Customer Ratings & Reviews

So I’ve always wanted one of these, even before they were an actual thing. I love my pc games but much prefer to play on a handheld system and this has finally made it possible! It’s a pretty straightforward setup just like a pc and it’s easy to use between the onboard controller and the touch screen ability. The battery life isn’t great so if you intend on taking it out with you make sure to bring a decent sized battery bank or try to scope out spots that have outlets near you so you can plug it in. If you dont want to deal with upgrading the ssd or paying the $ for a micro sd card (the ones that work the best with this device are pricey and kind of hard to find) then I suggest getting the 1tb option. I haven’t had any issues with games running on this but I mostly play stuff like Fallout, ( Doom Dark Ages will play but it’s not a good experience). All in all I wanted something I could sit on the couch and play while my husband sits next to me and games on the xbox, and something I could take to work with me to play in between clients, this does that! I’m no longer strapped to my desk in my office at home trying to balance time with my family and gaming, or trying to adapt my work schedule to have time to game!

Overall, it's a very nice option for gaming on the go or just away from your primary PC setup. Pros: Strong enough to run games at decent framerates and graphic options, and runs Windows 11 so essentially you can run mods on said games as well as play normally-unsupported games (think abandonware, or games you could find off itch.io's site). You can also install stuff like Discord on it in case you ever get the urge. Literally a portable computer in your hands. There are some downsides, though. Cons: Battery life is ~90 minutes. You can extend it by running in low power mode, reducing screen brightness and refresh rate, running RSR, etc. but don't expect this to get much past that. Also, you can only run at 15-watt Performance mode at best when not plugged in. To add to this, the most recent BIOS update impacted its performance pretty seriously, though I expect that will be fixed soon enough and is a temporary issue. Outside that, the only real issues I had were that at one point the task bar popped up and wouldn't go away until I closed and reopened the Armory Crate app, and that the adapter they give you is just that - a power adapter to plug into the USB-C slot on the top, and not the better one that was sold out before the console even came out that included HDMI and other hookups on it. Overall, I would recommend it if you want to essentially take your PC on the go, and will have somewhere to plug it in when you get to your destination.

I am loving the adus rog ally, its fantastic. It runs all of my games very well. Battery life is not too great about 2 hours of play time on a moderate graphics game but thats about what i would expect from a handheld computer. Its very comfortable in my hands even after extended gaming, im 6'1" with above average size hands. The only thing keeping this from a 5 star review is that i have had a defective left bumper from brand new out of the box. Brought it back to best buy and showed the geek squad employee what it was doing and he verified it with me. They shipped it out to asus for repair and it seemed that they just immediately sent it back saying it was working fine. I will attempt getting it repaired again before the manufacturer warranty expires. Other than that i love the product.

Great little mobile gaming machine after you dump Windows 11 and install Bazzite or SteamOS. Plays all the games I want to play at a decent frame rate with appropriate visual settings. I don't play alot of fps games and no online games so the battery last a decent amount of time for me. The unit is relatively light and easy to sit back with on the couch or chair and play games while waiting for laundry to finish washing or drying.

The Ally is a great entry in the growing handheld space. Solid screen, lots of performance for this form factor, but abysmal battery life. Even with Armoury Crate SE trying to simplify things, it’s still Windows and not as smooth in use as the more console experience of the Steam Deck or Switch. Overall I’m happy that I picked it up, even if it’s more a tethered couch device than true handheld

Really solid product. I enjoyed the performance, screen quality, sound quality, and controller feel. The only let down is the battery. AAA titles don't last much more than an hour. Somewhat expected given how light the product is and how demanding the titles are. Looking forward to the future of this form factor!

Battery life isn't great, but otherwise it's very good for gaming on the go without spending a lot more on a gaming laptop

The Ally is what its intended for. It was a little tediouas for me to set up but after a fresh windows install it was up and running. The Wifi card in here is a little slow as games took hours to download so I felt like I was back in 2012 waiting for a game to update for 6 hours. Once the trouble of setting it up was done it worked as intended and was very good. I will say the flaws are annoying ones but slight work arounds. For example it does not pick up the hotspot on my phone so gaming on the go although is possible its not for like in the car or on a plane unless you are playing local story games. I play red dead 2 on this and it runs great. Battery life is bad as you would expect but I knew everything I said going in to this purchase other then the set up process. I have set up several new pc's and this was the most work by far. Don't let that slow you down. worth it. I would say, for this model, find it used

