Customer Ratings & Reviews

I bought thos because I didnt want to be locked into linux os and I'm pretty familiar with windows. It sets up just like a computer or laptop would. The screen on this thing is freaking awesome and crsip. It handles alot of AAA games well, but you will need to adjust your settings. The included space on the ssd is okay, just okay, since my purchase at the beginning of the month i have since upgraded to a 2tb ssd. Depending on your game settings the battery will not last long at all, i get about 2-ish hours on ff7 remake. Having said that it is a portable and a power hungry portable gaming pc with a built in screen so it is expected. I have about if not over 100 hours of using it and it's been solid. Even with the battery and storage shortcomings i still give it 4 stars just because maybe another hour or so of battery would help a ton, but the way i see it if you're out and about all day are you really gonna be gaming for hours on end? It gets the job done its fast and capable and I dont regret my purchase at all

I’m so glad I bought this thing. I would just like to say that I love my ROG ally, and really enjoy gaming on it. It plays all of my games from every platform, and is as versatile as I need it to be. All that being said, the ROG is not perfect by any means. It has it shortcomings, but in my opinion they are far outweighed by the positives. The ally is a windows 11 fully functioning pc, so everything good and bad that implies is implied. The ally is not a plug and play device, it requires updating and tweaking to get the most out of it. There is lots up helpful information online, on the Asus website and places like the redddit ROG subreddit. After you get it dialed in you’ll enjoy gaming from all sources. I play X box games on it, pc games, I even cloud stream from the included game pass app and from the PlayStation plus app. You can buy games from steam, Microsoft sore, epic games store, and others. You can also download and play EA games with EAplay , which is included in gamepass. I have a series X, a ps5,and an acer predator helios 15 with rtx 4050 I got the same time as the ROG ally, and the ally is by far getting the most time. I think that tells you how much I like it. On the downside, the storage on the SSD could be bigger, and there’s the issue with the sd card slot reader, but other than that I love it. I save space by playing some games on cloud, as opposed to downloading them. The battery life can be a real issue, but I mostly play at home where I can plug up. Tou can adjust settings to help this, but if you plan on playing a significant amount of time without being plugged in I suggest getting a battery pack that can deliver 65W of charging. If you like gaming, I highly recommend one.

... then this device is for you. Ally is a full portable Windows computer dressed in a light gaming attire, with enough ROG design elements. Software works well after series of bios updates. Armory Crate is still annoying in checking and forcing updates. Battery life is too short, better have some 65w PD USB C powerbank nearby. Audio is very good, especially in surrounding effects, formula 1 engine in Monte Carlo tunnel sounds realistic. Screen is fast, there will be no tearing but I got used to OLED type and is kind a small for my eyes. Game pad is fine, and device is not too heavy however that is where I find this device type problematic since it is much larger size than regular gaming pad, and it is what you get in terma of pad button stiffness, ergonomics etc. I used it with a hub, external monitor, and also with Mobile XG eGPU, not a hickup, everything works fine and 4k gaming performance is there. In such a small package! Great job AMD and Asus! However, small screen, short battery life, size that is not much smaller than a laptop with similar AMD CPU and gaming performance, are all cons that resulted in my separation with Ally. Oh yes, micro SD card slot is literally burning, my SD card still works but is severely burned, color faded, so this looks like a design error. Overall, device does not run hot, and fans are not loud, which cannot be said for Mobile XG 6500XT. Will check future implementations and kudos to Asus for bringing this device to market.

I know it's in the early stages but this thing is great! Runs anything I throw at it with no problems! Slightly lighter and thinner then the Steamdeck (which makes a big difference for me and my tiny hands), better screen quality, performance, and you have access to alot more games/programs because it's Windows based OS. Only negative is the battery life (as expected). I also understand that they are releasing updates to have the unit perform better all around... They already released an update to increase battery life 10%-20%. Great job Asus!

Very pleased with this purchase. Fast online purchase/store pickup. I was looking into buying a next gen console but I also researched handhelds weighing all the pros and cons for each. I went with the ally because I would be able to play the same games I would want to on a console but in portable form. And it seemed to be the better performer of the other handhelds available. Ive only had it a month but it has handled every game ive tried with minimum hiccups, it is a windows based device after all, so you get some bugs to deal with lol. It is very comfortable in hand, lightweight and the fans are very quiet. Screen is very vivid and displays everything beautifully. It has many adjustable features and device status info within the armory crate, the app that you use to orginize and launch your games. You can customize and key bind to your hearts content. Overall a great buy for me!

Good: - Impressive performance - Expandable space - Controller feels good - Touch Screen is responsive - Awesome screen - Audio is good - Included power supply is very good for charging and playing - Basically a laptop if it was a beefed up Nintendo Switch - Can do 1080p at 120hz on handheld and 4K at 60hz when docked (depending on the dock) - RGB is a very nice touch Bad: - Not user friendly/hard to set up - Built in software needed to be re-downloaded - Face buttons are mediocre - Storage is a bit low for a handheld PC - Tough to swap between gamepad and desktop mode ("auto" setting doesn't help much either) - Does not come with its own dock. - Only color it comes in is white. Meaning that it can get dirty much quicker. All in all, I would recommend getting it if you know how to use a computer. Otherwise, the Steam Deck will be a better option due to its more user friendliness. I got the ROG Ally because of the fact that I can use multiple PC platforms. When Asus' Armoury app works, it works like a charm. Asus also sells their own dock-like power outlet to display to your TV/Monitor but I feel that it should be included here.

