It's great to see competition on the market and the steam deck is not going anyway, the Deck community has been doing amazing things for a year now and it's not slowing down.
Really happy with the competition, ASUS is a great company for this! I think the Ally wins hands down on hardware, but the Deck won't lose on experience. Trackpads are too useful - should at least have a mini light trackpad for general computer use
Ally is **MOST WORST THING** can happen. And your "PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE" is not a good idea. Steam deck is doing a "Basic" for Konsole Players. if we go to the "FASTER HIGHTER WIDER" War, with Ally is doing we loose this standard. At the end we will loose all. Fu... ally.
@@starbarzs7160 No, it's not. Asus is currently a crapy company showing the middle finger to the buyer. It is especially worth mentioning here problems with the warranty. As well as defective hardware that often breaks down under warranty, or a few days after. For those unfamiliar with this topic, it is worth watching JayzTwoCents ,, I'm sorry ASUS ... but you're fired ''. And Gamers Nexus, ASUS Scumbag: Overvolting CPUs & Screwing the Customer''. Most youtubers, and technical channels avoid the topic of the Asus problem as a company. And instead of this prefer to do free advertising, and jump on the hype train. Because a new device came out with slightly better parameters, a similar situation occurs when the new iPhone comes out. Also I wouldn't be surprised how most of the "reviews'' are bought. It's very strange that no one mentions Asus problems, and even more what I mentioned above.
@@timnowak8573 To be fair ETA Prime is comparing the handheld devices and not Valve vs Asus. But because of the Asus issue I'm going to wait a while to see how the hardware hold up before buying one.
The Wattage comparison was good at 15w but the Steam Deck testing you showed still had the Steam Deck at a higher res. 800p vs 720p. The one thing we have seen so far is Valve is completely behind the Steam Deck and Steam OS. Asus has been having issues lately. Even putting those issues out of mind for the moment it is still unknown how they are going to support the device. If they are going to let the device mature or even if they find success if they are going to then try and do like a yearly upgrade and leave the previous device without support etc. It is all unknown. While Some are already asking for a upgraded Steam Deck Valve seems aware that they don't want people to feel like they have to buy a new device each year. It is the smarter play and makes you feel like you have a reason to own a Steam Deck. Regardless what the Steam Deck has done for Linux gaming is amazing. Yeah Valve didn't create Proton but they brought it to everyone's attention. And with projects like Nobara Linux with built in support for Davinci Resolve, OBS, and so many other things it is getting close to a place where a lot of people could switch to Linux. The only thing missing is solid Adobe support and even then because of Resolve I would only need Photoshop or someone to bring an alternative to Photoshop/Lightroom and I could100 percent switch to linux for good.
The one thing I'm impressed with the Ally is the anti-gravity cooling system. Finally there is a PC handheld where I don't have to worry about the cooling while I hang upside down from the ceiling like Grandpa Munster while playing Vampire Survivors.
lol, when they said that, i thought they meant it for if you were lying on your side in bed or something. but to be honest i didn't know there was a problem to solve there in the first place. tech companies like asus always try to spin marginal developments into selling points.
I'm just really glad they aren't putting out some proprietary crap. I own a high-end gaming pc and I would want to install windows on my handheld so I can mod my games etc.
Man, can't believe how well the deck holds up tbh. But also on the other hand, crazy to think in just a year we've seen an almost 20% improvement to frames at the same wattages. The hardware in this space is improving so much.
The immense performance gap only shows itself at higher TDPs. At 15W or below, it's pretty close, or sometimes the Steam Deck wins out, it's pretty fun to see :P
I love my Steam Deck but at the same time the Ally will improve with drivers, is more future proof and will have better compatibility, especially with older games. Both are great imo though.
@@gloriouskatatsumuri dude if you are seriously waiting for asus to improve anything with software you might as well give up...their laptop software armory crate has been garbage since it came into existence years ago and if they can't be bothered to make it good with the hundreds of thousands of laptops sold they won't for this
So you have the Steam deck set to 800p, and the Ally at 720p? I understand that the aspect ratio isn’t native, but you should’ve set the steam deck to 720p, as well, so we can judge the results when the devices are both running at the same internally rendered resolution. Steam deck would potentially perform even closer to the Ally, in that scenario, especially in gpu bottlenecked games. Maybe do another video , so we can see apples to apples, in terms of load? It’s amazing that the Steam deck was performing as close to the Ally as it was anyway, but it may be even closer if it wasn’t having to process so many more pixels, at 800p vs 720p.
Unfortunately, I don’t think the competition will come from the existing competition. It’s going to come from Dell, HP, MSI, etc. they can use their higher volume of sales to subsidize the R&D and push more units.
What will happen is that they will make the devices cheaper and of worse quality. But I'd love for it to slow down a bit To take out a newer one every 6 months...
ayaneo and gdpwin will be crushed if other big corps like asus jump in the battle. they just simply dont have the same resources to compete with msi, asus, nintendo and sony with pricing. like what asus did, partnering with microsoft and bestbuy isnt cheap. ayaneo and gdpwin wont be able to do that 😗
I think the thing I would miss is the trackpads. Playing a lot of DOS games in emulation, using a trackpad is a big life improvement. Also, I highly doubt Valve is going to make another "competitive" product any time soon. They want to stick to SteamDeck and the discussion of a SteamDeck two or whatever they are talking about Valve has said no new architecture. From what I heard, just hearsay. From some UA-cam videos.
Valve will give us the Steam Deck 2 when the original starts severely lagging behind in performance. When you can buy a competitor's handheld that absolutely blows the Steam Deck out of the water FOR THE SAME EXACT PRICE, then you'll see Valve give us a new handheld. That likely won't be for several years, TBH. But, it's good to see Valve basically creating this market for us.
@@FamousWolfe There is no solid concrete evidence for Valve to do that. Either in their history or any updated recent interviews. There was some hullabaloo in January but, it's been uber silent. Doesn't cut the mustard to me. The market already existed but, Valve gave something no one has done yet. They made a very Sega looking product and that made me very proud. I am a Sega fan and I am tired and very fed up with the Nintendo Clone handhelds from China, the PlayStation clones from GPD. None of that talks to me at all. I have been designing myself some Sega styled hardware for years now. I don't tell people often because, well... The usual shit gets thrown at me. The F word, or the T word. I'm tired of that too. Anyway, yeah. I really want SEGA to have a handheld of real value. As well as a new home system and arcade based on it. (If they come to me they will.) Sorry, Tangent there. Yeah. I do like the Ally, but Asus has been horrible as board partners and etc. Jayztwocents has a video up on Asus. I don't know if I trust them on this just yet. Great conversation though. Peace.
@@FamousWolfe Valve don't need to make steamdeck 2 specially if there are a lot of PC handhelds releasing. Remember they make profit in steam games and if other companies is making portable PC it is already a benefit for them. Because they don't make money on their handhelds and if other companies is making the handhelds they are doing valve a favor already and no need to take a loss to make a handheld.
Honestly, the Ally looks amazing, but I'm happy with the steam deck. I feel the comparison makes sense once you compare the 700 Ally with the 650 SD, but you can get comparable performance with the cheapest SD. If your budget is closer to 400 (or even 360 if you got it on sale), it's a very tough ask to almost double your budget.
And to add to that, since steam deck has a huge community, I was able to use a few community driven plugins to run FH5 at a stable 45fps (variable 55) on high settings without FSR. Which is crazy. Showcases what valve can do even on a budget!
The Steam Deck is a beautiful machine, I’d pick it any day over the switch but the Ally running windows natively is huge for me. I won’t preorder yet but I really think I’m going to get one in the near future. Competition is great and I’m happy for what’s to come.
It bugs me a bit when people complain about newer games on the deck not hitting 60 fps at medium to high settings. On a screen this small even playing at 35/40fps still feels really good, on a screen that small 60 fps isn’t necessary unless your on a fps game of course or an mmo 🤷♀️
@@dabberdaffy256The average user who is buying the Deck will never do anything related to the OS, same thing on the desktop where most users doesn't care about the OS, if It comes with Windows they're going to use Windows, same way the Deck come with SteamOS and most Deck users prefer SteamOS. Also it's worth to remember that all the improvements the Deck gets will also be available for Linux in general, so in the future is expected a higher adoption of Linux on the Desktop
Ally is really a good contender. But for someone like me who have a desktop pc where I can play my AAA games without any issues with battery, I think Steam Deck would suffice for my on-the-go gaming needs. Also, based on Linus' review on this new device's issue with the buttons getting stuck, which he downplayed, I think that will be a deal-breaker for most of us.
@@AliZurix because they're already into production. In order to fix, they would have to recall (expensive), more r&d (expensive) and retool machinery (expensive). Not to mention re-ship all the units back out globally. And trying to compete with SD price makes this a minor issue in asus's eyes. So it's not going to get fixed.
SteamOS is ass though. Why anyone would want to gimp it is beyond me. I want access to all my games & native gamepass without going through work around or playing on the cloud.
@@OC.TINYYY Not everyone has game pass... And an actually working sleep mode is good :) Don't know why you guys want to use a desktop OS on a 7" screen without any trackpads
@@OC.TINYYY Linux users disagree. There are quite a few like me who are interested in the steam deck because it runs Linux OOTB. Valve has improved the Linux gaming ecosystem very much over the course of getting SteamOS working well, long may it continue. If SteamOS/holoiso works well on the ally then for many it's the steamdeck 1.5, valve isn't likely to release a steamdeck 2.0 for a long time so it would be a nice option to use hardware on the most recent TSMC node for efficiency.
Battery life is king for any gaming handheld and the Deck can simply squeeze out a much more playable experience at lower TDPs. The Ryzen Z1 Extreme is a voltage optimised laptop APU and still belongs in much larger devices. The ROG Ally is still a damn good attempt at a high end handheld though!
This is exactly the video I was looking for. Sure at 30/35W and 120 Hz 1080p, the Ally will blow away the Steam Deck (ignoring battery) but what about when you treat the Ally like it’s a Steam Deck. Imo 720p medium 30-60fps is great for most games when playing in a portable manner. For me the fact Ally uses Windows 11 is a bonus if I want to use it as a temporary regular computer for boring work items. I prefer the design and the silent fans are a bonus.
Why are you testing on same resolution? 720p isn't native for ROG, so it'll look much worse than 800p on Steamdeck. Test 1080p vs 800p, since it how people will actually play. Also why only test 15w. What's about lower wattage? One that people will use more often in portable mode.
Linus did this too, but its mainly to see how much the steamdeck has matured over its initial release at it's max output and overall is a better device for it at those specs, with the hopes that the Rog will also go in that direction after a few updates. Lower wattage overall still favored the steamdeck since the chip used in rog needs a minimum power to work otherwise it just won't. Going up in wattage though, that is a different beast completely and will definitely knock the steamdeck right out. Battery life will suffer greatly but go ahead and enjoy the 1080p, 120hz refresh oled display, with better cooling and speakers, crank that shit up to 35w with turbo, and play cyberpunk77 on high settings with a stable 60fps and get a solid half an hour of battery on handheld. 👍
While it is great that the ASUS Ally is coming and offers users a choice, I am more concerned with ASUS and how they are going to support the device. Mostly on the repair process. ASUS has a long history of bad service. From actively denying warranty coverage to recently burning CPUs and offering a fix which voids the warranty. I hope they can overcome these constant service issues, but I am in a wait-and-see with ASUS.
