so much for this! People keep comparing a "Prototype" to a 1 year released device. I had the SD and it was amazing. But the ROG Ally is going to push the AAA titles and low end gaming too like emulation. I am excited to see what the Ally looks like in a year. The SD got better after the year and I see the Ally doing the same thing.
Your honest approach is the sole reason why I've been a long time subscriber. Well done. I have the Steam Deck and I enjoy the hell out of it... The Ally seems to be a great machine, but I'm hooked on this Steam community... They're so damn helpful and knowledgeable. My deck is literally getting repaired as we speak, no questions asked. Left trigger was sticking on occasion... They're all over it. So easy.
I also had that issue and got a free repair, and later on almost to the 1 year mark, was sent a brand new unit due to random resetting. Valve customer service is second to none
@Donnie Darko Awesome to hear. I'm dialed in with it. I don't really get into the crazy mods etc, I'm more or less, download and play. The only addition I've used is the Vibrant and the plug in that shows how games actually play based on a Platinum, Gold, Silver etc.
@RescueRammer definitely Steam deck is a great experience out of the box without tinkering. Only thing I'd recommend is "Cryo Utilities" as it's super easy for anyone and gives about 20 percent performance boost for free. Also emulation, but I've found that a lot easier with EmuDeck. Tinkering can be addictive bother
Hello Pal , Please I want to Know If Steam Deck Plays Fifa 23 pretty good ?
My girlfriend repaired my deck the other night 😏
The situation is a bit more complex. TDP vs. TDP comparisons assume that every manufacturer used the standard voltage curve profiles that are made for the chip from AMD. Board manufacturers have the ability to increase the performance of a given TDP or range of TDPs by scaling the curve up.
You would not be able to see this if you only looked at the listed TDP, and a lot of the available sensors would still appear to operate under the normal limits. However, you can effectively have a 2-3W boost hidden into your "TDP" at any given level. This kind of boost can inflate your scores by up to 100% at lower TDP levels. Finding out if a device did this is a lot more work than anyone would want to do, and if you do not have a lot of devices with the same chip from different manufacturers, you'd never be able to pick out the the ones that juiced their numbers. Ally represents real performance for this processor.
This ^. I feel like if you look at the total power draw at 9W the Ally will be the lowest. If he would've matched the total power draw of the whole device the Ally would've been even better. AMD/Asus have definitely improved it a lot that's for sure.
Sure but the average user doesn’t care if it TDP varies or not. It’s literally about what they get at face value. If they both say 3W TDP, that’s what they will compare with the experience accompanying that.
Better than compare TDP only, you can compare battery life (for similar battery sizes of course - like the ally and the deck) - on games running at similar performance - like horizon 5 high 60 fps. Dave did that and the steam deck came up WAY ahead. So with or without “fake” TDP and profile curves/boosts etc, the Steam deck does provide value on lower wattage usage…
Exactly
Asus Rog Ally AutoDtp Tomb Raider 370 mhz cpu, gpu 880 mhz smooth 60fps shock.
I think its important to consider the user experience of the Steam Deck like you mentioned. Is the Ally more powerful? Yes but at what cost? Windows isn't too bad to navigate on a desktop or laptop but this is a handheld. Another really key thing that the Steam Deck does really well are pre-compiled shader packages. Steam Deck is basically the only PC device where you don't have to worry about shader compilation. There are just too many advantages in my mind, despite the terrible screen. I'd go Steam Deck all day.
You’re reviews never disappoint man thank you!!! I was already leaning towards steam deck but this cleared any shred of doubt! Steam deck it is!!
Spot on. Most of the reviewer complaints I saw could be resolved by software/firmware updates. The big selling point for me is the multi-platform capability and the ability to install other apps. For simplicity/average user, Steam Deck might be preferable. I, for one, plan to strip the Ally of any bloatware as soon as I get it and tweak it to my liking, install emulators, etc. For that purpose, along with being able to step outside of the Steam ecosphere, I think the Ally is preferable.
The SF6 example is interesting considering the number of people jumping ship to the Ally because they're tired of 'jumping through hoops' to get games working on the Steam Deck. They're gonna be pretty disappointed when they realise they have more/different tweaking to do just to get games to run. The performance looks great though.
