Customer Ratings & Reviews

ASUS’ new ROG Ally is one of the most hyped products of 2023. Following the lead of small, boutique PC manufacturers from around the world, and some large gaming brands’ in-house offerings, ASUS enters the market with what’s arguably the highest-spec’d handheld PC available today, and certainly the most powerful for the money. In contrast to other manufacturers, the Ally’s big advantage is a native Windows installation with full driver support, allowing virtually any Windows app to run that would falter on other operating systems from anti-cheat or DRM software. Unfortunately, its biggest strengths are also its biggest weaknesses. Just like Italian roadsters of old, you’ll spend more time under the hood tinkering, adjusting, testing, trying different solutions, perhaps uncovering quality control issues…and once everything’s running the tank drains much faster than you’d like. But when it all comes together, gaming on the ROG Ally is an experience like none other. - Unboxing and Setup The ROG Ally ships with just the essentials: a 65W power cable and a cleverly-packaged stand made out of its recyclable cardboard box. ASUS touts the lightness of the Ally and compared to its larger rivals, the difference in weight and size is quite noticeable. It uses good quality plastics and contours to feel much better in the hand than you might expect, even for those with large hands. All of the buttons and triggers activate with good feel and just the right amount of resistance, force, and clickiness - though I would say they’re more on-par with a $30, third-party console controller than an official one. The D-pad could have a better topper but it’s plenty precise otherwise. Plug in the Ally, power it on, and you’re greeted with the familiar Windows 11 setup sequence, which immediately highlights its biggest shortcoming. Windows’ support for touchscreen-driven devices has always been lackluster, and here the problem is compounded by the small screen. Entering text with the on-screen keyboard is cumbersome and slow; I ended up connecting a keyboard and mouse through a USB hub to speed setup along. Once complete, expect quite a few updates to run as ASUS is rapidly pushing new drivers, software, and even BIOSes to the Ally. Keep the latter up to date as they deliver higher system performance and longer battery life; ASUS and AMD are still tuning the system’s power efficiency. Since it’s running Windows 11 natively, the Ally supports nearly every game and software application made for Windows PCs since the 90s. However, this does not mean that they work out of the box, nor that the ones that do will be preconfigured for the system and ready to play. This is still a gaming PC at its core, and you’ll need to take some time to configure most titles to run well and look their best, especially when running below max power. - Gaming Performance & Power Modes The AMD Z1 Extreme APU at the heart of the ROG Ally is an incredible chip. At full power (typically 25 watts), CPU performance is right in-line with AMD’s flagship desktop processors sharing the same Zen4 architecture, and the integrated RDNA3 GPU is so strong it rivals dedicated desktop GPUs in the $150-200 range - regardless of which DirectX version or Vulkan core is used. I had no trouble running every one of the PC games I tested at 1080p, high details, averaging as near to 60FPS as makes no difference. When they couldn’t quite hold that number, the AMD FreeSync panel took care of those imperfections to keep the action consistent. Forza Horizon 5, Wreckfest, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Mortal Kombat 11, and more all held to their 1080p60 High target through long gaming sessions at 25W. ASUS has opted for user-switchable performance modes on the ROG Ally that change the power target of the Z1 Extreme. User-configurable as low as 7 watts, default modes are Turbo (25W battery, 30W on AC), Performance (15W), and Silent (10W). Performance mainly pulls back GPU performance, while Silent pulls both CPU and GPU power down to maximize battery life. I found Performance to be the best balance of power consumption to graphics muscle; even though synthetic benchmarks show graphics performance down 30% against Turbo, the difference in games felt much smaller - almost unnoticeable. Perhaps FreeSync working some magic? While you can go past 25W on AC power, the razor-thin gains I saw running at the full 30W were statistically insignificant, and I noticed no difference in games. - Noise & Thermals More impressive than the APU performance, the cooling fans on the ROG Ally are excellent. The two top-venting fans move a surprising amount of air even in their lower speed modes, efficiently venting heat at any of the Ally’s power modes. I haven’t modified fan curves from stock, but even at full 25W power with the fans ramped up after half an hour of nonstop gameplay, they produce so little noise to the point of being inaudible under any gameplay sounds. Unlike some thin and light gaming laptops, the noise they produce is not high-pitched or whistle-like, and shouldn’t bother people nearby. Thermal performance varies based on the power mode in use, but in all circumstances the Z1 Extreme is kept well within operating limits. I saw a peak of 84C at 25W power, which while warm is more than 15C below the chip’s throttle point. Since the APU is located centrally with heat pipes and fans located away from where your hands are when gaming, the Ally never feels hot to the touch outside the exhaust vents. - Screen & Battery The Ally’s 120Hz, IPS, 100% sRGB panel is gorgeous to behold, and though its FreeSync implementation is not the best I’ve used, it definitely helps keep the noticeable framerate dips to a minimum. The panel can be manually toggled to 60Hz mode for better battery life. Of course, battery life is the one thing that the ROG Ally lacks. At full 25W power with the screen at 120Hz and brightness at half, I saw less than 90 minutes of gaming; at some points I was noticing nearly 15% drain in 10 minutes. Configuring the power mode and screen for your purpose will be crucial, but even forcing the machine to run at 7W, 60Hz display, and low brightness I was only able to get about 5 hours of video streaming on a charge. Keep a power bank handy if you’re planning to game for long periods away from AC power. Note that these battery results are from the latest BIOS available as of June 15, 2023. Extra life may be gained through future BIOS updates. - ASUS Control Center & Armoury Crate SE These two programs ship built-in to the ROG Ally’s Windows installation, and both are immediately accessible via shortcut buttons next to the screen. Control Center is an overlay that allows quick toggles of the most common system settings, and can be configured to display any combination of them. The overlay worked reliably in my testing, letting me change power modes and control schemes on the fly - including the ability to toggle the controller buttons to a “Desktop” mode, where the right stick controls the mouse and shoulder buttons click. Each of the controller buttons can be configured to custom bindings or macros and saved to individual app profiles. Armoury Crate SE is a handy launcher and control profiler that consolidates game shortcuts automatically - unifying multiple storefronts and local installations into a single launcher that can be called at any time. Though not a flashy launcher, once games have been installed and configured for play it’s nearly seamless to boot the Ally, play games, and shut the system down without seeing the Windows desktop. Of course, you can configure the Ally to use any other launcher or overlay you prefer, though whether other apps can be called using the hardware buttons is another question entirely. - Quality Control, Serviceability Unfortunately, ASUS’ reputation for so-so quality control has reared its head once more here with the Ally. I encountered both hardware and software issues in my time testing including a couple system hangs coming in and out of Sleep, the touchscreen not working at all on a boot, and Armoury Crate SE itself failing to launch when called, to name a few. But the biggest issue I ran into was that the right speaker sounded like it was blown from the factory - crackly, intermittent audio is all I could get out of it. This did give me an opportunity to open the Ally up, however, and inside the design of the system is compact but elegant. All major controls like the joysticks are on daughterboards for easier repair and replacement, and components are installed with standard, easy-to-access screws. Within minutes I had the battery out (take note - this required removing a “warranty void if removed” sticker; at least the M.2 2230 SSD is openly accessible otherwise) and found the culprit of my speaker issue - the wiring was pulled so taut around some of the plastic and components it was breaking the connection. Giving the wiring a little more slack from elsewhere resolved the sound issue. - Bottom Line There’s a price to pay for power, and with the ASUS ROG Ally that price is being prepared to configure each and every game yourself. For tinkerers who want only the fastest thing like it, this device will be a dream to those willing to accept some QC teething issues, but if you’re looking for a pick up and play experience like traditional gaming consoles, you’ll get frustrated very quickly. Nevertheless, the ASUS ROG Ally represents the first major OEM to enter the handheld PC gaming space, further legitimizing a market once seen as a novelty and is now quickly approaching mainstream. I can’t recommend it to everybody, but those who want to be on the bleeding edge will be very satisfied with the Ally, and if ASUS learns its lessons from warranty claims and customer feedback, the next one could be a total stunner. Recommended!

