Customer Ratings & Reviews

I am really impressed with this handheld. I have a Steam Deck, but was able to get a deal on this device and though why not give it a try. I was surprised, I actually prefer it over the Steam Deck and find myself picking this up every time over the Steam Deck mostly because it can play more of my games and I find game text easier to read since the screen is sharper. Pros: Plays all my games (they aren't kidding with that tagline), powerful, sharper resolution screen, runs Windows (this would seem like a con, but if you are a Windows user, it makes this device easy to use). Cons: Really short battery life, not as ergonomic as the Steam Deck, software could use some more polish.

I like that I can play Xbox games through game pass and steam games and can pretty much play whatever game I own. I do have some issues with ease of use. I tend to have some tech issues sometimes that gets annoying. But otherwise it works well and I like that it’s more like an android system and not only limited to steam games. I do wish storage was better and that the mini sd reader wasn’t in the area where it can tend to overhead. It’s okay to hold for a while but kind of wish it was more ergonomic. The battery also could be better. But I’m usually around a plug while playing it anyways.

The saying that good things come in small packages has never been more true when it comes to gaming experience than it is now. Between the Steam Deck and a host of ther portable gaming computers, on the go gamers are spoiled for choice. Among all the competitors, the ROG Ally stands out - it's made by a major and familiar name - ASUS, long known for great PCs and components - and it has a LOT of power with the Z1 Extreme chip in a small form factor. And for a reasonable (ish) price to boot! It's not perfect, but it's pretty close. First, the goods. The POWER - the Z1 provides plenty of power to play older games and even some modern AAA games REALLY smoothly. You might not be able to max out the modern AAA games, but on 7" screen, they still look great. And speaking of that screen - it's a great one. It makes the Steam Deck's screen look really not great by comparison (I've had both side by side). Audio is also a strong point - and while Armory Crate was rough at first, it's really improved and the shortcuts/control mappings and other features like the overlay are great. Windows is great for compatibility with nearly any game and if you plug in a docking station / external monitor, this really can fill in for a laptop / desktop and you won't feel you're losing much. I upgraded mine to a 2TB SSD which was easy though a little pricey and have whatever I want on the go with me. I do have one of the XG Mobile docks (as I had a prior ASUS laptop that supported it) and this works great with that - with the 3080 dock, it really is like a super gaming desktop. On the so so front are the controls - the sticks are good but the buttons could be better (they feel a bit cheap/third party controller ish to be honest) - the Xbox layout is familiar and the triggers feel good. The d-pad is so so but functional enough and the option to map the controls/turn the joystick into a mouse is helpful in Windows to be sure. The overall shape is very compact but could be a bit more contoured for comfort. Battery life is good - particularly if you use the silent setting or set a custom low TDP - but not outstanding and you can WATCH the battery drain in performance or Turbo modes. Windows is serviceable but while it helps with game compatibility, it's not really meant for a handheld device. The Ally does generate some heat if you use it docked in Turbo mode or even in performance or Turbo on the go though it never gets loud. As to the bads...well, the boot up sound is annoying but can be turned off. There's an admitted problem that if you use the Ally in one of the higher performance settings frequently even docked, because of the proximity of the microSD card to the cooling, it can cook your SD card (newer updates have a custom fan profile to help, but it just cranks the fans...). But that's not many bads for a new device all told. So on the whole, there are a LOT more goods than bads. If ASUS can fix the microSD card problem, further driver development should unlock more performance and battery life (AMD is great at this, historically). Then (particularly if ASUS ALSO upgrades the face buttons a bit), this would be the perfect on the go gaming PC. As is, it's outstanding and well worth a look over its competitors.

The ROG Ally Z1 Extreme was a really good experience for me, but I ended up selling it because I didn't find myself using handheld gaming devices as much as I thought I might. It was great for a vacation or two, but I found myself either at home where I preferred my desktop gaming PC or out places with other tasks in mind, and so didn't use it. Cool features to know: it's Windows 11 based, and pretty much any program that runs on Windows runs on this, including all the major DRMs (I used Steam, EA, and GOG). It will also run screen accountability software if your children are using it and you want to monitor what is coming across the screen. The screen was superior to the 1st gen Steam Decks, and the processor was faster. The audio quality of the built in speakers was amazing as well. Opportunities for growth. Not as many control options as a Steam Deck, the battery life was shockingly short, and the device got hot in the hands regularly with basic games. Overall, it was a good experience.