Please do a benchmark for Ally at 35w with cpu turbo off and motion assistant or auto tdp or project sbc. I wanna see the maximum performance of the Ally regardless of battery life. Thank you
This is a hands down land slide for the ROG and is exactly the power I was looking for. I really wanted a device with Windows too and this is exactly that!
I play a lot of indie and lightweight games on my Deck and the Deck is way better at low wattages for performance and battery life. I can get over 7 hours on some games which the Ally can't reach at all.
@@Moskeeto ETA Prime has a video testing emulation which i'd say compare best to lightweight games. The battery is still good for 5hrs easy and thats at 1080p 120hz vs decks lowers res and refresh rate. so there is trade off and personally I don't need the battery life as i won't be playing unplugged that long even when traveling. I also prefer a native 1080p panel
@@Moskeeto - To be fair, the Steam deck is rarely going to leave the home, due to its huge size, and that also goes for Rog Ally, also because of the price of these handhelds. No way would I take this on a bus or train journey, will get mugged, or your bag stolen with it in. So at home, keep it plugged in, simple solution, unlimited play time on both devices.
Thanks for the comparison! I am curious about SteamOS on Ally. It would be hard to come back to Windows with all its quirks. I think the definitive answer to Deck owners is "wait for Deck 2" though 😊
thank you for limiting us to one choice, just like when I was a kid I will buy the sega and nintendo handheld and not pick sides like a dummy and limit the games I can play....
Thanks for the review. Can’t wait to see how the ROG Ally perform under steam OS, would love to see if it supports the resume from sleep function on steam deck
Windows can do this already on the SD and natively. But it only works if you disable hibernate. After like 3 hours (default), it goes from sleep to hibernate. Which kills the memory loaded for your game.
It will be interesting to see how well Asus/ROG support this device going forward, updating drivers and tweaking compatibility for new games in the way Valve have on the SteamDeck, will the Ally truly be able to play all our games, or just some of them, Windows really struggles with a lot of older titles.
The Asus ROG looks like a fantastic device but... My first purchase will most likely be a steam deck. Someday I want a ROG but To me the attraction for the steam deck is the steam environment and all the work that went into the steam deck. The steamdeck is more than powerful enough for my needs. I don't need to play a lot of high-end AAA computer on the go. I am however getting really big into retro emulation and the community support for retro emulation on the steam deck is massive. I've handled a steamdeck and find a really like the steamdeck OS.
also in 10 years you'll still be into emulation and the deck will still have support and run it better than today. by then windows 13 will be out and the rog won't be supported anymore, let alone that "crate" thing.
Both benefit tremendously from user optimisation. I undervolted my deck a little and have capped max cpu to 2.8ghz and for 15w tdp with both cpu and gpu going full tilt and under maximum load, my power draw tops out at 22w while on the 680”u devices, I invariably pull around 30w- i reckon it’ll be close to 26-27 w on the Ally if you apply more load at 15w. They really should have gone with at least a 50wh battery on the Ally imo. I could be wrong about this being the case with the Ally but as alluded to in this review, the Valve custom APU’s main strength is that they’ve gotten AMD to optimise it for the low tdp range to a RIDICULOUS extent. Even as someone exclusively running windows10 on my Deck, I have been pleasantly surprised at how little tinkering was needed to get it performing at the level I wanted. Undervolting was a breeze, no major bios or hardware level changes, thermals are okay because you hold the device quite far from the main board and battery, controller setup is the best of any handheld and the windows support drivers are surprisingly stable. Even in a country where it’s not officially available, I could buy a new 64gb deck for $420 and got a 2230 WD nvme 512gb for $40 on sale. It still seems like a better portable proposition to me personally On the other hand, I like the direction the AOKZOE A1 pro is going with the 7 series amd chip and a 65wh battery. That device should just about match the performance of the Ally and actually do 2 hours under heavy gaming load. A gain of 30% is fine when youre testing Dirt3 or FH5 but what happens when in the next 6 months almost every new game starts hitting UE5 level of graphics and none of that runs on these devices? Sadly handhelds will always become obsolete for AAA games within 5-6 months of launch so focusing on ergonomics, battery life and decent performance on less demanding or older games might be the better path for this industry
Initially I was thinking about upgrading to the ROG from my steam deck but I think I’ll wait it out. I get the feeling we’re about to see a handheld arms race of sorts. Maybe valve will put out another steam deck within a year or two.
If you already have a Deck , just wait until Valve releases the Deck 2. You're not missing much on performance. Unless you have the money then go for it, Buy the Ally.
Maybe others will, but Valve thinks of their Deck as a console and wants the Deck's official Verified library to matter and give developers a common denominator to optimise for.
Valve is in no hurry to do a steam deck 2. Its literally financially better for them for people to buy games from steam and play on other handhelds as they subsidize the cost of the Steam Deck.
@@samh5886 I would want ETA to if it's the native resolution. Why test it in 720p just because one device is limited to that resolution. Why punish the other device to make you happy?
Are there any performance / battery life improvement from disabling 4 cores on the Ally? I feel like 8 cores is a bit overkill for a handheld and I would love to see how it functions with just 4.
Well, I pulled the trigger on the Ally. I really wanted something with a bit more horsepower. I love my steamdeck but I also look forward to something that isn’t as heavy.
Loving these handhelds. I can’t explain how much I enjoy my steam deck though. I feel the battery is the number one concern for most people and I can’t see going above 15tpd for better performance for less battery at 699$. I feel like if Asus did a similar 299$ lower end model like valve did. It would be a no brainer but at 699$ your getting close to a 3050-2060 laptop range. At the end of the day I enjoy handheld gaming and I love that the space is growing. It would be interesting to see them bring back a psp-ps vita (not streaming but an actual gaming device) and even if Xbox jumped in. As adults I feel like it’s easier to pick up a handheld and get 30-45 minutes of gaming in vs having to pull the TV away from the family or going in to the office away from the family. Can’t wait to see what future brings us. Great videos.
Yeah, totally sticking with my Steam Deck. The price is still to rich for my blood, and also, after Gamers Nexus and Jayz2Cents roasted Asus for their terrible software and customer support, I'm staying away from Asus products these days. Especially with the Armory Crate software.
First comment? I just wanted to let people know if you are buying the ally at best buy they have a $70 off code if you are using a best buy credit card. Just use honey to gind the code . All together i saved $85
Even if Rog Ally would be cheaper I still will buy Steam Deck for reasons: 1. Opensource linux. Fk Microsoft and big corps. 2. Track pads, I won't buy any console without track pads.
@@BlobBlobkins another thing I would add (and it is personal opinion). I don't have faith in Asus to actually maintain and update the drivers for the device.
Honestly for this comparison I wish you would have let them both run at full strength to get an honest look at both of them and maybe windows on steam deck vs steam OS vs the Ally as well to see how Windows on the Steam deck is doing now.
The Ally would be a worse experience if you run games on 1080P with the wattage cranked. (think under 1hr battery) The only why to get decent battery is to lower settings on the Ally or stay plugged in most of the time.
Should have compared both at 720, not 720/800 that’s not exactly fair comparison even if it’s small diff. And you can run the deck at 20 watts too. Would love to see it done again at apples to apples. Love your content.
My biggest concern with the Asus handheld would be its long term support and repairability. I trust Valve a lot more than Asus, especially with the software. Asus will drop support for it in 10 months when they release the next SKU. Not a fan of the colors and design of the Ally either. If Windows had a handheld OS and the design aesthetic was different I might be interested.
Bro software is done by AMD + Windows not ROG...... All they need to provide is software to control device settings which 3rd party apps also available that does that even better than Deck...... So in long term support Ally is superior since AMD and Windows get faster and more stable drivers than Linux with Steam OS
Personally, I'll never buy a Windows handheld for the same reason I won't buy an Apple Phone: I want total control and I don't want to be tracked or monitored.
@@cptncutleg I always chuckle when I hear people say this. Do you realize how much data that Google and other companies have on you and are tracking on you every day? If you're using any tech, you are being tracked and monitored.
@@cptncutleg You think they care about you when they have billion of people using their devices? 😂 Who cares it's not like you are working for aliens or something
Own a steam deck. Love the build and trackpads, but I care more about a better screen and better performance. Will buy an Ally and it will likely become my main until steam deck 2 comes out. Hope Valve can release SteamOS to the public because that's what I'm wanting to run on it. Is this how ending up with multiple handhelds start 😂
Not enough mobile visual improvements to make the jump for me. Yes, it's more powerful, but I run doom eternal at 8 watts. Averaging 74 fps at 800p ultra nightmare locked to 60. 30 watts mobile is insane. I can get 4 hours of doom eternal. Yes, the ally can do that (maybe), but I'm not looking for a handheld and desktop replacement.
@@sub23DaRkNeSS to each their own right. The better screen and performance is what I wanted out of it originally and I’m only keeping one. So I’m paying for only the price of one really 👀
I just don't think it's worth buying Ally if you already have Deck. It's not even that much more powerful and has worse battery life than Deck has. Plus there are tools for Deck made by community that can improve overall performance like CryoUtilities. Just community alone makes Deck way more worth it imo.
I swear you're the most honest handheld tech reviewer on this platform. Every other tech reviewer that's put these 2 up against eachother ALWAYS gives it to Steamdeck. They never mention emulation, they never compare them equally - hell, I saw one reviewer give it to SD only because it had 2 added back buttons. They're either completely incompetent or paid shills. I'm assuming the latter.
I know the screen ratio is different on both but you should have run both at 720p . You unintentionally handicap the steam deck in the benchmarks by 10% because it has to run more pixel .
Thank you for an actual honest comparison and review of the 2 devices, see the same game play on both you can see that the main difference is the screen being a higher refresh rate which makes for a more smother experience overall, I am looking forward to seeing Steam OS on the Ally too, I agree completely with the closing thoughts and what most tech reviewers are saying that if you got the steam deck stick with the steam deck but if you own neither then its kinda stupid not to put the extra $50 to get a better experience and performance right now with the Ally.
there is always going to be diffrent variations regarding this tech, no matter what, it's continious, i wouldn't worry so much about it, people who buy this current version of the new playtoy will be made to feel bad that the next version is more powerful and they should spend money on, it's like how phones progress so fast, you make a 600 investment in these devices and expect it to last a couple of years, these videos for comparisim is pointless, i'm looking long term with what the device i've intesvted in will work for me during those years i have it, i don't care about PC games i have an gaming laptop for that, i play the steam deck for retro goodness and i don't regret my purchase regarding that situaion, why are youtubers wasting time with comparisms when they know clearly people play these mini pcs for old retro games which don't matter regarding the specs, this clearly is very obvious what is going on here..
The price gap is huge outside of the US, here in France, you can get base steam deck for 330 euros but base ROG Ally starts at 799 euros ! that's just too much.
@@charapamaceta8181 its actually just a ferrari thats 10% slower than the other ferrari, not a skod. Between the two I'd say valve is the higher end brand than asus.
