Customer Ratings & Reviews

Since my first review was taken down for some reason I have decided to update it with a few more observations and have deducted a star. I will be comparing the Ally with my Steam Deck that I've had for 8 months. First, the positives. The hardware! The 1080p 120hz with VRR (variable refresh rate) is way better than I'm used to with my steam deck. Color accuracy, text clarity, motion performance are all way better. It's hard to go back to using the deck after using the Ally. The Zen 4 APU is in a different class of performance (more on this later). The Ally is smaller and lighter and feels more premium in hand. Armoury Crate works quite well - better than I anticipated. Lots of functionality that's needed to provide a great user experience. Having the ability to customize power profiles/fan curves and the ability to set the VRAM to 8gb is a huge plus for more demanding games. The game launcher works great, the performance overlay is neat, and there's a ton of other customizability I could mention that would make this review even longer than it is. Buttons and analog sticks are good. The front facing speakers sound fantastic, and get quite loud. Thermals are also very good under normal use. Fans are quiet. The things that are more "neutral"- The rgb. There's not much of it and I just turned mine off. I like how having the Ally white makes it stand out, but I feel like over time it will stain with skin oil/etc. It takes some time to almost "re-learn" how to hold the Ally compared to the Deck. You have to sorta shift your hands higher and rest the rounded bottom corners in your palm. It is comfortable to use once you figure out the right way to hold it. The Negatives- 512gb isn't enough storage. I can't find the toggle in Armoury Crate to disable the startup sound. Armoury crate is good, but seems to get in the way often. The performance overlay is in the top right corner, which makes it impossible to just click on the X to close something. Sometimes when I bring up the quick menu in a game I get "you are using x Controller mode" messages. That's not necessary. There's a bit of lag in game when altering quick settings. FPS limiter seems broken. It doesn't limit frame rates when adjusted in game. The included 'stand' is painful. If it was this cheap stand or nothing I would prefer the nothing option. Official accessories appear to be overpriced. (a soft case for $40???) Yeah. The battery. There's more to it, though. It's tied to what I'm going to discuss next- The Ally does a TERRIBLE job at power/frequency management. All around. It's why my review says "needs time to bake". At idle on the desktop, APU power doesn't go below 4 watts. For context, the Steam Deck is able to clock/power down at idle down to less than 1 watt. I've found often that in quiet and performance modes the GPU gets 'stuck' at 800mhz. It seems like only the CPU is allocated any power and performance TANKS when this happens. In The Witcher 3 when the GPU is at 1200-1400mhz I can get ~45 fps and at 800mhz it slows to a painful 20 fps. This is something the Steam Deck is way better at. If the CPU isn't really needed with a game running on the Deck, it will give the GPU more power and higher clock frequencies - again depending on the workload which allows for more performance at lower power targets. AMD and ASUS need to get this fixed as it seems to me that it's a BIOS/firmware/driver issue. There needs to be a better algorithm (optimization?) to determine how to allocate power available to the CPU/GPU, better idle power consumption (of sub 1 watt), and if necessary a way to 'turn off' some of the CPU cores to boost performance at lower power targets. This is why this device has such poor battery life. Further optimization is sorely needed. Lastly, the left side of the Ally on the back where you might rest your fingers if not using the triggers tends to get hot. I guess that's the price to pay for having a smaller device? This will be a highly recommended handheld if AMD and ASUS can get some of this optimization done.

The ROG Ally was my first introduction to the handheld gaming pc space. When it comes to performance, there are few that come close to it within its class, especially with the Z1 Extreme processor. The majority of games, with the exception of some AAA titles, run as good as you can get for a handheld. The 120hz LCD screen is also a nice plus. HOWEVER, the blessing and curse of this device is the software, namely Windows, in my opinion. If you like tweaking settings, installing mods, and are okay with typical Windows quirks, then this device is perfect for you. However, if you want a machine that boots up and just plays games with little hassle, you may want to look towards a Steam Deck or even look into installing a Linux-based OS designed for handhelds. Armory Crate SE certainly does a great job of hiding certain Windows issues, but you will still encounter a bug here and there. Typically, the bugs are quick fixes, though. Battery life is okay, with my top end at around 3 hours and bottom at around 1 hour. It really depends on the games/tasks you’re using and the TDP you set it to. For example, I was able to play Halo 2 on this device at 1080p normal graphics for close to 2 hours at 12-15W before the battery started getting somewhat low. Honestly, that’s plenty of time for me, but if battery life is a concern for you, a power bank would most likely cover those issues. Now for the other parts: The speakers were great for what they are, and the joysticks were a little loose for my tastes. The weight of the actual device is light but not cheap feeling. I have a case on mine, but I don’t think you’ll really need it unless you’re carrying it around in your backpack all day with a bunch of other items. The screen is a great LCD panel, but sometimes the slightly raised black level as compared to an OLED screen did cause minor issues in terms of visibility on same games. Usually this is easily remedied by changing gamma settings in game. All in all, as a first generation product, the ROG Ally Z1X is a great all rounder, with the main issues really coming from typical Windows bugs you see every once in a while. If you are okay and/or used to that, then this device is for you.

