Thanks to dbrand for sponsoring today’s video! Head to shortlinus.com for all your ROG Ally screen protector and skin needs. Pre-Order the ASUS ROG Ally here: lmg.gg/ASUSROGALLYPREORDER Buy a Steam Deck: geni.us/qrCmI1y Purchases made through some store links may provide some compensation to Linus Media Group.
Whoever came up with the idea to have the pulsing white circle appear on your graphs so people can more quickly and easily reference the metrics you are referring to deserves a raise. It made viewing your graphs and data pages SO MUCH BETTER!
A Steam Deck feature offer overlooked is its console-like sleep function. As a parent with small children, being able to put my game down at a moment’s notice is a must.
Every time they talk about these things I start wanting one, but then I remember that whenever go anywhere but home, I'm busy doing things that aren't gaming.
I usually find myself wanting to play something while riding a taxi or waiting for a meeting or something. As I don't rll like mobile games in general - SteamDeck is a very good choice for me
@@zatramantra8105 Do you know that somebody can break a window in your house and steal your PC too? Robbery is a strange fear to have in excuse of not buying something cool And usually to extra-protect my deck I just have it in my backpack, so it's not a big problem
@@zatramantra8105 I think I would have bigger problems if some idiot was brave enough to breaks a window of a taxi I’m riding in. The deck or whatever would be the least of my worry. Also weird to use a rare event as a justification for not buying a gaming device. I have used my switch out in public without any worry because i actually know most people aren’t a threat if I don’t bother them and I pay attention to my surroundings. TLDR: go touch grass weirdo.
You overlooked a lot of important points: 1- The sleep mode that Valve offers. 2- The Gyroscope. 3- Some games are optimized specifically from the developers of these games to run better on the Steam Deck. 4- The automatic controller layouts for the Steam Deck. 5- The big community behind Steam Deck that offers software optimizations for it. 6- Driver and software optimizations made from Valve developers to overcome some games' issues that are not fixed on Windows. 7- Asus bad reputation when it comes to faulty hardware products and customer support. 8- You can buy Steam Deck for $400 and buy SD card, and it is much cheaper than ROG Ally.
I think that's the biggest advantage out of anything else mentioned between choosing the steam deck or the ally. This just gives valve and other franchises something to strive towards and improve upon.
Waiting for the V2 or V3. Those will be amazing, especially with Windows, it's a bit too early for gaming handhelds. And I hope they increase the stock storage space.
I`m not switching from my Deck either. I'm hearing way more downsides to owning an Rog Ally than upsides over my SD. For now anything i play on the SD runs just great at 60 fps so i don't need extra performance. The software is so mature on the Deck and even the hardware is better if Linus is constantly running against sticky buttons, that you can't user replace with official third party options (at least for now) -- just hearing Linus talk about his experience with Windows & the armory crate made me cringe. It is good to know however that PC handhelds are now "a thing" and more competition is coming'which is is only better.
you know, for a person that used to bus tables just to be able to afford a Gameboy Advance back then, I am genuinely awestruck at how much advance these handhelds are, I was already very impressed with the PSP back then, now to witness this it's mindblowing😮, I don't even mind the nitty gritty ASUS Ally vs Valve Steam Deck, they are both out of this world😅
These content creators have to split hairs and stir up drama. Im from the nes / og gameboy era and i feel lucky just to be alive right now to witness this revolution in tech.
Kids will never know the pain of having the little bendy light plugged into the cord transfer power port on the side of the game boy color just so they can play Pokémon under the sheets late at night because you had no other time to play as a kid growing up in the 90s.
When I played Witcher 3 on Switch, already was impressed, remembering when I was playing Zelda LA on my old GB classic in 1994, but now playing games like Witcher 3 and Horizon Zero Dawn on ROG Ally with all settings maxed, it’s like a dream for someone who was born in the 80s.
@@AlexDeivid same, Witcher on switch caused me to buy it for ps5 to take it to a bigger screen and look better. Timeless game. PSP game costs were higher then I expected in hs and cash was hard to come by back then. I worked at a K-mart where I put the PSP on layaway. Times have changed man
The Ally LOOKS promising, but with their current track record (see Asus' last debacle with AMD CPUs), the lack of support for repairability, Armoury Crate and overall software (and what that entails), I am not so sure I want to give this one a go. It sure is tempting to go for this instead of a Steam Deck, but given it's an ASUS product, I'm holding my breath to be honest, even if it means having less performance, "worse" audio and a worse screen. At the most, I'll take another look at this one in about 4 months, to see if there have been any actual positive changes.
