Customer Ratings & Reviews

I want to start off by saying that I absolutely loved the Ally and used it to play through all of the Halo Master Chief Collection and the Mass Effect Legendary Edition games. I also played a lot of Valheim and various other games on it. While Windows can be finicky on a device like this, it does offer a wide array of compatibility for games and other applications. After having the device for around four months the Ally stopped booting and was stuck at the ROG boot logo. This started a painful string of support woes which led me to being forced to "junk" my Ally out with Best Buy. Here is a timeline of the events: 4/1/2024: Purchased the ROG Ally Z1 (non-Extreme) from my local Best Buy. It was a "good" open box unit that I got on a really good deal because the Ally was around $200 off the usual price at the time. 8/10/2024: ROG Ally randomly will not boot up and is stuck on the ROG boot logo. I contacted ASUS support and they surprisingly told me too book an appointment through Best Buy (Geek Squad) for support. 8/14/2024: Brought the Ally into Best Buy and they confirmed that the device would indeed not boot and needed service. They seemed unsure at first of what to do, initially stating that they could maybe swap it out with a new one but then ended up saying that they couldn't do that. They kept the device and sent it to a service center. 8/30/2024: I still hadn't heard back from Best Buy about the repair status and my BB account stated that it was currently being shipped back to the store from the service center. However, it had said that for over a week so I contacted Best Buy support online and they told me the Ally had already been delivered to the store a few days prior and that I could go pick it up. I guess they weren't in a hurry to check the device in after it had been delivered. When I went in to pickup the device I had to wait in line for around 30 minutes before I could talk to somebody. Wouldn't it make more sense to have separate lines for pickups, appointments, and walk-ups? The employee brought my Ally out from the back and told me that the service center had replaced the motherboard. He booted the device and it booted into a fresh install of Windows that had been yet to be setup, meaning that I lost all of my data. Not the end of the world but now I would have to take the time to set it up, update it, and re-download games. This is not insignificant to mention as the process takes hours to complete. After setting up Windows, updating Windows, three BIOS updates, driver updates, and downloading and installing a few games, I was finally ready to use the Ally. I launch a game and immediately find out that the right control stick and both of the primary triggers are completely unresponsive. I tried using the ASUS Armory Crate calibration application but only the left stick would respond. Now that I had actually used the device to get it setup, I noticed that the service center left visible marks along the bottom seam of the device where they must have used a screwdriver to pry the Ally's shell apart. There was also some kind of black substance stuck on the back and top of the device. I want to note that when I first checked the Ally in for service the Geek Squad documentation says that it was in "like new" condition, and it was. Obviously the Ally is essentially useless if three parts of the controller are broken so I scheduled another appointment with the Geek Squad. 08/30/2024: I bring the Ally in to be looked at by Geek Squad and they confirm the issues with the right stick and the triggers. At first the agent presented two options, have Best Buy trade the Ally out for another unit or send it back for another repair. However, the agent was now worried that the repair center would reject the repair because of the physical damage that was now present on the bottom of the device, DAMAGE THAT WAS CAUSED BY THEM DURING THE PREVIOUS REPAIR. I said that I would go with the trade option. The agent goes to the back to talk to his manager about it and is now saying the his manager won't do the exchange because I purchased the Ally as an open box item five months earlier. The agent continued on saying that his manager was only willing to give me STORE CREDIT for the amount that I originally paid for the Ally back on 4/1/2024. This means that if I wanted to walk out of Best Buy with a working Ally I would have had to pay an additional $80 for another open-box unit or $150 for a new unit. This seems incredibly unfair and gaslit me into feeling like it was my fault because I purchased an open box item from the same Best Buy. I would have happily traded my unit for another open box Ally, but the manager just wouldn't do it. Now I am ROG Ally-less and am stuck with Best Buy store credit for the price that I payed for the Ally on 4/01/2024. As good as the Ally can be I can't recommend that anyone gets with how bad Asus and Best Buy treats their customers when it comes time for repair.

Plays everything I want it to and more. It's not going to play brand new games but it plays somewhat recent games very well and emulation is a treat. 120hz refresh rate is icing on the cake. Love mine so much it's my new main game system.

