Customer Ratings & Reviews

Great handheld PC. Runs well once set up. Won't be disappointed. Will list my personal pros and cons with the device. Pros: Portability, Convenience, Speed, Versatility. Cons: Can use more space from factory at least 1TB will be nice. Battery life can drain quick depending on what you're running.

The ROG Ally is an amazing device, powerful and tiny it runs full PC games with ease. Battery life could be better, even at 15W I feel the steam deck gets better battery life. That said when plugged in this tiny device can handle games incredibly well. Ergonomics, build quality, performance, versatility and portability are on point. Best handheld on the market right now.

Pros This has rejuvenated my interest in gaming. For awhile i have been just so tired of sitting at my desk all day (work in technology) this has given me the freedom to move around and play games not tied to my desk. So far it has played everything perfectly fine, with no issues. My only conplaijt is the joy sticks feel a little loose for a controller, very sinilar to the nintendo switch, not my cup of tea but i got used to it. I have logged around 50 or 60 hours on it throguh multiple games and have really enjoyed the freedom of untying myself from my computer desk. Highly recommend if you are in the fence. Cons Since it is windows based you have to do some initial set up and uninstalling of the normal bloatware and updates. The wifi takes alittle extra time to connect, im finding my apps load before my wireless turns on which is kind of annoying but not a deal breaker. Its white so it gets quite dirty easily. Had to buy a new carry case because its bugger than my switch. 512gb storage. It sounds like alot but two triple A games basically takes up over half the space. It does have sd card slot though.

This product is great at what it’s meant to do: Play PC games completely from a mobile standpoint. However, what it has in flair and features, it lacks in practicality and the shortcomings do show. Pros: - Well built chassis with a premium feel - Analog sticks are good quality - Screen is vibrant with a nice glossy finish to make colors pop - Nice resolution at 1080p - Excellent speakers and sound quality - Ability to play any PC game on the go - The Z extreme AMD chip delivers great performance for what it try’s to do Cons: - Poor optimization for Windows 11. This will hopefully be fixed in future windows updates (as they expand their mobile UI capabilities. - Confusing update cycles. You need to go to multiple different spots for updates. - Poor battery life makes you wish you were always connected to a battery. This is even on a custom 17W mode. - SD card issues that still persist make using the slot a risk, essentially hampering your storage space significantly. - Game performance varies a lot on this device. I do recommend 720p for more games to be acceptable at 60+ frames. You will likely never fully utilize the 120hz refresh rate. 720p with AMDs super resolution upscaling actually keeps 1080p fidelity. Would I recommend it? If you absolutely need a handheld now.. sure. If you CAN wait for the next generation, do yourself a favor and hang on before buying it.

Im really enjoying my New ROG Ally, the games play great and it’s just awesome to be able to play PC games on such a compact device. Would’ve given 5 stars if the battery life was a bit better.

serves its purpose as a low-end portable gaming PC plays an decent amount of games some i honestly wasn't expecting it to be able to play which was a nice surprise battery life is non existent so long plays are always plugged into the wall which is understandable for a portable gaming pc. screen gets hot fast and is loud like a jet engine. downgraded to windows 10 because i hate windows 11 upgraded to 1tb ssd because it really sucks having to reinstall games in general. i got it on sale and at $100 off it felt like an okay buy its just not great outta the box. i would only recommend this to people who want a low-end gaming pc for traveling.

It's really good to be able to play all of my PC games portably. And they all play well. And it's comfortable to hold. Love the powerful hardware and the price at $700. The only drawbacks are the battery life, no dedicated trackpads (but it does have capacitive touchscreen with multi touch), and I love Windows 11 but it's poorly optimized for handheld devices such as this. Some games outside of Steam need to be manually tweeked to get it working, especially older games that run on DOSBox. For games that don't run on DOSBox but still need manual tweaking, Asus's Armoury Crate works well though it can get a bit tedious. It does support USB-C video output and Bluetooth so if you get a USB-C charging dock for it with HDMI port, you can connect the ROG Ally to a big screen monitor, dedicated gamepad, gaming keyboard, gaming mouse, and Bluetooth speakers so you can use the ROG Ally as if it is a desktop gaming PC. Plus, there's XG-Mobile support so you can "upgrade" the ROG Ally's built-in graphics hardware with an external graphics card that connects via XG-Mobile.

