I used to work at a repair shop with authorization from Asus back in Europe. There, they used a model of many independent authorized repair shops instead of shipping to a central location. The quality of repairs as well as speed was highly dependant on which shop you chose. Moreover, the official policy was "if a device has any sign disassembling then we assume an attempt of an unauthorized repair and void the warranty for the whole device (no need to prove that user's actions caused the specific damage)". In some cases it made sense. For example, liquid damage means that the whole thing is potentially corroded and might die any moment. Mechanical damage (dropping/ deforming) means that there are micro-cracks in PCBs (potentially internal layers) and ripped off soldering pads of BGA chips. In other cases it was grey zone. For example, people opening up the device to remove the signs of liquid damage to claim a warranty repair afterwards. Other people opening up the devices to replace the cracked screen (to hide the fact of mechanical damage) and then claim warranty for a mainboard repair. Sometimes, people opened up the devices to replace RAM/SSD but were unqualified to do so and damaged slots or just fried mainboard. Officially users were supposed to come to a closest authorized shop for this replacement. AFAIK, in the USA you can't void warranty if customers open up the device. You have to prove that their actions caused damage and only this damage is off warranty, not the whole thing. Also, not everyone is authorized doing such analysis, only specific independent labs for a lot of money and a lot of time. Lastly, you should keep in mind that ASUS pays independent shops a couple of bucks per repair, and technicians get a fraction of this. For them to earn minimum wage they have to perform 10+ repairs a day. They just physically don't have enough time for in-depth investigations. BTW if a technician misses user-induced damage on a part and does a warranty repair, but ASUS finds out, then the price of the replaced part will be deducted from the technician (-$300 mainboard when you are making minimum wage). That's why you gotta be very conservative.
Technically they can't void a warranty for unrelated damage or tampering but a lack of enforcement of the law combined with the burden of going to court to prove your case means companies can basically do what they want with warranties.
The main problem ( as far as I can see) through Gamer Nexus's video was that they tried to make them pay for a problem they didn't even ask to be fixed. They sent in their unit for a stick drift problem which was covered under warranty, then Asus told them " we found a problem with your frame, so to replace it we also need to replace the screen and that comes out to $___". When they declined Asus has much of their Customer Service emails automated which just caused communication issues. Some of the story on Asus's part can be understandable, but it didn't help with how hard they tried to reflect, and the way they tried to restrict Linus in reviewing the product makes then look even worse lol.
It seems impossible for someone to inspect, document, repair, and properly test 10+ devices like this one per day. Even with no testing, it would be difficult to do more than 10 parts swaps without risking damaging other components. If Asus was demanding that kind of workload and responsibility for so little pay, shops should not have been working with them at all. How exactly would Asus prove a technician "missed" user-induced damage? How would they know the part was not damaged before/during production?
So basically, ASUS doesn't just fuck over their users, they also fuck over their authorized repair people by not only paying them criminal rates for their work, but also stealing hundreds of dollars from them? If ASUS doesn't want people to be able to use, repair, or even open up their devices, the best way for them to avoid this is to stop selling their shit products.
@@ltyarv8071 Okay? No one is telling you you can't. Just hope you don't have any micro scratches on the plastic if you need a to warranty them. Fyi its has nothing to do with "haters" its about anti consumer practices. If you wanna support that go right ahead, just don't be surprised if ASUS scam's you on warranties.
ROG Ally X: breaks. User: hands in a perfectly clean ROG Ally X. ASUS: whips out the electron microscope to search for any molecule that's out of place. "We're sorry. You damaged the device. Your warranty is void."
accidentaly my last 2 asus gaming laptops lasted 13 month. on one had extended waranty sadly 100£ wasted 50 for extension 50 for returning my device unrepaired with missing internal cable and few screws...
I keep saying that more nations need to instate law mandated warranty periods. My Ally will be fixed at no cost, or refunded, for five years (except for the battery, of course). By then I figure its performance will be lagging so far behind I'll want something new regardless.
You cannot call the gadget or tech accessory as "Indestructible" if it ain't Linus-Proof LTT rule no.1: if Linus Touches it, he's gonna drop it. Linus TRYING to break it would be a 2nd possibility.
Bought the Ally, killed my 1TB micro SD ASUS refused to replace it. I took it back to Best Buy for a full refund. The worker said I wasn’t alone, he had seen a ton of them being returned with the same issue. So much so they stopped testing them and just issue refunds no questions asked. It sucked because I loved it so much. Oh well OLED steam deck works just fine 😎👍
I doubt you even owned an Asus ROG Ally. The Ally never killed any SD card. You're making stuff up when you say "a ton" of other people experienced this, they did not. What happened was that the Asus card reader could fail reading the card in early versions, this never damaged any SD card, but was an internal problem of the Ally card reader. This issue was actually addressed in later versions of the Ally, but the Ally never "killed" any SD card like you claim.
Valve really did just start the handheld PC movement with the Deck and now can just sit back and do basically nothing while the competition shoots itself in the foot
It was actually the Aya Neo and the Onexplayer that got everything started, I think that's why alienware never released the alienware Ufo because people will stop buying as many laptops, especially if you put an oculink port 😂
The breaking test should have trialed a 6 by 6 steel cube from 25 feet high stress break test then throw the device in a full throttled A380 jet engine to make it ( Awesome ).
lol, it’s not that they won’t. It’s that they can’t. In general, big companies have bad customer service or that it get worse and worst as time goes by. Why? It’s due to quality of employees. As a company needs more people and over time, to keep the required number of customer service representative, they lower the bar of qualifications. So most of the time a customer plays a russian roulette regarding the quality and skill of the rep they might get when they contact support.
I worked at Best Buy's Geek Squad between 2021 to very late 2023 and I had not seen a product so unanimously returned and sent to repair as the ROG Ally. We had a ton in stock, all repackaged used, and the issues were not JUST the SD card reader. It blows my mind that they would try to release another version.
@@TheGoQuI'd imagine it being a windows laptop minus mouse and keyboard not a handheld console.....it's an enthusiasts device unlike the deck which hides all of that from the user unless you want it.
@@eagle_rb_mmoomin_418 the fact that its a widows machine and not linux its an advantage in my book. I can run more games and more launchers like i want also dock it to the monitor with mouse and keyboard and use it as a normal windows machine. I want that from the handheld cause i will be getting rid of my dying laptop.
@@TheGoQuyou should just get a laptop from a better reputable company then. I mean it will probably hold sensitive information on it. But windows new snapshot of all your info makes it more worrisome as collecting data from your device will be faster if ppl target just those files.
Just sent in my ROG ally for RMA about 4 days ago. My SD card reader had been bricked since month two of release, but honestly I didn't care enough to fix it until it just stopped turning on for some reason. You bet your butt I took really good care of that device, I just set it down one day, and when I picked it back up the power button was unresponsive. Now I'm dreading the repair process after reading so many horror stories about other people trying to get theirs fixed.
So good news, my ROG ally is apparently now on its way back to me. So it took about 5 days to send it there, they acknowledged they received it on the 6th day, and then started the process of sending it back to me on the 7th. If I get it back in a week, it'll have been about 2 week RMA process. That being said, I'll have to inspect it to see if it's actually my device and not just a refurbished one with my serial numbers on it. I had a screen protector on it and absolutely no damage, so that might be a good indicator. It was a really fast turnaround time from diagnostics to being shipped back to me, so I'm just hoping and praying that it actually turns on and the SD card usual works. I'll be really pissed off if it comes back to me still broken and I have to start the process over again.
@@nickh7777 unfortunately I cannot provide any details on the repair because Asus decided to use FedEx and my package is over a week late sitting in it's final distribution facility. I called, and they were unable to provide any reason as to why it isn't being shipped and no updated delivery date. So to say I'm a little miffed right now is an understatement.
He didn't deliver hard numbers. And Asus need all the positive reviews they can get at the moment. Which is a big Problem for them as Handhelds are replacing the PC's in poorer countries like India, were the RoG Ally was extremely popular. Lenovo and MSI are literally waiting for a misstep. Especially the MSI Claw 135H is temping as soon as they got their drivers and firmware together. I guess Lenovo Legion Go is now against the ROG Ally there. If Valve would official release the Steamdeck in India they would most likely swamp that market, as the better price to performance value would kill the Ally.
