You’re one of the few people who saw that movie apparently. I agree dude, it’s either really BAD marketing or slightly good marketing (I guess). Either way, I’d never try it
The trackpads and input customization settings make the steam deck well worth it for me. Allows a lot of pc games to run nicely without a mouse even though they were designed with one in mind.
With All you can also customize any game of any platform to the inputs you want. Doesn even need Steam overlay, can customize inputs to any game or software. Trackpads arent on it, though.
Yeap, those track pads are 100% the reason I won't even consider any of the Steam Deck alternatives. It is amazing just how much I use those things, even outside of as a replacement for a mouse. The touch menu bindings for the trackpads are a godsend for several of the games I play on it.
The GPD Win 4 almost scratches that itch with their physical keyboard and optical thumb sensor. The Ayaneo Kun comes the closest I think with its two trackpads.
@@samuraidoggy thats one of the biggest problems, because the pc gaming history has such a long list of alternative control schemes, valve really did a lot of research and design work on this to get this aspect working, thats also the main reason why the Steam controller despite its flaws is so highly regarded and well beloved nowadays. The Deck simply took the ideas of the SC design and fixed its flaws and the result is basically the perfect pc controller which literally everyone should take a lesson from. Most companies do not get this, Asus for instance like most others simply slapped a standard xbox controller left and right of the display and called it a day, works fine with most newer games, but you a) have a huge advantage in first person games with the SC only surpassed by mouse WSAD b) the decades old list of PC games are blocked to a big degree by having to rely on a gamepad only control scheme without a suitable mouse replacement option!
The Steam Deck is a game console first, linux machine if you need it second. And I'm 90% sure will get supported for a long time yet. I love that Valve actually listens to the community and gives us what we ask for. And idk about that boot time, mine never takes that long to boot up.
That and recent reports of ROG Ally heat melts or wrecks the microSD card is a real concern. Sure you can RMA it…but that’s a hassle and you’re without you’re machine.
@brutalhonesty07 Never seen an Ally melt a SD card and I am terminally online. It appears to be a software/firmware issue as the reader is the same one Apple uses and they had the same problem and it was fixed via software. I have had the Ally and Deck since their launches and I am sticking with the Ally. I sold my Deck to a friend and don't regret it, he loves the Deck but he did mention if he didn't have the Deck he would get the Ally instead after trying both out. Personally don't think you can go wrong with either. It comes down to what you play/are used to as Bob pointed out.
For me the biggest advantage on deck are the trackpads, they work fantastic for FPS or any game where you control a camera. Also Heroic games launcher is really easy to use and works perfectly to play GOG or origin games. For Game Pass games, I stream them from my PC using Parsec
I did the same but there's a bit of a problem...I keep playing my Steam Games instead lol. I do love the fact I've got all my retro games there on the go through including PS2. I was surprised just how nice PS1 games can look when upscaled considered how much of a pixelated mess they can be.
It's also worth mentioning that a lot of games running on Steam Deck can be put to sleep mode and then turn it back on and continue where you left of almost instantly. This way you don't even need to keep turning it off and on over and over again, plus when something in real life interrupts you for long time, it's just much better than putting the game on and let the device uselessly sips up battery. It's not exclusive to Steam Deck, however. You can also do it on Linux with Gamescope + AMD/Intel GPU.
I do the exact same thing on my Ally and it works pretty good actually. It's a feature that I loved on my Steam Deck, but I've really had no problems with putting my Ally to sleep/wake on games.
It's no where near as reliable on the ally.. Games will wake up and not run after sleeping for long periods of time. They'll run in the background while it waits for you to log back in to windows. You'll log in and the game will be in a window instead of full screen. It's not even on the same level as the steam deck in that regard.
I've had the Deck for a few months and really did like it, and with Heroic, I was able to get most of my games that I wanted to play on it. A little over a week ago I bought an Ally at Best Buy thinking "if I don't like it, I have 15 days to return it and nothing changes". Within 2 days I was taking the 1TB NVMe out of my Deck and putting it in the Ally and have fully switched over now. A lot of little things are needed to get Windows set up just right (not having to log in to a Microsoft account during setup, changing sleep/hibernate settings to have thing do what I want, Steam going into Big Picture as soon as it boots, mapping M1/M2 plus D-Pad down to be the Xbox button to bring up the Steam button menu during games, etc), but now the Ally operates pretty much like my Deck, but with a more power processor, better screen with VRR, and the ability to install ANY of my games because of Windows.
The audio issue with Chiaki at 8:25 might be due to Dolby Atmos or the bitrate and frequency of the audio output. I had to turn off spacial audio and drop it to 16-Bit, 48000Hz to stop the stutter and crackle that was happening with Chiaki.
Seriously, please read this comment. I have watched about 20 videos comparing these handhelds. Including one 48 minutes long. This video from a year ago is THE ONLY ONE to mention the Ally is capable of natively playing gamepass. This is a huge deal and nobody else mentioned it. So I want to thank you so much for this. You are literally the best.
The steam deck controller config options make it a no brainer for me - having community layouts for everything is HUGE if the devs haven't done proper support. On top of that, the additional buttons on the back, the trackpads and most importantly the very detailed things you can DO with them in the settings (like turning the left trackpad into a little grid menu or scroll wheel) is a massive benefit for PC games that aren't necessarily built for controllers like Civ, Stellaris or Roller coaster tycoon.
This. It's awesome how I can just boot up a game that usually would have me messing around in the settings to get to control properly, like for example Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles on Wii. Booted up the game, and instantly was able play it with zero issues.
@@bnutplayer8450 I mean I don't think that's a real use case - the drivers and experience on windows with the steam deck are pretty abysmal and wouldn't come close to touching the experience on the ROG ally
They're downloading on Ally (and any other PC) too if you run Steam in Big Picture mode (maybe switched to default and put in autorun and so you basically get Steamdeck functionality at startup with more as option). Real benefit of steamdeck is pregen shaders, others can just be turned on any PC by steam itself.
Hi, much love! Just finished TLOU remake on Ally yesterday and it’s amazing! I played that game since got my Ally day one, along the way I got those Asus updates and bios changes, etc. I can really feel the improvement on this little device just from a month ago! The experience I had with this game and Ally is so good, like the first time I play the original game on PS4. Steam deck is also going strong, persona and other light games and emus runs great on it! I’m glad I have kept my deck after getting Ally.
The micro SD issue is NOT the fault of the cards actually, it's an issue with the placement of the reader on the device. It's next to some components that get very, very hot under hard workloads, as well as being right next to the left exhaust port. This leaves the reader being exposed to a *lot* of heat, while the safe operating temperature of the reader is 70C or lower. This has resulted in readers frying from heat. I've had it happen to both my launch day Ally, and the unit I got through RMA for the previous unit's dead reader, and there's tons of posts from people having the same problem on the r/rogally subreddit. It's an absolutely moronic design choice and I don't know how it made it through testing. Asus will literally have to redesign the main board to move the slot somewhere else, such as the bottom of the device like the Deck.
Its been shown concretely that its clearly something to do with the reader hardware itself and not heat, probably a voltage problem as that was the cause for macbooks with the same reader hardware having the same failure years ago and a huge proportion of the reported incidents have happened at low temperatures. Its poor design and R&D for sure but its not conclusively a heat problem
Asus has a history of releasing products before they’re ready. I thought their first handheld PC was going to have problems but they really out did themselves.🎉
In all honesty even my oxp2 suffers from that. The SD slot ist next to the fan so my SD cart slot got so hot it doesent even hold the cart anymore had to stick it in with a piece of paper so I can't come back
Ally owner, extremely happy with it so far. I got to the point though where after reading through the Reddit threads about various optimization and tweaks that can be done to it, the ideal combo to kill Armory Crate and make it more bearable to use appears to be HandheldCompanion/G-Helper/Playnite. Been having a blast with it, and I've effectively been using it as a dockable handheld that's a laptop half of the time. I have no problem with Linux; I had been tossing myself around with the two options, and ended up realizing that I actually have a lot of fun tinkering with Windows. The above combo nets me at least 5 hours of battery life at 5W while emulating old handheld consoles. Shit, it's extremely satisfying to launch a title from Playnite which I have configured to launch RetroArch with a Windows 98 SE VM through DosBox-Pure, and directly launches into the old Win3.x/95-era Journeyman Project games. If I need to make it portable, I throw a tiny mouse and the Ally/Jsaux dock into my mini duffle and bring a small 65/75% keyboard bag with me, and I'm out the door. These things are such a neat concept...I'm honestly excited to see what the future holds. No hate on either side; it's whatever fits your needs, and my Ally is everything I ever wanted. Hope the Deck owners are having just as much fun. :)
Here's the Steam Deck's advantages - Still $200 cheaper Valve is more reliable than Asus Better/longer customer service Better/longer online community support Better accessories ecosystem Easier to use as a PC thanks to trackpads Slightly better battery life Easier to use Way better sleep/wake feature It's NOT Windows but it can if you want it Black option which won't yellow Disadvantages - Weaker hardware Display Anti-cheat problem for certain games Windows is still a more popular platform Every Nintendo handheld was underpowered and it still sold the most for their generation. The first time they had the most powerful handheld, it's actually the Switch which is really a hybrid. It's basically what the Vita 2 really is but made by Nintendo. The times Nintendo had the more powerful home console (N64, GCN) than the generation winner (PS1, PS2), they lost. So I don't think Nintendo has ever cared about having the most powerful console. The software and the support is what they focus on more. Switch is a Vita on steroids. Deck is a Switch on steroids. We had PC handhelds years before the Switch but they we're still niche and went for over $1000. A $400 Deck disrupted the market. Now we see more newer PC handhelds going for under $1000. I believe there are too many advantages the Deck has over the Ally that I would likely pick it every time unless they're priced the same or Ally is priced lower. And even then, I would still think hard on it. I can live with the weaker hardware and washed out display. Software and support is what matters most at the end. Deck comes with a free case. That's a nice touch. To me, it looks better ergonomically. Everyone has been saying Deck is extremely comfortable to hold and feels much lighter than it looks. I'm glad the Ally does exist though similar to Xbox existing for PlayStation to compete with. Competition inspires innovation. You don't want Sony and Valve to get complacent like Samsung is doing with their foldables.
Both have advantages and disadvantages. It just depends on what you like playing. For me, I prefer the Steam Deck because 95% of my games are on steam and all games I want to play on it work great. I am not really a multiplayer fan and I don't have Game Pass so this is great for me.