That performance gap with the new update really makes your review THE DEFINITIVE one to watch, it really is a surprising gap :o
It'll only get better again Asus has said ...
@Lost Eden ya i def believe it this product is like brand new
why surprising? it should be performing like a 7840u, day 1 it performed like a 6800u lol
@Kiệt Nguyễn if i spent up to 1k on a handheld which ones the best
I really hope that since they're partnering with Best Buy, it means some stores might get demo units bc, while it's large, I just love the controls of the Steam Deck, and I would really want to get this in my hands to know how it compares. It does look cool, just different to a Steam Deck and some good/bad things respectively. I appreciate this more balanced review.
yeah same , it would be great to actually have this device in my hands before I even remotely think of jumping ship
Huge communities supporting a product they love.
This warms my heart feels like back when older games had huge mod followings like StarCraft broodwar. Quake 3 arena mods. Etc.
When so many people put in effort to make something they love better. It just becomes an awesome experience for everyone involved. And your interested in the game for many many years to come.
Steams huge community is what makes me come back to buy their games so I can play with all their stuff and support that communities provide.
10/10 steam keeps gaming alive.
Well said, Dave. Asus is all about selling us new hardware often but lack of long-term support kills it for me. I am going for the Steam Deck!!
If I had to guess about the low wattage figures I would say its the core count. Its an 8 core compared to the steam decks 4 cores. And even though Zen 4 is significantly more power efficient than Zen 2 in the steam deck it has to supply power to double the cores. So even in games that can take advantage of 8 cores its probably still better for performance if you have more power for 4 cores boosting single core clocks. Single core still matters in especially DX11 titles. But if that is actually the issue then I think there should be a possibility to fix this software wise. Dont know though, just guessing.
Im also a bit confused why Asus ist just using regular AMD drivers if they perform better.
Steam Deck customisability is unparalleled.
The detail. He waited. Done each game battery drain test. That's alot of dedication. I love his videos because, his reviews always be on side of user perspective. Sweet, simple, short. Great review as usual. Thanks, I was waiting for yours to come.
Definitely
I like the sleek look it has compared to the steam deck. Also im an rgb nerd so thats a plus too with the thumbsticks. I like windows too for modability and customization so that too. Overall I’m leaning towards the rog ally but I want to see what the non extreme version has to offer as well
Valve being a software store means that they have an incentive to support the deck for a LONG time.
They aren't being pro-consumer. It is actually in their business interest to have long hardware life cycles (less r&d money) and to keep old hardware running, so that owners keep buying products (games) with practically no marginal cost of sale.
Yeah, no company is your friend. But steam is probably the closest "pro consumer" corporation we have today. Their hardware and software support is unmatched. The repairability on the steam deck, as well as keeping the software open is so rare these days.
And that's the whole "consoles business model." That's why console generations are supposed to last 6-7 years.
I remember that the deck had the same problems at launch with software issues and minor problems, If asus can keep up with fixing the software this device could probably be one of the best handhelds out there and the fact that they are already rolling out pretty good updates before launch is a good sign that they do intend to update the ally for a long time.
I think people are going a little too hard on asus, especially when the deck had the same problems at launch, as a deck user (and rog ally preorderer) I really want this to succeed because it will bring more pressure and competition to the handheld market.
Its an all in one, portable gaming, desktop gaming with xg mobile and home pc when docked to a monitor. That's a big thing missed from the review, idea is that it can replace many things you have, laptop, desktop and tablet and perform better than those. With a portable monitor, wireless keyboard n mouse Yr ready to go content creating.
Yes change the internal specs every year or so, it's what laptops manufacture do (and mobile phones). Just keep the layout the same. Makes sense to get your moneys worth and improve on performance on the same games.
Gaming mobile phones always change the spec every year for performance gains.
If they don't change people will just buy laptop or other handheld gaming brands as shown on your review.
This will kill off the steam deck and version 2 will just be laughing at it. Low wattage performance on steam deck isn't that much better. Plus most game you can't play or just really bad quality due to not being powerful enough.
The ally has flexibility, and expansion from the XG mobile. Ticks alot of boxes but would have been good to have ocilink or tb 4 support due to the price of the XG mobile.
