The handheld gaming PC craze does not stop with Asus Rog Ally on the market.
While not maybe as versatile as the Steam Deck and definitely not as cheap as Nintendo Switch, ROG Ally is still a very interesting device for anyone interested in taking their PC gaming on the go, myself included.
So what does Asus bring to the table with its portable gaming machine, let’s find out.
Design and comfort
Overall design
Asus took a different approach with ROG Ally than the competition. While Steam Deck and Legion Go look quite serious, Asus went with their design in a more fun direction.
ROG Ally looks pretty sleek with its white housing with the ROG logo shaped into the air vents on the back. Personally, I’m not the biggest fan of this design, but I definitely see why ROG Ally can be very appealing to many gamers as it resembles the most popular designs in PCs in the last couple of years.
Asus ROG Ally also comes with RGB lights around the analog sticks. They do look nice, but I would find them annoying in darker environments or after using the device for a while. Fortunately, there is an option to turn them off.
The shape of ROG Ally is quite ergonomic. Handheld feels good in hands. It’s not as bulky as Steam Deck or Legion Go. My biggest issue with the Nintendo Switch is its ergonomy. It’s hard to use it without an additional grip. With Asus ROG Ally you don’t need to worry about that as the device feels comfortable in your hands, even after using it for a while.
The weight of the ROG Ally hits the right spot for me. It is just a bit heavier than Switch, which makes it feel good and not cheap when holding. I guess it goes down to preference if it’s better or worse for different people, but I like how it feels to use.
Analog sticks and buttons
Asus ROG Ally has analog sticks that are well built, and have a good amount of travel. Pretty comparable to the closest competition of Steam Deck and Legion Go, and way better than Joy-Con analogs. Even though these aren’t Hall effect sticks, the drifting problem doesn’t seem to be the ROG Ally problem. These sticks are comfortable to use and should last you a long time. The only downside is their dead zone (the distance they need to travel before registering the move), which could be too big for some users.
The layout of sticks and buttons is the same one used in Xbox controllers. That seems like a reasonable choice, since people who are using gamepads with their PCs often choose the Xbox controllers, because of their good integration with the Windows system.
Buttons and triggers feel good to click and also have a decent travel. The ROG Ally has two additional back buttons, which are mappable and a welcomed addition, even though Steam Deck has four of those. The D-pad is not as good as in the Xbox controller or some great third-party controllers out there, but it gets the job done.
I feel like Asus ROG Ally could have touch pads, like the ones on the Steam Deck. It is running Windows after all, which is not a touchscreen-friendly environment. And a lot of games could take advantage of those while playing on a handheld.
Performance and battery life
ROG Ally is powered by a 30W AMD APU with a Zen 4 CPU and an RDNA 3 GPU, which is a powerful combination for even more demanding games. You won’t take Cyberpunk 2077 on Ultra on the go of course, but for a mobile device, it definitely packs a punch.
Performance modes
Asus ROG Ally gives you three performance modes. 10W silent mode, 15W performance mode and 25W turbo modes. Cool to have the option, but what’s the deal with these?
The 10W mode as the name suggests is a silent, less power hungry option for longer battery life and less demanding games. If you’re an Indie fan, you will be happy to turn it on and enjoy your device for a bit longer.
If you’re into more demanding titles, even AAA games, you should opt for the 15W or even 25W with the most demanding games. A good balance of in game graphic settings with the right performance mode will get you great results.
The device supports up to 1080p 120Hz, but my personal recommendation would be to dial it down a bit to somewhere around 720p 60Hz, which is still plenty for a handheld device in my opinion, and helps with lengthening the battery life.
Storage
ROG Ally features a very fast 512GB PCIe 4.0 SSD, which is alright. I wish we had an option for 1TB out of the box, but you can expand the storage thanks to a micro SD card slot.
Also, for a bit more advanced tech people, the SSD upgrade is an option, which can give you even a 2TB storage. That’s more like it!
Battery and charging
ROG Ally features a 5200mAh battery, which unfortunately gives you a quite short gaming time. Modern AAA games will eat its battery like crazy. For example, Cyberpunk 2077 on medium-high graphic settings with a turbo performance mode will drain Ally in less than 2 hours.