My issue with the ally, besides the price and the problems that have popped up since release, is that there's no mouse alternative. If you want to play civ6 or similar, that's going to stick. The deck has pretty great track pads that make it possible to play most mouse driven games.
I wanted to defend the steam deck really quick and say that you can install game pass and chiaki and I know he had issues with it but for me personally chiaki works perfectly. I played the entirety of Final Fantasy 16 through it and never really had an issue.
@@tykendrick800 controller works once you set it on the controller settings it takes seconds lol no need to throw it at the wall . And sorry your having that experience with chiaki for me personally it works really really well with the occasional screen tear every once and a while but connection has never been a issue
@@Senorgrav chiaki. What is that? I assume you use steam os. I used windows. Had to use app called glossi. Have to reinstall it everytime I play a non steam game
Repairability es for me a big plus for the Steam Deck, aside of what others already mentioned, being a Console First and promoting gaming on Linux, instead of being complacent with the cumbersome experience with Windows 11 in “Handheld mode”. Steam is more community oriented, I will not be surprised if next year ASUS decides to predate on the Ally with another device to be released
Furthermore, because it’s a Linux machine it’s easier for the community to tinker with it (basically hack it beyond the limitations of Microsoft Windows)
As an owner of both I use the Ally. Steam deck is great and I got EA, gamepass, epic all working. However, I enjoy the power and screen on the Ally. I also like that I can play my entire library on the Ally. That said I am a savvy windows user so I don’t have a problem. The GPD Win4 was better for navigation having a tracking nub and keyboard. They also have a 7840u version but costs a lot more than the Ally.
Was part of the Q2 gang and received my Steam Deck mid June last year. I've had the Ally for about 3 weeks and I'm loving it so far. Its screen and more power is what I like and felt the Steam Deck lacked. 10 mins playing TLOU pt1 made me switch to the the Ally as my main handheld. Final Fantasy 7 remake looks and runs great not blurry and jaggy which was my experience on Deck. Windows on the Ally really doesn't bother me, it has its moments but nothing major has gone wrong and I'm not a fan of AC but it's alright. The Ally is definitely for the bigger AAA games that require more power. I must say even though SteamOS has its own issues I like its layout and how customizable it can be with plug ins. The Steam Deck gets compared to the Switch but it really has become the Switch of the Windows handhelds. It has a low entry point, easy to set up combined with Valve and its community it will always be a good choice over the higher end handhelds.
Very well put. Same exact situation here. Q2 steam deck and finally got an Ally. It’s tough to go back. The deck has been collecting dust. As for the trackpads and mouse games I play docked anyways and throw the Ally on turbo mode. Runs like a dream.
I agree with those two points as well. I wanted a great screen and it’s 120hz also I wanted to play heavy hitting games is not most or all. This does. The best part the sealed it for me was being able to use Xbox game pass without hassles like the steam deck. It just adds another console. I hope with updates they Star addressing the typical issues everyone is having to just making this as simple to plug and play wat u want. I might wait for Black Friday for one of these even though I’m tempted now.
I feel like ROG will abandon the Ally and the handheld market, but the Steam Deck will get multiple iterations and long lasting support. That coupled with devs catering to the hardware of the Steam Deck, should make the Steam Deck effectively run better from the optimisation.
I agree with your general points but your reasoning of “I think” leaves a lot to be desired 😂 “Tonberry King has spoken, and he has decided ROG will abandon the Ally”
no devs cater for the steam deck hardware. It plays PC games just like everyone else so it will not out perform other more powerful handhelds. What it does have an advantage is in low wattage senarios where the chip is more efficient
@@crestofhonor2349 wdym there's some games that have steam deck specific settings for them, and also steam deck specific fixes for a few games, the one game I think of is The Last of Us Part 1
@@Jaxv3r Specific settings doesn't mean optimized for steam deck. That means they went and found already accessible settings in the game and just used that as the "Steam Deck" preset. Specifically optimized would imply these games are made to be played specifically on a steam deck like a console. It's just a PC running Linux and it has no more specific optimization than the ROG Ally, GPD Win 4, or any other handheld or gaming device. It's like saying max settings in games is specifically optimized for a 4090
I've owned a steamdeck since june of last year and was a little tempted to grab the ally, but I feel like the pick up and play nature of the deck is more appealing to me. Plus for handheld gaming I'd rather play lighter games like Vampire Survivors or Halls of Torment which runs perfectly on the deck.
If you have a steam deck the rog ally is not a decent enough upgrade to bother ngl! it's just for a person like me who doesn't own a handheld gaming device and wanting to chime in.
I was debating this for a while and I ended up going with the Deck. The Ally has far too many issues and are getting returned left & right and I'm only interested in playing some older Pc games & emulation. The deck is perfect for my needs. The screen and slightly better performance was my main attractions to the Ally honestly.
I have the ally. Not a single issue yet. Also been playing fallout 4 heavily modded o. It with no issues using vortex from nexus. I’d like to see the steam deck that that reliably. Because it will not. I know because I have one as well.
I got the Ally despite having a Steam Deck with a 2TB SSD, dual booted with Windows, and custom overclocked. I have settled on the idea that the Deck is basically the Switch of PC handhelds and I use it for lower end games that I can play for longer, and I leave the Ally for very specific, mostly current gen games that struggle on the Deck
@@deadringer8050 my definition of “struggle” may be different from how you or others may see it. With Destiny 2 for example when I try playing at max wattage on my Deck it struggles with holding 60fps. On the Ally it’ll be similar but I have more headway to increase the TDP if I want a more stable framerate, but the other thing (which I feel is grossly underrated) is the free sync display on the Ally which then even if I’m bouncing between 50-60 fps, it still feels smooth and I get to turn off V-Sync as a result.
@@deadringer8050Not really and I do the same thing that he does with my Steam Deck with a 1tb Ssd and 1tb sd (fully loaded with Roms) I love my Deck, but when it comes to AAA games it’s clearly night and day when comparing the 2
I have been playing on Ally Day one release and have had no issues and yes you are correct ease of use then go for Steam Deck but i think the issue is anyone with both consoles will have to set expectations on what each systems have to offer (software) Steam OS is very polished vs FITENDOWS which is crap. Hopefully in the near future when a Windows handheld mode release then it would be an awesome experience. Great video as always!
I've configured steam to autorun on startup in Big Picture mode and got the steamdeck. Previously owned Steamdeck and got huge pain in ass with launchers, always-online games and other pc gaming stuff. And yep, had about 5 titile marked as Great on Steamdeck that didn't launch at all. So getting a bit better experience with Ally than with Steamdeck except for emulation.
I went with the steam deck when it was on the summer sale finally. I gotta say, it is my main go to for gaming right now. Also, when it comes to Chiaki, I did get it up and running and my experience with it was massively clean. I started and finished God of War III solely on my steam deck. Gotta say, I really am enjoying this baby beast. Thanks for the video of comparison!!
I think he left that out because installing Windows on a deck can be a hassle and you lose so much performance by doing so that the Ally would just annihilate the Steamdeck. As a Steamdeck user myself, I can say that the deck is better used within its own specifically made environment. That being it’s Linux OS.
This is one of those rare occasions where having a large backlog of indie platformers, puzzle games, and other undemanding titles is a boon. If the Ally is working great for you, I’m happy for you. I’ll just be over here playing Patrick’s Parabox and Celeste on my Steam Deck.
I got the Ally and had SD, sold the SD, the games I wanted to play the SD was too restrictive, but it served a purpose to get the handheld PC party started. If you travel a lot get the Anker 737 140W external battery, it will run the Ally in the 30W turbo mode and basically triples battery life, puts all the power and screen to good use!
@@ProjectRZ COD, also I had a rough time getting RDR2 to work, it had a memory leak issue, which eventual got resolved, but frustrating. Also easier to use GamePass and cloud gaming services like GeForce now.
People keep saying that the steam deck is better. I don’t believe it. It looks like an overpriced piece of garbage. I see that there’s too many problems with it. Who wants problems when playing games? They can call me an idiot, but the real idiots are the ones paying 599.99 for some extra content with the deck. THE ROG WINS. And it’s not even close.
@@raingirlcat2245 you never even used the sd. So your opinion isn't valid. Ive had both and like the sd better, some might like the rog. They're very close, they're similar with small differences really but to me the sd is more comfortable to use and runs smoother in terms of os
Got the Steam Deck during the summer sale and I think it’s perfect for my use case. The only current Gen gaming console I owned was a Switch, and on my computer I pretty much exclusively played games through steam. Couple that with some prior exposure to Linux, and I’m loving my experience!
I have to say that the Steam deck came out ahead for me personally mainly for initial price to entry and also for the support they offer after purchase in regards to replacement parts and aftermarket parts you can get now. ASUS not supporting or offering parts or accessories for their products after launch does leave a bad taste. (that being said if you don't have a desktop or laptop pc, The ally would serve dual purpose for you then that might be a better option for some)
Something I don’t like about the ally’s design is how there’s no trackpads. It helps out a lot trying to play PC tycoon games that don’t have the best controller support.
Love having both, but the Ally's performance increase and VRR screen still has me in the honeymoon phase with it over the Steam Deck and I do favor it rn. Steam Deck does feel more premium and plays some games better and has better sticks. If you can afford both, they compliment each other as much as compete. But if you gotta choose one, Steam Deck 64gb with a 1tb ssd replacement is the way to go. But if you're a Destiny addict and love VRR, the Ally can't be beat. Get a BB extended warranty if worried about QC issues and go swap it for another if there are any. Then you don't have to worry about dealing with Asus. Jelly of that Gameboy Advance Wolf-Jedi! It makes the screen on the Anbernic 35XX look cheap. Great video!
with the new Ally bios update this morning, if you do not own a steam deck today, the Ally is the overall better option since you can tinker less, don't have to worry about the linux learning curve, and just use it how you please! I completed my first Elden Ring playthrough on it and it was amazing.