@@erebostd would they need to discuss something like that? They did not give any real benchmark, all it was said is that thermals are ok, battery is 2x or more, perf is up to 10%. All good, and all values that can actually be predicted (basically as general as an apple keynote😂). I see it more like a confirmation of the specs. But we still don't have a real review with all in depth benchmarks that could highlight particular strength and weakness.
@@ShadySKWASHAwhat do you mean arent as scummy as apple? they worse in many aspects. Look ROG Phones: build in a joystick/keyboard+mouse mapper, lock it behind MODEL SPECIFIC ROG Kunais and model specific usb-c hub. Even after both get discontinued and the phone still getting like 20 more software updates, NEVER change that. XG mobile is the same story - They could just release XG mobile to oculink adapter, but why? better make it dead hardware..
Same bro 😎 if you’re broke don’t go open up a line of credit at Best Buy for one. But if you got the cash and are on the fence get it. This thing is a beast of a product.
I remember paying for my ROG Ally and then it DESTROYED my 70$ Micro SD card and I had absolutely no idea the issue existed until I was out a nice chunk of change... I should have just gotten a Steam Deck and taken the performance hit for the amazing software experience and brand loyalty. For any Ally owners out there, do not let your wattage run as far as possible as it WILL most likely screw up or totally DESTROY your micro sd card. At a point I was running hotter and at a higher wattage than fps gain in most of my game, by capping the wattage to only what I needed instead of letting it hit max I totally circumvented the issue. Crazy how you buy this thing thinking you can just use it at max watt for the best fps, to bad there is no warning on the box that it can cause your SD card to go on vacation permanently. It is a shame I cant get my money back for this crap but I think Asus should reimburse all of those who where affected by this at least by replacing or paying for the SD card. This whole situation actually made me wish I bought a gaming pc that did not have an Asus motherboard... UGH moment.
They said they will replace the SD Card if you send the SD Card to them along with proof of purchase and your ally as part of a warranty claim. I'm in the same boat but I tossed the SD card that got fried so they won't replace it.
I’ve modded quite a few with the ram mod , ssd to 2280, and battery mods and never had one issue with the micro sd slot so I’d say it’s really hit or miss. I even up the voltage with my first two systems and the worst thing I ever had happen was when I tried to adjust the ram and it soft bricked itself but that was an easy fix.
As somebody who works in tech support for a big company and knows how the engineering pipeline works a bit, ASUS definitely has to know which units have failed fuses. You can get a lot of information at the factory level of production. They very likely have an internal policy to fix on fail but won’t issue a recall because the warranty repair costs will be massive. However, when a user has to initiate the claim, it’ll be cheaper that way since not all users will do that claim and not all fails will be reported within the warranty period.
Sure, but none of that is ASUS specific. Everyone does it that way, product recalls are only ever initiated when there is a safety issue and there is a specific mechanism for that. I have worked for many very major brands, much bigger than ASUS, it's how it's always done. For a huge number of reasons, not least of which is to not inconvenience customers for issues they may not ever have. Also, if you were to issue a recall, you'd guarantee extremely long wait times for all customers, most of whom never had a problem. This would destroy your brand reputation, there is historic evidence of this where it killed big famous major brands. Why? Customers can return products to the retailer for full refund in many cases, and will do so if their option is to send it in and wait a month. This will push the retailers to stop selling the brand completely, which will kill the supply chain and finally the brand itself. If you work in the industry you should know the background too, at least if you've been around for a few years.
One note: 2230 and 2280 at 2:45 does not refer to the frequency at which the SSDs run at, but rather their physical format, in this case 22mm x 30mm or 22mm x 80mm. No MHz.
@@TehAlekzi yeah, it was just the text they added on that was wrong. Linus himself knew about the difference between 2230 and 2280 is the physical size since he mentioned it at the teardown section.
I would really like an LTT video that goes over the handheld market in general right now. There are so many videos on individual handhelds, but I've no idea where to go to to actually see them all compared side by side with a high level of rigor.
If you love in Denmark and have bought it at Elgiganten and a member of their club wich is free. You can buy it and return it within 50 days, and of course you also have a 2 year warranty. their support is actually really good, and almost no question asked. You just get a new one!
Asus controversy aside, this is what the Ally should have been from the start. It's nice to see revisions like these since it makes more competition for the deck and it's driving the prices down. Hard sell still since without warranty, because it feels like it's coming without garanty at this point, I can't see myself shelling that much money for a device that could fail within 6 months.
@shall_we_kindly I see where you're going there 😆 but I'm not sure I agree with you. I mean this is basically a shell change with a bigger battery. It's like saying the Civic from 1972 is the same as today, same engine same interior, just different body and bigger tank.
@@ironfan998 hardware wize, definitely. Honestly I never had any issues with Asus hardware in the past, I'm still daily driving a G14 laptop for work but unless Asus takes a stand on the warranty, it still is a gamble as of today with fresh hardware like these. Although this is technically revision 3 since they made small changes with the first Ally I believe so every revision is less a gamble imo
how is it going to drive the prices down when this one is more epxnsive now? $800 competes with nothing other than chinese products that nobody cares about now
I'm so glad I saw this video when I did. I've been seeing and wanting the Rog Ally for a little while now, and have been debating heavily. Now I know I'll wait it out and keep on keeping on with my desktop.
Nah, I already knew from dealing with them (myself) with previous products, and a friend that had his FLOW z13 keyboard fail on him: they don't sell the keyboard separately so they were going to and force him into an out of warranty repair for a removable accessory. I don't see them supporting this any better. my current standpoint: If you get this -get it knowing that you prob won't get any support or use out of the warranty.
I'm using an Asus laptop right now, and I'm glad the community of consumers and tech influencers are explicit and vocal about this customer service nightmare. I mean, I want Asus to be good if not great... as it aspires to be. Any company would fall short if they don't take post-sale service seriously and honestly. Don't just provide warranty just for the sake of having it. It's not sustainable but, quite the opposite, self-damaging. I do hope Asus takes this matter into their hands seriously and redeem itself from it. That would be a win-win situation for all.
ASUS is no spring chicken and this whole thing is likely miniscule as an issue if handled correctly. Warranty is provided typically because it is a legal requirement to a degree, and because retailers won't sell anything that isn't covered by manufacturer warranty as the retailers would have to handle it then. ASUS has the matter in their own hands, like they have had for the last 30yrs+ pretty much. You sound like you don't know how this all works and has worked for decades by now.
@@thesecondtonone3010 I admit that I used to love Asus and still have many of their products. However, after the debacle I had in my Asus ROG Strix Scar II GPU and Bluetooth module, I won’t be able to say much about their customer support.
7:21 Linus calls the frame a "deck". I'm not sure if that's become standard but I would like to think the SteamDeck coined a new term that refers to the general form factor of a handheld PC/console
I still chose Ally because it got VRR and has improved gaming performance so many times in my games. So far I got no problem with Windows whether in my PC or my handheld device
Good customer support and trust worthy company is so underrated. People put their private info on these devices. I do not need a company selling my info to random hackers or other shady companies looking to sell to hackers.
4:37, the display for the Ally at my local Best Buy is hands-on, and its BROWN after the regular use of random people! Really good idea to move to black.
Maybe feels strange to say, but i feel like products like these especially by Asus will be abandonded in a few years. I rather get a Steamdeck just because of the support and parts.
Even an aliexpress special version of these will have more suppport, since it's either not locked down to shit or the community prefers them due to lower prices and part availability.
not really, ROG Ally has been released about a year and it's still been constantly updated, some are major updates . People has been said the same thing during the launch of Ally last year and yet here we are
Watching your videos makes me happy, Linus. They've always made me happy and even though life keeps changing, it truly makes me smile from the bottom of my heart to still be able to watch your new videos. Thanks man!!
I love how the Dbrand spot at the end doubles as an advertisement and a vent as Linus curb stomps his OG Ally in the case knowing full well it might not survive the abuse. Way to send a message. xD
The new Zotac Zone is also a very strong contender (price dependent). Also 2280 SSD and USB4 eGPU support. Has a smaller battery and less RAM, but has an OLED screen (like the Deck) and more powerful APU.
Yeah. Used to be an asus fanboy, but they've been dropping the ball for the past several years. Might try out msi stuff until they get their shit together.