There are a few ways you can look at reviewing the Rog Ally. First perspective is from the owners of the Steam Deck. While the Ally isn't a dive in console like experience like you have on the Deck, if you can navigate windows there won't be issues. The initial setup is a little slow because of touch controls, but once through that its like riding a bike. As for performance, its like a Steam Deck, but at a higher resolution. So whatever performance you were getting on the Deck, you'll get about the same, just at a much better looking 1080p and 120hz. Oh and another added bonus is it plays everything. Those games that you had to mess with Proton? Not a thing anymore. EZ AntiCheat? Works just fine. From the perspective of someone who doesn't own a Steam Deck, for the majority of your games its going to play pretty well. Older titles and even some newer ones play just fine. For instance I am able to play Ratchet and Clank at 30fps at medium settings, 1080p with FSR, or low settings 60fps. And because of the high refresh rate screen it feels very smooth the entire time. The only game I haven't been able to play smoothly on the Ally is Immortals of Aveum. This game played at 20fps low settings and 1080p. It might have worked better at 720p, but it simply wouldn't look good and wouldn't fix the crashes that were happening regardless. Now, on to the cons. My unit the SD Card reader didn't work at all out of the box. Given the feedback in the Ally discord, it doesn't look like Asus has figured out the issue and RMA units coming back are having the same issue. Its so bad that its actually ruining peoples SD cards. So I wouldn't get it with the expectation that you're going to use an SD card with it. The next issue with it is drivers. As I said most games work fine, but there are a few instances where games will crash (Immortals), and the browser will act funny. AMD has yet to update the drivers for these things so we're kinda just stuck with the default drivers which aren't perfect. In addition to that Windows Update isn't aware that AMDs newer drivers don't work for this, so it downloads them, installs them, and you have to manually revert. And lastly there is the battery life. Due to this not being a tailored operating system for gaming Windows is going to chew away at your battery life in the background. Normally when playing games at the 15w profile I can get 2 hours out of the thing. But if you push it higher it dwindles much faster. So be mindful of that. On the plus side, the charger they give you comes with a long cord and enables a higher 30w Turbo mode that adds a little more performance over the 25w mode. Overall its a pretty good product that I would recommend for someone who just wants to sit on the couch or in bed and play games. For someone that wants to use it on long commutes without access to power, you'd probably be better served with a Steam Deck

This handheld is great for on the go gaming. The main issue I have with it is the battery, but there are accessories that give you quality of life improvements that will be included in the pictures with this review. These accessories have made the experience much more enjoyable as the default grips are uncomfortable in my hands, but I know that this is different for everybody. The other accessory that I have been using is the joystick extensions. The joysticks are the only other problem with this device, as the joysticks are a little loose and have some drift. However, the new update that they released does help alleviate some of those issues. I would also recommend getting joystick locks that will prevent the joysticks from getting caught on anything when being taken out of a case or bag, the battery accessory with a clip that carries a portable battery pack on the back of the Ally has been a great addition to this as well. In terms of performance, I’ve thrown a few AAA games at it such as cyberpunk, Need For Speed, Overwatch, and was able to download an app to play World of Warcraft successfully, with the controller setup. The oppurtunities are endless with this device…. even emulated games as it is basically just a full Windows 11 PC. If you’re looking to get into PC gaming or even being able to play those PC games on a big screen with the dock, then this is the device for you. Be sure to get the accessories and maybe even a screen protector. Do not bother with an SD card as it may get cooked, unless you are not using it for long periods. Volume can be pretty loud, but can get a little distorted at higher volumes. It is awesome to be able to just move the usb-c cord from my work laptop to this and kill some time on a mid range gaming PC. Get an open-box one as they are typically barely touched, because people did not like the fact that you had to go through a Windows serup and configuring software etc. Overall 7/10, excited for the second iteration and the start of high end PC gaming at your fingertips.

The good: - Incredibly fast and snappy plugged in - Beautiful high refresh rate screen - Excellent sticks and buttons - Feels lighter than its peers - Somewhat more portable than some of its peers - Fairly quiet fans when they do idle - Excellent looks - Plays anything that runs on Windows - Fun RGB accents - Standby/Hibernate works in many games - Armoury Crate is, for once, not terrible The bad: - Unexpectedly slow and only just comparable in speed with its peers when unplugged - Stick mouse controls fairly annoying to use - Difficult to navigate Windows with the touchscreen - Fans ramp up often even at idle making it louder than its peers at idle - Tons and tons of updates spread across three different places (Windows Update, Armoury Crate, myASUS) - Chunky bezels - Some apps think it’s a 1080x1920 device and freak out - Modern standby is garbage The ugly: - WiFi busted out of the box and would constantly only connect to 2.4GHz that runs at awful speeds (fixed by preferring 5GHz band in Device Manager) - Difficult to get more than 2 hours of battery life, let alone 1 hour - Performance can be worse than 2 generation old hardware when unplugged - Only the packed USB-C charger works well with Turbo mode; other chargers will show a warning and sometimes charging will just suddenly stop Recommendation: If you already have another handheld, this is one to miss this generation. To get the most out of it, you will be tethered to a wall outlet. Unless you absolutely need this form factor, you should be looking at the G14 or something similar. However, given it’s price, this is the best Windows handheld all around. But ask yourself, do you really need it?