I remember the steam deck being so glitchy when it came out and only supported a hand full of games. People where modding this to install windows and use as an all in one but it isn't a good experience. The ally is just something what comsumer want and will more developement it will be a killer
It is interesting ASUS had the review embargo before release but the flip side of that is the product isn’t ready for reviewers. But I would assume many channels dedicated about handheld PC will make new videos about the improvements ASUS has given before launch (probably also after), but most bigger channels likely won’t do a second review and most people probably watched the initial reviews and not necessarily later updates and reviews.
Amazing product review and points of comparison against its competitors. Thank you for also breaking down some pros and cons of the design choices made by Valve vs Asus. Definitely allows for more informed buying decisions based on the use case of the consumer! Awesome job, Dave!
No shit.
The dedication Valve has shown not just with hardware, component accessibility, or even software… but even supporting devs in getting their games running on Deck (look at TLOU for example), gives me immense faith in the longevity of the Deck. ASUS on the other hand I have zero faith with.
I own a steam deck and been using it for a while and love it I can play any game I please 😊❤
I'm glad I got mine from Best Buy, since I can just return it. I thought SteamOS had jank, but I never thought I would fall out of love with this thing in just one day.
From the first hour (after updating everything) of tweaking my Ally and the 10 solid hours that followed, I could not get a single feature working correctly or consistently.
You should have also covered steam decks customisability on the desktop side since even if steamdecks looks are simple: it is a fantastic linux handheld and has the same options as any other linux os.
Wonderful video!!! I have been very happy with my SD, other than two issues: screen and having to deal with non verified games. The Ally seemed like it was perfect in correcting those two issues. But, I’m a Mac user, and I don’t want to deal with windows tweaking and worrying about setting up a game.
Good review. The Steam Deck suffered from the same thing though, early release with barely finished software. It's almost a completely different machine now than from 12 months ago. I agree it needs to feel more like a console than a PC. The best feature by far is launching a game and being straight into the action, or even better unpausing from 3 days ago and picking up right where you left off. Microsoft needs to do a lot of work in Windows to get that level of refinement.
I have to disagree with this take. The Steam Deck experience today is practically identical to how it was in April of 2022 when I got my Steam Deck. Is it different? Yes, but that comes down to developer support of the steam deck. The actual interface and functionality is very similar. We’ve got new tools to control performance and battery life, sure. We have community tools to enable plugins and better desktop mode support, yes. But the fundamental paradigm of downloading and running games on the go is practically identical. The flow of the software is very similar. I don’t think that can appreciably change for the Ally as long as it uses Windows.
Well said Dave! Especially the MS Office, seriously, they expect kids to bring this to school when they forget their laptops and the Ally save your day scenario 😂.
But there needs to be justifications for ASUS to support Ally for long term which I suspect is for their ROG Armory Crate to receive valiant supports and increased user base, so they can comfortably support Ally in the long run. 🤞
I don’t even see any kids using this realistically, the nintendo switch yes but this is more of a console for adults
@Chikens aregood hmm.. I guess this is a societal impact. The kids around my area are always using the latest gadgets, even for primary school kids (elementary schools for other countries), they carry iPhone 11-13 easily. But if you ask me, yes the Nintendo switch is much easier to use as opposed to a handheld Windows console.
@Chikens aregood maybe not kids but teens i could see actually using this
The benefit of well integrated software and hardware is tremendous for user experience. It's not a surprise apple's whole philosophy of user-experience first software and integration has propelled it to were it is, in addition to great products. I'm finding now that I am sorely tempted to buy into whole ecosystems rather than individual products. The older you get, the less time you have to fiddle with things and integrated ecosystems of products that work well is a huge draw. Whether it's samsung, apple, or in this case steam/steamdeck, it makes a huge difference.
I am extremely thankful for this video. It made things clear for me. Awesome delivery, great information, helpful visuals and great content.
Thank You sir! God Bless You 🙏🏾
I'd be really curious to see how the 9w profile performance with CPU boost disabled. That frees up more power for the GPU which seems to be the biggest bottleneck in this device
My wife is contemplating the Ally vs the Steam Deck and this was a really well done, informative comparison. Given her gaming preferences and the fact that she is Mac user, I think she'll lean towards the Steam Deck. The only thing the Ally has got going for it (from her point-of-view) is that she can access our Game Pass account Thanks much! Great job.