That, and Linus is missing an aspect that the Deck has that the Ally doesn’t: good usability for its OEM operating system. The Deck amongst Linux devices is both really good for both Linux people and for just gamers, while the Ally is good for gamers but not general users; and I strongly feel that’s what’s going to hurt it in sales. Linus and the likes are like _"oh you can use it for all the usual Windowsy stuff as well as gaming, unlike the deck!"_ yet as the likes of the GPD One and Ayaneo show, the only people really purchasing them are either supporters of the respective projects or people whose specialised use-cases the devices serve. The same will apply to the Ally, because for as good as it is at gaming, it comes across as a pretty mediocre Windows portable.
Armoury Crate is just horrendous, sudden gpu spikes killing my fps in games, even severely overspecced ones (e.g. warframe that had ~300 fps when uncapped dropping to 20 from time to time) Uninstalling all of asus stuff helped a lot. Thank God their 200 dollar mouse has internal memory (but even that refused to work on first try)
@@mikhailkiselev9869 ASUS is terrible with software. firefox with 15 tabs is competing with their RGB motherboard software on CPU usage. both about 4%. and its literally only running the mb RGB and 2 sticks of ram, the fans are on a separate controller.
Honestly, the most likely thing is to get it in more retails stores. SteamOS 3.5 is already bringing massive performance increases, and with minor tweaks such as CryoUtilities or major ones such as undervolting/overclocking, the steam deck handedly beats the Ally in performance for less or the same power draw, even at over 30W (Yes, the steam deck can run at greater than 15W).
@@SolidSt8Dj "the steam deck handedly beats the Ally in performance for less or the same power draw, even at over 30W (Yes, the steam deck can run at greater than 15W)." Fake news.
@@jacobmorel775 amd apu's look to have a bright future in laptops (due to power/performance efficiency) and are assumed to be amd's solution to low end gpu's (in a few generations). With prospects like that we're bound to see more powerful and efficient handhelds in the coming years.
I wonder if it'll carry over to mobile games. Mobile games have a janky track record and the popularity of these might inspire developers to develop better titles for that.
@@jacobmorel775 Now if only they would bring back user swappable batteries... So much easier to grab said battery than finding an outlet on the go, plus you're geo locked to juice up once you do.
I know they don't often bring up 3rd party stuff when it comes to hardware (unless its the only way to get stuuff working) but i think it deserves a mention that steam deck can install plugins to get aaround some issuues, such as the "searching protonDB to see if your game is compatible" a plugin fixes that by adding the ratiing for the game selected game menu. Also you can improve performance on the steamdeck with tweaks from "CryoUtiliities". Although I know this wiill get lost in the void of comments I think its worth mentioning anyway.
Based on how ASUS has been acting recently I would be terrified to buy one of these. If you do buy one, you better hope it doesn't break, cause their shady asses are going to be a huge pain to work with.
Yeah better avoid asus, most of their stuff is overpriced anyways and if they don't even honor warranty what's the point. This is also a good way to filter reviewers, any1 still promoting asus after this, better unsubscribe from their channel because they definitly don't care about customers either.
@Rafacka it probably will be considering only us tech savvy actually know how awful ASUS is, the general public doesn't even know what an x3d CPU is let alone that ASUS motherboards cooked them
The button sticking issue is an actual gamebreaker for me. The fact that they knew about the issue and didnt fix it makes me feel like they wont support this very well... Stuff like that is a huge red flag for me...
@@benl8962 That's literally the problem. It's not an obscure issue, that Linus accidentally discovered. It's one of the main buttons getting stuck, during normal use. There's no way it was news to them, when Linus told them
My thought exactly. Plus, the Steam Deck was what convinced me to finally dump Windows all together on my gaming PC. I really have no desire to go back. No, I don't care about the occasional AAA "masterpiece" I miss out on as a result, either. I'm not against the idea of running an updated Steam OS on a portable device from a competitor with better hardware, though, so long as it has a trackpad.
@onlysublime Bless your heart. Thinking is hard! Don't you worry about it. If you're really curious, you can ask whoever turns the computer on for you.