Pros: -Best PC handheld currently -1080p IPS screen -If you're a Windows expert, this OS is right up your ally (no pun intended) -'Most' games run well if you run at 720p & normal to low graphics settings Cons: -This is NOT an open box and go experience like a Nintendo Switch -Like most IPS screens, you might have some slight IPS glow -Initial set up was not smooth -Took me at least 2 hours to get this thing to run the way 'I' wanted it to run. You treat this like a new PC -Battery life is atrocious. To get more battery life, you have to compromise performance/graphics -512GB of storage can barely store more than a handful of games. And even if you get a microSD card, running games on that card isn't as fast as running it via the Ally's internal SSD Overall: This is a handheld PC with Windows 11. With that said, this comes with all the shenanigans that PC gamers deal with on a regular basis with a normal PC rig. So if you're a PC gamer, all these little knick knacks that come with Windows 11 and the headaches of PC gaming should be nothing new to you. BUT, if you're able to tweak everything the way you want it via Windows 11 on the Ally, this thing is a beast. You can actually connect it to a monitor, use a USB hub to connect keyboard, mouse and/or controller and treat it like a mini gaming PC. Overall, I think it's a great handheld. It's not perfect and if you don't have the patience of a person who uses Windows 11, this might not be for you.

It is a good handheld. But it takes some technical work and patience. One important thing to note: “It is not ease of use and an out of the box experience.” (Prepare for alot of updates) This is a performance beast but at the cost of battery life, but with the right TDP watt limit and settings it can slightly last for 2-3 hours of play time. 512gb of storage also fills up pretty fast. I would recommend planning to get more storage in the future. It also has a nice 1980x1080p 120hrtz display. Armory crate software is nice but it has some minor issues which will eventually be patched. I would like to mention that sometimes the handheld device does get hot. Like I said before this handheld takes time and patience, but if you do have time and patience you will be rewarded in the end, it is very useful to me on the go seeing I barely have time to play my consoles at home and I use it to get some of my work done. If you want something that you can play games on the go with decent performance, at a somewhat affordable price. This would be the handheld device for you. I recommend this to anyone willing to give it a shot.

The ROG Ally with the Ryzen Z1 Extreme is a very capable handheld gaming PC, especially if you want true Windows flexibility in a portable form. Performance is strong for its size—many modern games run surprisingly well, and the 120Hz 1080p screen is one of the best displays you’ll find on a handheld device. It’s sharp, smooth, and makes games look great. That said, it does come with trade-offs. Battery life can be short when playing demanding games, especially at higher performance modes. You’ll often need to lower settings or stay plugged in for longer sessions. Windows on a handheld also has a learning curve—Armoury Crate helps, but it’s still not as seamless as a console-style experience. Ergonomics are good, but extended play sessions can feel a bit uncomfortable compared to a standard controller. Storage is another limitation; 512GB fills up quickly with modern PC games, so an SD card or SSD upgrade is almost necessary. Overall, the ROG Ally is a great option for PC gamers who want portability and don’t mind tweaking settings. If you’re expecting a simple, console-like experience, this may not be the right choice—but if you value performance and flexibility, it delivers.

So I've had a chance to play around with the ROG ALLY for about a week now and here's what I can tell you from a consumer's perspective since none of the early YouTube fan boys dare not tell you the truth. Don't get me wrong its not all bad but its not all good either and thats what I'm here to talk about. I'm going to list the things I like about it first. 1. The performance of this handheld is incredible. From AAA titles to emulation. 2. The screen is beautiful and makes gaming on a handheld worth leaving your big screen either just to game on the couch or on to go. 3. This one might be more of a preference but the fingerprint sensor saves me time from a password or pin login every time put down and pick up my device. 4. The RGB lighting is really cool to look at especially when docked. 5. I like the fact I don't need a third party software to play non steam games or emulators the game pad just works. 6. The easy SSD replacement and bios cloud recovery process is great. 7. Dedicated button for quick access to settings like TPD/ Power Wattage, Airplane mode and switching on/off fps stats 8. The fans are quiet Now let's move on to some of the thing I personally don't like about it. 1. The battery - I would have gladly traded a little extra weight for a bigger battery instead. 2. I don't like the fact the bumper and trigger buttons are even on the top, I found myself repeatedly mistakenly pressing trigger instead the bumper as they are hard to distinguish between the two. 3. Updates - now I don't mind them but there have been times when I'm gaming away from an outlet and for some or most updates it won't let you do so on battery alone and requires you to plug in. I wouldn't mind if it detected 10 to 20 percent battery and then required it but I was well over 70% 4. The rear buttons to me seems more out of placed and annoying than useful as I don't use them. 5. The grips on the side could've had a bit more of a curve to it making it feel more comfortable to hold. 6. The screen could have been brighter for outdoor use which is it's purpose. 7. Navigation, I wish this thing had track pads like the steam deck as the joystick mouse is wonky and hardly accurate on a small screen. 8. The cheap paper stand that came with the device, might as well have sent nothing lol but it serves its purpose. 9. Proprietary eGPU - this one I really dislike, the fact that after paying almost a thousand bucks on the device although it's just an option, you want us to pay a ridiculous price for XG mobile eGPUs instead of being able to use our own. That sucks! 10. I don't like the microphones on on any handheld as I highly doubt I'd be doing much multi-player gaming on it and If I did a gaming headset would do just fine as it would be far superior. To me it just boarders privacy concerns. 11. Full blown windows - I just hope with all the handhelds coming out with windows installed that they make a dedicated windows specifically for handheld gaming devices. Now would I recommend the ALLY? The short answer is yes If you're into picking it up and just gaming with no tinkering I would say try it anyway and you just might like it.