I like that it has Microsoft office and all, it’s an handheld gaming PC with Win11 that you could still dock and perform all office tasks on.
Connecting the external GPU by ASUS turns it into a beast which gives the experience close to a desk top gaming PC. Many will buy both to replace their laptops and still get the portable handheld experience.
It’s the bug on windows I do not like at all, can be so stressful.
If I remember correctly most of the Steam deck reviews were the same when it was initially launched. That it's a product that "needs improvement". But Valve actually committed to it and supported the device and now we have an awesome version of the device. I hope Asus does the same here but like Dave said they are a hardware company. But here's to hoping.
for me the main problem of Ally is that it didnt really fix any of the problems people have with Deck .... on the contrary it made them even worse ... thx to being overly focused on "onpaprer" highest specs possible
@Kam Pru BS they already fixed some issues like for example things in armory crate. And there will be further improvments. The Steam Deck also had its flaws when it came out.
Exactly what they doing with their laptop is what they going to do in their handhelds. Just hope they don't f*ck up this like their TUF gaming laptop
ASUS software support just plain sucks. Just look at their Armory Crate, or even their RGB software...utter garbage. Love their hardware, loathe their software.
@Ronin Gai you misunderstood what i meant ... i meant the complains reviewers had about the deck (so stuff like battery and so on)
Very happy to see you addressing my two main concerns here, that this is less of a plug and play concept than the SteamDeck (mostly) is, and that long term platform support is questionable.
As long as suspend power and return in game don't work I don't see myself stepping away from the steam deck.
This is the absolute killer feature for any gaming parent with little to no command over their own time 🙂
Just a tidbit; @ 4:55, the feature is (what I believe) a staple for all ASUS laptops. I have a ROG Z13, and it has the same app with that feature as well - and it is definitely appreciated knowing my battery has a longer lifespan.
I specifically want the Ally over the steam deck, because of windows. I will do Speedruns to go on that thing and LiveSplit isnt working properly on SteamOS. So for my niche use case it will (hopefully) be perfect.
I had the Steam Deck on Pre order and opted out, since installing windows on the steam deck seemed wrong.
Well, you get what you buy. Prices never lies. It's up to the buyers out there to choose one that only they can afford. Thanks for the complete and short comparisons. (^_^)
I think this was the first review which really discussed the support philosophy from Asus and the user experience.
I know from experience that Asus is pushing the product to life-support when a new product is for sale - I had some smartphones with exactly this issue in my past.
More critically I see the user experience for now - Microsoft Windows is not made for such a device (at least for now) and their own solution is just a band-aid to get the system up running. That it is expected from the customer to do the configuration and optimization kills this device for many customers. Even thoug I have the experience I do no longer have the patience for doing this - in that regard Valve has simply the better solution.
If you want just mobile gaming without in-depth tinkering then you should get a Switch or a SteamDeck - if you want the power and flexibility and do not fear tinkering then the ROG Ally is a good choice.
Ironically, people said the same thing when the Deck came out ("If you are okay with tinkering, you can get deck")
That speaks volumes to Valve's efforts in improving Steamdeck and also standardising it. Because unlike the Steam Machines, which were basically too much and too many, Steam Deck will prolly not have such a fast cycle (maybe 3 years?) meaning devs can actually target it, and test and optimise around it.
A big difference is that the steamdeck is part of an ecosystem, and Valve continues to get returns from investing into the Steamdeck. For Asus, I expect they make large % of their profits on initial purchase (I don't know if they have their own Store in Armory care), so perhaps not a big incentive to keep investing it's improvement over time, like Dave said, they would probably prefer to sell you Ally2 in 2 years, which is a shame. I'm considering getting an Ally anyway to use as portable gaming/laptop.
I have an ASUS ROG Phone 5, and I think they only put out one or two updates during the entire life of the device. I took it to a phone repair shop a few months ago, and the tech there laughed when he saw the most recent update was January of 2022.
The low wattage performance might still improve considerably I mean like disabling CPU cores and having more tweaks between the constant fight for wattage in the APU between CPU and GPU...
