Now that the launch dust has settled, Asus' ROG Ally has seen a lot of changes, and they aren't all for the better.
Asus ROG Ally MSRP $700.00 Score Details “Better performance, more games, and acceptable battery life make the Asus ROG Ally a winner despite its issues.” Pros Cons I knew the ROG Ally with the Z1 Extreme would be faster than the Steam Deck, sure. The specs alone could tell me that. But as an early supporter of the Steam Deck, I didn’t expect myself to be so ready to abandon the device entirely.
There is another version of the ROG Ally, one that comes with the base Ryzen Z1 processor. It has the same specs otherwise, including 512GB of storage and a 1080p screen, but it comes in at $600. We’re focused on the ROG Ally with the Z1 Extreme here, so make sure to read our Asus ROG Ally Z1 review if you want the specifics on that version.
Chart-topping performance At the native resolution of 1080p with an uncapped frame rate, you’re looking at around 30 frames per second in highly demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 in Turbo mode. Even in slightly less demanding games like Horizon Zero Dawn, the ROG Ally can reach above 30 fps in Performance mode. These aren’t the lowest settings, either. I actually opted for the Medium preset in most games to show clearer differences between the power modes.
Since its release, the ROG Ally has seen a handful of updates, some of which, reportedly, lowered performance. I retested the device with the latest BIOS , and although there are some slight differences, the Ally still performs at the level I’d expect at its native resolution. The mode that sucks down power is Turbo, in which the ROG Ally only lasted 51 minutes in Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p. This is a stress test for the ROG Ally, though. Bump down the resolution, set an fps cap , adjust the power draw of the APU; you have a lot of options to conserve your battery.
A laptop, not a handheld First, it sits on top of Windows. When you boot up the ROG Ally, you’re met with a Windows lock screen, which you need to slide up and tap Sign In. Armoury Crate will attempt to load up right away, allowing you to navigate the device just with the controls on hand. It doesn’t always work, but Asus includes a dedicated button that will pull up or minimize Armoury Crate.
Instead, I’d encourage you to set up a desktop controller configuration. Asus thankfully supports both a game configuration and a desktop configuration, which you can swap through the quick-access menu. All of the controls are re-bindable in Armoury Crate, which you can attach to mouse and keyboard commands, as well as common tasks like opening the Task Manager or closing the current window.
Two worlds, one platform Although there are only two controller modes, you can store many more profiles. Armoury Crate allows you to set up a controller configuration on a per-game basis, including thumbstick dead zones and trigger sensitivity. You can tie other settings to games, too, such as the performance mode you want to use, the color of the rings around the thumbsticks, and the GameVisual setting.
There are other odd bugs I noticed during testing. For instance, running some games in Silent mode would break the audio with nasty pops and clicks. Other times, I would change my power profile only to open the quick access menu and find it changed back. The Steam Deck is buggy, for sure, but the ROG Ally has its own set of quirks.
You shouldn’t ditch your Steam Deck for it, especially with the 720p performance now lacking. For as impressive as the ROG Ally was at launch, it has slipped in the key area where it had such a lead: performance. What version of Windows does the ROG Ally use? The ROG Ally ships with Windows 11 Home, but you’re free to install any operating system you want. Keep in mind that the device is designed around Windows 11, though, so you might run into issues if you install a different operating system.
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