Customer Ratings & Reviews

Powerful Handheld but gets warm to hot! The ROG Ally is an amazing handheld gaming device. The screen is super sharp and smooth with the 120Hz refresh rate, and the Z1 Extreme chip runs all my games really well. It's lightweight and feels premium in the hands. It does get a little warm when playing demanding games or if you put it on performance mode, but it's manageable and expected for this level of performance. Overall, it's a great buy if you want portable PC gaming!

Picked this up open box after seeing the pricing on the new legion go s. Runs all of the games I want to play on a handheld well, battery performance is lacking and windows is optimized poorly, but for the price you can’t beat the performance. Hand feel was weird at first with the flat surfaces and slick plastic but a case with rubber grips fixed that instantly. I’ve played lies of P, Hollow knight, the DMC hd collection, Batman Arkham asylum, dying light, and Naruto shippuden storm on it so far, excited to eventually upgrade the system storage and run bazzite on it

So I've been in the market for a good handheld for a few years now. I bought a switch a few years back and while it got used, it just wasn't quite doing it for me. Probably due to the catalogue of Nintendo games. I tend to like more fps style of games, but I do occasionally like a good old rpg and even some indie platformers. A few months back I pre ordered a Steam deck but after reading some of the reviews about the steam decks odd resolution, I wasn't completely sold on it. So I decided to cancel my pre order. The Asus Ally does everything I need it too plus more. Also the fact I was able to install Escape from Tarkov on it is just amazing. I have a trip coming up where I plan to use it quite a bit more, but so far this thing is really awesome. The screen is clear and bright, the controls remind me of am Xbox controller. The only real negative I've found so far seems to be the battery life. When the Ally is in performance mode, the battery seems to drain in about an hour. After my trip I will update my review with a bit more info.

It's a really solid handheld, but with the recent SD card reader issues, it makes me question the longevity of this device. Honestly? If you're on the fence about getting the Steam Deck or ROG Ally, and don't care much about the 1.25-1.5x performance uplift (at 720p) or the better IPS screen, I suggest getting the Deck due to it being a lot more refined (and cheaper!). You can install Windows on the Deck too if SteamOS isn't working out for you. The Windows experience on the Deck is a lot better than what it used to be. I'm hoping we'll get an XG Mobile to Oculink adapter for a bigger selection of GPUs, because paying $2000 for a mobile 4090 hurts. A lot. Do note that the XG Mobile port on the Ally is limited to PCI-E x4 Gen3 at the moment. Even the 4090 version runs at x4 Gen 3. Overall, I find the ROG Ally to be of a mixed bag that I am very satisfied with. Though I'm not sure if I can recommend this device to others. If you're dead set on getting one, don't plan on using the SD card reader until Asus fixes the issue.

The Asus ROG Ally is a great gaming "PC" . The reason I put that in quotes is because of course it runs a full version of Windows 11. For me that's just fine as I am very used to PC's and have no problems navigating, upgrading and maintaining a PC. For the people that just want an out of the box "Console" experience, the ROG Ally is not it. The screen is fantastic, 120hz 1080p, bright and responsive! Ergonomics are great for me, feels good in the hand, not too heavy to play on for longer sessions. Battery life is about what you see with most other "gaming" devices, on Turbo getting about an hour of play on battery, so if you are going to be playing AAA titles, get yourself a good 65W (or higher) power bank to help make the gaming sessions away from an outlet longer. Gaming performance will vary on what games you enjoy (obviously) but this also makes a great Cloud Game Streaming device as well for XBOX Game Pass, moonlight, Steam Link etc. The speed on this is impressive as well, boasting decent scores on 3DMark Time Spy. The Internal m.2 SSD is snappy with great speeds as well and since this is a full blown PC you can do other things with this device than just gaming! Light video editing, office work and more can be done. Hooking this device up to an external keyboard mouse and monitor is a true PC. Overall, If you are comfortable with Windows, this is a fantastic device!

I have the Steamdeck too - which is a great solution…but I wanted a bit more powerful/ capable system tat I could essentially leave docked, runs Windows (for compatibility and performance without bloat or virtual hosting) and that gave to me the options out-of-box “day 1” to be upgraded very simply; the Ally fit my needs - and it’s been great in its performance, game compatibility, and ease of upgrade (bought 2tb ssd and the ROG rtx 4090 on day 1, and I leave the Ally mostly, only docked (w/ XG mobile pumping the graphics) to run a very clean and consistent performance experience (*I only play single player games though - because I’m an antisocial nerd’s nerd) of 4k @ 60hertz, w/ 60 locked frames (higher performance than those metrics is possible but less reliable and can be janky/ poorly tunable - I have found anyway…but your mileage may vary; just season your config preferences to taste) on a 15” 4k OLED touchscreen. I’ve added many heat sinks also, to keep it all cool and generally less angry. If you’re looking for a great portable, easily upgraded solution, I recommend the Ally over its 3 “big” competitors…currently anyway (as of Dec 15 2023). Cheers

It's a very good laptop, it runs several AAA games with very good image quality and sound, Windows system is a little more boring for those who don't have much experience like me. Very good finish and is light, it doesn't have a very good grip for long sections! Main negative point is the battery that lasts 1:30 1:40 running in medium quality

If you’re someone who really likes handheld gaming and is looking into getting into the PC side of gaming, the Ally is perfect for you. Had mine for a month now and I love it. I’ve had no issues with playing any title on this so far. The Ally is very user friendly and you can get to know how to use it no problem. The only complaint I know is of the micro sd card slot overheating and burning out, but if you upgrade SSD it takes care of that issue. So storage could be an issue for some depending and how much you download. Unfortunate but not the worst thing ever. Still recommend this to anyone.