But in terms of the entire hardware it sure is always to generally be a higher wattage device compared to Steamdeck, it's 8 cores vs 4, then just the screen being 1080P and even made for 120hz out of the factory, 2x fans......... it just keeps adding up to the total wattage of the entire device as a whole and even though the extra general stuff don't matter for the APU only wattage, the extra cores and faster memories and how the board is designed specially in the APU power delivery will surely matter.
I’m already considering buying another steam deck just to put windows on it just because I like the steam deck that much. I’m scared the rog ally will be difficult to get ahold of upon release.
This is the most honest and best review I have seen of a product. Well done. Subscribed.
Hey, just had a thought.
Is it possible the steam deck outperforms both the other systems due to OS, and possibly the SteamOS leaving more head room for game performance?
As well as the chips low power optimization, of course.
I don’t know if you’ve heard this enough but great video. Straight to the point. You touched on topics and stayed focused on them and did not go on a tangent and explained clearly. I got what I came for on the video and the 9 minutes flew by so fast. This was good. Thank you.
One of the things I had forgotten about coming back to PC gaming was the amount of troubleshooting you need to do before you can play a game. It's not terrible, but having to do that on a hand held would be a deal breaker for me.
this is where the steam deck prevails, for gaming it just works, only issues arise if you play untested games, but if its rated playable or verified it just works, now let me reiterate, thats for gaming, using the steam deck for desktop work still has a ways to go
Yep
I've played "unsupported" games and about 25% of even those games just work. And not to mention, Valve has been killing it in terms of software updates. In fact, I'd say that right now, I would get the Steam Deck over the Ally UNLESS you ONLY play games with anti-cheat crap.
The Steam Deck does a surprisingly good job of 'consolizing' the PC experience for lack of better words
I rarely ever have to troubleshoot anything. Usually, with both handhelds and my desktop, I just load and play. Unless I want to crank up performance.
As impressed as I am with the Ally, using Windows on it is a major deal breaker for me...There is just far to much bloat on it that will chew up system resources.
You pretty much convinced me to get a steam deck. Thank you.
The thing with the battery conditioning is built-in to Steam Deck. It automatically regulates charges to under max to prolong battery health.
Yeah, the last few precent takes like 20 minutes to charge
Clean and serious work done here, well done and appreciated 👍
For me, it's not just a gaming device. I also use it as a regular PC by connecting it to a monitor and then need everything Windows has to offer like the Office programs ect. So for me, the full Windows 11 was an important reason to buy.
Thanks for the video. It definitely confirms my thoughts to sit and wait to see what happens to the market now that the steam deck has revitalized it.
I’m personally interested in PC gaming handhelds as a budget gaming and workspace hybrid with quiet fans. Getting into PC gaming takes a lot of technical debt now and upfront cost and you end up with something that’s not ideal so a $700 device that’s powerful enough to play AAA games with an okay experience is a godsend to me. Ironically, I’d be using it with Microsoft office and the adobe suite along with gaming at minimum. I’d honestly like never use it as a handheld and probably immediately hook it to a dock, monitor, and mouse and keyboard. It’d probably even get used for gaming less than working. Heck, I barely use my Switch (I game on my Xbox much more because I prefer that full tv or monitor experience), but when I do it’s literally just on my bed. I game in long sessions when I do have the time (not like 10hrs at a time but maybe an hour or so) and that doesn’t work on commutes. When it might be useful like on a long flight it just dies and ends up being a couple of hours (or less because the battery life on handhelds isn’t great on actually fun and demanding games) out of 8+. I’d prefer if Nintendo had made a more powerful home only console and stuck with the DS line as portables.
The Steam Deck honestly interests me more as a gaming device with its user experience and software and steamOS built on Linux, but I’m not super after a handheld for a pure gaming device (or really at all). I’d be far more interested if valve went ahead and built a Series X/PS5 console competitor with higher end specs. Steam is a major PC game distributor and has a fantastic offering, but mid to high end tier PC gaming still has a lot of barriers to entry (from cost to user experience).
Glad these firmware updates are coming out before release. It would be pretty bad if we got these at launch and they were not fully ready.