There's a lot to love in this little package. First, full disclaimer, I have a steam deck, I use a Mac regularly and am fully ingrained in the Apple ecosystem, and finally I primarily game on consoles. With that in mind, I purchased my steam deck for the purposes of on the go gaming. Let me tell you, it is fantastic. I do now have a pretty good steam library, and verified games work out of the box pretty well. Non-verified games take tweaking, sometimes a lot, sometimes a little. But, this isn't a review of the steam deck, it's a review of the Ally and why it's become my daily driver and finally some tips. The Ally is a great product externally. It is built great, and compared to the Deck it's got everything you want in a lighter package. The speakers on the Ally are fantastic, Dolby Atmos sorta works, but the device sounds great. It does not get hot where you hold it. And you do have to hold it a certain way. It is natural, but the bottoms of your palms should slightly curve around the both of the Ally. I've spent 2 plus hour gaming sessions doing this without discomfort. The buttons and joysticks are a bit mushier than the deck, but it's hardly noticeable. It does feel as though the sticks are a bit taller, maybe that's because of how it's held, but I did have to adjust deadzones to accommodate that. The shoulder buttons and triggers feel great. The back buttons are worthless. In fact I've removed their function entirely because they just get in the way. I am working on 3D printing new buttons that are shallower that may work better. Now, here's the controversial part. Asus chose windows. This gives us a lot of benefits like wide compatibility, easy trouble shooting, but it also gives us bloat, and a less than perfect experience. Setup of the Ally involved updating windows, updating MyAsus, and updating Armoury Crate. Unlike the steam deck and every other device I own, the update process is arduous. Luckily, no issues at all with the updates. You also need to make sure you set the power settings in windows properly, you also need to make sure you remove useless programs like Teams, and Office. I have no idea why those are included here. But, once you do all that, and let me tell you it's easily a couple hours - you're good to go. Install your games like you would, or use armoury crate to install launchers for you and then install the games that way. Armoury Crate is ok for settings and stuff, but I wouldn't use it as a launcher. It's just too clunky. Speaking of settings here are some that will help: Don't use the stock operating modes. Instead create a "plugged" and "unplugged" mode. Plugged is set at 25 watts with fan curve 3, and unplugged is set at 15 watts with the same curve. The fan on this device shines! The steam deck fan is loud, even at 15 watts. The Ally's fan at 15 watts is barely noticeable. With the "unplugged" manual operating mode, I get almost 2 hours with Diablo 4. Which is exactly the same as I get with the Steam Deck. Here's the thing - I can play D4 with high settings and get well over 70fps on the ally for those 2 hours. The deck gives me 40fps on average. So my experience is better on the Ally. "Plugged" mode is night and day different. Again, the fans are very quiet, but I'm routinely getting 80-90 FPS in D4 on high+ settings. I use this if I'm by an outlet. All in all - Asus and Microsoft have to work on the software a bit. Get rid of the bloat. But, the device is in much better shape than the Deck was at this point at its launch. I highly recommend the Ally for PC and console gamers. If you're not used to tweaking things and using windows, get the deck.