Yep I got my deck on one of the first days of the sale!! Ordered the 64gb and slapped a 1Tb SSD in there and it runs beautifully!! Easily my top purchase of the year, it's safe to say I'm obsessed!!! 🤩🤩🤩
I like the Ally for Game Pass games. I think the screen and audio blows the Deck out of the water. They're fantastic. And obviously the performance is better and you get the extra compatibility from having Windows. I think the Deck blows the Ally away in everything else. It's MUCH more comfortable, the sticks are far better, the trackpads make navigating the desktop much better/mouse games much more playable/add a ton of utility to control options, and the overall user experience is just far, far, far better. I also think the 1080p/120hz screen on the Ally is an absolute waste. The screen is beautiful for it's image quality but you're probably not playing many games at 1080p on it and definitely not at 120hz. I think they both have their uses but unless the games you want to play just don't work on the Deck it would be my go-to hands down. Besides the hardware/software Valve has been providing amazing post-launch support for the Deck and Asus is not there.
@@mikelreborn3254 you can play game pass cloud games but installable game pass apps only work on windows. Unless something new came out and I just don't know about it
One thing you forget to mention is that you can simply dual boot into Windows on the Steam Deck via a MicroSD card. Since Valve themselves made drivers specifically for this and as long as you're willing to put in the setup time for getting that all configured, it knocks off a major reason to opt for the ROG Ally. At that point you're deciding if you want a higher powered system for $300 more that can itself dual boot into SteamOS (With Valve support for that), or if you would get the cheaper option that can still perform very well but comes with much more support for SteamOS. There's also the matter of support, because Valve tends to support their items for years upon years upon years while we don't know how Asus is going to treat this since it's a fairly niche item.
You can also partition your SSD. If you get a 2TB SSD for the Steam Deck, you could then partition it so SteamOS and Windows 10/11 each get their own 1TB from the NVME SSD. You will get much better performance this way for windows. I personally DGAF and only use SteamOS. Indie Games FTW. AAA games have been a joke the past several years for the most part.
@@MrMilkyCoco where did you get that! All of Valve’s hardware still receive update until today! The only thing Valve has done was discontinuing them early because they didn’t sell well!
one thing all reviewers seem to forget about the two is the steam deck can be put into sleep mode and picked back up right where you left off, the ally cannot
You can get the Steam Deck to do PS Plus streaming, I have it on mine. The issue is you can't map the PS4/5 Trackpad button which is shockingly important for most PS4 games as they use it for an options menu, or map, etc. So, on Ally, or AYANEO you can download a program to trick the controls to map a Trackpad button.
Great video man! Love the camera work! ❤ Dude you should probably just mention that it is possible to turn your steam deck into a windows machine. It isn’t very hard tbh
Hey Bob, loved to hear your perspective as someone with all devices available to you. I found with my steam deck that upgrading to a 1tb and then splitting that to dual boot steam and windows has worked best for me. Truth be told it can be a hassle to maintain the REFind script between major updates and to initially setup so that windows doesn't take boot priority. Its all possible and well documented just finicky. I use my steam os for gaming and then my windows is setup as my work "laptop". I mostly use it for CAD software such as Vcarve or fusion360 with a keyboard, mouse and monitor attached. On the odd occasion I will make quick changes using the on screen keyboard and track pads. the Ally not having track pads and 4 back paddles is a major deal-breaker for my use case. I'm now waiting for a steam deck like controller but with all the inputs. PS5 is close with a Rise4 remap kit but the back paddles can't be set by steam inputs they're only able to mimic the other buttons on the controller.
I have my Steam Deck dual booted with windows and it’s a perfect experience because I can use game pass on Windows 10 and I can have a more console-like UI on SteamOS.
I agree that the Windows environment is both what gives the ally it's versatility as well as what holds it back from being a truly enjoyable gaming experience. However, the gyrations involved in working with Windows is akin to the work you have to do on those little portable emulation handhelds from Amberic, Powkidde, and others to have a gaming session, or even on the Steam Deck when you want to get a game that isn't optimized for it. It comes down to picking your poison based on your use case.
On the Steam Deck, you download the executable (be it a launcher, installer or the game binary - doesn't even matter you just get an executable for Windows...), you add it as non-steam-app in desktop-mode, you switch back to its game-mode and hit play... Works with any game from Blizzard like this... works with MTG Arena, actually everything I've tried so far... it's not complicated and you have to mess with desktop mode less than 5 minutes to do it. I really don't get why people want to have the pain of running Windows if you could just skip that and play games. There are only very few games remaining you can't play on the Steam Deck and since launch this number is decreasing linearly.
I think one thing that is forgotten is that Steam Deck can have a dual-boot for windows (or you can just wipe steam OS). It might not be as streamlined as the Ally but for me, Deck takes the cake.
When the ROG Ally doesn't have some serious QC issues like every other handheld PC except for the steam deck, I'll consider it. Knowing ASUS however, I don't trust them.
The steamdeck/steam community is what elevates the steam deck. I don't think many people care about tinkering with the backend of the system. they just want to play games.
Chiaki runs perfectly on my Deck at a constant 60fps with no audio stutters, 720p or 1080p. Make sure your PS5 is hardwired to your router and then mess around with the bitrate of your video and audio stream (via Chiaki settings) until you get something you're happy with. This will apply to both devices, by the way.
The Steamdeck is my go to. Because like you said. It is plug and play. I don't have to do much config to get what you want, and I agree. I really don't like linux, like at all. It's such a pain to navigate. My first month using the steamdeck was just figuring out how linux worked. 😅 But once I got emulationstation working on the steamdeck I just don't use desktop anymore and it's great! If I want to buy a game I just use my pc and then it just appears on the steamdeck and I can use them both hand in hand which is really nice. Also any emulated game I want to play just works too! The steamdeck is a computer after all. Although, if I was patient enough I should've waited for the ROG Ally because honestly I really do love windows even if it is janky on a handheld I'd rather suffer through that. But I am happy with the steamdeck overall it is great.
I actually used the steam deck as my desktop for a couple of weeks. It was surprisingly good, I always had UA-cam running on Brave Browser in background and it went quite smooth. Main issue I had is that it doesn't have the performance overlay to mess around with FSR/reduced shaders. I played mostly WoW classic (1080p, 8/10 config with lower shadows and sun drafts, vsync off), mostly world/dungeons run at 100 fps (I capped at 100), big cities would get 40-50 fps. I also played Halls of Torment, but I had to remove damage showing otherwise performance was terrible at the end of the level (didn't other optimizations).
Great video. Got a steam deck with windows dual boot. Was considering getting an oled for my son. Now I'm wondering if i should get an ally just to experience both.
I just finally bought a Steam Deck and really it seems to come down to me to the ease of use of it and the support from Valve with Steam OS. I haven't received it yet but it seems like just a more optimized system that will continue to receive updates and possibly only get better. I wanted it for an emulation machine that can handle just about everything and to have something that I can easily play my PC games from a handheld on my couch or in bed. If I want to play something that requires me to have a more powerful machine, I do have a PC with an RTX 3060 Ti that I can play them on or stream from or just play them on my Xbox Series X.
It's a way better device. A device that is designed for it's targeted audience. The Ally is a hot pile of bird shat with an identity crisis. It doesn't know what it is or who it's for. I dumped the Ally in a heartbeat for the steamdeck .
I have a steam deck and I’ll be honest I love playing it for all my retro stuff. And if I need to, I can boot into Linux and fully customize the desktop to be a desktop
I'm still waiting for them to release the cheaper Ally. Pretty sure its supposed to be $600 instead of $700. Considering if I got a Deck, I'd get the $400 version and drop $100~ish to get a faster 1TB drive for it, I feel like that would make the competition between the 2 closer for me. I'm sure the Ally will also have more updates and polish by then too (remember, the Deck had a ton of issues they polished out over its first few months). It will all come down to weather or not the "cheap" Ally will have enough of a performance boost and versatility over the Deck to justify the extra $100.
I just picked up the Ally (already have a SteamDeck) and the Ally is going to be more of a media center/arcade machine that I can use where as the steamdeck is going to be a straight up console. I love them both, but having the windows environment lets me tinker a lot with different things and gives me more than just a game console feel that the deck gives me (yes I know you can do normal stuff on linux, no I don't want to learn how to do that as I have used Windows basically m entire tech life)
I have both systems and love both. The Ally is more for me when it comes to AAA games plus the graphical power behind it is a major plus. The ssd upgrade is very easy so I did that. My Steam Deck is mainly used for emulation now and Emudeck is free on Steam unlike Windows
Early Steamdeck adopter here. I recently purchased the Ally. I have to say I’ve found myself preferring the Ally lately. Any AAA game; BG3 I mean you; runs significantly better on the ally. The screen quality is also night and day. I do agree completely about the steamdeck feeling more user friendly. I’d say if it’s your first entry to pc gaming the steamdeck is a solid option. If you’re not scared to tinker the Rog Ally definitely has more to offer period. All in all can’t go wrong with either. Both amazing devices!
I dual booted my Steam Deck and at first I was not really enjoying the Windows experience on the deck, but now with HandHeld Companion it's great. Really the only thing missing between my SD and an Ally would be the extra performance. Everything is playable, runs fine, and looks fine on a 7" screen for on the go. I have a desktop for when I want real performance.
The Rog Ally is better than the steamdeck. The only reason it's being ratio'ed right now is because of the already established fanbase from SD users. Trust me, I have both.
Hey so right now the Ally is on sail on best buy's websight for $400. So put whatever sails best buy has into acount when picking. (Thats the same price as whatever the switch 2 is. I already own a switch so honestly might get one of these over the switch 2.)
I debated buying an Ally... but having a steam deck, decent spec pc, switch, series s and a strix g15 laptop seemed like it was probably too much already. I'm glad it exists for more competition in the "mainstream" handheld pc market though. Competition is good.
Ive been doing a lot of research on both devices before i commit to buying one. So for the steam deck being easy to use and being mostly a game console, makes it the winner in my book. Everyone has their reasons for liking the ROG ally over the steam deck. But im also incredibly lazy and like things to just work
I have an Ayaneo Air Pro and recently bought a used steam deck off a colleague who replaced it with an ROG Ally.The Steam Deck has mostly been a home machine almost replacing my gaming rig since I don't play much on a desk anymore, while the Air Pro is the machine I carry with me whenever I leave the house. But even with a "windows machine" like the Air Pro I have linux (ChimeraOS) installed on it. My colleague is facing a bunch of issues with his Ally, but I believe they're more issues with Windows rather than the Ally
My husband just got an ally and I want to get one to play games with him, but I kindaaa want the steam deck more just because I use steam primarily annnnd I just love the little trackpads, it just feels so fun
I think the ROG look tries to sell itself. But I'm glad you mentioned that it feels like a Windows pc whereas the steam deck you can pick up and play. I get that windows is just plain difficult to create a console experience on, but Asus doesn't have me convinced it's worth trying their half baked console experience idea. I do feel like Valve really did an amazing job getting that console experience down. Maybe it's because Linux is easier to customize
After having both steam deck and the ally I can honestly say the ally is leagues better in my opinion. 1080p resolution and better hardware. I can easily play resident evil 2 at max setting with a buttey smooth 60fps. Steamdeck was just too restrictive. Especially when you want to get into modding games. The windows interface is just clearly better in my opinion. Battery life on both suck so that’s a non issue. Just plug it in it get a power bank
@@raidev_ That I can agree with, but lets not be kidding ourselves... SteamDeck's Linux interface is complete trash as well and practically unusable unless you got a portable mouse and keyboard. And even then its terrible. Neither is any good.