The product arrived extremely well, I am quite happy with my purchase at Best Buy, it was my first purchase and it will not be the last

A very powerful portable PC. I love the different fan modes. The controls feel great. Many games are compatible these days.

This machine right here is everything that you need if you're into retro gaming PC gaming and Triple A gaming nice design fits nicely in the hand and it has a great resolution hats off to Asus

Great product for the price, I would recommend the extreme as the processor is faster

Battery life is decent, good deal for open box. Looking to possibly get the ally x though

Came with a dead pixel. Missed my return window because I didn't have my device to return it. Overheats fairly easily and worried about the micro SD card slot failing although I haven't tested it yet.

However is just like pc not much different even love it is actually better then a steam deck.. is gonna hard for fews hour is will crash games but keep try and turnbof is not do anything just go right andbplay any game

These handheld PCs are cool in theory but have very little gaming value when: - most AAA titles are supported - or run terrible - and remote play is a joke If i wanted to play a bunch of indie games in poor quality I could have just bought a switch. Also the battery maxs out at about an hour and a half of gameplay :)

I love it, super easy to set up anyone with little computer experience and enough patience can enjoy a wonderful piece of engineering. Better than its competitors, in a few weeks I will buy an additional unit.

More storage and a better battery would go a long way. Fan noise is only a problem at 25-30w.

Excellent system for it's price. Compared to similar competition, this one has very low noise production. Sound is best to none having Dolby Atmos. This makes it a must buy!!

This amazing machine is exactly is what ive been dreaming of! I've used windows my whole life so this is absolutely perfect. If you dont like windows your opinion may differ. But for me, i love this 100%.

Unfortunately I had to return my Ally as my right joystick started to fail. It’s a Windows 11 device so it’s not very user-friendly. If you want something that’ll allow you to simply pick up and play, choose the Steam Deck as an alternative. The Ally has many software issues than will hopefully get fixed in the future. This device was definitely not ready for launch.

Really fun and interesting but not enough power and a bunch of glitches tho they got sorted out.

Nice item faster than steam deck however the asus qa team should be fired all of them fire the janitor fire all of them...of course the as card slot quit working I'd send it in and be forced to go months without what I paid for.... but the. It would just die again so what's the point? Pretend it doesn't have an sd card slot

This thing is awesome! A hand held gaming computer. If you expect xbox ease of use this is not the game pad for you. If your used to playing on a PC then you will manage just fine.

Great for what it is but have had some issues since purchase ( stick drift and sd card problems)

If your a streamer this is a must have, you can your resources to stream then use it to play some light games or higher games at like 80ish fps

I love that i can purchase open box items. Best Buy is accurate with the quality description and allows me to feel confident purchasing