He tested both devices at 15W power draw and they both lasted about the same amount of time(103 min and 96 min), they have the same size battery. Capping at 60fps would wildly vary the power draw depending on the game, the only factor that matters for how quick the battery drains is the system wattage
Definitely going to wait and see. Battery life has taken priority over extra performance for me lately. Dual booting Windows on Steam Deck has been an absolute breeze. EmuDeck on SteamOS, and Windows for everything else. SD card is NTFS with both OS having access - very convenient for EmuDeck ROM management. This balance has been wonderful for traveling light. I hardly ever feel the need to go full on docked mode, but the option is always there for either OS. Best part is I don't have to remember and redo literally weeks worth of command-line parameters I painstakingly researched and setup for compatibility each time SteamOS gets updated. Living the Steam Deck dream life.
It is truly amazing just how valve managed to squeeze out performance while still maintaining a low wattage and still be competitive with an Apu that's clearly more powerful. In an apples to apples comparison as you are doing now, the deck is simply too good to be true, and as soon as you increase the wattage, you have to consider an even lower battery life for the Ally. I can't wait till you try steamOS on that thing. It may very well be the only thing that tips me into getting that handheld over the Deck.
Well when you play down to the competition then it is a level playing field. When you have to “lower” the device’s capabilities just to have the other device keep pace then that defeats the purpose of the newer better device. But yes the steam deck is a great handheld but when at full power it just simply doesn’t compete with the rog ally’s performance or capabilities. I love my steam deck but as soon as I get my rog ally, my steam deck will be sold.
@@slimv3.162 I understand. In my case (and mind you, I don't own a Deck though I have used the it, it felt amazingly familiar and easy to use), I feel I will wait until I see the Ally running steamOS as that is a much more mature platform. Maybe the versatility of steamOS will allow me to fully take advantage of the hardware, or maybe I will simply get a Deck knowing I can use it (with its lower performance and all) but count on its software and focus. Or hell, maybe Asus surprises us and really pushes through with the Ally, that would be amazing.
@@slimv3.162 I is not apples to apples by comparing them this way. By your reasoning the deck should be at 15w/800p and the Ally should be at 20w/1080p. Or for apples to apples they should both be at 15w/720p
@@caevans432 I didn’t say it was apples to apples. I’m stating that it’s not a fair comparison because the rog is simply a much more capable device than the steam deck. You have to dumb down the ally so to speak for the steam deck to keep up. Both are great devices. But imo there is zero reason to purchase a steam deck over the ally especially considering only a $50 difference between both top models.
Just two questions, 1) Did the press buttons get stuck in your play sessions as in case of Linus? 2) Are the joysticks and buttons replaceable because if not, the device is dead in a few months and I don't like that.
Given how Asus washed their hands with their irresponsible actions with the Ryzen CPUs, how it's clear they are receiving money from MS to derail the Linux/SteamOS momentum and easily can abandon this device by no providing support i will simply not give them a penny.
It's k because Valve wins either way. They can sell the steamdeck at a low price because they know people will keep buying games on steam and they can just make up the difference, but with the Rog, one can use it for 3rd party, game pass or, for emulation purposes but for the most part people see this as a steamdeck upgrade and use it for the purpose of playing steam games.... which means people are still buying games on steam. They can try and de-rail linux/steamos all they want but its not going to hurt valve in the slightest. 🙄
@@XionSteel sadly, you missed the point of how important it is for the Linux/SteamOS momentum to continue and how it benefits everyone, not only Valve.
@@XionSteel The only way Valve can be hurt if Publishers/Developers abandon steam. Since Steam is their money-making machine. MS can easily abandon steam if they want to. They can easily curtail Valve linux development. Since they hinges on "compatibility layer".
Fantastic video, your TDP limited tests are the best comparison I've seen. That said, I think you should do a second run on these tests with Steamdeck upresed to 1080p just to show the improvements in the Z1E chip when you are pushing more pixels. We all know the Steamdeck is amazing at low resolution, and at worst the Ally matches Steamdeck here, but what happens when you ask Steamdeck to play on home turf for the Ally? Both systems running at 1080p I would expect the Ally to perform significantly better, then again at a 15W TDP I could be wrong, and if I am wrong about that assumption it would be great to know before the device comes out.
Literally bought Steam Deck a week ago. Couldn't be happier about the Ally reviews because I was anxious about my purchase. Seeing the battery life compared to Steam Deck I'm glad I didn't wait for the Ally. 800p in my opinion is amazing, couldn't bother less for the 120Hz display and kinda cringe about the battery life on 15W TDP - where the Deck shines. Also the sleep mode on Ally is a joke in my opinion. Hope Asus will resolve it soon but it's more of a Windows problem. Been a Windows user my whole life but couldn't be happier gaming on Deck running Linux.
i was missing a couple of those things in the comparison, valve clear dedication to repairability, and seemingly long term support of the device. And things like simpler games that you can run at way lower wattage on the deck, one of the games i play on the deck gets close to 8 hours of run time! the Ally does not seem to clock low enough to run those kind of games for a long time. And indeed, the sleep of the deck is perfect, quick, and just works.. windows.. well expect it to turn on at random, or just not go to sleep, or 'wake' up but actually just booting up cause it didnt go to sleep but just restarted.. Time will tell, but I think the software is where the biggest differences will be (oh and the next steam OS should offer some good performance uplift due to a newer kernel and mesa) .. its good to have competition, but for sure sticking to the deck.
Same here I gamed on Windows my whole life, but since the Steam Deck SteamOS and Linux is superior by far, I have a HP Omen gaming laptop and I never use it and it simply isn't good for gaming on Windows
@TheTechDragonChannel its not that the ROG doesnt clock low enough.. The steam deck has an actual custom chip that is specialized for low watt performance..the z1 in the Ally is an off the shelf chip....even though its 2 gen later chip its using more power for the same performance at lower watts.. We'll probably be getting about 3 handhelds this year using the same chip..while the steam decks vangough is its own thing....Valve just put more thought into steam deck than Asus did in ally..
Most newer games won't be running on the Ally well at 1080p and will need to downgrade to 720p wich tends to like somewhat blurry on a 1080p compared to a 800p native screen.
I think the ROG Ally is great if you don't have a steam deck...but if you do have one..the Ally just isnt enough of a leap..and it has way too much step backs..for the performance gains..to merit the switch Especially if you're looking for a console like experience.. The biggest gipes i have with pc gaming is just the issues with playing games..looking for bug fixes..compatibility issues..i have about 5 games in my steam library that just dont work on windows11..and i cant be bothered to go searching the community for fixes..the Ally comes with all the pc gaming issues. The steadeck streamlines the gaming experience with steam OS..and makes it clear when a game works well or has issues... Also the battery life on the ally is garbage..its the same battery as in the steam deck..but the steam deck has a custom chip tuned to work great at low watts..in fact steam deck outperforms the ally at 10 watts and below..meaning the ally chip will being using high power all the time..couple that with a 1080p display and 120hz display..and you have a garbage mobile device..steam decks battery was its biggest issue and the allys is even worse..Asus went cheap on the battery.... So you get better performance. No where near 2x performance ..but nowhere near as good a mobile device.. So its a pass for me on this one was excited for the Ally but that fell off when the numbers start coming out..hopefully other companiers come into the mobile pc market .. I have a suspicion this is what valve wanted..they're the spark that starts the fire..they refine steam OS than give it to all the handheld pc makers..they draw ppl away from windows and funnel business to steam...but it also lowers the chance of a steam deck 2.
They don't have a choice where I live, five years is what they have to honor. It actually works. I had a ROG 2080ti fail on me after four years and a few months and got refunded the full amount within two weeks of returning it. Considering the pricing of the 20 series back in the day compared to the 30 series at that time, I effectively got paid to upgrade. Also, the Steam Deck isn't available here so Ally is the only real option (needless to say, I'm not going to grey market import the Steam Deck and lose out on the consumer protection laws having me covered).
I have a confession to make. I don't game on the Steam Deck nearly as much as I assumed I would. It's become more a luxury comfort knowing it's always there if I want to play most things in portable comfort anywhere with my steam library. I'm not in a rush for the ROG Ally.
Rog is shady ....i dont trust their warranty at all. Look what they did with some of their high end motherboards....they sell already overclocked boards. That is very shady. No board should be pre overclocked unless they advertise the that . I wouldn't be surprised if rog ally is the new xbox 360 red rings in a few months. Windows is horrible for all handhelds right now. Steam os is better for games that support both. Rog ally got better graphics , but i dont trust rog at the moment. i trust valve.the buttons dont stick lol. There are some major UA-camrs that wont recommend any rog products anymore...... something to consider
Of course he only comparing the devices and not Valve vs Asus. Even the Deck had some hardware improvements like the fan so it is safer to wait a while to see how the hardware holds up.
I thought ETA said prefers the ROG Ally over Steam Deck? It's the more powerful one. Only $50 more than highest configuration of the Deck. It comes down to preferences and what you want from a handheld. Hence, why it's not a cut and dry answer. I think which is better really doesn't matter. Many of us prefer driving different cars. You might drive a sedan, coupe, SUV, truck, van, etc. Maybe you prefer a motorcycle. That's the same here. What if I prefer saving $200 and getting the Deck? Am I making a wrong decision because I do not need the most powerful handheld? I'm already happy with Vita and Switch graphics! I think both of these handhelds are pretty cool. They both have crappy battery life and some might be better off getting a real gaming laptop. Expect 90-100 minutes of gameplay. If I had to pick one, it's easily the Steam Deck even with its inferior specs. I just trust Valve more than Asus. Their ecosystem and online community support is better. Will probably have better accessories since the installed base is higher. Don't have the greatest history with Asus or Windows or two of them together. I will never forget that Asus Transformer tablet. I had to set the lid when closed to shut down because if I didn't, battery life would die overnight in standby from a 100% charge. Then it happened again a year later on my Zenfone Go. I never looked at Asus ever again after that. I've seen reviews for the ROG Ally and they're not the highest scores. The Verge gave it 5/10. Another gave it a 6/10. Another gave it 4/5 stars. Some are saying it's not really the Steam Deck killer or whatever. Hence, I had a feeling it's just a new "flavor of the week". I doubt a Steam Deck killer will ever exist unless they match that $399 price tag and have a site you can download games. As for me, I'm just waiting for the next Switch. Switch 2? Super Switch Entertainment System (SSES)? Switch Ultra 64? Switch U? Whatever the hell they'll call it. I do prefer the simpler pick up and play. No fuss about it. No jumping through hoops. And I'm not the biggest Nintendo fanboy at all. Don't play Pokémon, Smash Bros, Metroid, or even much Zelda. I play Super Mario games and Mario Kart games, that's really it. I prefer the Japanese-style games. Notice Mario and Solid Snake are American characters written by Japanese men? I find that cool seeing an American character from a Japanese man's perspective. My childhood was mostly shaped by Japanese developers like Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Square, Namco, Capcom, Konami, etc. Before gaming became more Westernized by the 2000s with PCs and Xboxes. Before all the first-person shooters that flooded the market. So I'll always prefer a Japanese company for my gaming needs even if that company from Kyoto can act like real, evil, corporate jackasses. Hurry up with that next Switch, Nintendo! On par to a PS4? Bring it! I hope we'll get over 5-hours battery life like we're getting with the Switch OLED instead of 1.5 we're mostly getting with the Deck and Ally for AAA titles.