@@Krushx0 I noticed that too, particularly on the WAN Show when they brought up the ASUS stuff and didn't mention GN's videos about it. I guess they're still feeling petty over Steve's video about LTT problems even though he was right and they ended up making significant changes as a result. Though I do understand Linus' point of view that Steve didn't give them right of reply, a standard for ethical journalism, before he published his video on them.
@@jedsithorI'd be salty too. Asus is getting deserved flak for policies and behavior that is hurting consumers. But GN's coverage of LTT wasn't based on anyone getting hurt (i.e. customers treated badly or unfairly). It was based on LMG's naive assumption that their reputation was good enough to not need a formal warranty policy. When your "investigative journalism" is centered on an issue without victims, it already feels a little fishy. The fact that they didn't bother to talk to LMG first makes GN the bad guys for me. Granted, "trust me bro" was never a reasonable position, but GN was in it for the clicks, not the betterment of the community. I think it's professional of LMG to just let sleeping dogs like. Keep the hatchet buried.
So the Micro SD port issue remains even though it is not located close to the CPU vent anymore in this "X" model... Well, I had the chance to buy the original Ally in 2024, but instead went for an RTX 4070 for my desktop PC due to its numerous issues...I think I'll pass once again :(.
Asus dosent care, everybody is talking about this like its something new, they have been shitty with their customers, and have been selling hardware that has no QC for over a decade now.
Stop being a drama queen. While Asus doesn't have great customer service, and they're working on that....there is nothing wrong with the quality of their products. If you think Gigabyte or MSI is any better....good luck.
@@sophieedel6324lol if you asus reps spent as much effort shilling for your corporate masters on UA-cam as actually honoring warranty we would not be having this conversation.
@@sophieedel6324 I bet you dont work in a IT repair business like I do, and i can tell you that Asus, and HP are the most returned products we have with circuit problems, and its been this way for years.
I think the problem is Asus probably going to deny or ignore any issue inorder to impress their investors. If they acknowledge any issue, that would be a bad PR infront of the investors. Considering the recent market trends, companies are more focused on impressing their investors rather than properly communicating with the customer, even if it means they lose public trust and sales take a hit.
The sad part is that it kind of fails to understand how your sales work. I have been using Asus motherboards for various Desktop builds since 2006. I had multiple good warranty interactions with them, and because of those good interactions I bought more of their products that have had no warranty interactions. Furthermore, being the "tech guy" in my family and friends circles I have recommended their products. I have an ROG laptop from 2015 or 2016 still going strong that I would strongly consider replacing with a new Asus product. But, the recent repeated warranty issues and failure to adequately remediate them really means that I now need to look and recommend elsewhere. My assumption is, if there are enough people influencing potential sales like me also no longer buying or recommending their products then this is a long term bigger hit to profitability than just fixing the warranty support issues.
I still don't understand this business direction though. I have a 400$ motherboard from them loaded with problems, the software is the most bloated mess i have ever seen. Thing is though, i'm the it guy for a lot of people in my circle, and a lot of people will avoid anything Asus related now when they buy on my advice. This kind of shooting yourself in the foot is unbelievable. In the long run, most people will get a bad taste in their mouth when hearing that name alone. Especially considering they once were top of the line, but now half their stuff barely functions. They had such a good solid reputation for as long as i'm in the business. Shame.
@@Elyygee Most don't. Investors are basically Multi-Billionaires/Trillionaires. Do you think they waste time on any news other than which brings profit to them (majority of them don't even use any social media, it's their employee who use them and inform them of any notable info). Unless a situation goes out of control or goes into court, they don't care, since they have money to waste.
Man do I absolutely love my ROG Ally from day 1 of ownership, and fortunate enough to have zero issues. But I still could not recommend anyone buying this handheld, simply because of windows, and Asus software. Just get a Steamdeck.
What's exactly wrong with Armory Crate nowadays? It's pretty much an almost entirely lag free universal launcher at this point. It's way less work for me to run everything I want to use through my Ally than it was on my deck.
For that matter, what’s wrong with windows? That’s a selling point to me, and using it on the ally even with the built in controls was a pleasant surprise.
@@shadow1psc Exactly, Windows offers 100% game compatibility, including GOG/Ubisoft/EA/Epic support. And a lot better emulator support than Steam Deck too.
@@shadow1pscsame, I still don't understand the hate for Windows. Do these guys using Mac for gaming? Do these guys not having PC at all? I still don't have major problems on my PC and Ally. They do had problems but it's an easy fix. Wait, do these guys dumb? 😱
I'm a happy Steam Deck owner, but if I was ever in the market for something different, the Legion Go would be the only option I'd seriously consider. Such a cool little device.
Very happy with my Legion Go too. Joycon style controllers and egpu compatiblity is a game changer. Eventually I'll just keep it docked with graphics card mostly when it can no longer keep up.
Recently got one earlier this month, absolutely love it as some who came from the steam deck. It’s everything I wanted from a handheld. And I’ll be honest fps mode is actually pretty amazing on certain games
Same would apply if it happened to a coffee cup, or a picture frame, or a book, or literally anything else. The difference being that you *could* get the Ally repaired or have it repaired yourself if you don't care about the warranty.
I'm praying for Zotac that they'll deliver. So far first AMOLED 120hz 1080p AMD based handheld with hall effect joysticks from what leaks suggest and possibly my first handheld.
@@HRM.Hyou realize it's 7 inch screen and most games in 2024 on handheld pc will never even run on 120hz 1080p? Steam Deck Oled is HD and most people don't complain but for me 1080p is minimum
@@HRM.H Resolution doesn't matter at all. Pixels per inch does. 1080p at 7 inches is around 315 PPI. Even a 27 inch 4k display is only 163. You aren't going to notice pixels at all on that thing.
@@HRM.H They could run a 720p screen and you'd barely notice a difference on something that small. Remember, more pixels takes more power to drive and reduces performance.
For me, the Windows 11 is the biggest because they haven't even tried to make it a good UI experience, For me, especially I couldn't give two shits about hardware if the software experience is garbage and especially for handheld Windows is just that. take the steam deck for comparison which is Linux based. it's not as good hardware as the Ally, but it's software experience is so much better that it's worth it! I don't care if the hardware is good if the experience of the actual software makes me not want to use it, which Windows does especially for non-keyboard and mouse controls. The steam deck, however, is designed from the ground up to be a system that controls well as a controller system. The Steam deck is always going to sell well because of the fact that it's just a good experience
If you see review type content released at weird Tim's, it is almost always because there was an embargo and they were not allowed to release it before then. The remainder is someone messed up something (like setting it to release at AM instead of PM), but since Floatplane went live at the same time, I am betting on embargo.
SteamOS does have its issues with some games, especially with some FPS games that you’d have to jump through many hoops, pirating is a pain in the ass, etc.
I'm hoping they release a Windows 11 handheld mode that was apparently rumored and later confirmed to be a thing. Steam OS on Steam Deck was a glitchy mess when it first came out so I expect some growing pains to come with it if they ever do release a handheld mode. But the Ally desperately needs such a mode if it wants to stay competitive.
in the kill switch ad i thought they were faking the hits with sound effects until i noticed you can see the table bouncing at the bottom of the frame.
Until ASUS as a company makes changes with everything that has gone on in the last 12 months with RMA and treating of their paying customers. I be avoiding purchasing their products. ASUS does have great products and current using it on my PC including a strix 3080ti. But with my plans on upgrading end of the year when new hardware drops including GPUs and CPUs including Ryzen 9000 and Nvidia 50 Series / AMD's RDNA 4 GPUs. Whatever I upgrade ASUS wont be a part of it unless they take some action.
The 2 ports thing is awesome and is great for people with those AR smart glasses who also want to charge their handheld too. As far as I know I believe it’s the only and first one to do this.
I bought the ROG Ally X, last night, and I got it about a couple of hours later. And, man... I'm loving it so much! I used to own the Steam Deck, and man, was it a step up. I do miss SteamOS though, as it was quite easy to use. Needless to say, this is for sure one of the most powerful handhelds on the market right now.
@@xgui4-studios Oh, no. I do mean the new one, yes. ROG Ally X. The one Linus is talking about in this video. They actually released it early in my country, which is why I have it. I can see why you would've thought that I was talking about the first one, though. As it is not available in most countries.
I hate that they stopped using it. There's just something about intros that always put me in the mood for the rest of the video. Same with some TV shows, though not all.