@@Someguy6571 that is if you're really used to windows, i personally daily drive linux on my pc. I use gnome but KDE plasma (the desktop environment steam deck uses) is perfectly usable. And also the steam deck is intended to be used primarily on the gaming mode which is very well optimized for the handheld controls
I did this for the crackly sound in Chiaki on my Steam Deck and it worked: If you are getting choppy audio while using Chiaki for Windows, delete the file audio/qtaudio_windows.dll and lower the audio buffer to around 4000 (otherwise audio is very delayed).
I got the Steam Deck well before we even knew the Ally existed, but if I was choosing from scratch again I'd be tempted to go for the Ally instead due to immediate access to so many more games. Now it's a question of do I make a dual boot system so I can use Windows on Steam Deck or just outright get the Ally as well for immediate access to more games, potentially a better laptop substitute, not replacement, and more power?
I was on business trip for two weeks. I was able to ditch my personal laptop at home and just brought Ally with me. I had a 15' portable monitor plus keyboard and mouse, the Ally provided me both entertainment and productivity as a PC which was great. My flight was delayed on my way back ,also Ally was there to keep me entertained for extra one hour at airport. I couldnt do that on a steam deck...
another great video Bab! random fact but did u know youre the only youtuber that I dont just fast forward thru your ad reads because they are always funny and original. keep up the great work!
On the steam deck's fan speed. Generally, yeah. It's going to be an issue. But I found that tweaking power settings and bringing down framerates to, like, 45, not only is the fan quieter, it's a bit cooler, and might help battery a bit more.
Love the Asus Ally so far. Runs Elden Ring and everything we've thrown at it great. Use the external GPU as a docking station. Bluetooth Collapsable keyboard and mouse when needing a full PC experience. Gaming while traveling. I does pretty much everything. Having said that, we like the Xbox style controller, and for traveling gaming it goes without saying that you will want to be using controller based games. Also, the cheaper AMD external GPU is still pricey enough that you absolutely could have gotten a mid-low end Gaming laptop for the price of the Ally + external GPU. So what the Ally delivers on for us is compact flexibility. People that complain on battery life don't recognize that gaming laptop battery life is generally terrible and can't be fixed by just packing a small power brick along. For the Ally or Deck this is pretty easy. We're used to tweaking PC game settings a little so don't really feel a lot of pain there. Been pretty happy with it so far. Overall like the experience more than a gaming laptop. I think the deck is great as well, really like the ability to save state, probably my favorite feature. But I like only needing one device to do everything more. Enough that I am OK with the few compromises the Ally requires. I don't think we'll be going back to the Deck, but I won't mind being wrong about that in the future. It's a great time to be a gamer. 👍
I really hope Asus keeps crushing it with ROG Ally, this is a big need for people who live in small places, want to game comfortably but also tether to do work/email stuff.
I was thinking about getting the ally, butt thinking about it now, most of my games are on steam anyway. And I have a laptop so I do not need a second device with windows. Thanks for the comparison.
I use the steam deck as my primary and my z fold 3 as an alternative desktop. I have a server that runs Windows that I can remote into if I need to. I think whatever your work flow lends to is what you should chose. I love the deck. Love it!
I have to say that I think the Ally is better ... But I returned it and just kept my steamdeck , not sure how that makes sense but that's what happened lol Serious though my main reason for return was lack of confidence with hardware of the Ally , my face buttons started sticking and had some speaker problems , maybe a repurchase down the line ?
it's understandable given the fact that while it's TECHINCALLY is more powerful than the Steam Deck and can run some games it can't, it also has it's own drawbacks (such as build quality, worse battery life, questionable future support from ASUS, etc.) that makes the extra price not really worth it
@@ninten360 Battery life is identical between the two with the same wattage. 15w on steam deck is the same as battery life as 15w on the Ally. Where the deck excels is in lower wattage performance and the fact that linux sucks less power meaning it lasrs longer at 5w TDP. Ally is only worse when you push above 15w
i use steam deck on windows exclusively, the performance and experience has gotten wayyy better and with handheld companion it’s very easy to use. most games get decent battery life but 6 hours maximum, but for me that’s enough
The steam deck is great at grab and go gaming, the ally has kinks here and there as was covered in the video. If I had to pick one I definitely would go for the Ally, I feel it's more versatile. For example, I was wanting to build a guest PC for the one or two times a year my wife gets on or when a friend comes over, I purchased the Ally instead and it's been AMAZING. My friend was playing on my PC and I was on the Ally in docked mode on a 24in monitor, we played rust for 5hrs and it performed like a champ.
If you're only getting one, it's hard not to recommend the Ally imo. But I have favored GOG as my go to store front so having access to all the store fronts with ease is a big deal to me.
The problem is that I'm not sold on the controls, I got to try out one and the buttons just don't feel as nice as the Steam Deck, especially the lackluster D-pad
Windows/ Asus a soulless combination with great specs in a industry that keeps on updating tech every other week. I'll take the controls, vibe of the steam deck any day. It legit feels like a futuristic retro handheld system.
Separate launchers aren't that much of an issue on the steam deck anymore. I used the epic games launcher to play through all of Control on my steam deck since I got it free on there awhile back. Had to tweak the settings slightly but only took a few seconds. Wasn't hard to set up. Watched one video and got the launcher running and haven't had any issues yet.
![This can play what the Steam Deck CAN'T [Asus ROG Ally]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/crSfiGBPGeo/mqdefault.jpg)
![This can play what the Steam Deck CAN'T [Asus ROG Ally]](/img/tr.png)
The first 500 people to use this link and code WULFF30 will get 30% off their first order with Soylent: bit.ly/3Q4zpTg
The company is called soylent and they make a green smothie? Are you sure we should be drinking that?
You’re one of the few people who saw that movie apparently. I agree dude, it’s either really BAD marketing or slightly good marketing (I guess). Either way, I’d never try it
Honestly surprised there was no movie reference in the ad read, but if you know, you know.
I’ve thought the same. Watched Soylent Green with my grandmother 20 years ago. It’s not a good name for a food company. 😂
People do not drink this absolute trash. it is terrible for you. DO NOT DRINK HUEL OR ANY OF THESE 'MEAL REPLACEMENTS'
TL;DR of this Video: Don't Buy a Steam Deck or ROG Ally! Buy a GBA and play Castlevania all day long.
Also make sure you’re non existent ally is being updated in the meantime
@@pebble848your*
@@rony_rst srsly man :(
@@pebble848 Sorry I couldn't hold myself.
*SteamDeck*
The trackpads and input customization settings make the steam deck well worth it for me. Allows a lot of pc games to run nicely without a mouse even though they were designed with one in mind.
With All you can also customize any game of any platform to the inputs you want. Doesn even need Steam overlay, can customize inputs to any game or software. Trackpads arent on it, though.
Yeap, those track pads are 100% the reason I won't even consider any of the Steam Deck alternatives. It is amazing just how much I use those things, even outside of as a replacement for a mouse. The touch menu bindings for the trackpads are a godsend for several of the games I play on it.
The GPD Win 4 almost scratches that itch with their physical keyboard and optical thumb sensor. The Ayaneo Kun comes the closest I think with its two trackpads.
Agreed
@@samuraidoggy thats one of the biggest problems, because the pc gaming history has such a long list of alternative control schemes, valve really did a lot of research and design work on this to get this aspect working, thats also the main reason why the Steam controller despite its flaws is so highly regarded and well beloved nowadays. The Deck simply took the ideas of the SC design and fixed its flaws and the result is basically the perfect pc controller which literally everyone should take a lesson from.
Most companies do not get this, Asus for instance like most others simply slapped a standard xbox controller left and right of the display and called it a day, works fine with most newer games, but you
a) have a huge advantage in first person games with the SC only surpassed by mouse WSAD
b) the decades old list of PC games are blocked to a big degree by having to rely on a gamepad only control scheme without a suitable mouse replacement option!
The Steam Deck is a game console first, linux machine if you need it second. And I'm 90% sure will get supported for a long time yet. I love that Valve actually listens to the community and gives us what we ask for. And idk about that boot time, mine never takes that long to boot up.
Just like they gave us Half Life 3
@@hounvs that’s still in the works lol just like Left 4 dead 3
I also use mine as a Windows workstation and it's the second fastest PC I own.
That and recent reports of ROG Ally heat melts or wrecks the microSD card is a real concern. Sure you can RMA it…but that’s a hassle and you’re without you’re machine.
@brutalhonesty07 Never seen an Ally melt a SD card and I am terminally online. It appears to be a software/firmware issue as the reader is the same one Apple uses and they had the same problem and it was fixed via software. I have had the Ally and Deck since their launches and I am sticking with the Ally. I sold my Deck to a friend and don't regret it, he loves the Deck but he did mention if he didn't have the Deck he would get the Ally instead after trying both out. Personally don't think you can go wrong with either. It comes down to what you play/are used to as Bob pointed out.
For me the biggest advantage on deck are the trackpads, they work fantastic for FPS or any game where you control a camera. Also Heroic games launcher is really easy to use and works perfectly to play GOG or origin games. For Game Pass games, I stream them from my PC using Parsec
Try to add gyro aim to the trackpads... match made in heaven once you have adapted to it!
I just use Windows on my Steam Deck for Game Pass. 🤷🏻♂️
@@moskbarto9436working fine?
I just use a mobile 4090 on my ally and don't stream them 🤷♂️
@@crypticsailor ... a mobile 4090 on an ally? the term "just because you can doesn't mean you should" springs to mind
Chiaki on Steam Deck is really easy to setup, works with the controller by default, and has great performance. I’ve never had any issues with it.