Would love to see a video of someone using the Ally as a desktop replacement without the mobile gpu. General tasks, video editing, etc. Also pushing different monitors. I wonder how it would take to a 1440p ultra wide.
If possible it would be nice to see a video of only using turbo mode at 720p and 1080p for people that don’t care about battery life since they would have it plugged in.
Loving the competition! We are def winning right now. Both still seem like good options and used steam decks are getting cheap which I’ve had my eye out for. I sold my RP3 and wouldn’t mind a slightly used deck for emulation!
To be fair, this comparison doesn't really do the Steam Deck justice. Because, between 11-15W, the steam deck barely gain gaming performance, and under 15W the ROG Ally drops performance like a stone. Personally I value battery life, and there's no game I run above 9W on the Steam Deck (cyberpunk included). Because, ultimately, I think 3 hours is the minimum I want from the device, and in many cases I run games at 1-6W (4.5-8.5 hours), like Older PC- and AAA- games, indies, 2D games and emulation. In those scenarios the Ally can't compete. It offers 4 hours with much worse performance. I honestly think that the Steam Deck is a much more well-balanced unit. Which I think will become apparent once The Phawx does a TDP deep dive. Don't get me wrong, I'm not critiquing ETA Prime. The Ally isn't bad, it has it's use case in terms of high-performance gaming when you are preferably connected to the wall or can live with 1-2hours of battery. But it lacks the pretty important feature of "prolonged play on battery power". Going on a long distance flight I would much rather pack the Steam Deck than the Ally. When I am at home I much rather play on my desktop, or stream from my desktop to my Steam Deck (since the Steam Deck has AMAZING battery life for streaming)... That way I can get both desktop performance when I am at home, AND great battery life when I am on the go. :)
@@Hecklatch Yeah me to. Although ETA's video isn't as disingenuous as ASUS marketing, it still follows the format of concentrating on high-end performance (15W... that's the same as the Switch being docked... which is not portable/handheld TDP levels). The risk is that people don't actually get the entire picture, and how these devices fit into their specific situation. Like I said, nothing wrong with the ROG Ally. But its use case is quite niche, and I am afraid a lot of people will buy the product due to being blinded by high specs, but ending up disappointed when they realize that they can't use it for very long..
@@Edinburgh1000 No. it's because of how physics- and our current battery technology work. If you want to have decent battery life, going above 10W is actually just REALLY hard without literally weighing down the console with larger battery and cost. I would even argue that 1-5W is the sweet spot, In which I even consider the Steam Deck to be a bit too power hungry. But with our current technology we can't really make a x64 APU that get high performance in the latest AAA games meanwhile being able to scale down to low TDP while play simpler games. Having 6-8 CPU cores just drives up the lowest TDP levels. I mean, there was a time when we got 18 hours of gameplay from our handhelds (GBA SP). Although I would argue that this this was completely overkill. 4-8 hours however, is something I think we should strive for.
EtaPrime you have not dared to compare both machines running at 10w tdp... With Low tdp, Asus rog Ally is a disaster and Steam deck Beats It definitely... 10w Forza Horizon 5 , Steam deck 800p gets 43fps 10w Foza Horizon 5, Asus rog Ally 720p gets ....26 fps!!!! Also running at 15w .. the Asus Rog Ally offers less time in battery Life... 2h máximum if you limit the games in 40fps /720p... Lets wait until Asus /AMD improve this console working at Low tdp because It is utterly dissapointing the performance given at 9/10w tdp... It is ridiculous... Just for 2D games. Thank you for your invaluable support and help
Valve were right in saying that there is no point to for an update to the Steam Deck because there's not that much improvement with whats currently available, 7840U/Z1 Extreme. At 15w, both perform close to one another, Windows 11 is the the Ally's Achilles heal.
ETA, just would like to let you know you’ve convinced me to buy a ROG Ally lol. One thing that I’m still on the fence about is whether the ROG Ally is capable of sleep mode or not? I have the Deck and Switch, and absolutely love the sleep mode since I juggle game time with my busy day-to-day schedule. Would love some clarification about this from you!
I placed the same question on several videos and nobody can really answer this question. I know that windows is able to go into sleep mode but after waking up you will get problems to resume some games. As far as I know windows is working on a quick resume feature like on the Xbox. But this we will know only in time. I ordered also the Ally. If it doesn't support a good stable sleep mode I will send it back 😂
It comes down to price. If you only want to spend $400, the steam deck is an insane value. The ROG ally is more of a competitor to the ayaneo's on the market.
I think it's incredible how there are these super clear segments of the market now. If you want to spend around 200, the Odin is still the king in my opinion for stuff up go the PS2/GC generation. Wanna spend a little more, around 400, and want something that can manage most things, the Steam Deck is there. It seems like the Ally is here for those who want to spend a little more even, and do what the Steam Deck can do even better.
@VaydaladaVodalada I don't have a steam deck but I believe the system was designed to work sd cards. I would assume most people have some sd cards laying around. I have a couple 256gb ones in devices I don't really use.
Should have run games with lock 60, and see the battery comparison. Probably Ally will have more. Then again The Deck will crush the Ally with low TDP running old AAA or indies both performance and batteries. And with the low price, I'd say just get the Deck.
20%-30% perf improvement at 15watts with slightly less total time game usage of 7 minutes....Rog Ally is definitely a beast.Especially at emulating other consoles. Also way faster charging time to full battery is awesome, especially if you are in a hurry. Things will only get better with better optimizations and updates in the future. Not to mention FSR 3 that (hopefully) will be supported later on by this new X1 extreme APU further improving performance and battery life. Asus did a really good job disrupting the handheld market.
Unfortunately Ally fell short for me. Dont get me wrong, it is way more powerful than deck in the right conditions but in portable mode at scaled down resolution it performs only 10-20% better. Thats not worth 300 more. Minus the 1tb ssd to swap for steam deck it still cost 200 more
This is exactly why I cancelled the preorder I had made, ASUS blatantly lied about that in their marketing for the device but there's absolutely no surprise there. Maybe someday there will be a worthy upgrade from the Deck, sucks that today isn't that day.
![This can play what the Steam Deck CAN'T [Asus ROG Ally]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/crSfiGBPGeo/mqdefault.jpg)
It's great to see competition on the market and the steam deck is not going anyway, the Deck community has been doing amazing things for a year now and it's not slowing down.
Really happy with the competition, ASUS is a great company for this! I think the Ally wins hands down on hardware, but the Deck won't lose on experience.
Trackpads are too useful - should at least have a mini light trackpad for general computer use
Ally is **MOST WORST THING** can happen. And your "PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE" is not a good idea.
Steam deck is doing a "Basic" for Konsole Players.
if we go to the "FASTER HIGHTER WIDER" War, with Ally is doing
we loose this standard.
At the end we will loose all.
Fu... ally.
@@starbarzs7160 No, it's not. Asus is currently a crapy company showing the middle finger to the buyer. It is especially worth mentioning here problems with the warranty. As well as defective hardware that often breaks down under warranty, or a few days after.
For those unfamiliar with this topic, it is worth watching JayzTwoCents ,, I'm sorry ASUS ... but you're fired ''. And Gamers Nexus, ASUS Scumbag: Overvolting CPUs & Screwing the Customer''.
Most youtubers, and technical channels avoid the topic of the Asus problem as a company. And instead of this prefer to do free advertising, and jump on the hype train. Because a new device came out with slightly better parameters, a similar situation occurs when the new iPhone comes out.
Also I wouldn't be surprised how most of the "reviews'' are bought. It's very strange that no one mentions Asus problems, and even more what I mentioned above.
@@timnowak8573 To be fair ETA Prime is comparing the handheld devices and not Valve vs Asus. But because of the Asus issue I'm going to wait a while to see how the hardware hold up before buying one.
The Wattage comparison was good at 15w but the Steam Deck testing you showed still had the Steam Deck at a higher res. 800p vs 720p.
The one thing we have seen so far is Valve is completely behind the Steam Deck and Steam OS. Asus has been having issues lately. Even putting those issues out of mind for the moment it is still unknown how they are going to support the device. If they are going to let the device mature or even if they find success if they are going to then try and do like a yearly upgrade and leave the previous device without support etc. It is all unknown. While Some are already asking for a upgraded Steam Deck Valve seems aware that they don't want people to feel like they have to buy a new device each year. It is the smarter play and makes you feel like you have a reason to own a Steam Deck.
Regardless what the Steam Deck has done for Linux gaming is amazing. Yeah Valve didn't create Proton but they brought it to everyone's attention. And with projects like Nobara Linux with built in support for Davinci Resolve, OBS, and so many other things it is getting close to a place where a lot of people could switch to Linux. The only thing missing is solid Adobe support and even then because of Resolve I would only need Photoshop or someone to bring an alternative to Photoshop/Lightroom and I could100 percent switch to linux for good.
The one thing I'm impressed with the Ally is the anti-gravity cooling system. Finally there is a PC handheld where I don't have to worry about the cooling while I hang upside down from the ceiling like Grandpa Munster while playing Vampire Survivors.
😂
🦇
lol, when they said that, i thought they meant it for if you were lying on your side in bed or something. but to be honest i didn't know there was a problem to solve there in the first place. tech companies like asus always try to spin marginal developments into selling points.
What? Almost none of ya'll play this while flat on the bed?
I'm thankful Asus considered this when they were designing the Ally.
@@Eanakba it's for those who play with the handheld held upside down 😅
Man the handheld arena is surely heating up 🔥
Literally all I've wanted since I was a kid playing with my first PSP.
@@sexytopramen Man the PSP was my first handheld too!
@@27_prottoydey_viie80 I thought I was just nostalgic, but no: PSP Slim did have smaller screen bezels
I'm actually a little surprised that people are willing to buy $650+ handheld gaming devices
@@deansmits006 Probably because all the high end ones where ovet $1000
Valve kicked open a door we really needed them to, and its wonderful to see the competition in this space and the value for gamers
I think I noticed another handheld apparatus for phones. I think Valve just opened the floodgates for a new to game.
Gpd did.
@@davidplaysalot8726 yeah
I'm just really glad they aren't putting out some proprietary crap. I own a high-end gaming pc and I would want to install windows on my handheld so I can mod my games etc.
Definitely the deck is so good it kicked in the hinge too
Man, can't believe how well the deck holds up tbh.
But also on the other hand, crazy to think in just a year we've seen an almost 20% improvement to frames at the same wattages. The hardware in this space is improving so much.
I mean, it is only a year old. I would hope it wouldn't be destroyed after only a year.
@@guitarskooter Well, the 64gb deck is still dirt cheap in comparison to ally.
The immense performance gap only shows itself at higher TDPs. At 15W or below, it's pretty close, or sometimes the Steam Deck wins out, it's pretty fun to see :P
I love my Steam Deck but at the same time the Ally will improve with drivers, is more future proof and will have better compatibility, especially with older games. Both are great imo though.
@@gloriouskatatsumuri dude if you are seriously waiting for asus to improve anything with software you might as well give up...their laptop software armory crate has been garbage since it came into existence years ago and if they can't be bothered to make it good with the hundreds of thousands of laptops sold they won't for this
As a Asus ROG phone customer in the past, I sincerely hope that Asus actually provide good updates 🤷♂️
What's your Asus phone?