@@onlysublime You must be new to gaming. Linux gamings been about for years. Yeah it used to be really shaky, but it's a lot more stable these days and it's just gonna get better. All while Windows becomes a bloated piece of shit OS (more than it already is)
Just shows you how important software is for the deck punching above its weight. Imagine the Ally’s hardware with Valve’s programming and joysticks/touchpads.
Touchpads and Valves controller customization software is what makes the SteamDeck such a big win for me from a PC gaming perspective. Games that were never designed for controller controls are made possible by Valve. Even controller based games I find touchpad mouse/trackball controls better than joystick. Fallout 4 for example.
There's one really bad sticking point: The only battery information they gave was for looping a video, which is pointless. Other reviews show less than four hours in desktop apps for the Ally, and consistently from an hour fifteen minutes to two hours of battery while gaming in Performance. Combine this with the surprisingly bad frame rate in Silent mode and it just feels like there's something either unfinished or broken onboard this device. The Deck has longer battery life in games with dynamic power consumption based on target FPS, giving anywhere from three to six hours in a majority of games.
Yeah, Valve has been good about their customer support for issues with the steamdeck. I don't think there is enough value here to risk potential problems with Asus right now! I don't want to be out 700+ dollars because they don't think it's important to support their products.
@@Snoop_Dugg Could maybe be because those are obnoxiously expensive markets to sell literally anything in if you don't live there, and they didn't wanna gamble with this entire new device Unless there's an actual statement that seems like a pretty cynical take
Man, lack of trackpads really is the biggest dissapointment. I use the trackpads on my Steam Deck *a lot*. I also was a total cheapskate and bought the 64GB version and stuck an SD card in. Performance and size/weight seem pretty nice for the Ally.
Same, I use trackpad+gyro for all aiming in FPS games and couldn't live without it. Plus they're so versatile in what they allow you to do with control schemes and how to interact with more desktop like elements of the OS
Well, everyone is different, right? I would love to get rid of trackpads on my steam deck in exchange to smaller body size. And trackpads realistically are the only reason why steam deck is SO HUGE. It's mainboard is actually accurately sized by the sceen size. Though ROG Ally is much smaller actually.
I agree completely, the trackpads are a must. Point n click games, desktop, programs, RTS, MOBAS are all possible and a joy to do on the deck because of those trackpads. To me the Ally is a console, the Deck is a PC for this reason. And I also agree that comparing the Ally to the most expensive Deck is a mistake, it should be compared to the cheapest one. I paid $15 on Craigslist for a 256GB 2230 SSD to replace the cheapo 64GB drive it came with.
One thing that barely anyone talks about. The ecosystem and the insane community behind the Steam Deck. Being Linux and very open, the target audience has a LOT of developers in it that are very skilled and make stuff specifically for Deck as a hobby. Steam Deck has insane software made by the community and will keep getting more and more stuff. Ally is just a random windows device, just like Aya Neo and stuff. Cool but quickly forgotten. Maybe not, because it's Asus, but still
@@azenyr ive always thought ASUS have made great hardware but crappy software. they have always struggled in that regard. without a community behind them, good hardware isnt enough. i welcome it though
@@azenyr at the end of the day *personally* I prefer the rog ally. I recently developped a liking for rog products aftwr my revent purchase of the ROG6 phone. I do agree there is some software issues burlt at the end of the day it was easy to fix and I was satisfied with the product itself.
@@dot_rich Yeah, the idea of an ASUS-brand OS is something that really pushes me away from this thing. And who knows if they'll commit to supporting it long-term like Valve has their Steam Deck?
This is exactly why I waited 1 year before buying (that, and the 1yr anniversary sale was a happy accident lol); to see if an ecosystem would grow to support it, or if it's just another niche toy that would be useless after 2~3 years due to lack of support and parts. Classic IPODs could still be easily repaired/upgraded today thanks to a large community willing to support third party parts manufacturers ever after TWO decades, which is what I hoped the Steam Deck situation would be down the road. ROG might have better specs, but I won't hold my breath for this. I'd be more than glad to be proven wrong tho, competition is (almost) always good.
Valve's dedication to right to repair, constant software improvements plus touchpads making more games playable like RTS and colony sims still makes me prefer the Steam Deck.
Yeah I'm super torn, I love the raw specs of the Ally and they've got the gear junkie in my drooling but everything outside of that including linux is a win for me on Valve's side.
@@BigBoss7777777 I dunno, I'm pretty iffy on the buttons if they're decidedly not good on the Ally, And while touch pads aren't 'great' I certainly can find more uses for them in all kinds of situations. Touch screen is nice, I don't think the deck has that.