Same here, no sound issue and been using it a lot playing Diablo IV from my PS5 lying on my bed.
Yeah I'm not sure why he said chiaki would be more difficult on steam deck
Chiaki? like the Danganronpa 2 character?
@@MichaelMineCraftings I love Danganronpa
@@MichaelMineCraftings the software is named after her
Recently got a steamdeck, loving it, i turned it into the ultimate emulation station.
I did the same but there's a bit of a problem...I keep playing my Steam Games instead lol. I do love the fact I've got all my retro games there on the go through including PS2. I was surprised just how nice PS1 games can look when upscaled considered how much of a pixelated mess they can be.
@@skycloud4802can the play GameCube and PS3 games
It's also worth mentioning that a lot of games running on Steam Deck can be put to sleep mode and then turn it back on and continue where you left of almost instantly. This way you don't even need to keep turning it off and on over and over again, plus when something in real life interrupts you for long time, it's just much better than putting the game on and let the device uselessly sips up battery.
It's not exclusive to Steam Deck, however. You can also do it on Linux with Gamescope + AMD/Intel GPU.
I do the exact same thing on my Ally and it works pretty good actually. It's a feature that I loved on my Steam Deck, but I've really had no problems with putting my Ally to sleep/wake on games.
This is not new.
Decks sleep mode makes it an easy choice over the ally imo
@@SenpaiMD, I have both. Works just fine on the Ally as well.
It's no where near as reliable on the ally.. Games will wake up and not run after sleeping for long periods of time. They'll run in the background while it waits for you to log back in to windows. You'll log in and the game will be in a window instead of full screen. It's not even on the same level as the steam deck in that regard.
I've had the Deck for a few months and really did like it, and with Heroic, I was able to get most of my games that I wanted to play on it. A little over a week ago I bought an Ally at Best Buy thinking "if I don't like it, I have 15 days to return it and nothing changes". Within 2 days I was taking the 1TB NVMe out of my Deck and putting it in the Ally and have fully switched over now. A lot of little things are needed to get Windows set up just right (not having to log in to a Microsoft account during setup, changing sleep/hibernate settings to have thing do what I want, Steam going into Big Picture as soon as it boots, mapping M1/M2 plus D-Pad down to be the Xbox button to bring up the Steam button menu during games, etc), but now the Ally operates pretty much like my Deck, but with a more power processor, better screen with VRR, and the ability to install ANY of my games because of Windows.
The audio issue with Chiaki at 8:25 might be due to Dolby Atmos or the bitrate and frequency of the audio output. I had to turn off spacial audio and drop it to 16-Bit, 48000Hz to stop the stutter and crackle that was happening with Chiaki.
Exactly this. Increasing bandwidth for audio output will improve the stutter. But need to balance bandwidth between audio and video.
Seriously, please read this comment.
I have watched about 20 videos comparing these handhelds. Including one 48 minutes long. This video from a year ago is THE ONLY ONE to mention the Ally is capable of natively playing gamepass. This is a huge deal and nobody else mentioned it. So I want to thank you so much for this. You are literally the best.
The steam deck controller config options make it a no brainer for me - having community layouts for everything is HUGE if the devs haven't done proper support.
On top of that, the additional buttons on the back, the trackpads and most importantly the very detailed things you can DO with them in the settings (like turning the left trackpad into a little grid menu or scroll wheel) is a massive benefit for PC games that aren't necessarily built for controllers like Civ, Stellaris or Roller coaster tycoon.
This. It's awesome how I can just boot up a game that usually would have me messing around in the settings to get to control properly, like for example Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles on Wii. Booted up the game, and instantly was able play it with zero issues.
he also never mentioned that you can just put windows on the steam deck if you want it that badly.
@@bnutplayer8450 I mean I don't think that's a real use case - the drivers and experience on windows with the steam deck are pretty abysmal and wouldn't come close to touching the experience on the ROG ally
@@AndreasKingMedia win deck is at a pretty good point now and if anything windows is more usable on steam deck due to the track pads
They're downloading on Ally (and any other PC) too if you run Steam in Big Picture mode (maybe switched to default and put in autorun and so you basically get Steamdeck functionality at startup with more as option). Real benefit of steamdeck is pregen shaders, others can just be turned on any PC by steam itself.
Hi, much love! Just finished TLOU remake on Ally yesterday and it’s amazing! I played that game since got my Ally day one, along the way I got those Asus updates and bios changes, etc. I can really feel the improvement on this little device just from a month ago! The experience I had with this game and Ally is so good, like the first time I play the original game on PS4. Steam deck is also going strong, persona and other light games and emus runs great on it! I’m glad I have kept my deck after getting Ally.
Is that game fixed yet?
The micro SD issue is NOT the fault of the cards actually, it's an issue with the placement of the reader on the device. It's next to some components that get very, very hot under hard workloads, as well as being right next to the left exhaust port. This leaves the reader being exposed to a *lot* of heat, while the safe operating temperature of the reader is 70C or lower. This has resulted in readers frying from heat. I've had it happen to both my launch day Ally, and the unit I got through RMA for the previous unit's dead reader, and there's tons of posts from people having the same problem on the r/rogally subreddit. It's an absolutely moronic design choice and I don't know how it made it through testing. Asus will literally have to redesign the main board to move the slot somewhere else, such as the bottom of the device like the Deck.
Its been shown concretely that its clearly something to do with the reader hardware itself and not heat, probably a voltage problem as that was the cause for macbooks with the same reader hardware having the same failure years ago and a huge proportion of the reported incidents have happened at low temperatures. Its poor design and R&D for sure but its not conclusively a heat problem
Asus has a history of releasing products before they’re ready. I thought their first handheld PC was going to have problems but they really out did themselves.🎉
@@DubiousChinchilla rog ally 2 electric boogaloo
I assume they released it early to compete with the Deck.
In all honesty even my oxp2 suffers from that. The SD slot ist next to the fan so my SD cart slot got so hot it doesent even hold the cart anymore had to stick it in with a piece of paper so I can't come back
Ally owner, extremely happy with it so far. I got to the point though where after reading through the Reddit threads about various optimization and tweaks that can be done to it, the ideal combo to kill Armory Crate and make it more bearable to use appears to be HandheldCompanion/G-Helper/Playnite. Been having a blast with it, and I've effectively been using it as a dockable handheld that's a laptop half of the time. I have no problem with Linux; I had been tossing myself around with the two options, and ended up realizing that I actually have a lot of fun tinkering with Windows. The above combo nets me at least 5 hours of battery life at 5W while emulating old handheld consoles.
Shit, it's extremely satisfying to launch a title from Playnite which I have configured to launch RetroArch with a Windows 98 SE VM through DosBox-Pure, and directly launches into the old Win3.x/95-era Journeyman Project games. If I need to make it portable, I throw a tiny mouse and the Ally/Jsaux dock into my mini duffle and bring a small 65/75% keyboard bag with me, and I'm out the door. These things are such a neat concept...I'm honestly excited to see what the future holds. No hate on either side; it's whatever fits your needs, and my Ally is everything I ever wanted. Hope the Deck owners are having just as much fun. :)
Here's the Steam Deck's advantages -
Still $200 cheaper
Valve is more reliable than Asus
Better/longer customer service
Better/longer online community support
Better accessories ecosystem
Easier to use as a PC thanks to trackpads
Slightly better battery life
Easier to use
Way better sleep/wake feature
It's NOT Windows but it can if you want it
Black option which won't yellow
Disadvantages -
Weaker hardware
Display
Anti-cheat problem for certain games
Windows is still a more popular platform
Every Nintendo handheld was underpowered and it still sold the most for their generation. The first time they had the most powerful handheld, it's actually the Switch which is really a hybrid. It's basically what the Vita 2 really is but made by Nintendo.
The times Nintendo had the more powerful home console (N64, GCN) than the generation winner (PS1, PS2), they lost. So I don't think Nintendo has ever cared about having the most powerful console. The software and the support is what they focus on more.
Switch is a Vita on steroids. Deck is a Switch on steroids. We had PC handhelds years before the Switch but they we're still niche and went for over $1000. A $400 Deck disrupted the market. Now we see more newer PC handhelds going for under $1000.
I believe there are too many advantages the Deck has over the Ally that I would likely pick it every time unless they're priced the same or Ally is priced lower. And even then, I would still think hard on it. I can live with the weaker hardware and washed out display. Software and support is what matters most at the end.
Deck comes with a free case. That's a nice touch. To me, it looks better ergonomically. Everyone has been saying Deck is extremely comfortable to hold and feels much lighter than it looks.
I'm glad the Ally does exist though similar to Xbox existing for PlayStation to compete with. Competition inspires innovation. You don't want Sony and Valve to get complacent like Samsung is doing with their foldables.
Well said!
Great points made here. Extremely sensible take.
Yep and now the ROG Ally Z1 Extreme is 599 and the Deck OLED is 550.00. Tough choice!! I still don't know which one to go for haha
Great points
Both have advantages and disadvantages. It just depends on what you like playing. For me, I prefer the Steam Deck because 95% of my games are on steam and all games I want to play on it work great. I am not really a multiplayer fan and I don't have Game Pass so this is great for me.
Honestly, I think I'll just stick with my Steam Deck for now. Love that thing.
Agreed, you don't need extra more specs to play the same retro games, it's pointless when I have a gaming laptop anyways
It's still the ultimate gaming handheld because the few games it can't run well aren't the kind of thing you'd want to play on the go.
You just poor that's it
@@thevinisois rdrd2 alreasy working without an hassle?
My issue with the ally, besides the price and the problems that have popped up since release, is that there's no mouse alternative. If you want to play civ6 or similar, that's going to stick. The deck has pretty great track pads that make it possible to play most mouse driven games.
I wanted to defend the steam deck really quick and say that you can install game pass and chiaki and I know he had issues with it but for me personally chiaki works perfectly. I played the entirety of Final Fantasy 16 through it and never really had an issue.
wtf how, Final Fantasy 16 release on PS4 only for now exclusively!
@@yudhaa remote play through chiaki
Controller don't work in gamepass. I threw my sd into the wall. Glossi work sometimes but stop working randomly. I fking hated it.
@@tykendrick800 controller works once you set it on the controller settings it takes seconds lol no need to throw it at the wall . And sorry your having that experience with chiaki for me personally it works really really well with the occasional screen tear every once and a while but connection has never been a issue
@@Senorgrav chiaki. What is that?