My Opinion. Pros: • Works Great • Speakers Sound Great On YouTube And In Games • Good Battery Life • Steam "Full & Partial Controller Support Games Only" (Have Not Tried EA, Epic Games, GOG, etc.) • Able To Sign Out of MS account Into Local Account • Basically A "Phone" But Without Service & Cameras • Would Recommend? Eh, Yeah, Why Not. • Screen Can Be Flipped To Easily Watch TikTok or YouTube Shorts (See Pictures) Cons: • Not As Fast/Powerful As I Thought It Would Be • Screen Can Heat Up Also While Under Heavy Gaming • Games Won't Play In Full Graphics, Will Have To Lower Them For Performance • Screen Sometimes Doesn't Respond To Finger Touches • Should Have Added A Pen For Easier Touches • Can't Transfer Files From ROG Ally To PC (Doesn't Show Up) • Keyboad Doesn't Show Up At Times When Needed Typing

Best handheld on the market. The Z1 Extreme is where it is at! there are many aftermarket things for this such as a 7 port dock station. You can easily upgrade it to a 4TB with a 90 degree and an SSD. Windows works smooth on this and there isnt one AAA game I have not been able to play on this. Expect about an hour of play off battery on 30 watt mode but again they have aftermarket battery packs. Gaming on the go has never been better. I am currently using it as my main desktop PC as we speak. With the dock I have a CAT8 hardwired with bluetooth mouse and keyboard, HDMI 2.1 cables. This thing runs FAST and the picture quality is amazing for what it is. The future looks bright for the Ally. Highly anticipating the Ally 2 to drop in the near future!

Great Device! This thing handles most games with no issues. I have my steam library, xbox library and emulators. Its perfect as a portable computer as well if you need to check emails or access the web. The screen is beautiful. The 120Hz panel is game changing on the games that support it. The only downside to this is the battery life, but you cannot beat the price if you pick it up for $350. Get one! I love it!

The ROG Ally is priced very competitively in the market space against handhelds like the Steam Deck & Ayaneo 2. However it’s held back by hardware flaws and software bugs. For raw performance the turbo mode (30w) is absolutely fantastic, there isn’t a single game you can’t easily play. On the flip side the Zen 4/RDNA3 SoC used in the Ally is horrible at lower power setting (which is kind of important for a handheld). At 10w the Ally is considerably slower than the older Zen3 6800U in the Ayaneo 2. The last photo in my review show the Ally running roughly 35% slower at 10w. This same performance disparity at lower wattage can be seen between the Ally & Steam Deck as well. As in most cases the Steam Deck ties or beats the Ally at anything below 15w. Maybe this is a just immature drivers but this makes the $700 a hard sell compared to the $350 Deck. The other elephant in the room is the widely reported SD card issue. My Ally ran my SD card fine until about the 5 week, just outside of the return window my SD card reader died. At this time it’s hard to say if this is a driver issue, or hardware issue but regardless it’s been 3 weeks+ without an actual update from Asus on a fix for the issue. My last gripes with the Ally is the small storage & ram (given the issue with the SD cards this is a big deal). Flash memory is insanely cheap now, with 1tb drives costing $40-60, Asus could have put a 1tb drive in the Ally for another $20-25. They also should have included 20gb instead of 16gb of ram, since the Z1 SoC is an APU so it uses your ram for VRAM. Now with games like Last of Us using 8gb+ of VRAM and Windows consuming 2-3gb, it only leaves you 4-5gb for the games. Again another 4gb ram module would cost $20. My last hardware complaint is the lack of Hall Effect sensors. At this point they cost basically the same as regular joysticks. Bad: 1. 16gb of ram can easily become a bottleneck when playing games that require 8gb of VRAM 2. No Hall Effect Sensors (very noticeable deadzone issues) 3. Small 512GB storage for a $700 device 4. Weak performance at lower wattage modes 5. SD Card reader failure 6. Sticky buttons & D-pad The Good: 1. Fantastic 20w+ performance 2. More affordable then devices like the Ayaneo 3. 120hz screen is amazing 4. Easy to upgrade (joysticks and NVME are easily accessible) 5. Windows OS adds so much flexibility 6. Armory Crate is surprisingly polished

It’s a 4 star when purchasing at a discounted price. I got mine for $450, which for the price is great. Yes you don’t get good battery life, but if you stay away from turbo and stay at silent or performance mode, you can get 1-2 hours of battery life. If you are going to play a lot of indie or old titles, this will be a good device for it. Great at emulation as well. Big reason why I picked it up. Can do all the way up to ps3/xbox 360.although if you are going to take advantage of the microSD slot, don’t get this. Huge chance of your ss card getting fried, like I have with my original ally. If it does have a problem, ASUS will not fix it. They are ignoring my emails, almost a week after emailing them twice. Triggers can also get squeaky, but in my experience the more you use it, the faster it goes away. No need to open it up. Definitely get a case as well the white will get dirty fast. Overall if you care of customer support don’t get it. But if you want a capable device at a great price, and don’t plan on using the microSD slot, buy it. Might return because ASUS support has left a sour taste in my mouth.