@@alexatkin Yeah when they are short and sweet it gets me hyped. And especially when they had one of those quick witted quotes with them. It's the long drawn out 30+ second intros that just take up too much time and makes me lose interest. But like 5 second ones are like "here we go boys". Maybe it's just nostalgia at this point.
Get your data on sd failure from all the returns at best buy. Uh, pass this until there's an OLED display. I'll keep my OLED deck for now. Thanks for the "sales-y" review and happy upcoming birthday, Leo.
What about other parts of the world? I believe most of the things asus did in the Gamers Nexus RMA are basically illegal here in france, so is the EU or Asia pacific customer support also terrible? Or is it only really the case in northern america? I would love for peoples around the world to test those policies
13:38 Hey Linus, I'm a bit surprised as a fellow daily-er of the Ally that you haven't tried the 90 degree brackets to fit a 2280 into the original (it fits nice and snug). I've been using a 4 TB Crucial on there for a little over 6 months now with no thermal or data issues.
![BEST Gaming Handheld in 2024!? [Steam Deck OLED | Ally X | Legion Go | Claw]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/czoKrKcgHaY/mqdefault.jpg)
We're replacing the incorrectly labeled SSD length at 2:40. Sorry about that.
It's ok
I highly recommend you reupload this video with the corrections. Not everyone will read the comments
@@penguins-i-like-penguinscan you read? That’s exactly what they said they’re doing
@@bradysnyder3340 This comment seems to have been edited
@@bradysnyder3340 They edited it
15:13 video starts here
how are you here already
this fast
That's some _bangin'_ advice right there
ty dbrand
Fuck you got me
Linus taking his "Chief Vision Officer" job to the next level with all these "predictions"
Momma Murphy from Fallout 4 would be proud
Under rated comment
Madame Linus
Lisan Al Gaib!
Just to be clear, I liked cause I found it funny not pertinent.
I used to work at a repair shop with authorization from Asus back in Europe. There, they used a model of many independent authorized repair shops instead of shipping to a central location. The quality of repairs as well as speed was highly dependant on which shop you chose.
Moreover, the official policy was "if a device has any sign disassembling then we assume an attempt of an unauthorized repair and void the warranty for the whole device (no need to prove that user's actions caused the specific damage)".
In some cases it made sense. For example, liquid damage means that the whole thing is potentially corroded and might die any moment. Mechanical damage (dropping/ deforming) means that there are micro-cracks in PCBs (potentially internal layers) and ripped off soldering pads of BGA chips.
In other cases it was grey zone. For example, people opening up the device to remove the signs of liquid damage to claim a warranty repair afterwards. Other people opening up the devices to replace the cracked screen (to hide the fact of mechanical damage) and then claim warranty for a mainboard repair. Sometimes, people opened up the devices to replace RAM/SSD but were unqualified to do so and damaged slots or just fried mainboard. Officially users were supposed to come to a closest authorized shop for this replacement.
AFAIK, in the USA you can't void warranty if customers open up the device. You have to prove that their actions caused damage and only this damage is off warranty, not the whole thing. Also, not everyone is authorized doing such analysis, only specific independent labs for a lot of money and a lot of time.
Lastly, you should keep in mind that ASUS pays independent shops a couple of bucks per repair, and technicians get a fraction of this. For them to earn minimum wage they have to perform 10+ repairs a day. They just physically don't have enough time for in-depth investigations. BTW if a technician misses user-induced damage on a part and does a warranty repair, but ASUS finds out, then the price of the replaced part will be deducted from the technician (-$300 mainboard when you are making minimum wage). That's why you gotta be very conservative.
Very good explanation 😊
Technically they can't void a warranty for unrelated damage or tampering but a lack of enforcement of the law combined with the burden of going to court to prove your case means companies can basically do what they want with warranties.
The main problem ( as far as I can see) through Gamer Nexus's video was that they tried to make them pay for a problem they didn't even ask to be fixed. They sent in their unit for a stick drift problem which was covered under warranty, then Asus told them " we found a problem with your frame, so to replace it we also need to replace the screen and that comes out to $___". When they declined Asus has much of their Customer Service emails automated which just caused communication issues.
Some of the story on Asus's part can be understandable, but it didn't help with how hard they tried to reflect, and the way they tried to restrict Linus in reviewing the product makes then look even worse lol.
It seems impossible for someone to inspect, document, repair, and properly test 10+ devices like this one per day. Even with no testing, it would be difficult to do more than 10 parts swaps without risking damaging other components. If Asus was demanding that kind of workload and responsibility for so little pay, shops should not have been working with them at all. How exactly would Asus prove a technician "missed" user-induced damage? How would they know the part was not damaged before/during production?
So basically, ASUS doesn't just fuck over their users, they also fuck over their authorized repair people by not only paying them criminal rates for their work, but also stealing hundreds of dollars from them?
If ASUS doesn't want people to be able to use, repair, or even open up their devices, the best way for them to avoid this is to stop selling their shit products.
ASUS: "You are not allowed to share any Performance graphs"
Linus: "Ok, Anyway..." "I Predict"
I will buy 2 of these ROG, haters gonna hate 😂😂
@@ltyarv8071 u can do whatever ur want with your money bruh, buy all the trash you want no one cares.
@@ltyarv8071 Okay? No one is telling you you can't. Just hope you don't have any micro scratches on the plastic if you need a to warranty them.
Fyi its has nothing to do with "haters" its about anti consumer practices. If you wanna support that go right ahead, just don't be surprised if ASUS scam's you on warranties.
Thats crazy not allowing ti show performance review
@@CHATHKIt's only because he doesn't have a fully finished retail product. They don't want it to represent what you're actually going to get.
The tiniest nick in the plastic will still void your warranty
They would have stated it clearly but I guess their bad blood with GN is worth more.
Ah ok good to know that warranty means nothing. How bout they stop lying and just say no refunds.
*in the US
so much for your freedom
According to a friend in China,if you blame ASUS for their bad warrenty policy,you might have a chance to go to the jail.
@@jenus_faced That says more about china than Asus...
Editor killed it in this one. Added both context and comedy without distraction.
ROG Ally X: breaks.
User: hands in a perfectly clean ROG Ally X.
ASUS: whips out the electron microscope to search for any molecule that's out of place. "We're sorry. You damaged the device. Your warranty is void."
“Yeah that’s gonna be $10000 for the product you payed 500 for. Sorry, that’s just how the warranty works”
Changing the outcome by measuring it
@@RichardStylesMany will be able to know the location of your message, but most won't be able to know where it's going at the same time.
"Failure to pay for service may result in product being returned unassembled, wrapped in oil soaked rags, on fire, through the cutomer's window."
ASUS: *Found nothing*
Also ASUS: *Makes a dent themselves*
It's ASUS but A is silent
I predict 😉 Asus will keep scamming buyers with their warranty and you shouldn't get this regardless of how good it is
Trueeee
accidentaly my last 2 asus gaming laptops lasted 13 month. on one had extended waranty sadly 100£ wasted 50 for extension 50 for returning my device unrepaired with missing internal cable and few screws...
I keep saying that more nations need to instate law mandated warranty periods. My Ally will be fixed at no cost, or refunded, for five years (except for the battery, of course). By then I figure its performance will be lagging so far behind I'll want something new regardless.
@@mascot4950 Wait, what? What country are you in?
No way. What country
That Ad Sponsor Read at the end is, hands down, the best one I have ever seen on UA-cam.
You need to watch Internet Historians ad reads.
Jesus he went to town on it
Oh my God I didn't even know it was in there
that "I predict" sounds very much like a lawyer's advice and I absolutely love it
Also loved how they still showed visual comparisons, but not as a graph lol.
I just love the second sponsor spot. That's how you advertise something durable.
You cannot call the gadget or tech accessory as "Indestructible" if it ain't Linus-Proof
LTT rule no.1: if Linus Touches it, he's gonna drop it. Linus TRYING to break it would be a 2nd possibility.
second sponsor spot be like: BONK
That poor table 😂
I was already considering buying a Killswitch but damn that sold me
Not gonna lie I flinched like crazy after watching that! It might be durable but still... lol
The Dbrand ad at the end is probably one of the best ads i've ever seen for a case.
