ASUS - ROG Ally 7" 120Hz FHD 1080p Gaming Handheld - AMD Ryzen Z1 Processor - 512GB - White

I've always wanted a way to play my favorite games on the go. I'm sort of a PC gamer in that I own a PC and have a few games, but nothing too processor heavy since everything I have is many years behind. When the steam deck was announced, I thought that would have been the perfect solution to my ongoing need for portable gaming. Then came along the Asus ROG Ally. Even the lower end model (which I purchased), it was on par with the highest end steam deck model AND it runs Windows 11. This allowed me to access my games through not only Steam, but Origin, Epic, and the Xbox marketplace. I was able to search around for the best deals on games I wanted to take with me me without the constraints of one gaming ecosystem to stick to. Pros: Ultra portable gaming. Windows 11 if I want to run any mundane applications other than games. Functions like a touchscreen computer. Carry around portable bluetooth keyboard and you've got a perfect on the go writing solution. Cons: The battery life isn't great while unplugged, but most places for travel should have an outlet nearby. Accessories are minimal and a little more expensive. Frame rate on higher end games a little choppy, but if you wanted a high end gaming machine you would have put way more money into it than what this costs. All and all, this is basically all I've ever wanted and I am very happy with this purchase.

Priced at $399. The z1 version is definitely worth it imo! But it being a handheld please hold you expectations in check! as NO handheld will many games at maxed settings at 120fps!! Games that ran really well that i’ve tested and played: - Baldurs Gate 3 - Assassins Creed Mirage - Assassins Creed ezio collection - Elder Scrolls online - Skyrim - Batman Arkham Asylum - Sea of Stars - Far Cry 6 **Starfield i could not get it to a playable state, even at low settings it was mid teens rendering it unplayable! Maybe future updates may fix this As i stated at $399 for this z1 version is definitely worth it and with future updates i see performance increasing. Again hold your expectations in check as it still is a handheld and not a high end PC!

First let me say I didn't have any SD Card issues, and I believe that's overblown because the Hard Drive is so easily upgradeable. Another thing people will tell you is that the 4 CUs vs the 12 CUs make this Z1 model pointless, that's simply not true but it does have limitations. ASUS and AMD Implemented Radeon Super Resolution in this device and that allows you to use custom upscaling and sharping on every game you set to 720P (that's a similar resolution to the Steam Deck if you're wondering). This is honestly the perfect device for this technology as I get anywhere from 45 to 90 FPS in pretty much all my higher end titles because of this. Then if you factor in VRR it makes the whole gaming experience pretty smooth. So where does this excel vs the Steam Deck? Repairability, compatibility, and flexibility... This device is so well thought out that repairing it is something almost anyone could do with minimal instructions. As for compatibility, you don't have to jump through hoops to get games from other app stores (like Battle Net, Microsoft Store, and Epic's game store). Also, the games were largely created for the Windows platform exclusively so there are no Translation layers required (unlike the Steam Deck). Flexibility is a big win for the Ally, as it has the ability to run office apps, can be docked with an external dock that houses an external GPU, and allows for very high end desktop gaming experiences or Productivity work. From this perspective this is a fairly portable laptop that you could easily connect to a hotel room screen and do work or school tasks from. Now the one place this device beats all other challengers is in how well it integrates to control the operating system (as you can see from my screenshot), as there are shortcuts built in to the controls for things like Task Manager, Task View, Armoury crate, Command Center, Desktop View, Right Click, and Left Click. You can even bring up the keyboard and minimize it with just the press of two buttons. To say this is intuitive is an understatement. Now the places this loses to the Steam Deck are. Interface, Efficiency, Optimized Gaming Experience. The interface is pretty much straight forward on the steam deck and everything is there without the complexity of a Windows OS on a touch screen device. This is like saying your iPhone OS works well with the phone (really it should if you pretty much built both experiences like Valve did). Another area is battery efficiency, as the Steam Deck and OLED Models are easily much more energy efficient than the Ally. There's no two ways about this, the OLED screen and the lower resolution screens are just more energy efficient and the Steam Deck has 2 fewer CPU Cores, so that helps as well. When a game is optimized for the Steam Deck, it is the only hardware configuration they have, so it just works and works in a way that balances quality with performance. With the Ally Z1 you pretty much have to make a compromise on one or the other, as not all games will run perfectly on first install. Overall, if you're only looking for a handheld PC Gaming experience that you can pickup and play most games with, then the Ally is a solid choice. If you want it to more of a pick up and play experience with the best compatibility, then you are better off opting for the Z1 Extreme version as it is much more capable with default presets in games. If you want a smooth optimized experience with limited game compatibility then I would say grab the Steam Deck. Yes you might have noticed I didn't include the Legion Go in this list... That's because the Go has poor optimization, janky controls, and really needs some work. Now consider the Ally started out the same way but it is a much more respectable machine after about a years worth of updates. Oh and one caveat before you buy this device. I purchased this open box excellent for about $350, but at full price I would have just paid the extra money for the Z1 Extreme version as it really is that much better when the price is that close. Also, note that the Frame Rates you see in the game screenshots (not the best thanks to the clipping tool saving them with lower quality), are on battery and plugged in you could boost the settings for even better graphics at the same performance. Another note, I really hadn't found a game the device couldn't play well once the Graphics were set to Auto for the memory allocation.