Yah there not going to
Here's hoping that the community will grow, so that we won't be depending on Asus too much.
Hopefully this machine won't explode 🫤
It’s a money grab off the handheld hype
So you have the Steam deck set to 800p, and the Ally at 720p?
I understand that the aspect ratio isn’t native, but you should’ve set the steam deck to 720p, as well, so we can judge the results when the devices are both running at the same internally rendered resolution.
Steam deck would potentially perform even closer to the Ally, in that scenario, especially in gpu bottlenecked games.
Maybe do another video , so we can see apples to apples, in terms of load?
It’s amazing that the Steam deck was performing as close to the Ally as it was anyway, but it may be even closer if it wasn’t having to process so many more pixels, at 800p vs 720p.
Why not compare 720p between ally and deck? Using the same resolution between the two is a more apples to apples comparison.
Unless you want to play with a fucky aspect ratio I think this way is better to test average use.
It's good that ASUS is getting in the game. I hope this pushes ayaneo, gpdwin etc to figure out a way to compete price wise
I think we will see some new players soon
Unfortunately, I don’t think the competition will come from the existing competition. It’s going to come from Dell, HP, MSI, etc. they can use their higher volume of sales to subsidize the R&D and push more units.
I hope someone will use GPD's keyboard/clamshell form factor.
What will happen is that they will make the devices cheaper and of worse quality. But I'd love for it to slow down a bit To take out a newer one every 6 months...
ayaneo and gdpwin will be crushed if other big corps like asus jump in the battle. they just simply dont have the same resources to compete with msi, asus, nintendo and sony with pricing. like what asus did, partnering with microsoft and bestbuy isnt cheap. ayaneo and gdpwin wont be able to do that 😗
I think the thing I would miss is the trackpads. Playing a lot of DOS games in emulation, using a trackpad is a big life improvement. Also, I highly doubt Valve is going to make another "competitive" product any time soon. They want to stick to SteamDeck and the discussion of a SteamDeck two or whatever they are talking about Valve has said no new architecture. From what I heard, just hearsay. From some UA-cam videos.
Valve will give us the Steam Deck 2 when the original starts severely lagging behind in performance. When you can buy a competitor's handheld that absolutely blows the Steam Deck out of the water FOR THE SAME EXACT PRICE, then you'll see Valve give us a new handheld. That likely won't be for several years, TBH. But, it's good to see Valve basically creating this market for us.
@@FamousWolfe There is no solid concrete evidence for Valve to do that. Either in their history or any updated recent interviews. There was some hullabaloo in January but, it's been uber silent. Doesn't cut the mustard to me. The market already existed but, Valve gave something no one has done yet. They made a very Sega looking product and that made me very proud. I am a Sega fan and I am tired and very fed up with the Nintendo Clone handhelds from China, the PlayStation clones from GPD. None of that talks to me at all.
I have been designing myself some Sega styled hardware for years now. I don't tell people often because, well... The usual shit gets thrown at me. The F word, or the T word. I'm tired of that too. Anyway, yeah. I really want SEGA to have a handheld of real value. As well as a new home system and arcade based on it. (If they come to me they will.) Sorry, Tangent there. Yeah. I do like the Ally, but Asus has been horrible as board partners and etc. Jayztwocents has a video up on Asus. I don't know if I trust them on this just yet. Great conversation though. Peace.
@@FamousWolfe Valve don't need to make steamdeck 2 specially if there are a lot of PC handhelds releasing. Remember they make profit in steam games and if other companies is making portable PC it is already a benefit for them. Because they don't make money on their handhelds and if other companies is making the handhelds they are doing valve a favor already and no need to take a loss to make a handheld.
Touchpads are what make the steamdeck so viable for PC gaming. Without, it's just another handheld console.
@@Tkaya460 Maybe so, but I have yet to ever use my touchpads in a year.
Honestly, the Ally looks amazing, but I'm happy with the steam deck. I feel the comparison makes sense once you compare the 700 Ally with the 650 SD, but you can get comparable performance with the cheapest SD. If your budget is closer to 400 (or even 360 if you got it on sale), it's a very tough ask to almost double your budget.
And to add to that, since steam deck has a huge community, I was able to use a few community driven plugins to run FH5 at a stable 45fps (variable 55) on high settings without FSR. Which is crazy.
Showcases what valve can do even on a budget!
The Steam Deck is a beautiful machine, I’d pick it any day over the switch but the Ally running windows natively is huge for me. I won’t preorder yet but I really think I’m going to get one in the near future. Competition is great and I’m happy for what’s to come.
Windows on deck 👁️👄👁️
@@sandeeppaliwal6015 havent people had issues with dual boot?
Lol i don't want windows at all. I go with the deck.
@@nickando1734 I don't think so, I'm even double booting windows on an sd card and perfect performance with smooth transition from one OS to another.
You can put windows on the steam deck too. But there's no reason for it
I have steam deck but will sell it and pre-order Asus Ally.
Great plan!
I preordered my Ally! I can’t wait for this beast!
You will be disappointed.
@@YeeLeeHaw highly doubt it
@@YeeLeeHaw No he won't
@Scarlet Dani okay steam deck fanboy
@@scarlet_dani worst case, can turn it into a mini desktop and only use built in screen and controller sometimes.
It bugs me a bit when people complain about newer games on the deck not hitting 60 fps at medium to high settings.
On a screen this small even playing at 35/40fps still feels really good, on a screen that small 60 fps isn’t necessary unless your on a fps game of course or an mmo 🤷♀️
It is interesting to see the work of Ally on SteamOS.
Next year or 3 years?
Idk, sony and microsoft usually waited for 3 years to release a revision
I think if windows releases a handheld mode within the next year steam os will be the Same as Linux forever only 2% of steam users 😂
@@dabberdaffy256The average user who is buying the Deck will never do anything related to the OS, same thing on the desktop where most users doesn't care about the OS, if It comes with Windows they're going to use Windows, same way the Deck come with SteamOS and most Deck users prefer SteamOS. Also it's worth to remember that all the improvements the Deck gets will also be available for Linux in general, so in the future is expected a higher adoption of Linux on the Desktop
@@quanghuyvu2649 a couple of weeks, this is where the benefits of free software shine a ton
@@bionic-beaver Wow, stop there you Linux evangelist, a lot of steam decks use windows for online games and game pass.
Personally I don't feel the performance bump is enough to pull me away from the other benefits the Steamdeck has.
For someone who's still don't know what to decide between the 2, what are those benefits?
I assume the trackpad, better performance at lower tdp (better battery life) and the community
And the negatives: we're talking about Asus here. Expect (or at least don't be disappointed by) shitty or non-existent product support.
Biggest bonus to ROG, no proton or Linux tinkering to get games to work. Everything just works.
@@guitarskooter Well the biggest bonus of the Steam Deck is not dealing with Windows, with everything that's verified just working out of the box
Ally is really a good contender. But for someone like me who have a desktop pc where I can play my AAA games without any issues with battery, I think Steam Deck would suffice for my on-the-go gaming needs.
Also, based on Linus' review on this new device's issue with the buttons getting stuck, which he downplayed, I think that will be a deal-breaker for most of us.
Also the dpad on the Ally isn't good for playing some retro games.
@@Anime_Fan_0069 this.
The Deck's Dpad is genuinely great for fighting games too
what makes you think the stuck button issue is not gonna be fixed lol
@@AliZurix because they're already into production. In order to fix, they would have to recall (expensive), more r&d (expensive) and retool machinery (expensive). Not to mention re-ship all the units back out globally. And trying to compete with SD price makes this a minor issue in asus's eyes. So it's not going to get fixed.
The touch pad is the deal breaker for me theyre just that useful and ally dont got that so the choice is clear.
Seems like the best of both worlds would be to use SteamOS on the ROG Ally :)
SteamOS is ass though.
Why anyone would want to gimp it is beyond me. I want access to all my games & native gamepass without going through work around or playing on the cloud.
@@OC.TINYYY Not everyone has game pass... And an actually working sleep mode is good :)
Don't know why you guys want to use a desktop OS on a 7" screen without any trackpads
@@jesusbarrera6916 Some games just don't work on Linux.
Dual booting SteamOS and Windows on the Ally sounds like a dream to me though.
@@OC.TINYYY Linux users disagree. There are quite a few like me who are interested in the steam deck because it runs Linux OOTB. Valve has improved the Linux gaming ecosystem very much over the course of getting SteamOS working well, long may it continue. If SteamOS/holoiso works well on the ally then for many it's the steamdeck 1.5, valve isn't likely to release a steamdeck 2.0 for a long time so it would be a nice option to use hardware on the most recent TSMC node for efficiency.
@Annabelle_UwU Exactly *some* games don't work. Tons do and even more consistently being added to that list.
Battery life is king for any gaming handheld and the Deck can simply squeeze out a much more playable experience at lower TDPs. The Ryzen Z1 Extreme is a voltage optimised laptop APU and still belongs in much larger devices. The ROG Ally is still a damn good attempt at a high end handheld though!
This was exactly what i was looking for, ty for this video ❤
Cant wait to hold my Ally :D
Was just watching last video and bam, new video with comparison
You know how on the Steam Deck you can bounce from one game to another, and it'll remember the TDP you prefer for each game? Does this do that too?
I think in his last video, he shows that it can.
This is exactly the video I was looking for. Sure at 30/35W and 120 Hz 1080p, the Ally will blow away the Steam Deck (ignoring battery) but what about when you treat the Ally like it’s a Steam Deck. Imo 720p medium 30-60fps is great for most games when playing in a portable manner.
For me the fact Ally uses Windows 11 is a bonus if I want to use it as a temporary regular computer for boring work items. I prefer the design and the silent fans are a bonus.
Why are you testing on same resolution? 720p isn't native for ROG, so it'll look much worse than 800p on Steamdeck. Test 1080p vs 800p, since it how people will actually play.
Also why only test 15w. What's about lower wattage? One that people will use more often in portable mode.
Linus did this too, but its mainly to see how much the steamdeck has matured over its initial release at it's max output and overall is a better device for it at those specs, with the hopes that the Rog will also go in that direction after a few updates.
Lower wattage overall still favored the steamdeck since the chip used in rog needs a minimum power to work otherwise it just won't.
Going up in wattage though, that is a different beast completely and will definitely knock the steamdeck right out. Battery life will suffer greatly but go ahead and enjoy the 1080p, 120hz refresh oled display, with better cooling and speakers, crank that shit up to 35w with turbo, and play cyberpunk77 on high settings with a stable 60fps and get a solid half an hour of battery on handheld. 👍
While it is great that the ASUS Ally is coming and offers users a choice, I am more concerned with ASUS and how they are going to support the device. Mostly on the repair process. ASUS has a long history of bad service. From actively denying warranty coverage to recently burning CPUs and offering a fix which voids the warranty. I hope they can overcome these constant service issues, but I am in a wait-and-see with ASUS.
Exactly why I am holding off from buying one
Please do a benchmark for Ally at 35w with cpu turbo off and motion assistant or auto tdp or project sbc. I wanna see the maximum performance of the Ally regardless of battery life. Thank you
I hope the Ally encourages new competitors to enter the market
There so many competitors already bruh like and they realeasing like 5 model per month
I have a feeling Razer will be next.