I have to say, this thing is pretty TIGHT! I see the review online and how you have certain people saying its greta but... or it sucks and... I mean listen, is this gonna be a desktop? No. A Laptop? No. But it can kinda. By itself it is pretty powerful as a gaming console and to use for daily web browsing and such. I have been using it with the rx 6850m xt xg mobile as a desktop replacement and for MY needs!? They are more than met! How many people REAAAALLY use blender? Or solidworks? Or any of those creative apps that are power hungry? If you do those, you should be looking at a desktop anyway! But for the gamers out there who also twitch and discord and stuff? This will do it! It's comfortable to hold and carry around, pretty well balanced overall. I have no vision in one eye and I can still see the screen pretty well day or night! The speakers actually surprised me! The videos don't do it justice. I will say that if you press the power button to put it to sleep, like a nintendo switch or phone, it wont turn back on super fast. You have to wait about 5-10 secs before you can turn the screen back on and unlock it. The fingerprint reader was hard to set up, but once it was set up it read my finger every time! Like everything else it comes with some quirks here and there but as an overall package, it's pretty dang good! I just feel that people now a days want the best of the best just because they saw it online. This is more than good enough. Get it and you'll be happy I think. Good luck and best wishes!

It works great. Gets hot on turbo mode but most games only need performance mode which is great. And the fact that you can play plugged in is an amazing addition. The interface can sometimes get glitchy or freeze and some things not work, but all it takes is a restart. The restart doesn't take long at all, too. Startup is just about 7 seconds. I love to hook this up to a dock and play on my monitor. You xan use bluetooth easily and there is no problems with the wifi connecting.

I had a Steam Deck from day 1 and the portability and power was a revelation. The Ally, somehow lighter and quieter, has upped the performance game significantly. There are aome bugs and issues that come with running Windows, but the compatibility issues that SteamOS had with some games (namely EAC and other anticheat systems) are nonexistent. The screen is much improved over the Deck along with, well, pretty much everything else. Very worth the money to get the Ally.

I purchased this open-box after reading many reviews and considering this machine, the Steam Deck, or waiting for the Logitech Go. I went to pick it up and shopped around for a little while, and asked one of the employees about their opinion of the machine. They let me know that they thought it was "stupid", and that "no one liked the Ally", but he didn't name any specific reasons. A little off-put, I went home and anticipated a lot of trouble with the setup and game config. But no - honestly, anyone who is familiar with Windows PCs should be able to navigate this, and I have not personally had any trouble with Armory Crate. The only downside was again Best Buy's fault - I guess when it was returned after being opened, they didn't check to see if the charger came back with it. I mainly play Baldur's Gate 3 on it, but I opted into the free trial of Xbox Ultimate that comes with it and have played some simple games like Unpacking and Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, which run smoothly and control just like an Xbox controller on a Windows PC. I have small hands, and the Ally seemed large when I first unboxed it, but after getting used to the feel, I really enjoy it. Though the screen is larger than the Switch, the device is surprisingly lightweight. The only slight downside is that it does get rather hot after running it for hours on Turbo mode. That was to be expected, and it's never crashed due to overheating or anything, but it makes me worry a little about the longevity of the system. I bought a 100w plug hub and 100w capacity USB-C off Amazon for keeping it charging while playing. It works wonderfully. I still get around 1.5 good hours and .5 hours of slightly lesser fps off of it on Performance mode.

I have a steam deck too and I personally like the ASUS Rog Ally more. The ASUS Rog Ally is a mini handheld gaming computer. I just like that I don't need to bring my gaming laptop with me anymore because I can just use the handheld now. Despite hearing that the buttons were bad, I've had no issues with the buttons yet. None of the buttons were stuck or hard to push when I used it. I heard that there is no sleep mode and the system goes into the lock screen when the power button is pressed or the black screen shows when the system is idle. I turned the settings on the lowest since I heard the battery does not last long. So far, the battery has lasted for a long time but I guess that is because I was just playing Left 4 Dead 2 for starters. I heard games like Resident Evil 4 Remake will drain the battery fast. I like the lights on the analog sticks when the system is turned off. If you want something cheaper, then the steam deck would be the best. I got the Steam Deck 512GB. One more thing too since I heard some people saying the system is not working when they open it. You are supposed to plug it in first and let it charge! As far as I know, every system is like that! Haha! The gameplay looks good and runs smoothy but it will make the system hot.

I was looking between this and the Steam Deck and I am glad I landed on this product. Excellent build quality, handles all the games I throw at it like SW Jedi Survivor, and Diablo IV. As with everything electronic the more you use it the lower the quicker the battery will die, not really a drawback cause you can get an external power bank with no issues and attach it to the back.

Light weight and powerful. The only thing holding it back is the battery life. Windows 11 is a blessing and a curse, it can run anything, but also make is cumbersome when you just want to play games. But that's not the fault of the ROG Ally. The only other knock against it, but might just be preference is that the joystick is a lot softer than the steamdeck or other controllers.