The Steam Deck currently costs "only" ~370€ (cheapest option during summer sale)) and the ROG Ally costs 800€ That is a huge price difference especially since you dont need the most expensive Steam Deck version. In addition, the Steam Deck comes with a case which is a nice bonus. But the most important feature that is missing for the ROG Ally is the quick resume.
Asus being less than honest with data with their product seems to be a trend recently. They may say that upclocking their device might void the warranty.
I did get the $400 64 Gig. I do intend to put in a 1-2 TB SSD. I don't know that the Ally will have other options for more than 1/2 TB, or as much support as Deck users get in upping their storage. I'll be happy with it for the next 5 years by which time, who knows what will be out and at what price.
@@ghostlegit Software optimization is the key. What brings u double performance when ur game runs still shit. The Ally will get 2 years support and then their will be a new one and the old ones won't have a support like the deck
I'm still watching, but I LOVE the visual cues you're adding to the performance charts to highlight the numbers as you talk about them. It's already much easier to follow along without needing to pause (and I can still pause if I want to explore the numbers in more detail). PLEASE keep doing this - I'm a big fan!
The only components that can be upgraded in a laptop are the RAM, SSD, and battery. Gaming laptops have been around for a long time, but handhelds are far more limited. Until we see laptops with full upgradeability, I don’t think we’ll see it in handhelds.
The missing Trackpads are a deal breaker for me. The additional extra height of the screen of the deck is nicer for emulation. With the deck you can set the refresh rate of the screen and the fps target using a single slider. 45 fps on 45 hz = money The Steam Deck console-like sleep function is important on the go.
I completely agree with you, also the fact that valve will probably make a lot of new models of the steam deck and will support it for a long time whereas I doubt the ally will get the same support.
I think this shows why valve decided to go with Arch, instead of windows. and im happy they did, and are actively investing in linux gaming. the ally sure has great performance when juiced up, but if you have to be tethered to the wall in order to use it, you might as well get a nice laptop and a controller. im not sure how i feel about it, it is great that there is competition from some of the big bois, but for now the deck seems to be the better option overall
No you don't need to be hooked to an wall 😆🤦. Stop with this garbage argument about battery because the Deck Baterry life is completely garbage gaming also. Nearly every owner I know has a power brick of 65W therefore you don't need to be hooked to a wall 🤦.
The Ally still has better performance compared to the deck at 15 watts. So no, you don’t need to be tethered to a wall to be able to play the dumb thing. Also windows was never built with devices like these in mind, with such puny batteries. Majority of gaming laptops have a 99.9 watt hour battery, that still gets a good battery life even in something like a mobile RTX3050ti/4050 or 3060 mobile. Plus valve also made their “steam OS” really customized, and I guess free to use for any device, so they could’ve had windows and Steam OS on the device. Cuz Linux still stucks with gaming, especially outside of steam.
I will stick to the SteamDeck and save for the next VALVE product. I do like that more options are coming out though as this will ultimately benefit us as consumers.
And in true Valve fasion, the Steam Deck 2 will be amazing everyone will be anticipating the 3rd variant years later but sadly it will never come😅 All jokes aside I love my Steam Deck but it seems like the ROG ally will fill a nice void for people not interested in strategy or older PC games. I want handheld gaming to take off
@@JohnnyCagewinsThat’s the valve curse. However they are probably more likely to update a console rather than a game series. Steam deck v1 is only gonna be viable for a few more years.
@JohnnyCagewins I honestly don't want Valve to rush out the next model too quickly. Let them perfect the experience of the current model and listen to community feedback like they have been already. When technology allows for a better screen AND better battery life for a reasonable price then come out with the next model. I can see Valve offering a higher tier model for a higher price since the most popular model was the 512gb version.
The future of heldhelds is so exciting! I'll be sticking with the steam deck because the user experience is just so nice, but I'm glad to see other big manufacturers stepping in.
You know you ruin your eyes playing on small screen watchin on little details ? Its not even ajusted to mobile gaming you are just playing pc games on small screen.Really Unhealthy
@@dzenacs2011 You do understand the the distance from your eye to the screen is different right. While the screen is smaller it is, at least in my experience, much closer to my eyes.
afaik that's an urban legend. It's the long time staring into low brightness of screens that's killing our eyes (that's even so in low light apartments). We're build to walk in the bright sun light. That doesn't mean we should Play from a 10cm distance, though.