@@notori-di5et I heard Sharp is working on screen for a new upcoming handheld.
@@notori-di5et I was thinking like the Alienware UFO, something by Lenovo etc.
@@notori-di5et serious competitors not ones releasing boutique handhelds.
This is a hands down land slide for the ROG and is exactly the power I was looking for. I really wanted a device with Windows too and this is exactly that!
ion like how bloated windows is
I play a lot of indie and lightweight games on my Deck and the Deck is way better at low wattages for performance and battery life. I can get over 7 hours on some games which the Ally can't reach at all.
@@Moskeeto ETA Prime has a video testing emulation which i'd say compare best to lightweight games. The battery is still good for 5hrs easy and thats at 1080p 120hz vs decks lowers res and refresh rate. so there is trade off and personally I don't need the battery life as i won't be playing unplugged that long even when traveling. I also prefer a native 1080p panel
@@Moskeeto - To be fair, the Steam deck is rarely going to leave the home, due to its huge size, and that also goes for Rog Ally, also because of the price of these handhelds.
No way would I take this on a bus or train journey, will get mugged, or your bag stolen with it in.
So at home, keep it plugged in, simple solution, unlimited play time on both devices.
Thanks for the comparison! I am curious about SteamOS on Ally. It would be hard to come back to Windows with all its quirks. I think the definitive answer to Deck owners is "wait for Deck 2" though 😊
The Deck 2 looks an awful lot like the Aya Pro 2.
@@cptncutleg source?
I'm waiting for deck2
@@TheRamarsetya he just made it up, there is no rumors about Deck 2 right now, I bet its a 2025 device
thank you for limiting us to one choice, just like when I was a kid I will buy the sega and nintendo handheld and not pick sides like a dummy and limit the games I can play....
Thanks for the review. Can’t wait to see how the ROG Ally perform under steam OS, would love to see if it supports the resume from sleep function on steam deck
Windows can do this already on the SD and natively. But it only works if you disable hibernate. After like 3 hours (default), it goes from sleep to hibernate. Which kills the memory loaded for your game.
It will be interesting to see how well Asus/ROG support this device going forward, updating drivers and tweaking compatibility for new games in the way Valve have on the SteamDeck, will the Ally truly be able to play all our games, or just some of them, Windows really struggles with a lot of older titles.
The Asus ROG looks like a fantastic device but... My first purchase will most likely be a steam deck. Someday I want a ROG but To me the attraction for the steam deck is the steam environment and all the work that went into the steam deck. The steamdeck is more than powerful enough for my needs. I don't need to play a lot of high-end AAA computer on the go. I am however getting really big into retro emulation and the community support for retro emulation on the steam deck is massive. I've handled a steamdeck and find a really like the steamdeck OS.
also in 10 years you'll still be into emulation and the deck will still have support and run it better than today. by then windows 13 will be out and the rog won't be supported anymore, let alone that "crate" thing.
No marketing, absolutely needed info. Much appreciated
Both benefit tremendously from user optimisation. I undervolted my deck a little and have capped max cpu to 2.8ghz and for 15w tdp with both cpu and gpu going full tilt and under maximum load, my power draw tops out at 22w while on the 680”u devices, I invariably pull around 30w- i reckon it’ll be close to 26-27 w on the Ally if you apply more load at 15w.
They really should have gone with at least a 50wh battery on the Ally imo. I could be wrong about this being the case with the Ally but as alluded to in this review, the Valve custom APU’s main strength is that they’ve gotten AMD to optimise it for the low tdp range to a RIDICULOUS extent. Even as someone exclusively running windows10 on my Deck, I have been pleasantly surprised at how little tinkering was needed to get it performing at the level I wanted.
Undervolting was a breeze, no major bios or hardware level changes, thermals are okay because you hold the device quite far from the main board and battery, controller setup is the best of any handheld and the windows support drivers are surprisingly stable.
Even in a country where it’s not officially available, I could buy a new 64gb deck for $420 and got a 2230 WD nvme 512gb for $40 on sale. It still seems like a better portable proposition to me personally
On the other hand, I like the direction the AOKZOE A1 pro is going with the 7 series amd chip and a 65wh battery. That device should just about match the performance of the Ally and actually do 2 hours under heavy gaming load.
A gain of 30% is fine when youre testing Dirt3 or FH5 but what happens when in the next 6 months almost every new game starts hitting UE5 level of graphics and none of that runs on these devices?
Sadly handhelds will always become obsolete for AAA games within 5-6 months of launch so focusing on ergonomics, battery life and decent performance on less demanding or older games might be the better path for this industry
What would happen if the sun fell out the sky, or if you're mother never met you're father?
Initially I was thinking about upgrading to the ROG from my steam deck but I think I’ll wait it out. I get the feeling we’re about to see a handheld arms race of sorts. Maybe valve will put out another steam deck within a year or two.
If you already have a Deck , just wait until Valve releases the Deck 2. You're not missing much on performance. Unless you have the money then go for it, Buy the Ally.
Maybe others will, but Valve thinks of their Deck as a console and wants the Deck's official Verified library to matter and give developers a common denominator to optimise for.
Valve is in no hurry to do a steam deck 2. Its literally financially better for them for people to buy games from steam and play on other handhelds as they subsidize the cost of the Steam Deck.
Same😂. That Ally is over hyped
does the ally download the shader cache because steam does for deck for the game it support which reduces stutter
But why not test it in 720p for both? 800p is more then 10% more aka "harder" for the APU
Because most of us are going to play the Asus in 1080p.
@@quecreations3244then he should test the Ally at 1080p instead of 720p then, going by your logic.
@@samh5886 I would want ETA to if it's the native resolution. Why test it in 720p just because one device is limited to that resolution. Why punish the other device to make you happy?
Love how fast the ally charges that means a lot
Are there any performance / battery life improvement from disabling 4 cores on the Ally?
I feel like 8 cores is a bit overkill for a handheld and I would love to see how it functions with just 4.
Looking at current gen(unoptimised) games using upto 60% of 5800x3d, it doesn't seem unusable.
Well, I pulled the trigger on the Ally. I really wanted something with a bit more horsepower. I love my steamdeck but I also look forward to something that isn’t as heavy.
Hopefully the ROG Ally doesn't blow up and then ASUS blames the customer. Surely that would never happen though, ASUS seems like a stand-up company.
Yikes
@@nishomzawan5196 sekiY
Exactly. So Valve has been good.
Loving these handhelds. I can’t explain how much I enjoy my steam deck though. I feel the battery is the number one concern for most people and I can’t see going above 15tpd for better performance for less battery at 699$. I feel like if Asus did a similar 299$ lower end model like valve did. It would be a no brainer but at 699$ your getting close to a 3050-2060 laptop range.
At the end of the day I enjoy handheld gaming and I love that the space is growing. It would be interesting to see them bring back a psp-ps vita (not streaming but an actual gaming device) and even if Xbox jumped in. As adults I feel like it’s easier to pick up a handheld and get 30-45 minutes of gaming in vs having to pull the TV away from the family or going in to the office away from the family. Can’t wait to see what future brings us. Great videos.
Honestly, the ROG Ally is a great step forward for handheld PCs. I'm going to keep my Steam Deck, no question.
The support it gets from the community and the repairability can't be matched. I'm sticking with my deck also
Yeah, totally sticking with my Steam Deck. The price is still to rich for my blood, and also, after Gamers Nexus and Jayz2Cents roasted Asus for their terrible software and customer support, I'm staying away from Asus products these days. Especially with the Armory Crate software.
I will get the Ally & still keep my Deck 💯
First comment? I just wanted to let people know if you are buying the ally at best buy they have a $70 off code if you are using a best buy credit card. Just use honey to gind the code . All together i saved $85
looking forward to this - I hope I won't regret getting my SteamDeck last months..
Not if you like battery life...
Steam Deck is a great device, either way.
Even if Rog Ally would be cheaper I still will buy Steam Deck for reasons:
1. Opensource linux. Fk Microsoft and big corps.
2. Track pads, I won't buy any console without track pads.
@@BlobBlobkins another thing I would add (and it is personal opinion). I don't have faith in Asus to actually maintain and update the drivers for the device.
@@darkequ1nox264 yeah that too
Your smooth narrating voice is always a breath of fresh air vs the rest of YT. Right to the point, thanks for the breakdown!
Honestly for this comparison I wish you would have let them both run at full strength to get an honest look at both of them and maybe windows on steam deck vs steam OS vs the Ally as well to see how Windows on the Steam deck is doing now.
The Ally would be a worse experience if you run games on 1080P with the wattage cranked. (think under 1hr battery) The only why to get decent battery is to lower settings on the Ally or stay plugged in most of the time.
Should have compared both at 720, not 720/800 that’s not exactly fair comparison even if it’s small diff. And you can run the deck at 20 watts too. Would love to see it done again at apples to apples.
Love your content.
My biggest concern with the Asus handheld would be its long term support and repairability. I trust Valve a lot more than Asus, especially with the software. Asus will drop support for it in 10 months when they release the next SKU. Not a fan of the colors and design of the Ally either. If Windows had a handheld OS and the design aesthetic was different I might be interested.
Bro software is done by AMD + Windows not ROG...... All they need to provide is software to control device settings which 3rd party apps also available that does that even better than Deck...... So in long term support Ally is superior since AMD and Windows get faster and more stable drivers than Linux with Steam OS
Microsoft is working on handheld OS mode so look forward to that
Personally, I'll never buy a Windows handheld for the same reason I won't buy an Apple Phone: I want total control and I don't want to be tracked or monitored.
@@cptncutleg I always chuckle when I hear people say this. Do you realize how much data that Google and other companies have on you and are tracking on you every day? If you're using any tech, you are being tracked and monitored.
@@cptncutleg You think they care about you when they have billion of people using their devices? 😂
Who cares it's not like you are working for aliens or something
Appreciate your efforts for making these videos about ROG ALLY. ❤️
Own a steam deck. Love the build and trackpads, but I care more about a better screen and better performance. Will buy an Ally and it will likely become my main until steam deck 2 comes out. Hope Valve can release SteamOS to the public because that's what I'm wanting to run on it. Is this how ending up with multiple handhelds start 😂
Not enough mobile visual improvements to make the jump for me. Yes, it's more powerful, but I run doom eternal at 8 watts. Averaging 74 fps at 800p ultra nightmare locked to 60. 30 watts mobile is insane. I can get 4 hours of doom eternal. Yes, the ally can do that (maybe), but I'm not looking for a handheld and desktop replacement.
I care more about trackpads for Wii emulation.
So you're gonna shell out double the price of something you already own for a minimal performance upgrade ? 😂
@@sub23DaRkNeSS to each their own right. The better screen and performance is what I wanted out of it originally and I’m only keeping one. So I’m paying for only the price of one really 👀
I just don't think it's worth buying Ally if you already have Deck. It's not even that much more powerful and has worse battery life than Deck has. Plus there are tools for Deck made by community that can improve overall performance like CryoUtilities. Just community alone makes Deck way more worth it imo.