Yeah watching it I was thinking, that's nice but now do that with an ally inside, and was damn, there was one inside....wtf ok ok i'm sold
Never thought I needed a case but shit maybe if I ever need to chuck my steam deck down the stairs
Reminds me of the DBRAND PRISM screen protector ads where they literally had them try to smash the phone with a hammer but nothing happened…
Reminds of the original Satisfye case, before they even made the grip. Just drop it from a drone, no problem
Kicking on a table like that won't really do anything to it...
Bought the Ally, killed my 1TB micro SD ASUS refused to replace it. I took it back to Best Buy for a full refund. The worker said I wasn’t alone, he had seen a ton of them being returned with the same issue. So much so they stopped testing them and just issue refunds no questions asked. It sucked because I loved it so much. Oh well OLED steam deck works just fine 😎👍
I doubt you even owned an Asus ROG Ally. The Ally never killed any SD card. You're making stuff up when you say "a ton" of other people experienced this, they did not.
What happened was that the Asus card reader could fail reading the card in early versions, this never damaged any SD card, but was an internal problem of the Ally card reader. This issue was actually addressed in later versions of the Ally, but the Ally never "killed" any SD card like you claim.
@@sophieedel6324 a ton of other people did experience it as per reports. i know you are paid by asus so im just stopping you in your tracks.
@sophieedel6324 No asus I'm not paying for your overpriced warranty get off youtube and get a new job
@@julian-vanilla8379right lol Asus reps mad as hell on here.
@@sophieedel6324 try harder next time, asus rep.
Valve really did just start the handheld PC movement with the Deck and now can just sit back and do basically nothing while the competition shoots itself in the foot
It was actually the Aya Neo and the Onexplayer that got everything started, I think that's why alienware never released the alienware Ufo because people will stop buying as many laptops, especially if you put an oculink port 😂
Valve doesn't even care who wins the hardware battle, as long as they sell games through Steam, they are the real winners.
Steam deck doesn't sell in many countries, ally does, that's a big deal.
@@theseph28 Mail forwarding services are cheap and exist because lots of other companies aside from valve don't ship to all countries
Win mini?
The end sponsor bit was perfect. If a sponsor is selling something that's meant to be able to take a beating: show it taking a beating! Awesome :D
I laughed so hard at the abuse he gave the ally 😂😂😂😂
It was hard to watch, tho 😅
Asus voided the warranty right at that moment thouh
The breaking test should have trialed a 6 by 6 steel cube from 25 feet high stress break test then throw the device in a full throttled A380 jet engine to make it ( Awesome ).
Asus needs to up their all stuff especially customer support
The only thing they will up is probably the price
@@Nightey3sand the doucebaggery
Not the price 🤧
lol, it’s not that they won’t. It’s that they can’t. In general, big companies have bad customer service or that it get worse and worst as time goes by. Why? It’s due to quality of employees. As a company needs more people and over time, to keep the required number of customer service representative, they lower the bar of qualifications. So most of the time a customer plays a russian roulette regarding the quality and skill of the rep they might get when they contact support.
@@kitnoman that just means that the company is greedy.
7:52 nice touch in the edit with the hand wave masking out the title. Love little creative decisions like that
I literally had to go back to see what you mean, that's such a beautiful subtle touch
@@Amayagma7:51
whoever the editor that added in the eye test thing during the blind test is a genius
I worked at Best Buy's Geek Squad between 2021 to very late 2023 and I had not seen a product so unanimously returned and sent to repair as the ROG Ally. We had a ton in stock, all repackaged used, and the issues were not JUST the SD card reader. It blows my mind that they would try to release another version.
What were other problems other than sd cards?
@@TheGoQuI'd imagine it being a windows laptop minus mouse and keyboard not a handheld console.....it's an enthusiasts device unlike the deck which hides all of that from the user unless you want it.
@@eagle_rb_mmoomin_418 the fact that its a widows machine and not linux its an advantage in my book. I can run more games and more launchers like i want also dock it to the monitor with mouse and keyboard and use it as a normal windows machine. I want that from the handheld cause i will be getting rid of my dying laptop.
@@TheGoQuyou should just get a laptop from a better reputable company then. I mean it will probably hold sensitive information on it. But windows new snapshot of all your info makes it more worrisome as collecting data from your device will be faster if ppl target just those files.
@@minisithunknown5568 but i dont want a laptop. I want a handheld
Just sent in my ROG ally for RMA about 4 days ago. My SD card reader had been bricked since month two of release, but honestly I didn't care enough to fix it until it just stopped turning on for some reason. You bet your butt I took really good care of that device, I just set it down one day, and when I picked it back up the power button was unresponsive. Now I'm dreading the repair process after reading so many horror stories about other people trying to get theirs fixed.
Please keep us updated
So good news, my ROG ally is apparently now on its way back to me. So it took about 5 days to send it there, they acknowledged they received it on the 6th day, and then started the process of sending it back to me on the 7th. If I get it back in a week, it'll have been about 2 week RMA process.
That being said, I'll have to inspect it to see if it's actually my device and not just a refurbished one with my serial numbers on it. I had a screen protector on it and absolutely no damage, so that might be a good indicator. It was a really fast turnaround time from diagnostics to being shipped back to me, so I'm just hoping and praying that it actually turns on and the SD card usual works.
I'll be really pissed off if it comes back to me still broken and I have to start the process over again.
@@irany0977 Here's hoping it still works 🙏🙏
@@irany0977any news on it? How'd they do?
@@nickh7777 unfortunately I cannot provide any details on the repair because Asus decided to use FedEx and my package is over a week late sitting in it's final distribution facility. I called, and they were unable to provide any reason as to why it isn't being shipped and no updated delivery date. So to say I'm a little miffed right now is an understatement.
Linus has figured out how to bypass the embargo by "predicting" everything 😂
They obviously allowed it. Are you really so blue eyed that you think that this isn’t discussed up front? 🙄
@@erebostd Either that or they know they can play "dirty" because what's ASUS going to do right now, not like they can alienate all the reviewers.
He didn't deliver hard numbers. And Asus need all the positive reviews they can get at the moment. Which is a big Problem for them as Handhelds are replacing the PC's in poorer countries like India, were the RoG Ally was extremely popular. Lenovo and MSI are literally waiting for a misstep. Especially the MSI Claw 135H is temping as soon as they got their drivers and firmware together. I guess Lenovo Legion Go is now against the ROG Ally there. If Valve would official release the Steamdeck in India they would most likely swamp that market, as the better price to performance value would kill the Ally.
@@erebostd would they need to discuss something like that? They did not give any real benchmark, all it was said is that thermals are ok, battery is 2x or more, perf is up to 10%. All good, and all values that can actually be predicted (basically as general as an apple keynote😂). I see it more like a confirmation of the specs. But we still don't have a real review with all in depth benchmarks that could highlight particular strength and weakness.
What no... I m from india and no one is buying here handhelds. Its still PC and android games are way popular than PC games anyways@@Elkarlo77
A moment of silence for all the bros that were ripped off by asus when they bought that awful 2000$ 4090 xg mobile card
Yep, a moment of silence for all five people who bought that card.
Those are all neive suckers with too much money, at least ASUS isn't as scammy as Apple, but they're really gunning for em lol
@@ShadySKWASHAwhat do you mean arent as scummy as apple? they worse in many aspects. Look ROG Phones: build in a joystick/keyboard+mouse mapper, lock it behind MODEL SPECIFIC ROG Kunais and model specific usb-c hub. Even after both get discontinued and the phone still getting like 20 more software updates, NEVER change that. XG mobile is the same story - They could just release XG mobile to oculink adapter, but why? better make it dead hardware..
I bought one on sale 2 weeks ago for $3200 :/
@@aaronpaananen8977 Why would you spend $3200 on a graphics card?? That's a whole PC
I just bought one and I have not regretted it one bit. If you can afford it I would recommend to anyone who is on the fence about getting one
Same bro 😎 if you’re broke don’t go open up a line of credit at Best Buy for one. But if you got the cash and are on the fence get it. This thing is a beast of a product.