I assume you use steam os. I used windows. Had to use app called glossi. Have to reinstall it everytime I play a non steam game
Repairability es for me a big plus for the Steam Deck, aside of what others already mentioned, being a Console First and promoting gaming on Linux, instead of being complacent with the cumbersome experience with Windows 11 in “Handheld mode”. Steam is more community oriented, I will not be surprised if next year ASUS decides to predate on the Ally with another device to be released
Furthermore, because it’s a Linux machine it’s easier for the community to tinker with it (basically hack it beyond the limitations of Microsoft Windows)
As an owner of both I use the Ally. Steam deck is great and I got EA, gamepass, epic all working. However, I enjoy the power and screen on the Ally. I also like that I can play my entire library on the Ally. That said I am a savvy windows user so I don’t have a problem. The GPD Win4 was better for navigation having a tracking nub and keyboard. They also have a 7840u version but costs a lot more than the Ally.
Was part of the Q2 gang and received my Steam Deck mid June last year.
I've had the Ally for about 3 weeks and I'm loving it so far. Its screen and more power is what I like and felt the Steam Deck lacked. 10 mins playing TLOU pt1 made me switch to the the Ally as my main handheld. Final Fantasy 7 remake looks and runs great not blurry and jaggy which was my experience on Deck. Windows on the Ally really doesn't bother me, it has its moments but nothing major has gone wrong and I'm not a fan of AC but it's alright. The Ally is definitely for the bigger AAA games that require more power.
I must say even though SteamOS has its own issues I like its layout and how customizable it can be with plug ins. The Steam Deck gets compared to the Switch but it really has become the Switch of the Windows handhelds. It has a low entry point, easy to set up combined with Valve and its community it will always be a good choice over the higher end handhelds.
Very well put. Same exact situation here. Q2 steam deck and finally got an Ally. It’s tough to go back. The deck has been collecting dust. As for the trackpads and mouse games I play docked anyways and throw the Ally on turbo mode. Runs like a dream.
I agree with those two points as well. I wanted a great screen and it’s 120hz also I wanted to play heavy hitting games is not most or all. This does. The best part the sealed it for me was being able to use Xbox game pass without hassles like the steam deck. It just adds another console. I hope with updates they Star addressing the typical issues everyone is having to just making this as simple to plug and play wat u want. I might wait for Black Friday for one of these even though I’m tempted now.
Which version of the ally are you using, the extreme processor or regular ryzen?
I feel like ROG will abandon the Ally and the handheld market, but the Steam Deck will get multiple iterations and long lasting support. That coupled with devs catering to the hardware of the Steam Deck, should make the Steam Deck effectively run better from the optimisation.
I agree with your general points but your reasoning of “I think” leaves a lot to be desired 😂 “Tonberry King has spoken, and he has decided ROG will abandon the Ally”
no devs cater for the steam deck hardware. It plays PC games just like everyone else so it will not out perform other more powerful handhelds. What it does have an advantage is in low wattage senarios where the chip is more efficient
@@RandomWrongDeletion 🤣🤣🤣
@@crestofhonor2349 wdym there's some games that have steam deck specific settings for them, and also steam deck specific fixes for a few games, the one game I think of is The Last of Us Part 1
@@Jaxv3r Specific settings doesn't mean optimized for steam deck. That means they went and found already accessible settings in the game and just used that as the "Steam Deck" preset. Specifically optimized would imply these games are made to be played specifically on a steam deck like a console. It's just a PC running Linux and it has no more specific optimization than the ROG Ally, GPD Win 4, or any other handheld or gaming device. It's like saying max settings in games is specifically optimized for a 4090
I've owned a steamdeck since june of last year and was a little tempted to grab the ally, but I feel like the pick up and play nature of the deck is more appealing to me. Plus for handheld gaming I'd rather play lighter games like Vampire Survivors or Halls of Torment which runs perfectly on the deck.
If you have a steam deck the rog ally is not a decent enough upgrade to bother ngl! it's just for a person like me who doesn't own a handheld gaming device and wanting to chime in.
There was a rog ally demo at bestbuy where i could test the device just like an apple store. I was blown away…
Cause he's not looking at a z1 extreme. Can also get a mobile GPU and replace your desktop.
I was debating this for a while and I ended up going with the Deck. The Ally has far too many issues and are getting returned left & right and I'm only interested in playing some older Pc games & emulation. The deck is perfect for my needs. The screen and slightly better performance was my main attractions to the Ally honestly.
I have the ally. Not a single issue yet. Also been playing fallout 4 heavily modded o. It with no issues using vortex from nexus. I’d like to see the steam deck that that reliably. Because it will not. I know because I have one as well.
@@Someguy6571 good for you
@@Someguy6571was there any need for that?
@@Someguy6571have fun aiming with joysticks. Lmao. Not even a native gyro
@@Someguy6571"asus""reliability" LMAO
I got the Ally despite having a Steam Deck with a 2TB SSD, dual booted with Windows, and custom overclocked. I have settled on the idea that the Deck is basically the Switch of PC handhelds and I use it for lower end games that I can play for longer, and I leave the Ally for very specific, mostly current gen games that struggle on the Deck
This is a complete bs comment. The same games that struggle on the deck also struggle on the ally. Its just one of them struggles a lil less
@@deadringer8050 my definition of “struggle” may be different from how you or others may see it. With Destiny 2 for example when I try playing at max wattage on my Deck it struggles with holding 60fps. On the Ally it’ll be similar but I have more headway to increase the TDP if I want a more stable framerate, but the other thing (which I feel is grossly underrated) is the free sync display on the Ally which then even if I’m bouncing between 50-60 fps, it still feels smooth and I get to turn off V-Sync as a result.
@@deadringer8050Not really and I do the same thing that he does with my Steam Deck with a 1tb Ssd and 1tb sd (fully loaded with Roms) I love my Deck, but when it comes to AAA games it’s clearly night and day when comparing the 2
I do the same as you do lol. I just don’t have Windows dual booted on my deck however lol. That’s why I got the Ally
@@deadringer8050not true higher wats.
I have been playing on Ally Day one release and have had no issues and yes you are correct ease of use then go for Steam Deck but i think the issue is anyone with both consoles will have to set expectations on what each systems have to offer (software) Steam OS is very polished vs FITENDOWS which is crap. Hopefully in the near future when a Windows handheld mode release then it would be an awesome experience. Great video as always!
I've configured steam to autorun on startup in Big Picture mode and got the steamdeck. Previously owned Steamdeck and got huge pain in ass with launchers, always-online games and other pc gaming stuff. And yep, had about 5 titile marked as Great on Steamdeck that didn't launch at all. So getting a bit better experience with Ally than with Steamdeck except for emulation.
I went with the steam deck when it was on the summer sale finally. I gotta say, it is my main go to for gaming right now. Also, when it comes to Chiaki, I did get it up and running and my experience with it was massively clean. I started and finished God of War III solely on my steam deck. Gotta say, I really am enjoying this baby beast. Thanks for the video of comparison!!
Pro Tip combine it with an XReal Air, that way you get a 140 inch oled screen on the go!
Just wanted to note that windows on steam deck is supported. And you can still access steam deck UI through big picture mode
I think he left that out because installing Windows on a deck can be a hassle and you lose so much performance by doing so that the Ally would just annihilate the Steamdeck. As a Steamdeck user myself, I can say that the deck is better used within its own specifically made environment. That being it’s Linux OS.
No, you don't lose performance at all.
This is one of those rare occasions where having a large backlog of indie platformers, puzzle games, and other undemanding titles is a boon. If the Ally is working great for you, I’m happy for you. I’ll just be over here playing Patrick’s Parabox and Celeste on my Steam Deck.
All of which are on the Ally too though...
@@zybch But there's no reason to pay the Ally Price to run games like that.
I got the Ally and had SD, sold the SD, the games I wanted to play the SD was too restrictive, but it served a purpose to get the handheld PC party started. If you travel a lot get the Anker 737 140W external battery, it will run the Ally in the 30W turbo mode and basically triples battery life, puts all the power and screen to good use!
What games were you trying to play that didn't play on the SD? like Apex Legends?
@@ProjectRZ COD, also I had a rough time getting RDR2 to work, it had a memory leak issue, which eventual got resolved, but frustrating. Also easier to use GamePass and cloud gaming services like GeForce now.
People keep saying that the steam deck is better. I don’t believe it. It looks like an overpriced piece of garbage. I see that there’s too many problems with it. Who wants problems when playing games? They can call me an idiot, but the real idiots are the ones paying 599.99 for some extra content with the deck. THE ROG WINS. And it’s not even close.
@@raingirlcat2245 you never even used the sd. So your opinion isn't valid. Ive had both and like the sd better, some might like the rog. They're very close, they're similar with small differences really but to me the sd is more comfortable to use and runs smoother in terms of os
@ProjectRZ How is the steam deck better when certain games like Destiny 2 aren't on it and no xcloud or PS+ streaming lol
Got the Steam Deck during the summer sale and I think it’s perfect for my use case. The only current Gen gaming console I owned was a Switch, and on my computer I pretty much exclusively played games through steam. Couple that with some prior exposure to Linux, and I’m loving my experience!
I have to say that the Steam deck came out ahead for me personally mainly for initial price to entry and also for the support they offer after purchase in regards to replacement parts and aftermarket parts you can get now.
ASUS not supporting or offering parts or accessories for their products after launch does leave a bad taste.
(that being said if you don't have a desktop or laptop pc, The ally would serve dual purpose for you then that might be a better option for some)
Something I don’t like about the ally’s design is how there’s no trackpads. It helps out a lot trying to play PC tycoon games that don’t have the best controller support.
Just connect a keyboard man
Love having both, but the Ally's performance increase and VRR screen still has me in the honeymoon phase with it over the Steam Deck and I do favor it rn. Steam Deck does feel more premium and plays some games better and has better sticks. If you can afford both, they compliment each other as much as compete. But if you gotta choose one, Steam Deck 64gb with a 1tb ssd replacement is the way to go. But if you're a Destiny addict and love VRR, the Ally can't be beat. Get a BB extended warranty if worried about QC issues and go swap it for another if there are any. Then you don't have to worry about dealing with Asus. Jelly of that Gameboy Advance Wolf-Jedi! It makes the screen on the Anbernic 35XX look cheap. Great video!
with the new Ally bios update this morning, if you do not own a steam deck today, the Ally is the overall better option since you can tinker less, don't have to worry about the linux learning curve, and just use it how you please!