I appreciated your points on user-friendliness! For someone new to gaming, a audience I focus on in my videos, it'd be important to know that the steamdeck is more approachable!
This review is a masterpiece. Well done
Honestly the work behind the scenes is great on the Steam Deck. It's not there, and I've seen many games run into issues or just black screens/crash to launcher on opening until proton layers are tweaked or updates come out, BUT, the amount of it just works, especially for a fundamental linux handheld, is amazing.
I am very interested in the 2nd gen Steam Deck, the combination of better hardware and screen, and all the work that valve has put in could be magical.
This video explains perfectly why I didn’t bat an eye when I just ordered my steam deck and ROG ally preorders started. I know the steam deck is going to be supported for a long time and honestly I’m not the type to deal with the hassle of windows lol
Not surprised at all, ASUS really hasn't been on the ball lately across the board....at least they are getting their collective shit together and are fixing this one. Thanks for reporting on it Dave, I see no one else doing this lately!
I mean valve did it worse with the software pf the deck, so to be honest i guess asus is doing it better than valve xd
The first version of steam os 3.0 was crazy xd
@Rx people forget so fast. ppl are comparing the ally to the already updated SD , the SD issues at launch too. but people forgot all about that LULZ
@Rx Um, never said Valve was perfect, not even once. I've got a SD, and I've had it since launch. They fixed it up good, and hopefully so does ASUS on this one. I'm not a Windows guy so it's not in my wheelhouse so to speak, but I hope they succeed, it's a good handheld all told.
@Tha_Lyons The bigger problem is that the ASUS story regarding motherboards came out right around reviews dropping. It's not just about the SD software, it's about ASUS as a company not being trustworthy, beyond this product.
I've just installed Windows To Go on an SD card for my Deck, after you install the drivers from the Steam Windows resources page & turn on the visual keyboard auto-popup, it's great! Now I've got the standard Deck experience for 90% of things I want to do, & a Windows install for the ones that don't work on the Deck yet 😊
Oh & btw I went with installing on an SD card instead of dual booting off the internal storage so that my Deck experience remains totally separate from the Windows one. You just press volume down when you hit the power button to turn on, & then select which to boot when you want to switch between them. Love it.
Hope you focused more on performance on 30watt , this device is amazingly beast and will blow any one away
I think some people may want this to replace their gaming computers entirely. Which is why Windows Office is installed. Just dock it and play or work. The thing holding it up for me is not having 144 Hz. Once they get that together, I'm all in.
Valve nailed it with steam deck for casual gamers like me who only have a few hours here and there. It is cheap and hassle free. Alloy has great specs but I won’t pay for that price for causal gaming and no time to mess about with the configuration settings
Reminds me of how the Radeon 7000 GPUs improved so much after receiving proper driver support.
Dave is hitting all the right points. Even though it drains battery faster due to high Watts it charges a lot faster too. When I play BOTW on the steam deck I get 2 hours of batter but it takes longer than that to charge. My GPD Win 4 runs it at faster drain but I can recharge the battery in much less time and get back to being portable.
How does botw run on steam deck? Was there a lot of skipping due to performance? Was the gpd4 that much better?
@Israel A BotW can run somewhere between 40-55 fps (you could try tweaking the Graphic packs some more to get it higher).
Also, the game can become more demanding during combat so it's safer to run the display at a lower fps.
Wait, do emulators work on the steam deck
@Lance they do, on rog ally too
@Lance the emulation experience on the steam deck is much better than any other hand held out there right now
I would get a Steam Deck if I could get one here, but since Ally is the only one being sold at proper stores here then I will get that. I prefer the more "proper" feeling of the Deck and it´s sleek design
I personally love mine! Its nice to sit back and relax and play a game with desktop level performance in my hands i see this handheld becoming the best in market!
I do wonder, there's a couple optimisation scripts out there for Windows in general, Chris Titus has a good one. If that script was ran on the Ally, how much more in the way of performance could be gained? Or even battery life? It shouldn't be left to third party scripts to optimize devices like this, but if it helps?
Asking for extended support for the Ally is a pipe dream at best. It's going to have a standard laptop lifecycle at best. And we should be happy if it continues to support the new GeForce RTX 5000 and Radeon RX 8000 series XG Mobile.
