Customer Ratings & Reviews

The Ally is a handheld Windows laptop. As such, its setup is exactly like setting up a laptop (minus a keyboard, so use the M1 + Dpad Up combo to bring it up when typing in your WiFi password). To some, that will be a problem because it lacks the Steam Deck's and Nintendo Switch's smooth out of box experience. If you are used to Windows setup, you'll be right at home here. After initial setup, you'll have to use the various PC launchers to get to your games. Armory Crate SE will try its hardest to replace them, but it's both extremely limited and very buggy. Like when the D Pad registers multiple presses, making it impossible to select the game or app you are aiming for. Just get used to the touch screen, the virtual touchpad, or the Desktop Mode controller config. So yeah, there are lots of little things that make the Ally feel unpolished. Some of that is on Asus, some on Microsoft. For all its issues, I still absolutely love this thing. It's easy to hold for long periods of time. It plays the games that the Steam Deck can't (whether non-verified or requires some hoop jumping to get running). If you already have a Steam Deck it's a tough sell to get this thing as well, but if you want to get into handheld PC gaming then your choice will likely come down to this and the Steam Deck.

This system comes with its flaws, like many other things when they first come out. But what I really don't like about it the most... is asus's lack of communication with the community and the amount of software problems there are. I will say it is comfy, built quality is nice, and speakers and screen are amazing! But battery life is not good and it still needs some work done. I would have preferred the steam deck if I knew these problems would come with the rog ally. Be awarw of the 15 day return period. If you wanna test it out before deciding between the steam deck or the ally, definitely figure that out whithin 15 days. Other than this, i do really like the system. It has much more preformance than the deck, but at the cost, i don't think it's worth the extra money.

I wanted my Ally for the ability to play my PC around the house when I don’t want to sit at my deck. To be able to play games in bed or on the couch and it does that perfectly. I truly only have two problems with the Ally. 1) The SD card slot. This has been well documented now that the SD card slot will fail and take your SD card with it. Asus has tried to fix this issue but it still happens and will most likely take a whole redesign to fix. 2) Personally, I am not a fan of the thumb sticks. This may be something I just have to get used but I think they are just meh to ok at best. The battery life is comparable to other handheld PCs but with the included 65w charger, you can have almost a full battery again in about an hour or less. Overall I love my Ally. I would definitely lookup reviews for it to see if it’s something that fits your needs before you send the money.

Having this for almost a minth now and i have very little complaints about the Ally, performance on any game ive tried is great and runs even better when pluged in. Some not so good things is the battery life its about an hour so and it can get veru hot if you arent careful. Other than those its a great portable gaming pc wiuld recommend fully

Great device! Fast and the graphics are awesome. My only issues is the battery life, I get a little over an hour of play time before I have to plug it up.

I play red dead redemption on this and it plays great. The battery life is a stinker though and you’ll want to be plugged in to wall charger or have a 25k battery bank if you’re on the go. I pair with Jsaux travel case bc it makes attaching a battery bank easy. Killswitch is probably nicer but doesn’t have that option unless you get a third party attachment.

this is an amazing device. Once the setup and up dates are complete its pretty much a portible gaming pc. Been playing diablo 4, Skyrim, Fallout 4 from the comforts of where ever i want. Yes the battery llife is short (about an hour depending on what game you are playing but for the performance and the ability to play out doors , in bed ....its all good

I currently own both the steam deck and the asus rog ally. The steam deck is what got me back into pc gaming and the asus rog ally is keeping me with pc gaming. The ally has a rough setup process that definitely needs work as you need to update software from various places (windows my asus and armory crate). However after the setup was done I haven’t had many issues. There are definitely software bugs I have found that are certainly annoying. Some requiring a restart of the armory crate and some required firmware updates. Even with all the the screen and size for me are a perfect upgrade for me. If you are new to pc gaming then be aware or the not so user friendly introduction. If youre looking for a switch pro system well this ain’t it. If you are looking for a pc handheld you can use game pass steam epic etc with a great screen and mediocre battery life well you should give this a try. Just know the limitations going in as it’s not a cheap purchase.

Performance and screen are awesome! Battery life is not sufficient for what this machine can do. Would be five stars but had to take one off for the battery. I suggest buying a 65w external to get the most out of this thing.