Fuest impressions were really good and it runs and works great. A few things that I dislike is: 1.) The amount of storage is not great but it is super easy to upgrade for a cost. 2.) The battery life is around 2 hours on half decent settungs which for most people is ok, not for avid gamers and 3.) If you have larger hands you will experience the numb or sleepy hand syndrome. I do really love my ally, after a few improvements it is sooo much better.

The Rog Ally has been a very fun device to play with and use since I have been on disability from work it's comfortable to hold it's lightweight it plays all my games no problem the screen quality is amazing the buttons feel very comfortable the battery life is fair for what it is

The system has his issues, the problem with the SD getting hot, the BIOS getting the system to perform a bit slower. But the system overall is excellent, the price is very good, its powerful and you can technically use it as a laptop to do your homework, work stuff, projects, etc. The controllers are good, the screen is beautiful and most of the games run excellent. Personally I bought it to play mostly old games and indie games which is perfect for. Also use it as a laptop to code on the go. The battery life is ok (sometimes), but its a powerful device so don't expect much. It has Windows 11 (Non ARM), which makes it compatible with any software you use on your regular Windows PC. Overall the device has its flaws but its pretty impressive for the price and it really performs well.

Yes. All the things you heard about this handheld is true... Cons first: the battery life is incredibly short. You can only get 1h to 2h of total playtime of you want to play AAA title. And the amoury crate software is not nearly as good as steam one. You can only get 30w power with ASUS OEM charger (really really really sucks) Pros: the screen is miles ahead of steam deck. You cannot go back to 720p. And performance is wonderful. You can also dock it to a full PC experience. You can have Xbox app, steam os, gog on the ally. And it is slightly smaller than Steam deck, and it feels much much more portable

the ROG Ally is worth considering, especially now that prices have come down a bit and firmware/software have improved. It’s powerful for what it is, and provides more flexibility than many handhelds. But I’d go in with tempered expectations: expect to tweak settings, manage battery, maybe deal with heat, and possibly SD card issues. If those trade‑offs are acceptable, it can deliver a strong experience

The specifications for this product are easy to find and performance comparisons against ASUS primary competitor in this realm are plenty. My review will focus primarily on user experience; though, before we start, I do really need to emphasize that the ASUS ROG Ally does what it's supposed to do incredibly well - it is an incredibly powerful piece of hardware that can handle high-performance games very well. Battery life is also decent for being able to play games that are typically played on wall-powered gaming systems. The most I could push this machine to was somewhere around 4-5 hours, which isn't much but definitely in line with standard expectations. My bar for battery life requirement is simple- will it get me through most domestic flights? Yes. Form factor is decent but feels somewhat antiquated, aesthetically. Devices marketed to the gamer community tend to be over-designed with unnecessary LEDs and funky shapes angles and this continues on that "trend." However, this is still sleeker than ASUS' primary competitors so that says something. That being said, holy cow the operating system(s) are clunky and, honestly, inappropriate for a portable gaming system like this. For one, a full Windows OS as the base is wholly unnecessary for a system with a 7" screen. It's very clear this device is intended for a very niche market but that doesn't mean that user experience should be ignored. In other words, the clunkiness of the OS limits the usability by "standard" users, which is a bit limiting from a marketability standpoint. Let's be honest here, nobody's using this device to make edits to MS Word files or browsing the internet- why are we utilizing Windows as the base this way? Maybe this is more of a Microsoft issue in that they haven't created a reasonable platform for a small, portable device like this. Overall, the ASUS ROG Ally is a fast, handheld device with good performance. The screen is gorgeous and with its variable refresh rate, games look and feel very smooth. Performance is good even after running a while, which is enhanced by the super quiet fan for cooling (I was fully expecting this to burn my hands!). If ASUS can improve the battery life a bit and maybe figure out a better OS situation, this device would be GREAT!! I have some gripes about this machine but if you're looking for a portable handheld to play high-graphics, performance games, this works perfectly well.