Even with much less demanding titles, the device won’t really last longer than 3-4 hours, which is very disappointing. Valve’s Steam Deck can get at least 2-3 hours with big modern games and up to even 10-11 with lighter Indies. Maybe if we get ROG Ally 2 they will address this problem better.
If you’d like to use turbo mode, I suggest doing so only with Ally plugged in. In any other scenario, like a train, plane, or just anywhere where finding a power outlet might be problematic, I recommend dialing the settings and modes down the hope of a decent battery life during that session.
Handheld comes with a 65W charger in the box, which will get you from 0 to 50% in about 30 minutes and get a full charge in about 1-1,5h. That’s quite all right in my opinion. Battery life might be short, but at least you get to charge it back up quite quickly.
Screen
ROG Ally comes with a 7-inch IPS display with 1080p resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. It’s a screen that gets the job done. It could’ve even been a 720p display to save some battery life in my opinion.
It’s a responsive and nice looking screen that goes up to 500 nits of top brightness, which is plenty.
It gives you a good performance both outside and inside, but as I said, the battery life is already pretty bad on ROG Ally and the bright Full HD display is not doing it any favors.
Audio
What I really like about Ally is its great built in speakers. The sound from the device is clear, loud, and crisp.
When at home I prefer to stay on the speakers and here I had no complaints and was very satisfied with each session. Going outside I would switch to wireless headphones or earbuds.
And for those interested in wireless audio, ROG Ally comes with Bluetooth 5.2, which gives you good sounding audio for your wireless headphones.
A 3.5mm jack is also present for anyone interested in using wired headphones with Ally.
Network
You will find Wi-Fi 6E standard here, which gives you great online connectivity and performance when using a good bandwidth network.
If you’re into cloud gaming, which I like to test from time to time, you can use platforms like Xbox Cloud Gaming or GeForce Now, which work really well on the device.
The input lag is noticeable, but it is there nonetheless, so any input lag purists won’t have the best time with cloud gaming on Wi-Fi. But I don’t mind it that much and I like to have options, so a thumbs up from me here.
Features
You can use the ROG Ally in many different ways to play games and more. It comes with Windows 11 installed with an add on app called Armoury Crate on top of it, which simplifies the usage and gets you every essential option easily and quickly.
So, aside from using it as a gaming platform, you can actually use it like a regular PC. But you might want to get a stylus if you plan on cruising through Windows on Ally’s touch screen.
ROG Ally supports a wide range of platforms for gaming. You can install games from any PC platform like Steam or GOG, but also you can use Ally for cloud gaming, with Xbox, Playstation, and GeForce platforms all available.
Other features include the charging dock, which is a neat and compact charging brick with an HDMI output for connecting Ally to a monitor or a TV, two mappable buttons on the back of the device (wish it had four buttons), and a built-in fingerprint sensor.
The features and options you get are alright, but the competition is doing a bit more in this department. You get touch pads on the Steam Deck and detachable controllers in Legion Go (of which one doubles as a mouse) to name a few.
Pricing
Asus’ handheld gaming platform price is 599$, which makes it a very expensive device.
In comparison, Steam Deck starts at 399$ for the LCD model with 256GB of storage, which is a noticeable difference.
Lenovo’s Legion Go on the other hand is even more expensive, starting at 699$, which is a crazy high price for such a device, but at least it has a bit more features and much better battery life.
Personally, I would mind spending that much money on such a device. I don’t think it’s worth the price. Steam Deck seems like a much more reasonable option.
Summary
Asus ROG Ally is an interesting little gaming device. The pricing and battery life leave a lot to be desired, but there’s always room for improvement with the next handheld, hopefully.
Design-wise, I like that Asus took a different path than its competitors. Ally stands out in the world of handheld gaming.
If you are looking for a nice option to play PC games or use cloud services on the go, I think Steam Deck is a better option. And if money is not an issue, Legion Go will get you better features and a few more hours of gaming on a single charge.
Still, ROG Ally is a great working device, which will get you a lot of fun, while using it. So I’ll leave the final opinion and decision in your hands.