TL;DR: The Ally is a well made piece of hardware that gets acceptable performance on Windows 11 and has a great display that is made even better by VRR. Battery life is middling to poor, and Windows 11 has a long way to go, but apart from the steam deck this is probably the best pc handheld experience you will find. If you're willing to put up with less battery life and Windows 11, and want the perks of the nicer form factor and display it may be even better than the steam deck for some. A little more detail: PC handhelds have been a thing for some time, mostly overseas, but the steam deck has really pushed this niche segment into the limelight with better software and hardware support that isn't solely based in China. Ayaneo, AOKZOE / Onexplayer, and WinGpd (and many others) are all established names that have been making importable units for some time, but their support / communcation and availability as a US buyer is lacking. Indiegogo is often used as a channel for US sales, which is a clunky way to get one of these things. I've tried a few different pc handhelds now including the Steamdeck, the win gpd 4, the One X Player 2, and now this Asus Ally, and overall the Ally edges out the other units as the most polished system (apart from the shortcomings of Windows 11), for three reasons: Display, Build Quality, and Software. Display wise, the Ally is currently the best you can do apart from the Nintendo Switch Oled, and that is because of a 120hz refresh with Variable Refresh Rate. Obviously you're not getting 120fps in any triple A title, but VRR makes a much bigger difference in overall playability - especially at the lower frame rates you'll typically see with hand helds like this - albeit at the cost of battery life. As far as I know this is the only mainstream handheld that delivers VRR, and I really didn't expect it to make the difference that it does in game. If you don't know what VRR is or how it works (I didn't, I had to google it), in a nutshell it just means that the screen can time it's refresh rate to when the next frame of a game is rendered by the system. Without this you get noticeable stutter or screen tearing (where only part of the image has rendered before going on to the next image). Running at 120hz with VRR enabled, there doesn't appear to be a huge difference if you're getting less than 30fps, but at 30-45fps it often looks like and feels like you're running at 60fps and creates a noticeably smoother experience. Battery life on a demanding game (30-45 fps at 15 watts) tended to be around an hour and a half. I dialed it down to 7 watts (not sure why it can't go lower, maybe windows backend needs?) for indie games / emulation and they ran great, and battery life ended up in the 2-3 hour range depending on brightness. Not great, but enough for a lunch break. If you want more battery life, I'd consider the steam deck, which is also not amazing, but better especially with less demanding, lower wattage games (it runs Linux which is much lighter than windows and likely the reason for the better performance). The Ally feels very well made, although the ergonomics could be improved. I have medium sized man hands, and I have found that a more rounded pad on the back for your palm is more comfortable (which the Onexplayer 2 has), and the joysticks could be slightly larger and more accurate. Overall though the unit is very light and noticeably more compact than the Steamdeck but with the same size (and a much nicer) display, and if you're not playing for 6 hours it's adequately comfortable. The grips also don't get super hot which is nice (looking at you WinGpd4) , and the fans on the back are pretty quiet. What really puts the Ally a step above some of its competitors is the software. There is a dedicated button that pulls up a customizable quick menu for their armoury crate software which seems to immediately pop up no matter what application you're running, without interrupting or crashing whatever you're in. Compared to any of the other systems I've tried (aside from the steamdeck) this is hugely functional and useful. I'm not stranger to tech, and often install homebrew software that needs to be fiddled with, however I have found that the software included on most of these units seems to suck. Onexplayer has a clunky quick menu with a sparse set of options for TDP controls etc that will often cause your game to flash and blink or crash as it forces you back to the desktop. Wingpd 4 literally has a text box that looks like it's out of windows 95 that is highly customizable but unintuitive and difficult to access if you're doing anything without forcing your way back to the desktop. As an example: I download the binding of isaac which is a classic roguelike flash based game that is meant for a keyboard. On the other systems I had to go find a third party piece of software to set key bindings to the controller, and have it open anytime I played. On the Ally you can set custom key bindings for each game from a super easy to access and use shortcut in armoury crate and it works great. Took about 20s to setup and get in the game and never had to mess with it again. If an easy smooth experience is your target and you want windows (this is important), the Ally is the best choice out of the options out there IMO. If you don't care about windows, the form factor, or the slightly nicer display though, get the steam deck. Despite the custom software that Asus has added, windows kind of sucks for this form factor. You often see the desktop especially during setup while you're getting going, and while you can kind of achieve that console experience with the armoury crate software, windows is buggy enough that you'll inevitably spend some time staring at a tiny desktop trying to download and install something in chrome to enable or fix XYZ, especially if you're planning to use emulators. This is easier if you dock it with a monitor, mouse and keyboard, and if you're ok with all that awesome. I am. For a good chunk of people though, all that fiddling and need for other peripherals is a really gateway to entry. If that's you, get the steamdeck. As an aside in 2023 with folding phones, rollable TVs, and displays in everything, why the heck does this thing have such big bezels??? Ayaneo seems to be the closest but even they have a chonky boy. Somebody make a bezeless handheld PC and take my money!