Although my SD card reader stopped working (common problem and I bought open box) the device itself is exceptional. I came from a Steam Deck and although the battery on the Ally is far worse, I'd rather have the performance and Windows to play more games. I have yet to run into a game that doesn't run well if you put the settings on low or medium. The screen is great, even below 60 FPS you don't feel any stutters or dips in framerate. Great device, aside from default storage. Purchasing a 2280 SSD adapter and swapping in a larger driver was the only thing I needed to do for this to become my main gaming device.

My beautiful wife bought me one for Christmas, and I love my ROG Ally! I have had it for about six months now and I have to say the performance is surprisingly good in every game I have tried and I generally do not use the highest performance mode. Currently playing Diablo 4 and it looks great and game play is nice and smooth. Which has also been the case with other games I have played on it. Can get a bit warm, particularly if you don’t give it room to breathe, but this hasn’t been a problem for me. Battery life isn’t great, so don’t expect to play more than an hour or two on a charge. But other than that, it feels good in my hands, the controls are comfortable and responsive, and the Asus user interface makes accessing your games easy with virtually no advanced configuration needed to play games from Steam, PC game pass, EAPlay, Blizzard, or any other source. You can also connect it to just about any USB C laptop dock and play games with a keyboard and mouse, or just use it like a regular computer. I use mine with Dell dock and dual monitors occasionally and haven’t had an issue. I highly recommend it for gamers like myself that love PC gaming but can’t sit at the desktop and zone out because we don’t want a divorce or kids with daddy issues. No keyboard and mouse sucks, but sacrifices must be made for the greater good. *Echo from the background* “The greater good.”

I was hesitant on purchasing this handheld, all because of the price point, but I am glad I did. I wanted something that I could play my games anywhere without being tethered. I've had the Rog Ally for almost a year now and it's still performing great! The color and resolution is crisp and clean. The availability of optimization for the graphics settings is very helpful when playing different types of games. Touch screen is a life-saver on this handheld. The portability is a plus. It is basically a PC on the go. I love the built in controller. It took some time getting used to compared to my usual Xbox controller. The audio is pretty loud and clear on the highest setting. My complaints are, the top triggers began squeaking after some time. On turbo mode, the handheld can get quite hot and lets out really hot air from the vents, so be careful. Since the ROG Ally runs on Windows, there are times things will glitch, but a restart usually fixes it. Without a mouse and keyboard, you are limited to the games you can play. Overall, I am happy with my purchase and would recommend others to give it a try if they are looking for portability for gaming.

Absolutely love this. I bought it because I didn't always want to be upstairs in my computer room so I could move around the house with it. That being said the battery is pretty bad it can die in 2 hours if not plugged in. Plays basically any game that I want. The controls are actually pretty nice and the placement doesn't hamper anything. The screen is great. It performs fast. The storage is the biggest issue on this device