I really wanted to like this device. I saw it heavily discounted if bought open box, which I did for this handheld. With taxes the open box Ally Rogue Z1 cost $300, which was less than the cheapest Steam Deck (at only 64 GB for $350) and equivalent price to a brand new switch. Everything looked good on paper, from the sleek design, high storage capacity, and Windows 11 for high game compatibility. However problems came up when first setting up the device. The original Windows 11 OS with Rogue Ally drivers was wiped by a standard version of Windows 11 by Best Buy. This meant the device had no network drivers, so completing the Windows setup using just the Ally was impossible. There were also no ASUS rogue controller drivers installed, so I could only navigate with the touchscreen or have to connect an external mouse / keyboard to navigate smoothly in the initial setup. If I wanted to use this device, I would need to bypass the network connection step of the setup process by using command prompt or use a wired ethernet connection (though that's not guaranteed to work with the limited drivers on device). After that I would need to move over network drives using a flashdrive or microsd card and would need to research all the stock ASUS rogue ally drivers that are on board to make sure the Operating System has all it needs to perform as intended. Going into purchasing this device, I knew there was going to have to be some tinkering to get this device working properly because Windows is clunky on devices that only have controller / touch screen input. However my initial impressions of the setup lacking even basic drivers kind of turned me off, because at the end of the day I want to use this device to have fun and not be a chore to tweak. The Windows setup process may be easier on brand new devices versus open box, but even still the headache of Windows 11 on a controller / touchpad just doesn't seem worth it in my opinion; especially when there are devices like the Nintendo Switch and Steam deck have user interfaces that are tailor made for portable use. I think if Microsoft were to make an Operating System that was more mitigatable on controllers, I think this device would be more appealing. But as it stands I think this device is a little too much trouble to be enjoyable. And I love tinkering with devices, but for a device that comes with this premium price I would expect more in return.

Despite the small size, this handheld has enough power to run most of the top games

Totally worth it !! Best handheld I ever had, it’s great for work

Love this thing my only complaint is the batteries life is not that great.

Replaced my gaming pc and you can take your games anywhere you go

Honestly I like it and the performance mode is perfect on it and I feel like turbo mode is really only useful on story mode games like red dead and games like that but it’s very smooth only part i don’t really like is the 512 gb but you can always upgrade it and I feel like it’s perfect for being a handheld

It’s a pretty good hand held to get your initial PC feel, especially with how easy they make it to Configure not to mention the tutorials. It is pretty limited FPS and performance, on top settings it sounds like a jet engine and still feels like it’s missing something. It’s one of the best hand helds especially with Best Buy deals, but I recommend a ROG PC.

Lives up its name. I love playing games on it while my wife is watching YouTube.

Purchased instead of a SteamDeck and very happy with it. Wanted something I could use for Steam and other PC games as well as connect to my Windows laptop and Android phone. Also got a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to use with it. Was initially a little hesitant about the larger size compared to my Switch but easily got used to the larger size console.

Able to play games very good at 720p. My best guest Z1 720p = Z1E 1080p

The most fun handheld pc ive had, its so easy and comfortable to use

Perfect for getting my gaming fix while traveling.

The SD card reader is embarrassing and Windows is a pain but its still an amazing device. I only listed its downsides because its upsides are too many to mention.

Excellent entry way into PC gaming! Build quality is superior, similar to a Xbox series s controller. The d pad, face buttons and shoulder buttons all are transparent. You can link to steam and remote play from your own library just like you can with Xbox all with the rog ally z1.

I still use it til this day, great device, I use it to replace my actual laptop since it isn't meant entirely for gaming.

I’m new to gaming outside of traditional consoles, but this device is actually pretty user friendly. The cool feature is that it is actually a smaller version of my Windows laptop, too. So that is a bonus. The pics include a skin and button bumpers my son added for me.

ABSOLUTE BEAST of a handheld. I’ve been playing it everyday since I bought it. It’s a great intro to pc gaming for people at least in my opinion it is.

The Rog ally is a great and powerful machine. It runs better than a steam deck.