I can literally play any game I’d ever want to on this thing. Pc games, xbox games, playstation games, retro games. And they all run beautifully (as long as you’re willing to fiddle with settings from time to time). Pc gamers will feel right at home here when it comes to Windows’ wonkiness, but i could see it causing headaches for some. Battery life is by far the biggest negative, this can be remedied by either a portable battery and/or changing device settings to reduce battery usage. The possibilities really do feel endless sometimes with the Ally, with both it’s pc functionality and the quickly growing aftermarket of accessories. Also, streaming games directly from my pc while im in another room almost feels like a cheat code, ultra quality performance at minimal battery usage. Overall, I’m extremely happy with my purchase and have already found much more time for gaming lately. That’s a huge win in my book.

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!

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.

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.

I dont know. Is it better than the steam deck? Not really. The SD was really so thought out. Is it more powerful than the deck? Heck yeah. But power doesnt always translate to a good user experience. Lets start out with the good...screen is beautiful and 120hz is monumentially smoother than the 60hz panel you get on the deck. Weight is nice. Thermals are darn good for what power its churning out. The RGB is also nice looking. Loud, clear speakers. A lot to like. Now for the bad. The battery life is as awful as they say. One hour and it's done. Armory crate is glitchy. But my biggest complaint is these analog sticks, which basically make the machine pointless to me. Theres so much deadzone that cant be tuned out of these sticks. Ive been getting whipped in COD matches. Theres just no adjusting them. In armory crate it already says they're at 0% but it just cant sense sharp movements well. If single player games are your jam, this wont be your issue but if you play competitive like me, its not worth it. It's not a steam deck killer. Its a lovely PC handheld, but that's as far as I'd take it. Not impressed. I'll be returning it shortly.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

The ROG Ally feels like a turbo-charged gaming laptop in your hands. The performance? Running games with no problems. I played 100+ hours on Elden Ring and it's DLC with no problems. With the different power settings, you can crank this bad boy to Ultra and it runs games super-fast. Want to set it to save battery? Lower the power settings and it'll run the battery longer. The only set back is the battery life but I have this hook with the charger most of the time. Plus, you can use this as a mini PC. Running Excel like speed runner. Well, you can do that. Or, stream your favorite movies on it. The controls are smooth. I have relatively medium size hands and I have no issues holding the device. With the back buttons and nice cooling the device rarely gets hot. The sticks are buttery smooth and the buttons are nice! A, B, Y, X, L2, R2, R2D2. It's all here. Overall, the ROG Ally is a powerful little beast that makes you feel like the gaming overlord of all dimensions—just make sure to bring a charger. Better yet. It's upgradable. You need that in a device like this.

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

Hey all, ROG Ally is going back to Best Buy. Decided to write up a final thoughts review for anyone wondering or on the edge of purchasing/returning. TLDR, I give this device overall a 7/10. Performance - 10/10 As far as handhelds go, I don't think you can do much better than the Ally at the moment. It runs Starfield beautifully with the driver update, and has excelled at any AAA game l've thrown at it. If all you care about is the ability to play games, then get the Ally. Ergonimics - 7/10 It's a bit on the thin side and there aren't very many options out there as far as grip attachments. I bought a grip attachment on Etsy and they were a bit big for my hands, and there weren't any options outside of that. The device itself is light and perfect size IMO. The button placements and button feel were great. The joysticks were a little on the loose side, but I got used to it. I just wish the grip was better. The Steam Deck and upcoming Legion Go are huge in comparison. Battery - 5/10 l usually just game at home, but we all know the battery sucks. I found myself having to tote my charger around with me wherever I went, and finding a spot next to an outlet. That's just not fun. If you're looking for a device that you can pop out while waiting in the queue at Disneyland, this aint it. Windows Experience/ASUS Software - 5/10 I'm fully aware of how to use Windows as l've been building and configuring windows desktops all my life Microsoft needs to make a handheld version of their os Plain and simple. It's not horrible if you know how to use windows, but it's not the greatest if you're not somewhat technical sound I'm willing to het 90% of those open box Allys at Best Buy are due to the windows experience on a handheld. The upside is you can run whatever you want on the device, including anti-cheat games, video editors, sound editors, etc. It's literally a handheld desktop machine. Also, can ASUS please combine MyAsus and Armory Crate into one app? Why do I need to open two apps to check on updates? Bugs/Hardware Failures - 1/10 This is what did it for me. For $750 after tax, I expect to be able to use the device and all of the features within reason. The fact that much of the community has to accept that the SD Card slot is just non-existent, is disappointing, and ASUS' response to it is less than desirable. I also started to have issues with my battery draining while on the charger. This was while playing Starfield with a custom 20w profile and fan curve that kept temps in the 60s. The game was totally playable, but the battery shouldn't drain while on the charger. Also, sleep/hibernate is kinda bad, and I understand this is a Windows issue. Sometimes I'd have to force shut the whole thing down to wake it from sleep. Trying to hibernate in the middle of gameplay would sometimes result in me coming back to a hot device and battery nearly drained. So again, l'd have to be mindful of keeping it on the charger while walking away. When I was playing games, I was happy. But I just couldn't accept the fact that the hardware (SD Card Slot) was faulty, and there was likely no recourse for it. Hopefully they iron things out with the Ally 2. Enjoy!