I've owned the Ally Z1E since late 2023 and was excited to see if come to market. The Switch was my go to device for work travel, but the games were too limited for my liking. I've owned a ROG Zephyrus G14 for a couple of years as well and it has always treated me well, so I figured I would jump into the Ally as I was looking for something more compact and less power hungry. After a number of BIOS, Armoury Crate, and Windows updates since I purchased, the system has been fantastic. It will not be the best solution for everyone. Some people want long battery life, some want best performance, some want a good all-arounder. The device has some issues, but so does everything out there. Pros: - Can play everything from small indie low-requirement games all the way up through COD Warzone and beyond at high and stable frame rates. - Compact (enough) - it was bigger than I was expecting after using the switch for a couple of years, but it also can do a lot more than the Switch can and didn't take much time to adjust to. - Armoury Crate is a good, functional addition. I use it for device updates and for the game catalog. - Audio is pretty good. Speakers are clear and can be plenty loud enough, but mic leaves something to be desired. - Screen and touch capability are amazing and precise. Cons: - Took a number of system updates over a period of time to get the device working very well. - Can get pretty hot. I have what looks like small yellowish char marks where the exhaust fans blow. It hasn't affected performance for me though. - The SD card issue is real. It burnt out my 2TB micro SD card pretty early on, however, I luckily had bought it when micro SD cards weren't too expensive. - The stock 512gb SSD just isn't enough for today's games. Luckily, upgrading to a 1tb or 2tb is stupid simple and relatively inexpensive (if you go with an M2 2280 with a right angle adapter). - Back buttons are great to have, but I map them to the mic to easily mute and sometimes in the thick of gaming I find myself hitting them accidentally (actually all the time). Final thoughts: With an SSD upgrade, a couple of small retractable kickstand legs, a small BT keyboard and mouse combo, and a 100,000mAh battery pack, the Ally is a great ally. My planes can support the 65w charger without issue, and usually most places I travel, I can plug in as needed. While I still use my Zephyrus from time to time to game, the Ally is my go to for pretty much all gaming.

RO P 1. light weight and sturdy design  2. would recommend this device for parents with young kids, as it feels like it would take some abuse 3. Current drivers and bios have been figured out that performance is better than Legion Go. If possible, use data from comparison videos on youtube.com 4. Ergonomics on the ROG ally provide a favorable  position when sitting on a couch or bed.  5. Fan curve and performance options actually affect how well games behave.  6. Able to use controller joystick and buttons to perform like a mouse is great until it does not work.  7. Right now, you can find an open box  example at Best Buy for $479. Cons  1. The lack of a dedicated mouse pad interface, like on the Legion Go and Steam Deck, causes issues where apps switch between gamepad and the mouse function. Required multiple clicks on the screen to reenable the mouse scrolling with the controller.  2. Small screen feels like a last gen feature, as the Legion Go and the Steam Deck have close to borderless screens. 3. Only 512 GB of space, with a large amount of dedicated system memory used, it feels like barely enough to install three Triple A titles, e.g., Call of Duty, GTA, and Destiny.  4. If I want to expand memory, I can either take apart the device or install an SD card, but like many other youtubers have already shared. The device exhaust fan is placed right below where the SD cards are installed. Causing many to melt and stop functioning.  5. Fingerprint Scanner – When I first got my hands on the ROG Ally, I almost made the decision to keep this over the Legion Go because of this simple feature. When it works, the convenience is amazing. Just turn on the device, hold the button, and jump back into gaming. However, it quickly lost glamor when I found that it does not always work or even worse, forces you to put in the pin because your finger is not found. However, there is a bigger bug that I found on both devices when connected to a tv. You have to walk up every time the device is asleep and input the pin because fingerprint/external controllers can not input the pin with the digital keyboard. So, in conclusion, the legion GO fitting the niche of an older crowd. That might take the time to twerk settings and take advantage of the FPS mode/detachable controllers. As well as not mind the louder fan and awful speakers. As well as having a beautiful bigger screen that’s stuck showing less than favorable graphics when having to run things on Low. At least until they figure out the graphics drivers and awful UI. Then there’s the ROG Ally, which has an overall smoother experience, one that feels like they built from the ground up. Cutting corners on things that end up making it feel like an actual portable gaming device. A light weight but cheap feeling external plastic covering. It feels like a device someone with a young child does not have to be worried if it gets kicked around. Then there are the big borders of the small 7 inch screen. It is not a good look when you compare it to the OLED on the Steam Deck or Legion, but is this screen efficient. I swear most of the FPS bonus you get on the ROG Ally are thanks to this 16x9 screen that runs at 120hz compared to 144hz on the Legion. In all cases, you have two devices that share so much in common when it comes to the processors but packaged in a way that make them feel like two complete opposites. However, there is one thing I am left feeling, which is that anxious feeling. These two devices are clearly in their infancy and are very clearly first generation. I will be returning them both but appreciating how far we have come, while I anxiously await the successors to them. Hey, if anything, I helped other gamers like me. If you currently look for open box items at Best Buy, you might get lucky and find the Legion Go for $636 and the ROGi Ally for $479. Let me know below if you decide to go with one or the other and why.