I completed my first Elden Ring playthrough on it and it was amazing.
what linux learning curve you talking about? you just sign in, download games and hit play
Yep I got my deck on one of the first days of the sale!! Ordered the 64gb and slapped a 1Tb SSD in there and it runs beautifully!! Easily my top purchase of the year, it's safe to say I'm obsessed!!! 🤩🤩🤩
I like the Ally for Game Pass games. I think the screen and audio blows the Deck out of the water. They're fantastic. And obviously the performance is better and you get the extra compatibility from having Windows. I think the Deck blows the Ally away in everything else. It's MUCH more comfortable, the sticks are far better, the trackpads make navigating the desktop much better/mouse games much more playable/add a ton of utility to control options, and the overall user experience is just far, far, far better. I also think the 1080p/120hz screen on the Ally is an absolute waste. The screen is beautiful for it's image quality but you're probably not playing many games at 1080p on it and definitely not at 120hz. I think they both have their uses but unless the games you want to play just don't work on the Deck it would be my go-to hands down. Besides the hardware/software Valve has been providing amazing post-launch support for the Deck and Asus is not there.
agreed the 120hz and 1080p is a gimmick beyond useless
@@OblivionPrime lmao i get 100 to 120 al the time what are you guys doing lmao
They could have save by making a 60hz 720p model.
I'm pretty sure you can use gamepass with the deck.
@@mikelreborn3254 you can play game pass cloud games but installable game pass apps only work on windows. Unless something new came out and I just don't know about it
One thing you forget to mention is that you can simply dual boot into Windows on the Steam Deck via a MicroSD card. Since Valve themselves made drivers specifically for this and as long as you're willing to put in the setup time for getting that all configured, it knocks off a major reason to opt for the ROG Ally. At that point you're deciding if you want a higher powered system for $300 more that can itself dual boot into SteamOS (With Valve support for that), or if you would get the cheaper option that can still perform very well but comes with much more support for SteamOS.
There's also the matter of support, because Valve tends to support their items for years upon years upon years while we don't know how Asus is going to treat this since it's a fairly niche item.
What are you talking about, Valve has a much shorter track record on hardware support than Asus
@@divertitibro Valve still updaing the Steam Link from 7 years ago! Where I don’t think Asus even acknowledge a product they launched in 2020 ☠️
You can also partition your SSD. If you get a 2TB SSD for the Steam Deck, you could then partition it so SteamOS and Windows 10/11 each get their own 1TB from the NVME SSD. You will get much better performance this way for windows. I personally DGAF and only use SteamOS. Indie Games FTW. AAA games have been a joke the past several years for the most part.
Valve is only supporting steam deck cause it was successful. Eff the controller and the vr headset hahha
@@MrMilkyCoco where did you get that! All of Valve’s hardware still receive update until today!
The only thing Valve has done was discontinuing them early because they didn’t sell well!
one thing all reviewers seem to forget about the two is the steam deck can be put into sleep mode and picked back up right where you left off, the ally cannot
You can get the Steam Deck to do PS Plus streaming, I have it on mine. The issue is you can't map the PS4/5 Trackpad button which is shockingly important for most PS4 games as they use it for an options menu, or map, etc. So, on Ally, or AYANEO you can download a program to trick the controls to map a Trackpad button.
Or ps5 games like astro playroom
chiaki4deck mapped it for me, using the touchpads.
@@erickmagnus That works for doing remote play, but not for streaming games from the cloud I don't think.
Great video man! Love the camera work! ❤
Dude you should probably just mention that it is possible to turn your steam deck into a windows machine. It isn’t very hard tbh
Hey Bob, loved to hear your perspective as someone with all devices available to you. I found with my steam deck that upgrading to a 1tb and then splitting that to dual boot steam and windows has worked best for me. Truth be told it can be a hassle to maintain the REFind script between major updates and to initially setup so that windows doesn't take boot priority. Its all possible and well documented just finicky. I use my steam os for gaming and then my windows is setup as my work "laptop". I mostly use it for CAD software such as Vcarve or fusion360 with a keyboard, mouse and monitor attached. On the odd occasion I will make quick changes using the on screen keyboard and track pads. the Ally not having track pads and 4 back paddles is a major deal-breaker for my use case. I'm now waiting for a steam deck like controller but with all the inputs. PS5 is close with a Rise4 remap kit but the back paddles can't be set by steam inputs they're only able to mimic the other buttons on the controller.
I have my Steam Deck dual booted with windows and it’s a perfect experience because I can use game pass on Windows 10 and I can have a more console-like UI on SteamOS.
I agree that the Windows environment is both what gives the ally it's versatility as well as what holds it back from being a truly enjoyable gaming experience. However, the gyrations involved in working with Windows is akin to the work you have to do on those little portable emulation handhelds from Amberic, Powkidde, and others to have a gaming session, or even on the Steam Deck when you want to get a game that isn't optimized for it. It comes down to picking your poison based on your use case.
On the Steam Deck, you download the executable (be it a launcher, installer or the game binary - doesn't even matter you just get an executable for Windows...), you add it as non-steam-app in desktop-mode, you switch back to its game-mode and hit play...
Works with any game from Blizzard like this... works with MTG Arena, actually everything I've tried so far... it's not complicated and you have to mess with desktop mode less than 5 minutes to do it.
I really don't get why people want to have the pain of running Windows if you could just skip that and play games. There are only very few games remaining you can't play on the Steam Deck and since launch this number is decreasing linearly.
Isn’t the steam deck ‘less poisonous’ than the rog ally? That’s why it’s great, it just works
@@thejackimonster9689ya but no EAC
You can get windows on the deck but you can't get steam OS on a Ally.
@@jeremywp123you can get steamos on ally, and windows on deck is horrible. And steamos on ally is probably not a better experience
I think one thing that is forgotten is that Steam Deck can have a dual-boot for windows (or you can just wipe steam OS). It might not be as streamlined as the Ally but for me, Deck takes the cake.
i had a dual boot hooked up to a 1tb ssd it caused so many issues until i just uninstalled it
When the ROG Ally doesn't have some serious QC issues like every other handheld PC except for the steam deck, I'll consider it. Knowing ASUS however, I don't trust them.
To be fair the steam deck had endless problems it's first 6 months
My ally just sold on ebay last night. Enjoying my steam deck oled
One thing i like is Asus make the Ally for almost all markets but steam deck is only available in Western countries and Japan.
The steamdeck/steam community is what elevates the steam deck. I don't think many people care about tinkering with the backend of the system. they just want to play games.
Don't forget about Cryoutilities 2.0+, it unlocks a lot more potential of the Steam Deck.
Yeah for some casual users, they won't even bother to install it, but the option is there if you want.
@@Jaxv3r it seems like a must-have based on the performance increases
@@Jokerwolf666 bro I don't even have cryoulities installed on my Deck
Chiaki runs perfectly on my Deck at a constant 60fps with no audio stutters, 720p or 1080p. Make sure your PS5 is hardwired to your router and then mess around with the bitrate of your video and audio stream (via Chiaki settings) until you get something you're happy with. This will apply to both devices, by the way.
The Steamdeck is my go to. Because like you said. It is plug and play. I don't have to do much config to get what you want, and I agree. I really don't like linux, like at all. It's such a pain to navigate. My first month using the steamdeck was just figuring out how linux worked. 😅
But once I got emulationstation working on the steamdeck I just don't use desktop anymore and it's great! If I want to buy a game I just use my pc and then it just appears on the steamdeck and I can use them both hand in hand which is really nice. Also any emulated game I want to play just works too! The steamdeck is a computer after all. Although, if I was patient enough I should've waited for the ROG Ally because honestly I really do love windows even if it is janky on a handheld I'd rather suffer through that. But I am happy with the steamdeck overall it is great.
I actually used the steam deck as my desktop for a couple of weeks.
It was surprisingly good, I always had UA-cam running on Brave Browser in background and it went quite smooth. Main issue I had is that it doesn't have the performance overlay to mess around with FSR/reduced shaders.
I played mostly WoW classic (1080p, 8/10 config with lower shadows and sun drafts, vsync off), mostly world/dungeons run at 100 fps (I capped at 100), big cities would get 40-50 fps.
I also played Halls of Torment, but I had to remove damage showing otherwise performance was terrible at the end of the level (didn't other optimizations).
New Steam Deck User here. Got mine in the Summer Sale and it was the best gaming purchase right after my good old GBA.
Great video. Got a steam deck with windows dual boot. Was considering getting an oled for my son. Now I'm wondering if i should get an ally just to experience both.
Wulf, the ally can support Holo ISO which is essentially SteamOS not made by Valve. That should handle SF6 MUCH better. It uses Linux and Proton.
I have it on my Ally and can confirm SF6 runs way better on this than the Deck
Bob's ad/sponsorship videos have to be my favorite on UA-cam at this point.
I just finally bought a Steam Deck and really it seems to come down to me to the ease of use of it and the support from Valve with Steam OS. I haven't received it yet but it seems like just a more optimized system that will continue to receive updates and possibly only get better. I wanted it for an emulation machine that can handle just about everything and to have something that I can easily play my PC games from a handheld on my couch or in bed. If I want to play something that requires me to have a more powerful machine, I do have a PC with an RTX 3060 Ti that I can play them on or stream from or just play them on my Xbox Series X.
It's a way better device. A device that is designed for it's targeted audience. The Ally is a hot pile of bird shat with an identity crisis. It doesn't know what it is or who it's for. I dumped the Ally in a heartbeat for the steamdeck .
I have a steam deck and I’ll be honest I love playing it for all my retro stuff. And if I need to, I can boot into Linux and fully customize the desktop to be a desktop
I'm still waiting for them to release the cheaper Ally. Pretty sure its supposed to be $600 instead of $700. Considering if I got a Deck, I'd get the $400 version and drop $100~ish to get a faster 1TB drive for it, I feel like that would make the competition between the 2 closer for me. I'm sure the Ally will also have more updates and polish by then too (remember, the Deck had a ton of issues they polished out over its first few months).
It will all come down to weather or not the "cheap" Ally will have enough of a performance boost and versatility over the Deck to justify the extra $100.