This was one of my best purchases of 2023. I absolutely love this handheld. You can do so many things with this one device. I can play Xbox Game Pass/Cloud, PlayStation Plus Premium Games via Streaming, Steam, Epic Games, GOG, etc. Also can be used as a small PC setup. Of course for playing AAA games it’s like any of the other handhelds; you would have to set mostly everything to low settings to get smooth gameplay. The only issue would probably be the battery life; you have to charge it pretty frequent but I have no issue having it plugged in while I game. For the less power/performance demanding games you can run them at the 15w performance mode or maybe even the 10w silent mode. The battery lasts a decent time when using those modes but for sure will eat the battery away in turbo mode when not plugged. Other than the battery I haven’t had any issues whatsoever.

I really like this handheld. I've had it since July of 2023 and its mid April 2024 now. The screen has to be the reason I like it. I use it for gaming, listening to music, youtube, and browsing the internet. It's my computer away from home and my entertainment when power goes out on the rare occasion. The one problem that I had really on was the micro SD slot not working after a month of owning it. I finally RMA'd it with the manufacturer a few weeks ago and and the process was not bad. I sent it in with a form and a little info. 2 weeks later I have it back with a working Slot and everything is working like it should. The Support team answered my questions and were mostly on the ball with updates on the repair progress. The Armoury crate software has improved since last year, going from having some hiccups and rare no shows, to no issues in months. Windows 11 is windows so no more to add there. overall, I like this handheld and use it everyday.

THE GOOD THE BAD THE UGLY ●GOOD: NICE SCREEN ...COLORFUL JOYSTICKS...GREAT BUILD....120 FPS ...RUNS STEAM...WINDOWS... ●BAD: BATTERY IS OK NOT THE BEST...GETS DIRTY PRETTY FAST...LAGGY AT TIMES... ●UGLY: SOO MUCH UPDATES ...NEEDS TO BAKE MORE....BUTTON'S TOO SPONGEY...BACK BUTTONS BAD PLACEMENTS..... ●OVERALL: ITS PRETTY GOOD FOR THE $699 ITS WORTH IT

Honestly was hesitant on buying this but have had nothing but good times with it. Able to play on my Xbox game pass games, and finally able to play some steam games. First dive into the PC world so messing with the systems to what I like was interesting but fun to try out. I’m in the military and moving around all the time so taking this on the go and being able to play games like Spiderman remastered or even Helldivers 2 while I’m traveling is amazing. A few cons are things like the memory is kinda small so I upgraded the SSD to 2 TB which is super easy to install yourself and that the battery life is pretty sad but a 65 Watt power bank fixes the issue pretty easy. I wish it would come in black as white does get dirty pretty quick but not really anything to worry about. Having my first kid soon and being able to pick this thing up and place it down just saves lots of time when I want to game on my free time. Definitely recommend. Haven’t touched my Xbox or ps5 since purchasing it.

For those who love gaming on the go, this handheld device is a game-changer. It's essentially a full Windows 11 PC, allowing you to play a wide range of games and even run productivity apps. The battery life is a concern, but accessories like grip attachments and joystick extensions improve the experience. Although the joysticks are a bit loose with some drift, a recent update has helped alleviate this issue. Joystick locks prevent damage, and the battery accessory with a clip for a portable battery pack is a fantastic addition. It's convenient to switch from work laptop to gaming PC with just a USB-C cord. The volume can get loud but may become distorted at higher levels. Accessories like screen protectors are recommended, but SD cards may overheat. Open-box versions are a good option. Overall, it's a solid 7/10, with anticipation for the second iteration and the potential for high-end PC gaming on the go.

I really like my ROG Ally. I had a steam deck before this and I found that I didn't end up using it very much due to the limitations of Linux as well as not being able to play some of my favorite games due to anti cheat. When I realized that the Ally runs Windows, I was very excited. I can now play any game that I would play on my gaming PC, but now from the couch! This has been a huge Improvement and it allows me to play games with my wife while in the same room and also stay out of my game room when it gets very warm during the summer. Definitely be aware that there are some quirks with the Ally and that you'll want to make sure you're comfortable with tweaking settings to make games run correctly. When you first start up the Ally there's going to be a lot of updates and - windows being windows - these updates are going to be in four or five different locations. I would recommend looking up a video so that way you can understand what things to update and where. The nature of this device will make you want to tweak the settings to get the best performance or the best quality graphics depending on the game that you're playing. I find this very rewarding and I love being able to play any of these games on the go.

