Customer Ratings & Reviews

ROG Ally Asus has done an incredible job with the ROG Ally. While the name could definitely be better - the actual device is so wonderful that I am once again excited about portable gaming. Don’t settle for the Nintendo Switch or the Steam Deck - get a device that can play anything! The Ally runs Windows 11 - which means there is very little learning curve. The Ally is so good in fact - that it makes me glad that I sold my Steam Deck Pre-Order and waited for something better. Compared to the Steam Deck, the Ally is both smaller and lighter with a slimmer profile. The thumbsticks on the Ally are more concave and have a much better grip - though they do feel more loose. The Steam Deck runs noticeably warm/hot while the Ally’s dual fans run quietly to keep the system noticeably cooler. The Steam Deck feels more game focused as the Home screen is all game content from Steam by default. The ROG Ally feels more versatile and capable as it runs Windows, but it feels more like a regular laptop when it boots up. Thankfully ASUS has added a dedicated button that opens the “Armory Crate” which is a visual menu of games and Apps that have been added from both Steam and the Microsoft Xbox Store. Running Windows feels like a blessing and a curse. On one hand, most people are familiar with Windows - which reduces the learning curve and provides the ability to do all of the things we are used to using on PCs and Laptops. …But, on the other hand - Windows comes with the typical annoyance of constant software updates. On a device that most will use solely for gaming - most of the windows updates don’t feel important, or useful. I love the Ally and so does my 8 year old son, but it would make a terrible Christmas present. Though it boots up in only about 12 seconds, it requires hours of software updates before you can actually play games on the device. Once Windows is up to date - even more time is required to download games from Steam and from the Xbox store. …Fortunately the Ally truly makes gaming easy. Using Xbox Game Pass is an absolute breeze. Downloading games can take quite a while, but Cloud gaming is simple and works very well. Customizing controls, adjusting frame rate, modifying performance - all are simple thanks to an ASUS Command Center which also has a dedicated button. My complaints are very minimal: First is Battery Life - which just barely exceeds the two hours advertised. I actually haven’t been too bothered by the battery. Thankfully the Ally charges quickly and even with the use of USB-C phone chargers around the house - playtime is greatly extended. I don’t see too many scenarios where I will need to game for more than two hours without access to a charger. Second is that the Ally doesn’t come with a carrying case. As the Ally is quite a bit more costly than the Steam Deck (which does come with a case) - it truly feels as though ASUS cheaped out. To travel with the Ally, a carrying case truly is required. Unfortunately it will cost us extra. Third is that the device does not have a kickstand. The Ally does come with a stand to prop up the device - which is convenient for watching movies or playing games with a bluetooth controller, but it feels extremely cheap - as though it is made from cardboard. I have no doubt that these will quickly break or get lost. My fourth and final complaint is just that the Power button has no tactile feel. The button does an excellent job as a fingerprint reader and it works lighting quick - but it is perfectly in line with the top of the device and I can’t find it quickly. I always have to move my finger all around feeling for it. If it was raised just slightly - it would be much easier to use. Overall - I 100% recommend the ROG Ally to any gamer who can afford to purchase one. It has a beautiful screen, plays at buttery smooth frame rates, is incredibly versatile, can play any game that can run on a laptop, is great for Netflix, and is fully customizable. An absolute home run from ASUS.

I believe it’s real good, but it’s still needs some work to be done to Vance right now

Very capable system. Get the Z1 Extreme. Its worth it.

Overall, its nice. I wish the screen was a little bigger and the joysticks feel too loose. Shooters just dont respond like on console. Plus it came with joystick drift.

Very good computer pocket and nice design and features

After 3 days of having the unit, I accidently let the battery go to 0%, now the unit will not power back up. Looking online this seems to be an issue with the unit. I will be taking it back to Best Buy to hopefully get this replaced, if not it's an RMA process through ASUS which means my brand new unit will not be useable while it is shipped to them and back.

After I bought the ally Im so much in love with is. Great gaming experiece.

I bought this for my family and we use it everyday we can’t put it down

Came inside a huge box ; double the size of product with zero plastic wrap , foam , packing peanuts or literally anything to stop it from bouncing around inside the box . Not to mention when i got my screen protector (I also bought at the same time) came seperately inside a envelope where it was crushed and bent up . I mean the asus literally has a battery label on the box which Shipping and Postal Authorities throughout the world have carefully and thoroughly established Rules & Regulations for the carriage of such items (Land, Sea and Air). Planes have crashed, Ships (and / or the cargo they carry have caught fire, as have Trains and Trucks, resulting in the loss of life, limb and property. PENALTIES for non-compliance are justifiably severe, with fines amounting to thousands of dollars and / or serious Jail time for offenders. Additional Civil Suits may be brought, amounting to Millions of dollars in some countries. Not to mention the terrible automated return process(all pre written statements / Commonly asked questions) , you cant speak to anyone directly without returning it to a Best Buy store where they offer no help to prevent this in the future . BEST BUY IS KNOWN FOR ELECTRONIC SALES YOU WOULD THINK THEY WOULD KNOW OR CARE ENOUGH TO PUT LITERALLY ANYTHING IN THERE FOR NOT ONLY THE CONSUMER BUT THE PEOPLE TRANSPORTING IT AS STATED. Ridiculous . The Asus itself is a nice piece of hardware but i cant justify giving more then one star even if it tarnishes the overall rating cause all should be aware not to ship anything even with the free shipping for members . Youre way better off picking it up yourself in store and skipping them tossing it around for days with no reprecussions.