You have an awesome personality so I just subscribed! Oh! The video was good too! 😂❤
I just picked up the Ally (already have a SteamDeck) and the Ally is going to be more of a media center/arcade machine that I can use where as the steamdeck is going to be a straight up console. I love them both, but having the windows environment lets me tinker a lot with different things and gives me more than just a game console feel that the deck gives me
(yes I know you can do normal stuff on linux, no I don't want to learn how to do that as I have used Windows basically m entire tech life)
A complacent man you are... I dont wanna learn... my mom refused to learn the internet, email, facebook, and the world and her family passed her by.
You're the only streamer I actually watch the advertisement for! Your editing it is phenomenal
I have both systems and love both. The Ally is more for me when it comes to AAA games plus the graphical power behind it is a major plus. The ssd upgrade is very easy so I did that. My Steam Deck is mainly used for emulation now and Emudeck is free on Steam unlike Windows
What SSD did you do
Early Steamdeck adopter here. I recently purchased the Ally. I have to say I’ve found myself preferring the Ally lately. Any AAA game; BG3 I mean you; runs significantly better on the ally. The screen quality is also night and day. I do agree completely about the steamdeck feeling more user friendly. I’d say if it’s your first entry to pc gaming the steamdeck is a solid option. If you’re not scared to tinker the Rog Ally definitely has more to offer period. All in all can’t go wrong with either. Both amazing devices!
I dual booted my Steam Deck and at first I was not really enjoying the Windows experience on the deck, but now with HandHeld Companion it's great. Really the only thing missing between my SD and an Ally would be the extra performance. Everything is playable, runs fine, and looks fine on a 7" screen for on the go. I have a desktop for when I want real performance.
all kinds of handheld gaming devices aren't for you then.
I feel like rog ally would be better if it had anything other than windows 11.
The Rog Ally is better than the steamdeck. The only reason it's being ratio'ed right now is because of the already established fanbase from SD users.
Trust me, I have both.
Hey so right now the Ally is on sail on best buy's websight for $400. So put whatever sails best buy has into acount when picking. (Thats the same price as whatever the switch 2 is. I already own a switch so honestly might get one of these over the switch 2.)
I debated buying an Ally... but having a steam deck, decent spec pc, switch, series s and a strix g15 laptop seemed like it was probably too much already. I'm glad it exists for more competition in the "mainstream" handheld pc market though. Competition is good.
I got rid of my aged desktop tower in preparation of getting an ROG Ally. The future of big tower PCs is over and I am excited for it
Ive been doing a lot of research on both devices before i commit to buying one. So for the steam deck being easy to use and being mostly a game console, makes it the winner in my book. Everyone has their reasons for liking the ROG ally over the steam deck. But im also incredibly lazy and like things to just work
I have an Ayaneo Air Pro and recently bought a used steam deck off a colleague who replaced it with an ROG Ally.The Steam Deck has mostly been a home machine almost replacing my gaming rig since I don't play much on a desk anymore, while the Air Pro is the machine I carry with me whenever I leave the house. But even with a "windows machine" like the Air Pro I have linux (ChimeraOS) installed on it. My colleague is facing a bunch of issues with his Ally, but I believe they're more issues with Windows rather than the Ally
SOYLENT IS PEOPLE
My husband just got an ally and I want to get one to play games with him, but I kindaaa want the steam deck more just because I use steam primarily annnnd I just love the little trackpads, it just feels so fun
I think the ROG look tries to sell itself. But I'm glad you mentioned that it feels like a Windows pc whereas the steam deck you can pick up and play. I get that windows is just plain difficult to create a console experience on, but Asus doesn't have me convinced it's worth trying their half baked console experience idea. I do feel like Valve really did an amazing job getting that console experience down. Maybe it's because Linux is easier to customize
After having both steam deck and the ally I can honestly say the ally is leagues better in my opinion. 1080p resolution and better hardware. I can easily play resident evil 2 at max setting with a buttey smooth 60fps. Steamdeck was just too restrictive. Especially when you want to get into modding games. The windows interface is just clearly better in my opinion. Battery life on both suck so that’s a non issue. Just plug it in it get a power bank
@@Someguy6571the windows interface is terrible, especially when used with a controller
@@raidev_ That I can agree with, but lets not be kidding ourselves... SteamDeck's Linux interface is complete trash as well and practically unusable unless you got a portable mouse and keyboard. And even then its terrible. Neither is any good.
@@Someguy6571 that is if you're really used to windows, i personally daily drive linux on my pc. I use gnome but KDE plasma (the desktop environment steam deck uses) is perfectly usable.
And also the steam deck is intended to be used primarily on the gaming mode which is very well optimized for the handheld controls
I did this for the crackly sound in Chiaki on my Steam Deck and it worked: If you are getting choppy audio while using Chiaki for Windows, delete the file audio/qtaudio_windows.dll and lower the audio buffer to around 4000 (otherwise audio is very delayed).
I got the Steam Deck well before we even knew the Ally existed, but if I was choosing from scratch again I'd be tempted to go for the Ally instead due to immediate access to so many more games. Now it's a question of do I make a dual boot system so I can use Windows on Steam Deck or just outright get the Ally as well for immediate access to more games, potentially a better laptop substitute, not replacement, and more power?
Dual Boots
As soon as they bring the steam deck pro out, I'm getting that! I want the same ecosystem and repairability, but with better screen etc
I was on business trip for two weeks. I was able to ditch my personal laptop at home and just brought Ally with me. I had a 15' portable monitor plus keyboard and mouse, the Ally provided me both entertainment and productivity as a PC which was great. My flight was delayed on my way back ,also Ally was there to keep me entertained for extra one hour at airport. I couldnt do that on a steam deck...
another great video Bab! random fact but did u know youre the only youtuber that I dont just fast forward thru your ad reads because they are always funny and original. keep up the great work!
On the steam deck's fan speed.
Generally, yeah. It's going to be an issue. But I found that tweaking power settings and bringing down framerates to, like, 45, not only is the fan quieter, it's a bit cooler, and might help battery a bit more.
Love the Asus Ally so far. Runs Elden Ring and everything we've thrown at it great. Use the external GPU as a docking station. Bluetooth Collapsable keyboard and mouse when needing a full PC experience. Gaming while traveling. I does pretty much everything.
Having said that, we like the Xbox style controller, and for traveling gaming it goes without saying that you will want to be using controller based games.
Also, the cheaper AMD external GPU is still pricey enough that you absolutely could have gotten a mid-low end Gaming laptop for the price of the Ally + external GPU. So what the Ally delivers on for us is compact flexibility. People that complain on battery life don't recognize that gaming laptop battery life is generally terrible and can't be fixed by just packing a small power brick along. For the Ally or Deck this is pretty easy.
We're used to tweaking PC game settings a little so don't really feel a lot of pain there.
Been pretty happy with it so far. Overall like the experience more than a gaming laptop. I think the deck is great as well, really like the ability to save state, probably my favorite feature. But I like only needing one device to do everything more. Enough that I am OK with the few compromises the Ally requires. I don't think we'll be going back to the Deck, but I won't mind being wrong about that in the future.
It's a great time to be a gamer. 👍
I really hope Asus keeps crushing it with ROG Ally, this is a big need for people who live in small places, want to game comfortably but also tether to do work/email stuff.
I really hope they release an egpu case for cheap we can use our own GPU in
I was thinking about getting the ally, butt thinking about it now, most of my games are on steam anyway. And I have a laptop so I do not need a second device with windows. Thanks for the comparison.
Pros: Full windows 11 desktop
Cons: Gotta use windows 11
I use the steam deck as my primary and my z fold 3 as an alternative desktop. I have a server that runs Windows that I can remote into if I need to. I think whatever your work flow lends to is what you should chose. I love the deck. Love it!
I have to say that I think the Ally is better ... But I returned it and just kept my steamdeck , not sure how that makes sense but that's what happened lol
Serious though my main reason for return was lack of confidence with hardware of the Ally , my face buttons started sticking and had some speaker problems , maybe a repurchase down the line ?
Uh... Yeah I think you're pretty confused
@@Mariofan7 I take it you are a happy Ally owner
it's understandable given the fact that while it's TECHINCALLY is more powerful than the Steam Deck and can run some games it can't, it also has it's own drawbacks (such as build quality, worse battery life, questionable future support from ASUS, etc.) that makes the extra price not really worth it
My Ally has zero issues. Been playing on it for a month now. But I keep my deck as well. I need it to test on Linux gaming and software dev.
@@ninten360 Battery life is identical between the two with the same wattage. 15w on steam deck is the same as battery life as 15w on the Ally. Where the deck excels is in lower wattage performance and the fact that linux sucks less power meaning it lasrs longer at 5w TDP. Ally is only worse when you push above 15w
I hope you one day make a video about dual booting windows on the deck. It’s now easy to do with clover and it isn’t as bad as it used to be
Summary of the video: Instead of buying any of these consoles, just play GameBoy.
i use steam deck on windows exclusively, the performance and experience has gotten wayyy better and with handheld companion it’s very easy to use. most games get decent battery life but 6 hours maximum, but for me that’s enough
The steam deck is great at grab and go gaming, the ally has kinks here and there as was covered in the video. If I had to pick one I definitely would go for the Ally, I feel it's more versatile. For example, I was wanting to build a guest PC for the one or two times a year my wife gets on or when a friend comes over, I purchased the Ally instead and it's been AMAZING. My friend was playing on my PC and I was on the Ally in docked mode on a 24in monitor, we played rust for 5hrs and it performed like a champ.
I love your realistic approach. After seeing you multiple times, you've got me subscribed!
If you're only getting one, it's hard not to recommend the Ally imo. But I have favored GOG as my go to store front so having access to all the store fronts with ease is a big deal to me.
The problem is that I'm not sold on the controls, I got to try out one and the buttons just don't feel as nice as the Steam Deck, especially the lackluster D-pad
One if the few reviews i seen with actual hands on use very useful thanks
Windows/ Asus a soulless combination with great specs in a industry that keeps on updating tech every other week. I'll take the controls, vibe of the steam deck any day. It legit feels like a futuristic retro handheld system.
Just modded a GBA SP and got a FlashCart for it, been playing that over my SteamDeck, PS5, gaming PC, etc. I agree with the "get a Gameboy" sentiment.
Separate launchers aren't that much of an issue on the steam deck anymore. I used the epic games launcher to play through all of Control on my steam deck since I got it free on there awhile back. Had to tweak the settings slightly but only took a few seconds. Wasn't hard to set up. Watched one video and got the launcher running and haven't had any issues yet.