I remember paying for my ROG Ally and then it DESTROYED my 70$ Micro SD card and I had absolutely no idea the issue existed until I was out a nice chunk of change... I should have just gotten a Steam Deck and taken the performance hit for the amazing software experience and brand loyalty. For any Ally owners out there, do not let your wattage run as far as possible as it WILL most likely screw up or totally DESTROY your micro sd card. At a point I was running hotter and at a higher wattage than fps gain in most of my game, by capping the wattage to only what I needed instead of letting it hit max I totally circumvented the issue. Crazy how you buy this thing thinking you can just use it at max watt for the best fps, to bad there is no warning on the box that it can cause your SD card to go on vacation permanently. It is a shame I cant get my money back for this crap but I think Asus should reimburse all of those who where affected by this at least by replacing or paying for the SD card. This whole situation actually made me wish I bought a gaming pc that did not have an Asus motherboard... UGH moment.
They said they will replace the SD Card if you send the SD Card to them along with proof of purchase and your ally as part of a warranty claim. I'm in the same boat but I tossed the SD card that got fried so they won't replace it.
I’ve modded quite a few with the ram mod , ssd to 2280, and battery mods and never had one issue with the micro sd slot so I’d say it’s really hit or miss. I even up the voltage with my first two systems and the worst thing I ever had happen was when I tried to adjust the ram and it soft bricked itself but that was an easy fix.
I hate sd cards so im not planning to use one anyways. Would you recommend the ally in this case?
There is no such thing as a 70 dollar micro sd card.
@@Kanev00 the 1tb cards go for around that.
Looks like 'ROG' might actually stand for 'Regretting our Gadget !' 😂
Good one!
YESSSS
Regenerating our grudges
Reneges On Guarantee
Really obvious goofs
the way he hammered with that case at 15:08 gave me chills
That dbrand sponsor spot at the end was amazing. No talking points, talking facts
14:55 I thought this was the best sponsorship bit you have ever made. Nothing better than a physical test.
As somebody who works in tech support for a big company and knows how the engineering pipeline works a bit, ASUS definitely has to know which units have failed fuses. You can get a lot of information at the factory level of production. They very likely have an internal policy to fix on fail but won’t issue a recall because the warranty repair costs will be massive. However, when a user has to initiate the claim, it’ll be cheaper that way since not all users will do that claim and not all fails will be reported within the warranty period.
Sure, but none of that is ASUS specific. Everyone does it that way, product recalls are only ever initiated when there is a safety issue and there is a specific mechanism for that. I have worked for many very major brands, much bigger than ASUS, it's how it's always done. For a huge number of reasons, not least of which is to not inconvenience customers for issues they may not ever have. Also, if you were to issue a recall, you'd guarantee extremely long wait times for all customers, most of whom never had a problem. This would destroy your brand reputation, there is historic evidence of this where it killed big famous major brands. Why? Customers can return products to the retailer for full refund in many cases, and will do so if their option is to send it in and wait a month. This will push the retailers to stop selling the brand completely, which will kill the supply chain and finally the brand itself.
If you work in the industry you should know the background too, at least if you've been around for a few years.
Honestly it's a good thing Asus won't recall, it would stall their company for a while just doing all that.
One note: 2230 and 2280 at 2:45 does not refer to the frequency at which the SSDs run at, but rather their physical format, in this case 22mm x 30mm or 22mm x 80mm. No MHz.
yup. they still do this idiotic mistakes XD. after all drama with gamers nexus...
@@dombarek7820 That's pretty petty to call that minor of a editing mistake idiotic.
@@TehAlekzi yeah, it was just the text they added on that was wrong. Linus himself knew about the difference between 2230 and 2280 is the physical size since he mentioned it at the teardown section.
He was talking about the double battery capacity and faster DDR5. "More memory at faster speeds" and it points to the faster DDR5.
wow XD, I never saw this XD
brother its 3 am
Its 10:00 here, perfect thing to wake up with
4 here
@@sjoerdtheemperor5229 damn, you're lucky
Nah it's 16:00 here
11 am 😅
I would really like an LTT video that goes over the handheld market in general right now. There are so many videos on individual handhelds, but I've no idea where to go to to actually see them all compared side by side with a high level of rigor.
The intro with the black background is so much easier on my eyes than the white one, please make this permanent...thank you Mr. Linux!!
Can't wait for the ROG ALLY XS ultra max
ROG ALLY 15 pro
ROG ALLY Series S
ROG ALLY 69S PRO MAX+-()/_&#@ULTRA EXTREME SE FE LITE RTX RX SUPER TI XTX
ROG Ally aXiS
ROG ALLY ultra max pro plus with premium add on*
15:08 made me go full “HOLY CRAP LINUS!” Out loud in the middle of a busy food court
🤡🤡🤡
Kinda cringe bro
spend less time on the internet for your own sake
13:13 and warranty voided - there are micro scratches on the fan blades
Glad to see you guys are holding strong on consumer protection. Also that hoodie is sick, just bought one.
If you love in Denmark and have bought it at Elgiganten and a member of their club wich is free. You can buy it and return it within 50 days, and of course you also have a 2 year warranty. their support is actually really good, and almost no question asked. You just get a new one!
Asus controversy aside, this is what the Ally should have been from the start. It's nice to see revisions like these since it makes more competition for the deck and it's driving the prices down. Hard sell still since without warranty, because it feels like it's coming without garanty at this point, I can't see myself shelling that much money for a device that could fail within 6 months.
@shall_we_kindly I see where you're going there 😆 but I'm not sure I agree with you. I mean this is basically a shell change with a bigger battery. It's like saying the Civic from 1972 is the same as today, same engine same interior, just different body and bigger tank.
I'm still on the fence about a steam deck oled, but it seems to be just the better option at this point
@@ironfan998 hardware wize, definitely. Honestly I never had any issues with Asus hardware in the past, I'm still daily driving a G14 laptop for work but unless Asus takes a stand on the warranty, it still is a gamble as of today with fresh hardware like these. Although this is technically revision 3 since they made small changes with the first Ally I believe so every revision is less a gamble imo
@MathieuCruzel well we'll see how the ally x goes I guess, if it fares better l might consider it
how is it going to drive the prices down when this one is more epxnsive now? $800 competes with nothing other than chinese products that nobody cares about now
Linus had way too much fun at the end with that sponsor
I'm so glad I saw this video when I did. I've been seeing and wanting the Rog Ally for a little while now, and have been debating heavily. Now I know I'll wait it out and keep on keeping on with my desktop.
Nah, I already knew from dealing with them (myself) with previous products, and a friend that had his FLOW z13 keyboard fail on him: they don't sell the keyboard separately so they were going to and force him into an out of warranty repair for a removable accessory.
I don't see them supporting this any better. my current standpoint: If you get this -get it knowing that you prob won't get any support or use out of the warranty.
Sound like worse than investing on crypto
I'm using an Asus laptop right now, and I'm glad the community of consumers and tech influencers are explicit and vocal about this customer service nightmare. I mean, I want Asus to be good if not great... as it aspires to be. Any company would fall short if they don't take post-sale service seriously and honestly. Don't just provide warranty just for the sake of having it. It's not sustainable but, quite the opposite, self-damaging. I do hope Asus takes this matter into their hands seriously and redeem itself from it. That would be a win-win situation for all.
ASUS is no spring chicken and this whole thing is likely miniscule as an issue if handled correctly. Warranty is provided typically because it is a legal requirement to a degree, and because retailers won't sell anything that isn't covered by manufacturer warranty as the retailers would have to handle it then. ASUS has the matter in their own hands, like they have had for the last 30yrs+ pretty much. You sound like you don't know how this all works and has worked for decades by now.
@@thesecondtonone3010 I admit that I used to love Asus and still have many of their products. However, after the debacle I had in my Asus ROG Strix Scar II GPU and Bluetooth module, I won’t be able to say much about their customer support.
7:21 Linus calls the frame a "deck". I'm not sure if that's become standard but I would like to think the SteamDeck coined a new term that refers to the general form factor of a handheld PC/console
I''d still choose the Steamdeck. Steam OS is just not replacable with Windows 11 on a handheld.
I still chose Ally because it got VRR and has improved gaming performance so many times in my games. So far I got no problem with Windows whether in my PC or my handheld device
Yeah the deck is a better choice. Even something simple like quick resume makes a big difference.
Good customer support and trust worthy company is so underrated. People put their private info on these devices. I do not need a company selling my info to random hackers or other shady companies looking to sell to hackers.
Can't you partition and get both worlds?
@@pixelman2626 Yeah VRR is HUGE. I would love a Steam OS system that supports it.
Railing on the treatment of the SD issue hits much harder after the way you handled the backpack issues. This is the value of integrity.