This thing is amazing. I bring it on the plane or use it in bed all the time. It's a power house it runs everything I throw at it at a respectful fps and quality. I don't really like it for docking to the TV unless it's a easier game to run it struggles with cyberpunk on the TV. The only issue I have with it is the battery life and the storage but for the most part I'm somewhere with an outlet. So doesn't affect me to much and I installed a larger NVME.

Overall -Would absolutely recommend, though it has its quirks. The Good -This device is POWERFUL. Compared to the Switch OLED, the Rog Ally Z1E provides an experience with few compromises when it comes to performance. The 7-inch screen, paired with 120Hz at 1080p, delivers a crisp image. Additionally, it can run a range of AAA games like Monster Hunter World/Rise, Resident Evil, etc., making it a great companion to a dedicated gaming PC. It’s worth mentioning that this performance comes at a steep cost. When playing demanding games, expect very short battery life. Depending on your use case, this could be a non-factor, or it could be a big issue (e.g., long plane ride with power outlets, no worries; car ride, you may need a power bank). Fortunately, less demanding games can run much longer, so indies and emulated games work well when you don’t have backup power. This trade-off exists with all handheld gaming, though, so regardless of the device, you’ll eventually have to consider it. The Bad -The joysticks aren’t great. You can definitely get used to them, but if you’re jumping between consoles, you might notice they feel like lower quality. It may be best to consider the SD card slot DOA, as it seems to fry easily. I never bothered buying a card just to check. Which leads to general storage: 512GB is technically plenty, but you'll need to plan accordingly before a long trip. Lastly, Windows 11 seemed fine mostly, outside of poorly timed updates. If you'd prefer, you can always boot Steam OS instead. The Unfortunate After a night of playing, I left my device on the charger. The next day, it refused to turn on at all. After hours of troubleshooting, it completely bricked itself and didn’t respond to anything (charging cables, power button, etc.). I doubt you can expect this to happen, but it was frustrating when it occurred just 6 days after my warranty expired. Final Thoughts -Overall, despite a few inconvenient quirks, I think it’s a great device that offers above-average performance, so long as you’re willing to understand its shortcomings and plan around them.

Performance: Its a great alternative to having a laptop. It has the power and capabilities of a PC but much more portable than a laptop. Runs demanding games really good, (Ive only tried Cyberpunk 2077 on the highest settings. Idk about any other demanding games). Battery life will be a problem if you run max settings and you do not have a portable power bank. Personally I never use this outside my house so it never leaves its charing cable. Controls: The control scheme setup is a bit wonky. If you use Steam to play your games, its a bit difficult to use on the Ally. I had to disable Steam Setup in the game settings on the Steam Library to be able to play. I use the ROG Ally as my controller and Idk how using a XBox/PS4-5 controller feels or how well it operates with the Ally. Memory: It only has 512Gb storage. I bought a 1Tb MircoSD to help expand its small capacity. Installing the chip is very easy as its a slot at the top of the handheld and the machine recognized it and I was able to store games and data onto it very easily. Screen: It is a touchscreen so that did kinda trip me out when I was able to bring up the Windows Startup screen by swiping up. It takes some getting used to but now that Ive tinkered with it for more than a week, it feels fluid and simple. You can change its resolution by pressing the bottom left button located at the top of the screen. You can change it from 720p 60Hz to 1080p 120Hz. You can enable Real-Time monitor so you can see what FPS youre getting on low-med-high settings. FPS Limiter so if you need to save a bit of battery, you can activate this feature.