I've been on the fence between the Ally and a Steam Deck (Legion Go is just too dang big). The recent sale plus an even deeper discount on an open-box unit made the Ally just too good to pass up. Man am I glad I took the chance. In short, this thing is amazing. I've been an Xbox gamer for a long time and I always wanted something portable. The add-on controllers to my smartphone had been "fine" but the fact that my gaming was always letterboxed was annoying. This is such a better experience - big, beautiful screen, controls that don't feel like a compromise, good weight, and next to no heat or fan noise. I have both loaded games on there (Destiny 2 and Starfield most recently) as well as streamed from XCloud and the Ally handles both options with ease. Frame rates are almost always solid with default settings though I'm sure I could make things even better if I spent the time to tweak settings for each game, something you CAN do if you're so inclined. XCloud can be run on Silent mode no problem, saving battery life in the process. Speaking of battery, if you've done your research, what you're reading is correct - I can get around 60-90 minutes for games loaded on the SSD with the Ally set to Performance mode. Turbo likely drops it to just 60 min but honestly I have yet to feel compelled to leverage it since the quality at Performance is rock solid. XCloud streaming gets me easily closer to the 90 minute mark but I haven't played long enough in one go to really drain the battery. Finally, the hard drive is a little lacking at 512GB. It's enough to put a few AAA titles on the SSD but it was clearly a cost-reduction decision. Thankfully, upgrading to 1TB or 2TB is pretty easy. The chips are readily available for $100-220 depending on capacity and where you buy. I went with 1TB and it was super easy to complete the upgrade. Asus even has a support page that walks through the process. There are three areas I think the next gen should improve on, one that's out of Asus' hands: 1) Windows needs a proper gaming mode - this is one area where Steam OS is just flatout better. Yes, you can use this thing as a fully-fledged PC via a dock and monitor. However, that's not why I bought this. Microsoft is hopefully already working on this but a streamlined Windows OS for handhelds with finger-friendly icons would be welcome here. 2) A bigger battery or tweaks to Windows to reduce the battery drain 3) Assuming costs continue to drop, make the default storage 1TB. Bottom line, this is a great handheld and I would HIGHLY recommend purchasing it over the Steam Deck. While both (particularly the OLED Deck) are great devices, to me what breaks the tie is that everything outside of the Steam OS (other game stores, XCloud) just work with next to no effort.

Great handheld gaming. I use this to mostly play Diablo IV, Elden Ring, Fallout, and Starfield and it does so flawlessly on high settings. - Keep in mind it is a tiny handheld computer without a massive GPU, so no, it is not going to run Cyberpunk 2077 at 4k, but it will run most games in high settings at 1080p. - The launch screen conveniently has all of your apps like Steam, Battle.net, Ubisoft Connect, GOG, and your games tiled on the screen making it easy to click or touch them as soon as it boots up. - The battery lasts about an hour to an hour and a half, the USB-C charging cable is a decent length, and it fast charges in about 45 minutes. - The WiFi works great. Our router is in my wife's 1st floor office and I have no issues with connectivity in my office on the 3rd floor. - The screen looks good with minimal backlight bleed when the screen is in a pitch black scene of a game. - Comes with 1TB of space, which is plenty of space to play 5 or 6 games. - Games load quickly. - It is ergonomic and fits in my hands nicely. - Has some nice official peripherals you can buy for it, like the charger dock that allows you to charge it and connect it to an external monitor and the ROG Pro Controller. - Bluetooth works well with keyboard & mouse and headphones. - Works fine with my iPhones hotspot. Making gaming on planes and long car rides a nice experience. Cons: - Unless you are accustomed to using Windows 10/11 with a touch screen device, it can take some getting used to. - It makes a really loud logo splash screen noise when you turn it on. Usually ASUS allows you to turn this off in the BIOS and/or in the Armory Crate app; However with this, I have not been able to do so. - Although a nice touch to have them, the Z / Trigger Buttons on the back of the device are incredibly loud. So if you are trying to game quietly in bed next to someone, this and the logo-sound can definitely wake someone up. - When the Ally was first released it had some issues switching between touch screen mode and gamepad mode, but that seems to have been resolved. - Not really an issue, but keep in mind, it is literally a small computer that needs to breath. So, it gets hot and you can brick it if you keep the fans covered by leaving it on a thick blanket or anything else that can obstruct the fans airflow. The only big issue I had with it has been fixed via update, so overall I would rate this a solid 5/5 for mobile gaming. and maybe a 4/5 if you are trying to game light night quietly.

Love it. Been on it at least once a week. Got it for some easy gaming in addition to my PC. Expecting a baby also so will be easy to pick this up instead of sitting on my PC. Runs Blops 6 with no issues on its recommended settings. Marvel Rivals as well. It does have a bit of a slow start up with some games but that's understandable. Mostly use it for smaller games like Risk of Rain 2 and TCG shop simulator. The top left LB bumper is starting to get stuck in a bit already so their controller needs better longevity. I loosed it up a bit and it did help as per Internet search. Battery life could be better but I usually play it plugged in on bed so no issue. Would still definitely recommend as it's a portable, on your couch or bed easy game session.