This mini pc rocks! Not just as a gaming device. This has the ability to replace an entire tower desktop when docked into a monitor, mouse & keyboard. Even if you plan to play absolutely no games on this device, it's an absolute steal for a computer with this kind of specs. It has one of, if not the best mobile processor you can get paired with gtx 1650 comparable graphics. I'd recommend this to anyone in need of a pc. As far as gaming is concerned, i've been having a blast so far. Games are smooth, even at lower frame rates thanks to adaptive sync. This is the only handheld on the market with this technology and it makes a huge difference. The device is lightweight and feels nice in the hand. My only gripe is with the Asus Armoury Crate software but software can be improved and I believe it will. Asus has a real winner here as long as the price remains at $699. If Asus could make a xg mobile graphics adapter with a longer cable, it would make a perfect companion for the Ally.

ROG ALLY Review My my experience with the Rog Ally was different and considering we are in a new time where technology is moving quickly and we now have handheld Pc’s there’s will be allot of new people experiencing this new Tech.Its not just a gaming device like it’s promoted mainly as and what I took it for Butttt!!! ...It’s a pc!! It’s not just a handheld.Thats was my mistake when I got mines.I use mac and apple products and I do music for a living with all Apple computers.I was lost for 2 days with this thing lol..but thanks to YouTube and learning and seeing how cool this thing is I’m really enjoying it.For someone like me who plays games allot and does music and into tech as well as just wanting a windows device to be different it fits me well.Emulators and much more.Remote play is also great and way better then my iPhone was.Remote play and cloud play is really good.Im playing The Witcher at 75-80fps and forza 60-100fps depending on which settings I use.Honestly the Rog Ally shouldn’t just be in the floor for kids and whoever to touch it.If someone just switched it to turbo mode and it’s been on 10 hrs and 1000 others touched it I’m sure the system is gonna play like that.See* I learned all this from YouTube tutorials lol.I was lost at first but I got the z1 extreme for extra power and I got lucky with a excellent one at best buy for 580 and it was mint with not a spec of dust and a year warranty at Best Buy and it wasn’t even registered on the ASUS site so I got the manufacturer warranty also.I would of bought a new one but hey I saved allot for accessories and it was mint..I got a later model and SD card is fine and glad I waited cause all the latest updates helped this thing allot.These things arnt for everyone but if your tech savvy and like me were you like to game and work at home and travel as well as have kids and a fam so being in the bedroom gaming with peace and quiet is a must lol go ahead and get it.Youll enjoy it but just know it’s a learning process if your not use to windows and all the extras.. But!! If you wanna just play your Xbox games you have at home and play cloud and remote play just get you a G cloud handheld..The ally is a computer so you’ll have to buy separate Xbox games to download unless there “Play Anywhere titles” .. Yes you can remote play and cloud but if you wanna turn it on and download call of duty MW3 cause you have it on your Xbox that’s not that gonna happen lol.You would have to buy MW3 for the computer.But they give you 3 months gamepass with the Rog and it adds on to your current subscription so there’s plenty of games to download and i recommend COG to buy games from cause there cheaper and there’s already a COG app installed on the Rog as well as Steam and Xbox ..I should have made my own review on YouTube of this cause my experience was cool and I still might.. I just feel like this thing was thrown out there with not much knowledge to new users.. the steam deck as well but we knew what we was getting with the steam deck,it played steam games and was promoted for steam games.The Rog is just built different.I have a series X and Ps5 and a Switch and the next gen gaming tech was great but I just didn’t get a wow factor much.The Rog gave a wow Factor and at time of feeling overwhelmed it just took some patience and as I go im learning new things.I definitely recommend the Rog Ally and look forward to the future of handhelds.