I still fundamentally believe that one of the biggest "pros" for the deck is the trackpads. No other handheld has either replicated or competed with this at all and it's such an invaluable feature for people who play lots of strategy games for example.
Makes the Sims series, Simcity, City Skylines, etc etc all completely playable on the Steam Deck. Accurate mouse controls that don't rely on a joystick, or switching what kind of control said joystick offers, is a huge plus in my book. Add in that I just find it hard to believe that anyone is going to spend so much money to play high end games, when they likely already have a gaming PC, and I don't know that it will be as successful as Linus hopes. You can get a refurbished 3080TI for $700 most days of the week, and if someone already has a gaming PC, upgrades seem more likely. The Steam Deck sold very well in the beginning, with preorders and sales since, but that was also because the bang for the buck was really there...I'd imagine the people that would buy a handheld gaming PC have already bought one. The Steam Deck. Personally I hope I'm wrong, and that it sells like hotcakes. That'll convince other manufacturers to get into the space, and that can only ever be good for the consumer.
Glad someone mentions the trackpads. Ofter overlooked, and a big mistake not talking about them when he was speaking about how hard it was to control the mouse in windows with rog ally's joysticks. I play many games exclusively with the right trackpad instead of joystick for camera. No Mans Sky is a big example. I love steam deck hardware input devices and flexibility, it's literally perfection
Its really confusing for me. I live in Australia so the steam deck is much more expensive while the Ally is available. As much as I love the steam deck and its track pads and buttons, the fact the Ally runs on Windows is probably going to buy me over as I'd often have it plugged into a monitor and use it as my desktop.
Im happy to see more competition in the handheld pc market i bet it will sell a lot but what i adore more with my steam deck and valve is the massive support they have for the device you can tell valve wants it to succeed hearing that linus himself told asus about the button issue and seeing the production model still has the same problem is very telling of its future support from them
The support probably wont be as good but TBF your example isn't that relevant. By the time Linus told them about the buttons, like a month or two ago, the hardware was very probably already manufactured.
I really want to support the linux (no pun) push, too. The more power I can give with valve in getting games working on linux the better. I was really hoping the popularity of the pc handhelds and steamdeck would finally get that ball rolling where we can ditch windows.
Changing something like that doesn't take weeks. It takes months. But I can believe that they didn't care enough, given what they did with their motherboards for AMD platform.
@@petmach Sure, but that would only be relevant if we were talking about a very obscure issue, that Linus somehow discovered. But this is one of the control buttons. There's no way that this was news to them, when Linus told them
Your issue with the ally will be fixed with the next fw update (beta), but it's also likely removes your warranty is your turn on a non default feature (like 120Hz)! -Asus
@@pulsebear And maybe EVGA can also make HEDT motherboards, like the new Xeon platform... Not that anybody can afford them, but still it would be nice to have...
LoL I was thinking the same thing. After the corrupt practices it sure is going to be hard to sell a bunch of them. Hopefully nothing catches fire, are you allowed to run XmP or will they void your console 🤔 😂
@@corronchilejano Handhelds are pointless without a much longer battery life, may as well just play a pc at this point. 1-2 hours is practically useless.
I think this is a good case for how going Linux works in Valves favor. The modularity and opensourcey-ness allows Valve to customize the OS and get around Microsoft's mobile UI failings. So happy to see more competition. I want to see a future where mobile gaming PCs really take off.
Don't forget the touch sensitive joysticks. Amazing to make certain functions and controls only activate while you are actually touching the joystick. I use it to turn on and off "gyro as a joystick/mouse" in many games when I want precision control. After experiencing how flexible the steam deck is with all its hardware, all other handhelds seem dead to me. And btw 80% of the target audience of these handhelds are people who are playing old triple As, indies or emulation. Steam Deck power is already overkill. I play Read Dead Redemption on it all medium-high with FSR at 40-50 fps, perfect. I've seen comments about "cant run COD Vanguard on the steam deck!" And im like seriously dude? Play COD on the PC or big console for the love of god.