I play PS5 and PC games...but was looking for a way to play games quicker and closer to my wife. Wanted something that i could grab and start up a game while making the kids lunch, playing a a little bit then being able to put it away easy. Gaming on the go. This also is an easy thing to grab and play a game while watching a movie with my wife. We can sit there and my ADHD brain can bounce from game to movie and its a great time! She enjoys watching move mobies and I get to continue playing games! Loved the PSP, Switch was great but it dosnt have the game library that i have on PS5 and PC. This solved it all. This review is all my opinions as a gamer, above average tech user, father, and husband.... I just want to have some fun im not trying to have a product thats going to change the world... but anyway back to topic. PROS: This thing feels great to hold (could be a little fatter in the grip area...) and is a nice weight. The screen looks amazing, the colors, refresh, touch sensitivity...for me everything about the screen is great! I was pleasantly surprised with the rumble...With all the research I did I can say I don't remember anyrhing talking about this. But its fun. The speakers are outstanding.... not gonna lie...was playing call of the wild on it and I kept hearing crickets/bugs behind me... I did....i kept turning around trying to digure out what the hell was making the noise........yeah....I felt fairly sumb after that. BUT that made me love the speakers. Armory crate is great......most of the time. There have been a few issues ive had with it and it can be frustrating. When it works properly its actually really helpful and a smooth experience! The quick menu is a great way to change and twaek settings for what i plan on playing for the session. Every game i have tried runs overall pretty great. I am not the biggest "MORE FRAMES! BETTER GRAPHICS!" Kind of person. So when i found that just about every game i tried can run high graphics and is smooth (hefty games when on 25 watt or 30 watt plugged in)....i was very happy! (I wont play competitive games on it, im sure they would really have a problem but i have better ways to play those.) Games tried - Baldur's Gate 3, Star Wars Fallen Order, Call of the Wild, Multiversus, Broforce, PSRemote play, and a few others. So far cooling is no issue, this thing really kicks hot air out. CONS: For me, the back buttons are ehhh...they work and feel allllright. Not amazing but accpetable. Not sure what i would do for a change though. The battery life is definitely the BIGGEST con for the entire system. Depending on game and watt mode....i can play for a couple hours to 30 minutes............ will say though. The included charger, is great. It keeps it running and depending on what im playing will get the battery back to full in no time, while playing! Windows 11 is not exactly thier issue but it can be picky and finicky.... which makes armory crate freak out a bit. A way to quickly disable the touch screen would be nice too...too many times i catch a glare and see a smudge, go to wipe it off and all the sudden cancelled everything i was doing.......... Storage isn't the greatest... its like 475 gig. If you really obly plan on keeping 2 or 3 large games around at a time then its fine, but I like to have options and since most games are now hitting closer to 150gb..............under 500gb for storage is a bit rough. TLDR: To sum it all up...this is the machine I wanted but did not realize how much I would enjoy it. Runs great, looks great, feels great...its great!

For a 1st gen of handheld gaming pc, the ROG ally is so good, it exceeded my expectations. I’m speaking of the Z1 extreme from my experience. It can handle almost all games out there, even triple A games. Windows may be a disadvantage or an advantage depending on the user, but thankfully Asus is bringing out software updates the best they can to optimize your device and they did not disappoint. Screen size can also be a factor- some may find it too small while others are good with it. Personally, I find it to be the right size because it feels compact and light that it wouldn’t bother that much with your hands holding it while gaming. The display is also gorgeous even though it is not an OLED. The only downside for me though are two things: 1st, the battery life is not great, you can only game it for 1-2 hrs. 2nd is the sd card but even though it’s not really a deal breaker, I do wish they have another option of 1TB. Luckily, changing the ssd is easy. Overall I would give this a rating of 4-4.5/5.

I got one of these last week as an early birthday present since they’re currently on sale. So far I am very happy with it but it does have a few flaws. It has so far ran most games i have installed such as Heavy Rain, Cyberpunk, Days Gone ahd some smaller older titles like Deus Ex. It is difficult getting used to windows on such a small screen as you have to rely on the touchscreen snd built in keyboard for navigation. The text can sometimes be really small so you may accidentally press the wrong thing. If you use Steam I strongly recommend Big Picture mode fir this device! One major flaw is it does get very hot so make sure to play around with the performance settings! Also, 512 gb is only enough storage for maybe one or two big ganes and a few older or indie titles. As someone who also owns a larger Asus RoG gaming laptop this is a great companion device for when you dont have room for the big laptop on trips! Overall, this is a great portable PC/console for gaming on the go!