I swear you're the most honest handheld tech reviewer on this platform. Every other tech reviewer that's put these 2 up against eachother ALWAYS gives it to Steamdeck. They never mention emulation, they never compare them equally - hell, I saw one reviewer give it to SD only because it had 2 added back buttons. They're either completely incompetent or paid shills. I'm assuming the latter.
I know the screen ratio is different on both but you should have run both at 720p . You unintentionally handicap the steam deck in the benchmarks by 10% because it has to run more pixel .
Shut up valve sectist. Steam is a trash!!!
No idea why he choose to do that as well for a comparison test. Might as well run the ally at 1080p following what logic he was using.
It will be really interesting to see if battery life improves when you install the DeckOS on the Ally. Looking forward to that video 🙌
Keeping the steam deck for sure. Asus has a bad QA record with new releases so it makes sense to wait until issues are ironed out.
Thank you for an actual honest comparison and review of the 2 devices, see the same game play on both you can see that the main difference is the screen being a higher refresh rate which makes for a more smother experience overall, I am looking forward to seeing Steam OS on the Ally too, I agree completely with the closing thoughts and what most tech reviewers are saying that if you got the steam deck stick with the steam deck but if you own neither then its kinda stupid not to put the extra $50 to get a better experience and performance right now with the Ally.
I can't wait to hopefully own one of these someday. Both are awesome.
there is always going to be diffrent variations regarding this tech, no matter what, it's continious, i wouldn't worry so much about it, people who buy this current version of the new playtoy will be made to feel bad that the next version is more powerful and they should spend money on, it's like how phones progress so fast, you make a 600 investment in these devices and expect it to last a couple of years, these videos for comparisim is pointless, i'm looking long term with what the device i've intesvted in will work for me during those years i have it, i don't care about PC games i have an gaming laptop for that, i play the steam deck for retro goodness and i don't regret my purchase regarding that situaion, why are youtubers wasting time with comparisms when they know clearly people play these mini pcs for old retro games which don't matter regarding the specs, this clearly is very obvious what is going on here..
me too. I hope to get one of them one day.
I agree completely which is why I finally pulled the trigger on an x86 handheld in the Asus
The price gap is huge outside of the US, here in France, you can get base steam deck for 330 euros but base ROG Ally starts at 799 euros ! that's just too much.
Because is different machine, damn frenchie! Now say ferrari is most expensive than a skod🙄🙄🙄
@@charapamaceta8181 its actually just a ferrari thats 10% slower than the other ferrari, not a skod. Between the two I'd say valve is the higher end brand than asus.
Love your channel! Can you test battery life with both devices capped at 60 fps? Does the presumably lower power drawl of the Ally make a difference?
He tested both devices at 15W power draw and they both lasted about the same amount of time(103 min and 96 min), they have the same size battery.
Capping at 60fps would wildly vary the power draw depending on the game, the only factor that matters for how quick the battery drains is the system wattage
Definitely going to wait and see. Battery life has taken priority over extra performance for me lately. Dual booting Windows on Steam Deck has been an absolute breeze. EmuDeck on SteamOS, and Windows for everything else. SD card is NTFS with both OS having access - very convenient for EmuDeck ROM management. This balance has been wonderful for traveling light. I hardly ever feel the need to go full on docked mode, but the option is always there for either OS. Best part is I don't have to remember and redo literally weeks worth of command-line parameters I painstakingly researched and setup for compatibility each time SteamOS gets updated. Living the Steam Deck dream life.
Thank you, can't wait for your Steam OS on Ally video!
It is truly amazing just how valve managed to squeeze out performance while still maintaining a low wattage and still be competitive with an Apu that's clearly more powerful.
In an apples to apples comparison as you are doing now, the deck is simply too good to be true, and as soon as you increase the wattage, you have to consider an even lower battery life for the Ally.
I can't wait till you try steamOS on that thing. It may very well be the only thing that tips me into getting that handheld over the Deck.
Well when you play down to the competition then it is a level playing field. When you have to “lower” the device’s capabilities just to have the other device keep pace then that defeats the purpose of the newer better device. But yes the steam deck is a great handheld but when at full power it just simply doesn’t compete with the rog ally’s performance or capabilities. I love my steam deck but as soon as I get my rog ally, my steam deck will be sold.
@@slimv3.162 I understand. In my case (and mind you, I don't own a Deck though I have used the it, it felt amazingly familiar and easy to use), I feel I will wait until I see the Ally running steamOS as that is a much more mature platform.
Maybe the versatility of steamOS will allow me to fully take advantage of the hardware, or maybe I will simply get a Deck knowing I can use it (with its lower performance and all) but count on its software and focus.
Or hell, maybe Asus surprises us and really pushes through with the Ally, that would be amazing.
@@slimv3.162 I is not apples to apples by comparing them this way. By your reasoning the deck should be at 15w/800p and the Ally should be at 20w/1080p. Or for apples to apples they should both be at 15w/720p
@@caevans432 I didn’t say it was apples to apples. I’m stating that it’s not a fair comparison because the rog is simply a much more capable device than the steam deck. You have to dumb down the ally so to speak for the steam deck to keep up. Both are great devices. But imo there is zero reason to purchase a steam deck over the ally especially considering only a $50 difference between both top models.
@@slimv3.162Why sell it? Just keep both lol
Just two questions,
1) Did the press buttons get stuck in your play sessions as in case of Linus?
2) Are the joysticks and buttons replaceable because if not, the device is dead in a few months and I don't like that.
720p vs 800p? That is 11,11% more pixels, doesn’t it?
You've gotten more realistic with the wattage, thumbs up
Given how Asus washed their hands with their irresponsible actions with the Ryzen CPUs, how it's clear they are receiving money from MS to derail the Linux/SteamOS momentum and easily can abandon this device by no providing support i will simply not give them a penny.
It's k because Valve wins either way. They can sell the steamdeck at a low price because they know people will keep buying games on steam and they can just make up the difference, but with the Rog, one can use it for 3rd party, game pass or, for emulation purposes but for the most part people see this as a steamdeck upgrade and use it for the purpose of playing steam games.... which means people are still buying games on steam. They can try and de-rail linux/steamos all they want but its not going to hurt valve in the slightest. 🙄
@@XionSteel sadly, you missed the point of how important it is for the Linux/SteamOS momentum to continue and how it benefits everyone, not only Valve.
@@XionSteel The only way Valve can be hurt if Publishers/Developers abandon steam. Since Steam is their money-making machine. MS can easily abandon steam if they want to. They can easily curtail Valve linux development. Since they hinges on "compatibility layer".
As someone who’s always loved handhelds ever since I was a kind and got my first gameboy it’s truly such an exciting time
Why test 1 at 720p and 1 at 800p if you want a performance comparison at same tdp? You can run games on deck at 720p as well
Fantastic video, your TDP limited tests are the best comparison I've seen.
That said, I think you should do a second run on these tests with Steamdeck upresed to 1080p just to show the improvements in the Z1E chip when you are pushing more pixels.
We all know the Steamdeck is amazing at low resolution, and at worst the Ally matches Steamdeck here, but what happens when you ask Steamdeck to play on home turf for the Ally?
Both systems running at 1080p I would expect the Ally to perform significantly better, then again at a 15W TDP I could be wrong, and if I am wrong about that assumption it would be great to know before the device comes out.
Literally bought Steam Deck a week ago. Couldn't be happier about the Ally reviews because I was anxious about my purchase. Seeing the battery life compared to Steam Deck I'm glad I didn't wait for the Ally. 800p in my opinion is amazing, couldn't bother less for the 120Hz display and kinda cringe about the battery life on 15W TDP - where the Deck shines. Also the sleep mode on Ally is a joke in my opinion. Hope Asus will resolve it soon but it's more of a Windows problem. Been a Windows user my whole life but couldn't be happier gaming on Deck running Linux.
i was missing a couple of those things in the comparison, valve clear dedication to repairability, and seemingly long term support of the device. And things like simpler games that you can run at way lower wattage on the deck, one of the games i play on the deck gets close to 8 hours of run time! the Ally does not seem to clock low enough to run those kind of games for a long time. And indeed, the sleep of the deck is perfect, quick, and just works.. windows.. well expect it to turn on at random, or just not go to sleep, or 'wake' up but actually just booting up cause it didnt go to sleep but just restarted.. Time will tell, but I think the software is where the biggest differences will be (oh and the next steam OS should offer some good performance uplift due to a newer kernel and mesa) .. its good to have competition, but for sure sticking to the deck.
Same here I gamed on Windows my whole life, but since the Steam Deck SteamOS and Linux is superior by far, I have a HP Omen gaming laptop and I never use it and it simply isn't good for gaming on Windows
@TheTechDragonChannel its not that the ROG doesnt clock low enough..
The steam deck has an actual custom chip that is specialized for low watt performance..the z1 in the Ally is an off the shelf chip....even though its 2 gen later chip its using more power for the same performance at lower watts..
We'll probably be getting about 3 handhelds this year using the same chip..while the steam decks vangough is its own thing....Valve just put more thought into steam deck than Asus did in ally..
You're cringing about a 7 minute difference in battery life at 15W TDP?
@Scarlet Dani I don't think I've seen ROG "fanboys" only steam deck users being very over protective and defensive.
Man I absolutely love the design of the rog ally,but that 1 hour battery life is killing me....
honestly theres no way i would ever get a steam deck after the ally releases, alone the screen resolution makes it so much better for everything
Most newer games won't be running on the Ally well at 1080p and will need to downgrade to 720p wich tends to like somewhat blurry on a 1080p compared to a 800p native screen.
Also Asus has a horrible record of support while Valve's is practically perfect.
@MenaceInc yeah, don't know why Asus opted for 1080p, the scaled up 720p is just bad.
Copium.
We still have to thank the Nintendo Switch for showing how portable consoles are not dead or dying..but evolving..
I think the ROG Ally is great if you don't have a steam deck...but if you do have one..the Ally just isnt enough of a leap..and it has way too much step backs..for the performance gains..to merit the switch
Especially if you're looking for a console like experience..
The biggest gipes i have with pc gaming is just the issues with playing games..looking for bug fixes..compatibility issues..i have about 5 games in my steam library that just dont work on windows11..and i cant be bothered to go searching the community for fixes..the Ally comes with all the pc gaming issues.
The steadeck streamlines the gaming experience with steam OS..and makes it clear when a game works well or has issues...
Also the battery life on the ally is garbage..its the same battery as in the steam deck..but the steam deck has a custom chip tuned to work great at low watts..in fact steam deck outperforms the ally at 10 watts and below..meaning the ally chip will being using high power all the time..couple that with a 1080p display and 120hz display..and you have a garbage mobile device..steam decks battery was its biggest issue and the allys is even worse..Asus went cheap on the battery....
So you get better performance. No where near 2x performance ..but nowhere near as good a mobile device..
So its a pass for me on this one was excited for the Ally but that fell off when the numbers start coming out..hopefully other companiers come into the mobile pc market ..
I have a suspicion this is what valve wanted..they're the spark that starts the fire..they refine steam OS than give it to all the handheld pc makers..they draw ppl away from windows and funnel business to steam...but it also lowers the chance of a steam deck 2.
Cant wait for that upcoming video on SteamOS on the Ally. Thanks for the good work!
For me it comes down to who I believe would go above and beyond for any warranty issues and Asus fails that.
