![]() I noticed that while the system can get a bit toasty under load, even then it never got close to sounding like my Steam Deck, which emits a small whine pretty much anytime the fans are spinning.Įven though the ROG Ally naturally draws a lot of comparisons between it and the Steam Deck, I don’t think they’re actually direct competitors. My favorite nod toward general usability are the Ally’s quiet fans. It doesn’t have big beefy grips like some rivals, but ASUS says the angled contours on the side were designed specifically to make the device sit in your hand just right when you're resting your arms on a desk or table. At 608 grams, the Ally is a bit lighter than the Steam Deck (669 grams) and it's significantly thinner and less bulky too. You get a familiar assortment of shoulder and face buttons, with two macro buttons in back (one on each side). And even on the preview devices I used, ASUS’ software felt more responsive than similar apps on competitors like the Ayaneo 2.Īs for its design, while ASUS isn’t really innovating a ton compared to other devices in the category, there are a number of small touches I appreciate. On top of that, ASUS added a few thoughtful software tweaks including a customized version of its Armoury Crate app along with a helpful button for quickly toggling between hardware settings for stuff like power draw, performance modes and more. And even though the panel is the same size as what you get on Valve’s machine, the added resolution and that 120Hz refresh rate made games look both sharper and more fluid.Īnother notable difference is that unlike the Steam Deck, the ROG Ally runs Windows 11 which ASUS says was a deliberate move to make sure gamers could play all their favorite titles from any of the major stores (Steam, Epic Game Store,, etc.). ![]() Colors were bright and rich and didn’t look washed out on any game I played, which sometimes happens on the Steam Deck. Then there’s the screen, which might be the best looking display in this category. With ASUS rounding out the ROG Ally’s kit with up to 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and a microSD card slot, there’s very little to complain about in terms of hardware. And with ASUS claiming that the ROG Ally is between 50 and 100 percent more powerful than Valve’s portable (depending on the power settings), it might have the performance necessary to make that screen really shine. That alone represents some very premium upgrades compared to the Steam Deck. Not only does it feature a new Ryzen Z1 chip – which is a customized Zen 4/RDNA 3 APU designed specifically for handheld gaming PCs – it also has a 7-inch 1080p screen with 500 nits of brightness and a 120Hz refresh rate. Perhaps the most tantalizing thing about the Ally is its components.
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