Despite the back and forth battle between this and the steam deck I pulled the trigger and went with the ROG. 1 month in and this thing is awesome. It’s light, nimble, and a complete power house. I’m a pc gamer but having a windows pc in a hand held allows me to play from the couch and hang with the wife more! Also enabling gaming from anywhere is a huge plus if you don’t own a gaming laptop. All together I think it is worth it. I’m able to play on the go and when I travel and that is a big plus for me personally. I do recommend modding it if you want more SSD space. There are some inexpensive boards that fit like a glove and are easy to install. Also a docking station and wireless controller is a must if you want to get this puppy on your TV. Only con is the battery life but if you’re doing a long gaming session you will be plugged in anyways.

I recently got my hands on the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme, and I have to say, it has been an incredible companion for my gaming adventures on the go. This beast of a machine not only plays most AAA games with satisfactory performance, but it also feels surprisingly light and comfortable, proving that size isn't everything. The OLED 120Hz screen is an absolute delight, delivering super crisp visuals that bring my games to life. While the battery life could be better, I'm happy to report that Asus has been actively releasing updates since I purchased it on June 16th, and things are looking promising. They seem dedicated to enhancing the overall experience, which gives me confidence in my purchase. All in all, I couldn't be happier with the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme. It's been a worthwhile investment for me, and I highly recommend it to fellow gaming enthusiasts on the move.

The Rog Ally Extreme Processor proves to be a gaming marvel, delivering exceptional performance and crisp graphics. Its cutting-edge capabilities elevate the gaming experience, making it a strong contender in the next-gen console arena. However, the device is not without its drawbacks. The limited storage, underwhelming battery life, and MicroSD overheating issues cast a shadow on an otherwise stellar performance. Despite these downsides, the Rog Ally Extreme Processor stands out as a formidable gaming companion, showcasing its worth at the specified price point.

This device is excellent at what it is designed for. That said, it's important to know what you're buying before you buy it. Many people compare this to the Steam Deck, and if what you're looking for is a console-like mindset, you need to understand something that separates this from the Steam Deck: The Ally is a PC first, and a console second. Your initial experience is going to be the same Windows setup that a new laptop would, except that once everything is loaded up, you have some additional built-in functionality with the controller inputs. As an experienced Windows user, this device is a joy for me to use. For the first month with it, I started leaving my laptop at home and carrying my Ally with a low profile keyboard in my bag as a trial. The touchscreen keyboard works surprisingly well for many things, but I don't like using any touchscreen keyboard for long typing sessions, and this didn't feel exceptionally different in that regard. The screen size is a noticeable difference from that of a laptop obviously, but that's where the divide stops; using it feels the same as any other PC, and I say that in a positive way to underline how minimal the difference is from a full-size laptop experience. The included menus are mostly intuitively laid out, and function well with the controls or with a traditional mouse. From a gaming perspective, it impresses. While I am used to mostly mouse and keyboard, I started sampling every game I have in my Steam library, as well as other libraries, which is where my next point comes into play: as a Windows PC, you do have access to other game launchers without having to do any trickery, to include the Windows-native Xbox app. As a PC Xbox Game Pass user, this convenience is nice. The controls themselves feel pretty standard. The sticks have smooth motion, the buttons feel crisp and, despite what I've heard from others, don't ever seem to have any issue sticking. This may be unit-to-unit, but I have put mine through a lot of use. I do like the paddle buttons being smaller, because on my Deck I do accidentally hit them sometimes and find myself disabling them in certain games. The smaller paddles on this device make them feel more like combination or "shift" buttons, which is more how I use them. Mostly out of curiosity, I did open it up to swap out the drive. Firstly, this type of thing is definitely important to be careful with if you're not used to handling the internals of any PC, so don't take this as a tutorial. But I do want to say the process of swapping out the drive was shockingly easy for the Ally. What impressed me more, though, was the fact that the new drive was able to be cloud restored from a UEFI feature built-in that pulls down the Windows recovery, as well as the Asus software, and loads it onto the device in a mostly easy process that only requires you input your wifi. This cloud recovery built-in to the UEFI was impressively easy and useful, and saved a lot of headache that can come with installing a fresh copy of any OS to a device with 1st generation hardware. I don't know who is going to use a device like this without headphones, but I will remark that the few times I have, the speakers have impressed me for the device's size. Again, though, I don't really make heavy use of this aspect. That's about it for my thoughts on what stands out; I wont sit here and list performance stats because you can find those pretty easily on YouTube, but I have genuinely enjoyed everything I've played on my Ally so far, and enjoyed it as a daily driver PC. I've heard a lot of chatter about sticking buttons and game crashes...but that has not been my experience. Still, be sure to read through other peoples' reviews to get a good idea of what to expect. Maybe I'm just lucky and got a outstanding unit, but regardless, it's definitely a purchase I'm satisfied with.