We are not perfect, but we do everything we can to be the kind of change we want to see in the world. - LS
4:37, the display for the Ally at my local Best Buy is hands-on, and its BROWN after the regular use of random people! Really good idea to move to black.
Linus finally uploaded in time for his Southeast Asia homies. Thanks bro.
as a person that lives in the philippines I DONT NEED TO WAIT TILL 1AM NOW FOR A NEW LTT VIDEO
European viewers too. I'm from the UK and it's like 9 am here
Well said
Yeh australian viewers as well hahaha its 5pm here
he didnt do that for you, NDA for publication was just lifted
Maybe feels strange to say, but i feel like products like these especially by Asus will be abandonded in a few years.
I rather get a Steamdeck just because of the support and parts.
and you know valve has no intention of just dropping it for the deck max next year.
If microsoft own valve that will change
Even an aliexpress special version of these will have more suppport, since it's either not locked down to shit or the community prefers them due to lower prices and part availability.
not really, ROG Ally has been released about a year and it's still been constantly updated, some are major updates . People has been said the same thing during the launch of Ally last year and yet here we are
@@Futura2500value will not sell, especially for the low ball, reported offer, that likely never happened.
ooooops @ 2:47: it's not mhz, its M.2 SSD size and shape standards with 2 digits for mm in width and 2 digits in mm for length...
Watching your videos makes me happy, Linus. They've always made me happy and even though life keeps changing, it truly makes me smile from the bottom of my heart to still be able to watch your new videos.
Thanks man!!
1:30: i think that’s the only sponsor that would ever let him say this
Nobody:
Asus When you send them your Ally for warranty service 5 days after purchase: 15:10
I love how the Dbrand spot at the end doubles as an advertisement and a vent as Linus curb stomps his OG Ally in the case knowing full well it might not survive the abuse. Way to send a message. xD
He gets all his stuff for free so he really doesn't care if it breaks or not
thanks for uploading for european time zone once in a while, it's nice to see videos in the morning
you know you can watch the videos at other times to you dont have to watch them the second they release....
Linus: Hey DBrand, you got the script for that promo piece?
DBrand: Smacc.
With all the BS going on with asus rn and the rma problems GN has pointed out, I refuse to buy until Ive seen some longer term reviews
The new Zotac Zone is also a very strong contender (price dependent). Also 2280 SSD and USB4 eGPU support.
Has a smaller battery and less RAM, but has an OLED screen (like the Deck) and more powerful APU.
@@Krushx0Does Steve tap you on the head before he finishes or does he just let it rip?
Yeah. Used to be an asus fanboy, but they've been dropping the ball for the past several years. Might try out msi stuff until they get their shit together.
@@Krushx0 I noticed that too, particularly on the WAN Show when they brought up the ASUS stuff and didn't mention GN's videos about it. I guess they're still feeling petty over Steve's video about LTT problems even though he was right and they ended up making significant changes as a result. Though I do understand Linus' point of view that Steve didn't give them right of reply, a standard for ethical journalism, before he published his video on them.
@@jedsithorI'd be salty too. Asus is getting deserved flak for policies and behavior that is hurting consumers. But GN's coverage of LTT wasn't based on anyone getting hurt (i.e. customers treated badly or unfairly). It was based on LMG's naive assumption that their reputation was good enough to not need a formal warranty policy.
When your "investigative journalism" is centered on an issue without victims, it already feels a little fishy. The fact that they didn't bother to talk to LMG first makes GN the bad guys for me. Granted, "trust me bro" was never a reasonable position, but GN was in it for the clicks, not the betterment of the community.
I think it's professional of LMG to just let sleeping dogs like. Keep the hatchet buried.
my god.
My stomach is hurting like hell at 1 am and the only thing am doing is shitting and watching your video.
Thanks for sharing 👍
Hope you're okay man
It's 10:30 here and I'm happy to inform I'm taking a shit aswell
Poop the pain away, brother
Its 10am
My mom bought one kislux and she loves it. It had been there for over 10 years when she went out with it.
dang! that was the best ad ever! very impressed with how durable those cases are!
I love your predictions! Please do more of them!
So the Micro SD port issue remains even though it is not located close to the CPU vent anymore in this "X" model...
Well, I had the chance to buy the original Ally in 2024, but instead went for an RTX 4070 for my desktop PC due to its numerous issues...I think I'll pass once again :(.
Dbrand is one of the few brands that makes me not want to skip sponsored advertising spots in videos
Asus dosent care, everybody is talking about this like its something new, they have been shitty with their customers, and have been selling hardware that has no QC for over a decade now.
Stop being a drama queen. While Asus doesn't have great customer service, and they're working on that....there is nothing wrong with the quality of their products. If you think Gigabyte or MSI is any better....good luck.
@@sophieedel6324lol if you asus reps spent as much effort shilling for your corporate masters on UA-cam as actually honoring warranty we would not be having this conversation.
@@sophieedel6324 I bet you dont work in a IT repair business like I do, and i can tell you that Asus, and HP are the most returned products we have with circuit problems, and its been this way for years.
@@sophieedel6324 ARE YOUR SURE ? Their asus rog maximus z690 formula VRM corrosion problem almost killed my whole pc
I really like these "mid-form", sit-down, in-depth reviews.
2:41 what does "2230Mhz" and "2280Mhz" mean on the NVMe SSD's? Or was that supposed to be SSD length? :P
Must be a mistake
I think the problem is Asus probably going to deny or ignore any issue inorder to impress their investors.
If they acknowledge any issue, that would be a bad PR infront of the investors.
Considering the recent market trends, companies are more focused on impressing their investors rather than properly communicating with the customer, even if it means they lose public trust and sales take a hit.
The sad part is that it kind of fails to understand how your sales work.
I have been using Asus motherboards for various Desktop builds since 2006. I had multiple good warranty interactions with them, and because of those good interactions I bought more of their products that have had no warranty interactions.
Furthermore, being the "tech guy" in my family and friends circles I have recommended their products.
I have an ROG laptop from 2015 or 2016 still going strong that I would strongly consider replacing with a new Asus product.
But, the recent repeated warranty issues and failure to adequately remediate them really means that I now need to look and recommend elsewhere.
My assumption is, if there are enough people influencing potential sales like me also no longer buying or recommending their products then this is a long term bigger hit to profitability than just fixing the warranty support issues.
I still don't understand this business direction though.
I have a 400$ motherboard from them loaded with problems, the software is the most bloated mess i have ever seen.
Thing is though, i'm the it guy for a lot of people in my circle, and a lot of people will avoid anything Asus related now when they buy on my advice.
This kind of shooting yourself in the foot is unbelievable. In the long run, most people will get a bad taste in their mouth when hearing that name alone.
Especially considering they once were top of the line, but now half their stuff barely functions. They had such a good solid reputation for as long as i'm in the business.
Shame.
you know that investors also watch these videos and read the news?
@@Elyygee Most don't.
Investors are basically Multi-Billionaires/Trillionaires.
Do you think they waste time on any news other than which brings profit to them (majority of them don't even use any social media, it's their employee who use them and inform them of any notable info).
Unless a situation goes out of control or goes into court, they don't care, since they have money to waste.
I see you had the Precision driver there, Linus.
Any *prediction* on when that is coming out?
Man do I absolutely love my ROG Ally from day 1 of ownership, and fortunate enough to have zero issues. But I still could not recommend anyone buying this handheld, simply because of windows, and Asus software. Just get a Steamdeck.
What's exactly wrong with Armory Crate nowadays? It's pretty much an almost entirely lag free universal launcher at this point. It's way less work for me to run everything I want to use through my Ally than it was on my deck.
For that matter, what’s wrong with windows? That’s a selling point to me, and using it on the ally even with the built in controls was a pleasant surprise.
Windows is great, every game on my Ayaneo Air runs perfectly, something which can not be said for my friend's Steam Deck.
@@shadow1psc Exactly, Windows offers 100% game compatibility, including GOG/Ubisoft/EA/Epic support. And a lot better emulator support than Steam Deck too.
@@shadow1pscsame, I still don't understand the hate for Windows. Do these guys using Mac for gaming? Do these guys not having PC at all? I still don't have major problems on my PC and Ally. They do had problems but it's an easy fix. Wait, do these guys dumb? 😱
Glad i bought the Lenono legion go. Great device, great support, and no SD cards consumed 😊
I'm a happy Steam Deck owner, but if I was ever in the market for something different, the Legion Go would be the only option I'd seriously consider. Such a cool little device.