I sold my steam deck and got this as a replacement. The first thing I noticed after coming from steam deck is how much lighter and smaller this is, very nice to hold and play. The screen is vibrant and looks great even at 720p (1080p looks amazing). The setup was slightly more difficult than starting up a steam deck but once it's set up games look and play fantastically. Battery life can be short if played at the 25w turbo mode but can be extended if played at lower wattages. I usually play plugged in so I don't have any issues wth the battery. Overall I love this product and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a high end handheld pc

It’s a lot of fun. Runs classic games great. Super easy to setup for emulation gaming. As long as the game is compatible with an Xbox controller it’ll do great. If not it’ll require some tinkering with the button configuration. The software does a great job with this. Especially steam. It sees it as an Xbox controller and you can download profiles for games that don’t support it and are pre-defined to get you going. And they can be easily changed. It’s windows 11 on a handheld. If you can use windows 11 you will adapt well to this. It is a bit cumbersome to use when first setting it up until you learn the hot keys, so I suggest looking up the button combos for the keyboard and such ahead of time. When you put it into turbo mode and turn it all the up in manual, it’s gets hot. And by hot, almost too hot to put your wrist on it. Battery life is terrible playing demanding games. But if you run a 80s/90s console emulator it’ll last 4-5 hours. It’s meant to be on-the-go gaming, but I am hesitant on taking it out of the house. You can do streaming within steam if you have a gaming PC already you can easily connect to it and enjoy gaming that way too. Get a high quality micro SD card. The Samsung pro is advertised to handle 60C temps. This thing is known to cook SD cards! It’s a solid device. I don’t feel buyers remorse at all, although I think for several hundred beans it should have 1TB of storage. Games are huge these days! If you made it this far thank you!!

I had been waiting and expecting so much from the Asus RoG Ally, that when I first received it, I was floored as to how incredible this little package is. Apparently I was not the only one, but some users have cast a dark shadow over this great device. I believe that these people were expecting something different, more like a portable, proprietary gaming device. This is not what the Ally is. To begin with, there were many complaints that the OS of the machine is a copy of Windows 11. Now, you could argue that it was a "poor" choice, but by doing so, Asus left the users actually to do whatever they want with it (in the pure spirit of PC gaming). It doesn't matter if you game on Steam, GOG, Epic or any other platform: The Ally will be able to run it. Unlike the Steam Deck which uses its own operating system which locks you out of everything else but Steam and only some chosen games. Not all will work with it either as it runs (the custom Linux distro) SteamOS. This limits your choice to whatever Valve can deliver. In all honesty, the Ally had a rocky start and updates were pouring in from Asus at a steady pace. This is not a bad thing, it means that Asus listens to its customers and tries to iron out the biggest issues. I could name a load of other systems that had a bad start but ended up being widely adopted after maturing. If you are at least a little bit computer savvy, you will quickly realize that if you remove unessential parts from Windows, your experience will be much, much better. You can also do away with many other programs which would be useless for a gaming rig or laptop. In terms of potential power, the Ally comes with an amazing custom APU, the AMD Z1 Extreme. A CPU/iGPU combo with 8 cores and 16 threads. It can chew through pretty much anything with the proper settings. Even AAA titles are playable in great quality. Most of my games run at the native FHD (1080p) resolution of the gorgeous touch screen. The internal M.2230 SSD is a bit light as it can only contain 500 GB. This being said, it's easy to clone the original SSD onto a bigger one (it'll void your warranty, but it's really worth it). You can also opt for a fast Micro-SD card to expand your storage (which I use for smaller games). The biggest "problem" is the battery life. Yes, it's far from great. Yes, you can adjust your settings to pump less when you're on the go and yes, placing the charging port on the top was an odd design choice when you're gaming with the Type C power adapter plugged in. Also, on a personal note, I'm not a big fan of the controls. The sticks feel a bit wobbly and the buttons aren't anything to write home about. But all that being said, Asus has delivered way more to power users than just a gaming tablet. It's quite possibly the most versatile, portable, gaming oriented device ever made. I don't regret my purchase and I would recommend it to every gamer out there who like to play their favorite games on-the-go.