As a first gen, this thing absolutely hits all the bells and whistles. I'm coming from a laptop running an i3 from like 10 years ago and desperately needed an upgrade to something modern that can run anything I throw at it. This device is so worth it. If you're not docking it and just running handheld, maybe save for the x due to poor battery life if that's a concern of yours. Otherwise, you'll definitely be happy with your purchase.

I have been using the Asus ROG Ally for the last one full year, and it has been quite a great performer in the handheld gaming market. Finally, a sleek design with top-of-the-line performance makes for engaging gaming in this one particular unit from ROG Ally. Of course, this comes at certain other trade-offs that an individual needs to eye against its offerings before buying it. Pros The Asus ROG Ally does a few things really well. Its custom AMD Ryzen Z1 processor is soldered to ensure this particular model can get through even the most demanding games. To add to that, it also comes with a high refresh rate display, providing vivid and detailed visuals that bring games alive—at least on paper. I especially liked its screen brightness and color accuracy. Ergonomics is another area where the ROG Ally is preeminently superb. This gadget is endowed with a comfortable grip and well-placed controls to create entertaining extended gaming sessions. In addition, it also features customizable buttons and advanced haptic feedback for further personalization and immersion, thereby giving the device a personalized feel based on gaming preferences. Another good point about the ROG Ally is its ability to support a wide range of games, so gamers who want alternatives are well catered for. Cons Some of the key weaknesses of an Asus ROG Ally include the following: its battery life. With the powerful hardware this device contains, it tends to eat up a lot of battery and can be a major inconvenience for gamers looking for something portable. This product requires recharging frequently after runs of battery draining, reducing the appeal of using it on the move. Another drawback would be the weight of the device. While the ROG Ally has been designed with an overall more rugged structure than one would expect, it does weigh heavier than some of its competition. That might become hectic for those looking for a lightweight, travel-friendly gaming solution. Also, fitting into the budget for those gaming on a tight budget may prove to be difficult due to the premium tag attached. The SD card reader burned out immediately as well, and they never fixed, or offered to fix this. Asus support is one of the worst customer service I have ever dealt with. From the ROG laptop I own (GA503QS) to this device, to say REALLY bad drawbacks, would be an understatement. Conclusion In a nutshell, the Asus ROG Ally offers huge performance along with slick design for serious gamers. It packs in heavyweight processing power and a display that provides users with an amazing gaming experience. At the same time, it boasts an ergonomic design with requirements for comfort during long working hours. However, at the same time, battery life and weight, crap customer service, and broken SD card slot issues, are serious questions that might therefore easily dent its appeal. Would I recommend? Yes, I would recommend the Asus ROG Ally to every gamer who wants better performance and display in a portable handheld device. Obviously, it comes with drawbacks, but its strengths make it worth the cost if one aims at a high-end portable gaming experience. If one can manage frequent charging and doesn't mind a slightly heavier device, then the ROG Ally will be a great choice. (As long as you can get the Extreme model for under $500)

I love my Ally. But in order to love it, I had to go through 5 different units. The very first one was an open box and had an insane amount of software issues to the point where it was unplayable. The second one was another open box, that was working great for a few days, then crashed on a regular basis. The third one was a brand new unit with the same software issues. The fourth was another open box with issues related to the SD card reader and right joystick, BUT my fifth unit has not given me a single issue, YET. Time will tell, but it seems like with the more recent manufacture dates they ironed out most of the problems. The first three units had manufacture dates of 04/2023-05/2023, the one after that had a date of 06/2023, but my fifth and current one has a date of 07/2023. Keep an eye on the manufacture dates and as long as you get something after 07/2023 you should be golden. When everything works properly, this is an outstanding gaming device and even works well connected to my 75” tv, although 4K doesn’t perform the best 1080p still looks really good. I recommend the Ally, as long as it’s a later mfg date. Also look at the open box deals, you can save quite a bit.

After the initial setup, I played a few games on it. Mainly the forest. It held up very well. The only issues i noticed with it are the battery life, which is expected. Aswell as the heat, it tends to get very hot after a while of playing. Still a good product.

Forget using the sd slot. the card overheats within seconds of putting it in the system and it will stop being detected. 1 port of usb c is not enough, unless you have a docking station, it is only used for powering the device and on a windows operating system, there have been a few times that i have been wanting to use connectivity over usb but cant. screen is good and functionality besides the problems mentioned above are great! this would be a usable laptop in a pinch for school related tasks. the interface of the rog suite is easy to use and understand and if done right, it can remain really cool during gaming. Personally, with the negatives i have of this device, it isnt something i am going to keep. i think i will wait for a version 2 to see if some of the problems (mainly the sd card one) can be corrected in the future