This one of THE BEST purchases I’ve made in a long time. My boyfriend got me into gaming a year ago and I love it. Still just a casual gamer but I went from XBOX to PC. Recently, I have been having issues with games crashing and have been trying to fix it. But in the mean time I got one of these to game and bed, on the go and during my lunch break. It’s AMAZING, I even connected my wireless keyboard and mouse for InZOI. The only thing is it doesn’t have a great battery life so keep your charger on hand or get a battery pack.

Where do I start ? Ok lets go with the good: IT HAS WINDOWS 11 !! I dock it to my monitor and it's amazing, I basically have a fully functional Windows 11 PC now. I unplug it when I want to play on the handheld and it goes back to being just a handheld pc gaming device. 120HZ is AMAZING. The actual build of this machine is truly great down to every detail of it. Games that play just fine for me are: Fortnite, COD MW2/Warzone 2, NBA2K23, FIFA23. Now the not so good: IT HAS WINDOWS 11 !! LOL I know I wrote this in the good part as well but it's also a bad thing. If you are a gamer or a techy you will understand me. You are only getting an hour of 25 Watts in Turbo mode when you are not playing, so you can play for about an hour and then it will die. This unit is more like a always plug it in type of handheld not like a Switch where you take it and play with it for at least 3-4 hours but to be fair this is running Windows 11 and everything in it so it's to be expected. Docking mode will not give you the best resolution but its good for most games. Conclusion: I've had this device since DAY ONE and I have to say it offers a different type of thrill and for this I am going to keep it.

All I can say is this little thing plays anything from older games from my childhood to the most demanding titles of today up to Cyberpunk 2077 without skipping a beat. The Rog Ally Z1 Extreme has phenomenal audio, an amazing crisp/clear screen, the performance of the Z1 Extreme AMDCPU/APU is amazing. If you want something for on the go while traveling, or on the couch that is small and compact that will play anything you throw at it. Then look no further this little powerhouse delivers for what it is. The only thing you may want to think about is upgrading the storage to a 1-2TB 2230 m.2, its super easy to do. I would suggest it if you have a large PC game library like myself over multiple windows digital distribution services. Bestbuy thanks for getting it to me so fast. Asus thank you again for another Amazing product. This is also for the 90 day extended warranty program. If you are on the fence, just get it! This is an amazing little handheld windows pc to play all your AAA Games on anywhere.

The ally is what you wanted as a kid. Playing your favorite games on the go is really something special. Yes battery life isnt great but playing your favorite title on a car ride or heck even just going to the restroom to escape the kiddos for a second makes up for the atrocious battery life. If your looking at the steam deck you have to think about the storage options if you get the same memory its a 50 dollar difference for more performance. Steam is offering a more console like experience but the freedom that the rog ally offers with windows out of the box is a huge plus yes it has its problems but its not complicated. All the reviewers say well you can get windows on steamdeck yea well if people are worried about tinkering with the little bit you do on the ally do you really want to have to jump through all those hoops just to get windows running on a less impressive device i think not. Overall my personal experience has been pretty darn great not alot of tinkering and pretty easy to set up and get it running if your interested in playing your favorite games portably then dont think twice its worth the money!!!!

I have a Steam Deck and I also have this. Both are designed to allow game-9n-the-gp for PC games. Valve has made awesome strides getting compatibility and game performance with Proton, the compatibility layer to get Wind9ws PC games working on Linux. Where the steam deck falls behind on game compatibility (due to Linux support) , the ROG Ally shines. Full Windows compatible. Things work, not just steam, but all digital download services (EA/Origin, Amazon Games, Gog, Epic, Microsoft Store, etc). Performance is great, however tweaks must be made. Sometime the Armory Crate will not switch the controller mode or detect the mode correct (auto, ganepad, keyboard). Where Valve has the "deck ready" has those marked games optimized, Armory Crate does not since it's mainly a Windows handheld. The SD card performance on The Ally seems a bit disappointing, and i recently read possible issues of rendering SD cards bricked. Dont let that scare you away though. Every device will have their flaws. The value is that the ROG Ally is ~$50 more than the highest end Steam Deck, and you get a more modern Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU with RDNA3 igpu. I would recommend this handheld.

Let me get something out of the way, this device is my favorite handheld gaming device i’ve played with so far. I’m being serious. However, there’s some serious minor things that I think you should keep in mind for this. First of all the games run amazingly; I played through RDR2 on high graphics, Batman Arkham Knight, I played a bit of Rainbow Six Siege and it was amazing, and through it all it was very enjoyable. The only thing I want is a bigger battery. That is my only complaint. If you could, I’d say wait for the ROG Ally X to come out because it has double the battery as this one. This ally also has 512 gb of storage, (which is good enough in my opinion) while the new one has 1 tb. If you’re looking to save some money, this device is completely viable and you should totally buy it if it’s on sale. I absolutely love it.