I am very happy that I use it as a great game console as a computer.

Great product and specs but the edges of the rings are sharp and cut into the joystick so for prolonged use maybe get a spare controller with Bluetooth or insurance I have had mine just under a month and started to notice damage

When Asus announced the Ally I was one of the to-good-to-be-true people. Everything about the specs and what it can do made me get all hyped for it to be an excellent competitor to the "deck". Though I was cautious about it, once I had it in my hands, all doubt was immediately blown away. The Ally lived up to it's promises and YES, Asus LISTENS to their crowds. It is super awesome of them to take in all feedback whether good or bad and work to make things even more better for us end users. The Ally is just plain great to game on. In the box is the Ally itself being well protected, the usually literature, a very cheap feeling stand and a power brick to get you set up and ready to game. Remember that the Ally runs on Windows 11 so once you finish up the Asus 1st time set up, you then have to do the Windows 11 setup. For me, I had to update Windows 11 and a lot of system updates and drivers 1st, then update the Ally's BIOS to be 100% up to date. No issues after that. (I would personally skip and avoid installing the Win 11 KB5026446 update or risk losing Fingerprint functions). Performance is great whether plugged in or yes, even when using the battery. The display being full FHD @ 120hz makes gaming look so good on a device so small. Everything is buttery smooth as long as you set the settings correctly (also personally, turn off motion blur on any game). There is more than enough power to run Indies to AAA titles. Asus Armory crate is actually really nice and useful now after many updates. I really like how anything can be installed and shown on the Game Platforms tab. I use the Xbox, EA, Steam and Epic launchers initially to download my titles from them and then once installed they go to the Game Library tab for easy access. The Command Center is where it's at for performance tweaking. If plugged in, I want every maxed at 1080 @ 120hz. Operating mode is usually set to Performance but if you need some extra juice for more demanding games, then active Turbo to boost the FPS. Honestly there is so many customizations you can do, there is no way it'll fit in a review. Sound is shockingly good for a handheld. Asus really did a good job in not just throwing in random speakers and hoping for the best. They actually sound good in low to med-high while gaming. Didn't sound at all like you were playing in a tin can. Of course it's not going to make you through a party with Crab Rave, but it's more than enough unless you use headphones. The feel of the ROG Ally fits perfectly in my big 'ol hands. Also personally, I do like the feel of it being more an Xbox controller layout vs how the deck is. Never did I feel hot while playing plugged in or on battery mode. Grips feel quite nice and prevent slipping. Now the console is white with some some accents, so long playing sessions will eventually get it a little dirty like it did me after a week but it is SUPER easy to clean with a microfiber cloth and some IPA. When in Turbo Mode (also performance monitoring on) temps reached as high as 90C and as low as 35C in Silent Mode. Never did I feel like it was going to burn me due to the great build and placement of the exhaust. Even when cooling the system down, I never noticed it being audible at all. Even when trying to listen for it, the sounds in game either drowned it out, it was just plain quiet or I had headphones on and couldn't hear it anyways. Now for the elephant in the room. Battery life. Now my roommate has the deck and I have the Ally. He gets roughly 2 hrs of gameplay while on the couch before he has to plug in. With the Ally, I turned Silent Mode on, FPS cap to 30, 60hz refresh and 720p max in the Command Center. After an hour straight, my battery life dropped 40%. I didn't need to plug in to recharge until 2hr 13 min. So it seems as long as you tweak it just right, battery life seems to be on par with the competition. Also if you want to squeeze a little more power you can just turn off the RGB lighting in the same menu. Another thing people will notice for the Ally is storage. 512gb may be fine with some, but it might be too small for others. I went ahead and got me a Sabrent 2tb NVMe. Make sure 100% IF YOU WANT TO UPGRADE GET THE 2230 SIZE. Asus actually has a nice tutorial video on their website if you feel comfortable taking apart the Ally to swap NVMe's and reinstalling Windows. ASUS' 1st try into the market of handheld PC gaming is a super strong start. Yes it's more recent than the biggest competition so it uses more recent and powerful hardware, but this is a SOLID choice for on the go gaming.

Upgraded the SSD to 2 TB, now I can play all the aaa games I want.

Was looking to help my friend get back to gaming by going mobile.

Best handheld game so far so good best picture quality and smooth

You can run everything at 720 60fps, it's an good investment

Head some hiccups still have some more hiccups. Don’t know if the Sim card will work on it but I’m hoping to new dates will fix that but overall it is OK.

The ROG ally is an awesome gaming handheld that has a few quirks and problems since I have the steam deck I couldn't justify keeping the ROG ally instead I shal wait for the next generation of pc handhelds

It’s a cool product but the battery dies pretty quick and randomly lags along with the screen turning red and turning off randomly.

This product is not ready at all to be on the market! My sd card reader fried just after the 2 week return window. Next, the windows os just doesnt work quite well with handhelds. There are an insane number of issues causing drivers to not work and then comes all types of troubleshooting which i do more than gaming on the device. This purchase is one of my biggest regrets honestly, but another reason to stick with desktops until another couple of years.