The ROG Ally is a great device with a comfortable grip. The only downside as far as the comfort goes is that the bottom corners are a bit sharp but not to a point where it’s uncomfortable to hold. The screen is absolutely gorgeous with colors that pop and 120Hz refresh rate. The audio is fantastic and better than my Legion 5 Pro laptop. PC games run smoothly as butter, as well as emulation. The sticks feel great although I do wish they had more tension. They are pretty easy to move, but I’ve gotten used to it. The face buttons feel great…nice and springy. The d-pad feels okay, but when playing 2D retro games, it’s easy to hit accidental diagonals and can be frustrating. Maybe I just need to get good, but I’d have preferred a d-pad like that Dualsense has or just a standard one at least. It’s fine though. The back buttons do feel cheaper compared to the rest of the inputs. The plastic feels like a step below in quality and they feel kinda loose, but they click okay and work fine. It just feels like it was a bit of an afterthought. But the triggers are easily the best feeling of all the inputs. They nailed it with these! Perfect tension and they are just so satisfying to pull. The volume buttons are in a weird spot, but I just have a secondary function added to LB + RB for volume down/up and that works perfectly. I really wish they would have added another USB-C port as I don’t get why they would think a single port for charging was enough, but that seems to be the norm and far from a deal-breaker. I also wish that the device had a bigger battery. I mean these are handheld devices meant for gaming on-the-go. A long-lasting battery should be a higher priority guys. Worst case scenario with max TDP, you get an hour. Performance mode will net you 1 1/2 hours. A solid power bank is a great accessory to have. As far as RAM goes, 16GB is okay for now but I would have liked to see 32GB for better future proofing. With RAM being as cheap as it is and games becoming more memory-hungry, there’s not really any excuse to only give 16GB on these devices with APUs that share memory. I’d like to have seen some options with more storage as well but that can easily be upgraded. I haven’t experienced any major issues, just some small bugs and Windows quirks like the keyboard not wanting to come up automatically on occasion. With that said, if you’re familiar with Windows, once you get everything set up and where you want it, you’re golden. Armory Crate SE is a lot better of an experience than I thought it was gonna be to be honest. Everything works as expected and the quick panel is nice. You can configure the buttons how you want and customize the secondary functions. My only gripe with AC is in the custom operating mode. It’s a pain to set fan curves and you should be able to mirror the settings but it’s okay and software will be updated over time. Asus has been regularly updating and improving the software. I have not had any issues with my SD card like some but I haven’t used the slot much. Overall, the ROG Ally is a great device with some minor flaws that can be overlooked if you’re looking for a powerful handheld gaming PC with a beautiful display, great audio, and are willing to deal with the quirks of Windows. I’m settling on 4 stars instead of 5 because it’s not perfect…but hardly anything is. Hopefully this review was helpful.