Very happy with my Legion Go too. Joycon style controllers and egpu compatiblity is a game changer. Eventually I'll just keep it docked with graphics card mostly when it can no longer keep up.
Same. I'm pretty impressed with the fact that it can run Elden Ring at 45-50 fps at it's native resolution.
Recently got one earlier this month, absolutely love it as some who came from the steam deck. It’s everything I wanted from a handheld. And I’ll be honest fps mode is actually pretty amazing on certain games
Creates an amazing game machine, fumbled the previous versions warranty so hard no one trusts them enough to buy one.
4 in the morning is wild
@@LadiozNot on the east coast
@@Ladioz timezones brovacadbro
It is 10:16 for me lmao finally a ytber that uploads on a normal time
Main character over here
It's 12 pm here , i could get used to this 😁
just got my lenovo legion go and much happier with this, and i dont need to be scared of customer support in the future
I got an ROG Ally for Christmas and accidentally dropped it, now a piece from the bottom right corner is broken off. So now I need to live with it.
Same would apply if it happened to a coffee cup, or a picture frame, or a book, or literally anything else. The difference being that you *could* get the Ally repaired or have it repaired yourself if you don't care about the warranty.
Well I would expect this from any handheld especially if it was on a hard floor
Me with my steam deck comfortably... existing
On one hand, my Steam Deck is in for its second RMA right now… on the other hand, at least I COULD RMA it.
@GHOSTSTARSCREAM Why pay for a part if Valve fixes it for free?
Steam Deck RMA outside of the US is a disaster that can take months.
@@sophieedel6324 my return was easy I live in the uk.
@@asawarai very good point.
I guess this was the video Linus hinted to in the WAN Show.
Why would you blur the performance readout on the Ally X when comparing the game performance between the two devices...?
I'm praying for Zotac that they'll deliver. So far first AMOLED 120hz 1080p AMD based handheld with hall effect joysticks from what leaks suggest and possibly my first handheld.
1080p in 2024? 😂
@@HRM.Hyou realize it's 7 inch screen and most games in 2024 on handheld pc will never even run on 120hz 1080p? Steam Deck Oled is HD and most people don't complain but for me 1080p is minimum
@@HRM.H Resolution doesn't matter at all. Pixels per inch does. 1080p at 7 inches is around 315 PPI. Even a 27 inch 4k display is only 163. You aren't going to notice pixels at all on that thing.
@@HRM.Hunless you're so close to the screen your nose rests on it, you won't see a difference.
@@HRM.H They could run a 720p screen and you'd barely notice a difference on something that small.
Remember, more pixels takes more power to drive and reduces performance.
Was going to buy a router, then I remember the ROG ally issues and their "warranty" services
I've been having RMA issues with ASUS about my motherboard. So it's absolutely not just the Ally where they are trying to screw people.
just buy it from memoryexpress and use their warranty?
Man, seeing that big "NOPE" in the intro hurts, especially considering Linus's enthusiasm towards the Ally X otherwise.
Well this is definitely a time to upload
2am :( I gotta sleep man
4pm, perfect time for SEA bros
Americans when they discover more timezones exist
@@pixelman2626 Was 8 am for me
Wifi, Asus as a company, and win 11 are the 3 things that stop me from wanting one.
WiFi?
@@MatMediaTV i guess it's about not being able to upgrade the wifi card
@@MatMediaTVlack of Ethernet port
For me, the Windows 11 is the biggest because they haven't even tried to make it a good UI experience, For me, especially I couldn't give two shits about hardware if the software experience is garbage and especially for handheld Windows is just that. take the steam deck for comparison which is Linux based. it's not as good hardware as the Ally, but it's software experience is so much better that it's worth it! I don't care if the hardware is good if the experience of the actual software makes me not want to use it, which Windows does especially for non-keyboard and mouse controls. The steam deck, however, is designed from the ground up to be a system that controls well as a controller system. The Steam deck is always going to sell well because of the fact that it's just a good experience
@@AstoundingAmelia bro the Steam Os is a tv box OS, or much less lmao
So, 3 months later, did ASUS take decisive actions and can the device now be recommended?
2:47 What was the point of having ECC Squad if errors like "PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD 2280 *MHz*" still makes its way into the final video?
Minor error in 2:44 SSD specs, the M.2 sizes 2230 and 2280 have MHz units
Question. Why did they release this at 3AM in CDT time????
Also I really wish ROG would ship the ally with software thats made for handhelds, STEAMOS.
If you see review type content released at weird Tim's, it is almost always because there was an embargo and they were not allowed to release it before then.
The remainder is someone messed up something (like setting it to release at AM instead of PM), but since Floatplane went live at the same time, I am betting on embargo.
SteamOS does have its issues with some games, especially with some FPS games that you’d have to jump through many hoops, pirating is a pain in the ass, etc.
you realize that people buy it because of windows?
I'm hoping they release a Windows 11 handheld mode that was apparently rumored and later confirmed to be a thing. Steam OS on Steam Deck was a glitchy mess when it first came out so I expect some growing pains to come with it if they ever do release a handheld mode. But the Ally desperately needs such a mode if it wants to stay competitive.
@GHOSTSTARSCREAM And yet they do. It is what they are familiar with. It is what they use elsewhere and it is what they know their games work with.
remember that you have no guarantee for this
Region dependent. Most countries have very strong consumer protection laws that will happily bend ASUS over if they try that crap.
in europe there is no problem at all with asus. they seem to only scam people who live in countries that allow it.
in the kill switch ad i thought they were faking the hits with sound effects until i noticed you can see the table bouncing at the bottom of the frame.
Until ASUS as a company makes changes with everything that has gone on in the last 12 months with RMA and treating of their paying customers. I be avoiding purchasing their products.
ASUS does have great products and current using it on my PC including a strix 3080ti. But with my plans on upgrading end of the year when new hardware drops including GPUs and CPUs including Ryzen 9000 and Nvidia 50 Series / AMD's RDNA 4 GPUs. Whatever I upgrade ASUS wont be a part of it unless they take some action.
@GHOSTSTARSCREAMI have an LG phone if that helps xD
Sony PlayStation Vita was ahead of its time.
The 2 ports thing is awesome and is great for people with those AR smart glasses who also want to charge their handheld too. As far as I know I believe it’s the only and first one to do this.
I bought the ROG Ally X, last night, and I got it about a couple of hours later. And, man... I'm loving it so much! I used to own the Steam Deck, and man, was it a step up. I do miss SteamOS though, as it was quite easy to use. Needless to say, this is for sure one of the most powerful handhelds on the market right now.
isn't the rog ally x not available yet ? do the you mean the normal one ??
@@xgui4-studios Oh, no. I do mean the new one, yes. ROG Ally X. The one Linus is talking about in this video. They actually released it early in my country, which is why I have it. I can see why you would've thought that I was talking about the first one, though. As it is not available in most countries.
Hype for the logo intro comeback.
I hate that they stopped using it. There's just something about intros that always put me in the mood for the rest of the video. Same with some TV shows, though not all.
@@alexatkin Yeah when they are short and sweet it gets me hyped. And especially when they had one of those quick witted quotes with them. It's the long drawn out 30+ second intros that just take up too much time and makes me lose interest. But like 5 second ones are like "here we go boys". Maybe it's just nostalgia at this point.
Get your data on sd failure from all the returns at best buy. Uh, pass this until there's an OLED display. I'll keep my OLED deck for now. Thanks for the "sales-y" review and happy upcoming birthday, Leo.
Wow, a new hostage that ASUS can threaten to return in pieces
What about other parts of the world?
I believe most of the things asus did in the Gamers Nexus RMA are basically illegal here in france, so is the EU or Asia pacific customer support also terrible?
Or is it only really the case in northern america?
I would love for peoples around the world to test those policies
13:38 Hey Linus, I'm a bit surprised as a fellow daily-er of the Ally that you haven't tried the 90 degree brackets to fit a 2280 into the original (it fits nice and snug). I've been using a 4 TB Crucial on there for a little over 6 months now with no thermal or data issues.
15:40 when you read the case is indestructible but it doesn't say anything about the device.
hahaha the lead up to 0:40 was optimistic at best huh xDD