I agree with the premise of this video. Though I've had some software glitches with my Ally, I haven't encountered any of the issues early reviewers had with stuck buttons.
Seeing all this handhelds comming out I am really looking forward to the next Steamdeck.
good to have you, your way of doing and seeing things in the review space on Clip-Share
The customer support I think is very important. I have had very bad experiences with ASUS customer support in the past... and I think they won't be better with this game console, which is sad, because the console seems to be very good :(
This review is great but one thing to note about the steam deck is if you play anything that isn't available on steam, you'll have to jump through the same hoops to get it running reasonably well. The other thing I didn't like was how bad the offline experience was with he steam deck. For traveling the steam deck just doesn't cut it. sure there are work arounds but it's not intuitive and the windows support on the steam deck leaves a lot to be desired. If all you want to do is have a device that you can play in bed at night in your home, then the steam deck is amazing. If you need something that plays just as well in an airplane as it does in bed at home then the steam deck suffers. Just my opinion and two cents.
What a great review I enjoyed watching it❤ I'm thinking of getting one later on I've always liked asus rog products most of my computer is Asus rog the motherboard the water cooler my RTX 4070 TI the power supply and my external SSD m.2 hard drive cases to me the Asus rog line is an awesome product and rarely had problems with them and also their packaging is just awesome and also the looks of all Asus rog products but most of all it all runs really good I get great performance out of their products but yes keep up the good work on your reviews
Had the steam deck for the past 6 months and absolutely love it. Still trying to stay on top of what’s happening with this product too but I won’t be sure until it falls into the hands of the public and the real problems are uncovered
Even then, my biggest concern is the point he raised with longevity, issue with big hardware manufacturers is if they're under a certain price, have the products don't work and then they'll last for a year or 2 max, fact of the matter is if I go to best buy and they tell me I would get geek squad protection on it, I'm simply not gonna get it
@Non Pondo that’s a really good point!
I’ve seen some videos of the ROG Ally running SteamOS. That makes it way more attractive to me. I dual boot my Steam Deck and I only have Windows to do everything SteamOS can’t do. But SteamOS is 100x better on the games it does support.
I’d love that chip in a Steam Deck. I can’t imagine using a Windows handheld without trackpads.
steam deck was my pick, with windeck. I did not regret for a bit! I saw the ally and said nah... some people like the ally, and someone like the steam deck. ayneo is pretty nice, but... nope. I need the trackpads. and it's powerful enough to play anygame I want
Same thing happened with Steam Deck. Early updates added so much to it.
Great words. Great review. Listen to this man, Asus. Thank you for all you've done Dave2D 🙂
Every time I see a hand held review I am forced to reflect on how impactful the steamdeck is. I really hope thay if/when they do make a steamdeck 2, it will be with the same intention of making it meaningful.
Good to see the performance fixed and matching the 7840u or 780m! I was worried with the initial performance results but now I’m excited!
I think the rog ally is amazing but the steam deck selling point was its touchpad.
Well explained!!! Great Review, this helps a lot to which system I eventually would like to get.
Considering the Deck is cheaper and it's been out for a while, I frankly expected better performance anyway from the Ally.
But I think we should remember that console makers that also make money by selling you games can sell cheaper consoles and sometimes even lose money on the hardware for the sweet sweet software bucks once you're in their ecosystem. And Valve is one of them.
So... good job ASUS, but I still think the Deck is the one to get. Especially because that higher resolution screen is not as strongly supported by more power as I thought it could have been.
The enthusiast community will carry this forward even if Asus doesn't. So long as the performance at lower wattages is as it should be when this device is released, I honestly don't care if it takes some tinkering to get some games running properly - that's part and parcel of what the Windows handheld community has dealt with since the GPD Win, and for some people it's all part of the 'fun'. The Ally is not a 'plug n play' console experience like the Steam Deck (mostly) is, and if Asus are hoping it will appeal to the mainstream casual market, they are mistaken.
That being said, I'm grateful for its existence and can't wait to receive mine.
I have been so on the fence about getting this thing. I have a steam deck but would love a performance boost. You earned a sub here. Thanks. Let me add that I run strictly windows on deck so am more than comfortable with windows jank