I had a chance to play around with it and it’s honestly quite impressive for what it is. Played Diablo 4 well, plays Far Cry 5 and other games very well. Battery life is a little bit of a bummer, but we knew it wasnt great going into it. Plus we only ever use it next to an outlet anyway.

works good. able to play all they games i throw at it.

Awesome device works great will play pretty much any game at decent settings! Insanely easy to upgrade to 2tb via asus cloud restore!

I played a couple AAA games. It was choppy on perf mode. It performed as expected on turbo. But when switched, I only had a little over an hour battery life. Screen quality is great. Screen size is a little too tiny when in desktop mode.

The ROG Ally is a worthy competitor to every other pc handheld on the market and it deserves it place in the discussion as one of the best right now. My unit is working perfectly, with no issues with the sd card slot. I like the button controls much better than the steam deck and the screen is beautiful. I think Armory Crate can and will continue to improve with quality updates, and the games I've played on it have been a joy to play. I wish I could say the battery life was descent but it is not, plain and simple. It's not a big deal for me because I play in short bursts. Keep battery life in mind if you are looking for this product to last long sessions, may need to look elsewhere. Overall, the compact size, screen quality, button controls, and quality of game experience gets a 4 star from me. Let's see if this unit can hold up to the Legion Go.

Works great as a standalone device , you do kinda have to pick and choose what games to install as it doesn’t have as much power as a high end desktop. If you do have a high end desktop it is a great streaming device to bring your games to the couch or bed, it is a little uncomfortable to hold after awhile though.

Runs games decently well for a handheld device. Battery life could be better, but I always keep it plugged in. Storage is low, but is designed to be easily upgraded.

This handheld is pretty incredible. Definitely a 5/5 star for me…however, if I were scoring this for the masses (how would others fair with this, I could see it being a 4/5 star). There is a bit of a learning curve in figuring through how to set-up, update drivers, BIOS, applications and software, etc. There are also some optimization steps that I’d recommend each look into saved out online. So long as you go in to buying this with your expectations set that there is some heavy set-up work, it’s all worth it in the end. This is my first foray into PC gaming (having been a console gamer: Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch and PS5). I had no idea how great games would both look and play on this device. The screen is absolutely beautiful. Colors are vivid the the picture itself is super clear and high definition. Being so used to my Nintendo Switch, this is obviously in a league of its own. The games that I’ve played thus far are super smooth and the performance is stellar. Surprisingly enough, the speakers on this are pretty insane. I believe they’re Dolby Atmos supported and it’s crazy to hear how wide the sound-stage is for these (super far left and right channels). Really excited to continue using this. It may even render my PS54 obsolete!

As a long time PC gamer, I have been intrigued by the new handheld devices. I have found gaming laptops to be very expensive, heavy, and with loud fans. They also just aren't practical on planes. So I thought I would give this item a try and have thus far been impressed. I have not had any issues with my unit. Although I am enjoying playing some modern games, such as Diablo 4 on it, I am really enjoying going back and playing some classic PC games that easily play on this unit and look great on its 7 inch screen (e.g. Mad Max, BioShock, Devil May Cry, Alan Wake, Resident Evil 2, etc.). I credit the Steam Deck with bringing PC handhelds mainstream, and the Ally is the next evolution. I'd rate this a 4.5 if I could, because the battery life is limited. But I think this product will continue to improve as Asus and AMD continue to release optimized drivers and software. Highly recommend for portable gaming...

I really wanted to like this, and i really did. The screen is bright, and smooth. I did not have any performance issues, although i did not try the latest AAA games. It stayed cool and the heat was directed away from my hands. The one thing i didn't like, which was a deal breaker was the ergonomics, especially the right thumb stick. I just never felt comfortable using it and strained my thumb... Mainly it was placed a bit too far to the right. But, if this doesn't bother you, you will love it! The other nit pick i have is that i believe asus needed to do more customization of the windows interface for controller input. It was fine to use the touch screen most of the time, but many times the on screen keyboard covered text fields.

I really like this device. Form factor is comfortable. Performance is outstanding. The sticks, buttons, and triggers all feel good. My only gripe, if I had one, is battery life but that is expected given the power behind it. Strong recommend as a really good Windows based gaming device.