They don't have a choice where I live, five years is what they have to honor. It actually works. I had a ROG 2080ti fail on me after four years and a few months and got refunded the full amount within two weeks of returning it. Considering the pricing of the 20 series back in the day compared to the 30 series at that time, I effectively got paid to upgrade. Also, the Steam Deck isn't available here so Ally is the only real option (needless to say, I'm not going to grey market import the Steam Deck and lose out on the consumer protection laws having me covered).
I have a confession to make.
I don't game on the Steam Deck nearly as much as I assumed I would.
It's become more a luxury comfort knowing it's always there if I want to play most things in portable comfort anywhere with my steam library.
I'm not in a rush for the ROG Ally.
Rog is shady ....i dont trust their warranty at all. Look what they did with some of their high end motherboards....they sell already overclocked boards. That is very shady. No board should be pre overclocked unless they advertise the that .
I wouldn't be surprised if rog ally is the new xbox 360 red rings in a few months. Windows is horrible for all handhelds right now. Steam os is better for games that support both.
Rog ally got better graphics , but i dont trust rog at the moment. i trust valve.the buttons dont stick lol.
There are some major UA-camrs that wont recommend any rog products anymore...... something to consider
Of course he only comparing the devices and not Valve vs Asus.
Even the Deck had some hardware improvements like the fan so it is safer to wait a while to see how the hardware holds up.
I thought ETA said prefers the ROG Ally over Steam Deck? It's the more powerful one. Only $50 more than highest configuration of the Deck. It comes down to preferences and what you want from a handheld. Hence, why it's not a cut and dry answer.
I think which is better really doesn't matter. Many of us prefer driving different cars. You might drive a sedan, coupe, SUV, truck, van, etc. Maybe you prefer a motorcycle. That's the same here. What if I prefer saving $200 and getting the Deck? Am I making a wrong decision because I do not need the most powerful handheld? I'm already happy with Vita and Switch graphics!
I think both of these handhelds are pretty cool. They both have crappy battery life and some might be better off getting a real gaming laptop. Expect 90-100 minutes of gameplay. If I had to pick one, it's easily the Steam Deck even with its inferior specs. I just trust Valve more than Asus. Their ecosystem and online community support is better. Will probably have better accessories since the installed base is higher.
Don't have the greatest history with Asus or Windows or two of them together. I will never forget that Asus Transformer tablet. I had to set the lid when closed to shut down because if I didn't, battery life would die overnight in standby from a 100% charge. Then it happened again a year later on my Zenfone Go. I never looked at Asus ever again after that.
I've seen reviews for the ROG Ally and they're not the highest scores. The Verge gave it 5/10. Another gave it a 6/10. Another gave it 4/5 stars. Some are saying it's not really the Steam Deck killer or whatever. Hence, I had a feeling it's just a new "flavor of the week". I doubt a Steam Deck killer will ever exist unless they match that $399 price tag and have a site you can download games.
As for me, I'm just waiting for the next Switch. Switch 2? Super Switch Entertainment System (SSES)? Switch Ultra 64? Switch U? Whatever the hell they'll call it. I do prefer the simpler pick up and play. No fuss about it. No jumping through hoops. And I'm not the biggest Nintendo fanboy at all. Don't play Pokémon, Smash Bros, Metroid, or even much Zelda. I play Super Mario games and Mario Kart games, that's really it.
I prefer the Japanese-style games. Notice Mario and Solid Snake are American characters written by Japanese men? I find that cool seeing an American character from a Japanese man's perspective. My childhood was mostly shaped by Japanese developers like Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Square, Namco, Capcom, Konami, etc. Before gaming became more Westernized by the 2000s with PCs and Xboxes. Before all the first-person shooters that flooded the market.
So I'll always prefer a Japanese company for my gaming needs even if that company from Kyoto can act like real, evil, corporate jackasses. Hurry up with that next Switch, Nintendo! On par to a PS4? Bring it! I hope we'll get over 5-hours battery life like we're getting with the Switch OLED instead of 1.5 we're mostly getting with the Deck and Ally for AAA titles.
I'm not switching the deck for anything without OLED screen
Would love to see a video of someone using the Ally as a desktop replacement without the mobile gpu. General tasks, video editing, etc. Also pushing different monitors. I wonder how it would take to a 1440p ultra wide.
If possible it would be nice to see a video of only using turbo mode at 720p and 1080p for people that don’t care about battery life since they would have it plugged in.
Loving the competition! We are def winning right now. Both still seem like good options and used steam decks are getting cheap which I’ve had my eye out for. I sold my RP3 and wouldn’t mind a slightly used deck for emulation!
Rog Ally with Holo os?
Really shows how good the Deck is 🤯
Please do an input lag test on both.
To be fair, this comparison doesn't really do the Steam Deck justice. Because, between 11-15W, the steam deck barely gain gaming performance, and under 15W the ROG Ally drops performance like a stone. Personally I value battery life, and there's no game I run above 9W on the Steam Deck (cyberpunk included). Because, ultimately, I think 3 hours is the minimum I want from the device, and in many cases I run games at 1-6W (4.5-8.5 hours), like Older PC- and AAA- games, indies, 2D games and emulation. In those scenarios the Ally can't compete. It offers 4 hours with much worse performance. I honestly think that the Steam Deck is a much more well-balanced unit. Which I think will become apparent once The Phawx does a TDP deep dive.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not critiquing ETA Prime. The Ally isn't bad, it has it's use case in terms of high-performance gaming when you are preferably connected to the wall or can live with 1-2hours of battery. But it lacks the pretty important feature of "prolonged play on battery power". Going on a long distance flight I would much rather pack the Steam Deck than the Ally. When I am at home I much rather play on my desktop, or stream from my desktop to my Steam Deck (since the Steam Deck has AMAZING battery life for streaming)... That way I can get both desktop performance when I am at home, AND great battery life when I am on the go. :)
True, I expected sub 15W comparison, disappointed with the video.
@@Hecklatch Yeah me to. Although ETA's video isn't as disingenuous as ASUS marketing, it still follows the format of concentrating on high-end performance (15W... that's the same as the Switch being docked... which is not portable/handheld TDP levels). The risk is that people don't actually get the entire picture, and how these devices fit into their specific situation. Like I said, nothing wrong with the ROG Ally. But its use case is quite niche, and I am afraid a lot of people will buy the product due to being blinded by high specs, but ending up disappointed when they realize that they can't use it for very long..
@@Edinburgh1000 No, I just like using my handheld away from the charger for longer than 2 hours
@@Edinburgh1000 No. it's because of how physics- and our current battery technology work. If you want to have decent battery life, going above 10W is actually just REALLY hard without literally weighing down the console with larger battery and cost. I would even argue that 1-5W is the sweet spot, In which I even consider the Steam Deck to be a bit too power hungry. But with our current technology we can't really make a x64 APU that get high performance in the latest AAA games meanwhile being able to scale down to low TDP while play simpler games. Having 6-8 CPU cores just drives up the lowest TDP levels.
I mean, there was a time when we got 18 hours of gameplay from our handhelds (GBA SP). Although I would argue that this this was completely overkill. 4-8 hours however, is something I think we should strive for.
EtaPrime you have not dared to compare both machines running at 10w tdp...
With Low tdp, Asus rog Ally is a disaster and Steam deck Beats It definitely...
10w Forza Horizon 5 , Steam deck 800p gets 43fps
10w Foza Horizon 5, Asus rog Ally 720p gets ....26 fps!!!!
Also running at 15w .. the Asus Rog Ally offers less time in battery Life... 2h máximum if you limit the games in 40fps /720p...
Lets wait until Asus /AMD improve this console working at Low tdp because It is utterly dissapointing the performance given at 9/10w tdp... It is ridiculous... Just for 2D games.
Thank you for your invaluable support and help
Valve were right in saying that there is no point to for an update to the Steam Deck because there's not that much improvement with whats currently available, 7840U/Z1 Extreme. At 15w, both perform close to one another, Windows 11 is the the Ally's Achilles heal.
required power draw for the soc to spread its wings and battery cap is ally's achilles heel
@@tomzpl And windows 11
I just feel like the arrival of these windows-based handheld, especially the ROG Ally, just made the steam deck stronger.
Already got my Ally preordered 😊
ETA, just would like to let you know you’ve convinced me to buy a ROG Ally lol. One thing that I’m still on the fence about is whether the ROG Ally is capable of sleep mode or not? I have the Deck and Switch, and absolutely love the sleep mode since I juggle game time with my busy day-to-day schedule. Would love some clarification about this from you!
I placed the same question on several videos and nobody can really answer this question. I know that windows is able to go into sleep mode but after waking up you will get problems to resume some games. As far as I know windows is working on a quick resume feature like on the Xbox. But this we will know only in time. I ordered also the Ally. If it doesn't support a good stable sleep mode I will send it back 😂
If it runs Windows, it should have a sleep mode. Which in theory is similar no?
@@Moe_Lester_fromUptwn It would make sense, to have something similar as in a PC , where you can configure your sleep mode , battery etc..
It comes down to price. If you only want to spend $400, the steam deck is an insane value. The ROG ally is more of a competitor to the ayaneo's on the market.
I think it's incredible how there are these super clear segments of the market now. If you want to spend around 200, the Odin is still the king in my opinion for stuff up go the PS2/GC generation. Wanna spend a little more, around 400, and want something that can manage most things, the Steam Deck is there. It seems like the Ally is here for those who want to spend a little more even, and do what the Steam Deck can do even better.
How do you just spend $400? There’s no storage on that unit.
@@VaydaladaVodalada If you already have an SD card laying around the base Deck is an intriguing option
@@JayPoole1986 “if” lol
@VaydaladaVodalada I don't have a steam deck but I believe the system was designed to work sd cards. I would assume most people have some sd cards laying around. I have a couple 256gb ones in devices I don't really use.
Great video and thank you will you make a video on setting up emulation like emulationstation or something
Should have run games with lock 60, and see the battery comparison. Probably Ally will have more. Then again The Deck will crush the Ally with low TDP running old AAA or indies both performance and batteries. And with the low price, I'd say just get the Deck.
6:10 those 3 seconds of suspense felt like they lasted forever
I get that u use 720 for the aspect ratio but like... Performance can difer quite a bit from 800p to 720p, not really a great test but ok
20%-30% perf improvement at 15watts with slightly less total time game usage of 7 minutes....Rog Ally is definitely a beast.Especially at emulating other consoles. Also way faster charging time to full battery is awesome, especially if you are in a hurry. Things will only get better with better optimizations and updates in the future. Not to mention FSR 3 that (hopefully) will be supported later on by this new X1 extreme APU further improving performance and battery life. Asus did a really good job disrupting the handheld market.
Actually for lower tdp emulation, the deck is better as you’ll get a lot better battery
Unfortunately Ally fell short for me. Dont get me wrong, it is way more powerful than deck in the right conditions but in portable mode at scaled down resolution it performs only 10-20% better. Thats not worth 300 more. Minus the 1tb ssd to swap for steam deck it still cost 200 more
This is exactly why I cancelled the preorder I had made, ASUS blatantly lied about that in their marketing for the device but there's absolutely no surprise there. Maybe someday there will be a worthy upgrade from the Deck, sucks that today isn't that day.