Let me start by saying I don’t usually write reviews for anything. But I felt a device like this could use my two cents. I am coming from a Steam Deck experience. I also own a few GPD devices, every kind of Switch, a desktop gaming rig, a few laptop gaming rigs, a PS5, and a XSX. I am stoked that devices like this are finally becoming mainstream. Not sure if it’s the new toy excitement or what, but I have not been able to put this thing down since my purchase a couple weeks ago. With that said let’s get into the details. As a precaution from all the horror stories on the internet regarding the heat output and the almost guaranteed MicroSD card reader failure rate. I decided to open the device and made some thermal modifications prior to even powering the device on the first time. (I’ve provided pictures for anyone who is curious) From what I can tell, the Ally has a major design flaw in regard to where the card reader is located. On literally any other device the SD card slot is usually at the bottom or side of the device, and nowhere near the exhaust. In the case of the Ally, the motherboard with card reader is nearly resting on the exhaust fins of the heat sink with no heat shielding whatsoever. It’s also located on what appears to be the hotter exhaust side of the two.(left side) For a company that has a decent amount of experience in PC manufacturing, this design oversight is rather unacceptable. While digging around inside the Ally. I also took the opportunity to create a factory never booted recovery image of the 512gb Micron SSD via the clonezilla Linux distribution. I also reapplied a more adequate amount of thermal paste to the APU. There was literally almost none on my device and it was already crusty and dry.(again unacceptable) Once the device was reassembled, I began my testing. Let me start by saying I am not a fan of Windows 11 by any means. I don’t use it on any of my machines. The Ally being no different. I feel Windows 11 is a buggy mess, not matured enough, and has no place on any device especially a handheld without the typical mouse/keyboard inputs. I did all the updates and made a dump of all the installed drivers, tested a few games such as GOW, Sackboy, GTA V, and Cyberpunk. Although the games played pretty well once finally running. The pick up and go experience I have grown accustomed to from the Steam Deck just simply wasn’t there. Especially with the typical Windows 11 shenanigans. So I ditched Windows 11 altogether on this device. My first alternative to test was ChimeraOS. It gave a near identical console like experience of the Steam Deck except with more power. However between the lack of a decent desktop mode to make any real changes and no ability to conveniently change the TDP settings, RGB settings, or run 100% of my game library. I found ChimeraOS to not be a good fit for me either. So I installed Windows 10. After getting all the drivers settled, changing the VRAM to 6GB in Armoury-Crate, and modding the minimum VRR threshold to 24fps with CRU. I felt the device finally started to open up and perform as expected. I immediately noticed the device not only ran much smoother and more responsive. But I was also running cooler. On Windows 11 the fans were always spun up pretty high with hot exhaust despite the device being idle on the desktop. Between the display panel actually being true landscaped, the amazing color gamut, and VRR. I have yet to find another handheld device that plays games like the Ally. Games are rendered at such a level of buttery smoothness that I have never seen in any handheld. I don’t feel even the Legion Go with it’s integer scaling instead of VRR will be able to perform like the Ally despite having the same exact APU. Which is unfortunate and a huge oversight on Lenovo’s behalf. I hope I am proven wrong when that device releases. Starfield on the Ally has been amazing! However I’m not sure I like the graphics driver (v31.0.21029.6002) Asus provideds in order to play Starfield. The previous driver (v31.0.14058.4001) to me was the better driver across the board. Almost every game I’ve tried on the previous driver ran at a much higher frame rate. The newer driver from Asus seems to restrict the Ally’s overall performance. So I manually installed the latest graphics drivers (v31.0.21031.1005) with HYPR-RX support directly from AMD. This didn’t bring back all of the performance I was getting on driver .4001 but it’s definitely better than the latest graphic driver from Asus. My verdict on the Ally is although not perfect, just like the Steam Deck there isn’t anything currently released that performs the way the Ally does. For this reason I decided to keep the Ally alongside my Deck. Currently there just isn’t THAT perfect device that checks all boxes as far as ease of use, amazing battery life, performance, screen, etc. The power efficiency, ergonomics, and console like experience of the Steam Deck is still unmatched. So it will always be the platform where all my childhood retro games via emulation are played portably in a console like fashion. But for those moments when I want to play a modern game at or over 60fps with better image fidelity on the go, I reach for the Ally. I hope whoever takes the time to read this review finds it helpful or at least insightful about the Asus ROG Ally.

The ROG Ally is a great handheld computer practically a laptop cramped into this small of a package with a Xbox controller attached. I should mention I'm coming from Nintendo switch so my expectations moving to PC are skewered by bad performance being normal The good: Runs most games at native 1080p medium settings in the 15w preset if you turn useless things like LOD down plus it can handle Minecrafts new native raytracing "Vibrant Visuals" while holding ~60 fps at 16 render distance. Also the actual plastic of the case feels great to the hands with its texturing, The Bad: Windows' own bloat and Asus' half baked software, the myASUS app works just fine for checking on BIOS updates however armory Crate SE and Command Center are so poorly optimized and take several seconds to open occasionally while in game, also only one USB C is an issue because if it manages to break youre out of luck along with the battery life being abisimal only lasting about 2 hours away from the wall in 15w mode, being fair to it, it does run the same performance while away from the wall and you can't stand around and play games on a laptop the same way like this you'd need a mouse and a spot to sit while playing