When i see the Ally it definitely catches my eye when i see the better performance, but the way that valve treats there user/customer base is what will keep me around with the SD its just a better experience..What would be a huge W was if when valve came out with the SD2 is if they allowed people to send in the OG decks as either a trade in or if they allowed people to send in the OG deck and pay a price to upgrade the orginal on to the new specs....That my friends would be a HUGE W
Important point is longevity. Steam deck is literally unkillable. Hardware wise its almost fully repairable and very easy to repair. Nothing is glued, normal screws and everything is modular. Software wise, that thing is Linux with an open BIOS and very open almost everything. Even if valve ever stops supporting it, the community will make custom Linux distros for it and will never let it die (they are already making custom distros to dual boot on it). Having 16GB of RAM is also very good logevity wise compared to it's performance. I expect the steam deck community to still be very much alive in 10-15 years. Not to mention many people have this console to play indies and emulation, stuff that will work the same way, forever. This is a console to keep. We can buy the next versions of it for better performance but this is not a console to throw away. This will stay an emulation beast and a "community console" forever even after valve abandons it. Asus will probably abandon this in 3-4 years and Microsoft will never give a fck to it. If the BIOS is closed up, it's a dead device very soon.
@@sergeykish Ally is still missing many things. Is it repairable? Is it modular? It seems like at least the wifi card isn't, a dead wifi is a dead system. The microSD card reader also doesn't seem modular. Stuff is soldered. In Steam Deck everything has connectors and can be easily changed without requiring any soldering. I just replaced my joysticks with hall effect ones and it was literally plug and play, 5 minutes max. I have also put some noctua thermal paste and now the system never goes above 80C and is much quieter. Everything is so easily accessible and hackable. That's the beauty of the Steam Deck. And I am still waiting for someone or some damn youtuber to show if the Ally can actually boot other OSs. These special devices have special BIOSes that are sometimes VERY locked up, and sometimes won't let you boot from external devices. I don't think its the case but better check it before buying.
The Trackpads on steam deck are a game changer. I didn't realize this until I started using them. They also allows you to type with both thumbs instead of conventional taping the directional pads/thumbstick. They also allows you to use the mouse in desktop mode seamlessly, making it truly portable than to attach to a dock for ease of use. This brings to the point linus mentioned "have to wait for proton to support games", to that I have never faced such issues. Even Diablo 4 is playable on the deck now, using the trackpad if you prefer using a mouse. I would have bought the ROG, but steam deck community and valve support has been super solid and very active. This is also part of the reason i don't buy those Chinese handhelds because they lack the community support, which the ROG seem to lack at this point.
People have been creating programs that support controller input on PC for many years now. It’s not like there is no workaround to it, but I will admit that having community layouts is amazing. For starters, DS4 is an amazing program for games that don’t have built in controller support.
not just the physical but the level of customizable/programmable control layouts for all the buttons, sticks, triggers, and pads makes a world of difference. esp in the realm of pc gaming
A mouse attached to a handheld pc is miles better than a trackpad which have ALWAYS sucked on EVERY device a trackpad has been on. Valve's idea to add a trackpad was completely braindead. Its time for trackpads to go the way of the dinosaur
I'd be really interested to see what the ROG Ally's performance looks like on SteamOS. You don't have to worry about Asus' software if you just change the OS :)
The Ally runs Windows not iOS lmao, if you want to remove ASUS's software, just remove it. No point in flashing an entirely different operating system and running every game through a compatability layer just to remove ASUS bloat.
I bought a Steamdeck. I love it. Maybe if the ROG had the dual touchpads I would have gone for it but those Steamdeck touchpads are amazing. As far as performance all my favorite games play really well on it.
I like what the Z1 Ally’s trying to do but, as someone who has a Deck I cannot underestimate the ability Valve gives you to customize your control schemes. Being able to do so much with all buttons, triggers and trackpads on the deck is so nice. I have a feeling a Deck 2 or a Deck 2.0 is going to likely be the Z1 Ally with better I/O.
@@kareemelbrashy1478 pretty sure it will since ASUS bumped up the competition. The Ally is the only competition that the Deck has at this point. The million dollar question for all is that what kind of support that ASUS will give to the Ally since everyone who knows ASUS well knows that they have terrible customer support and now experiencing issues with their mobos.
right? also the trackpads, admittedly they aren't as useful in games but I couldn't imagine navigating desktop without them, and that's not something they would be able to just patch in
Kind of a big deal all around. Those PC games take a while to start up, not the same as a console game starting up. The auto resume is amazing. I play the Witcher 3 till 1am wake up hit power and leave right where I left off.
If you can eventually get the Steam Deck's OS on this thing, I think it would be an absolute FORCE. That being said, it doesn't really do anything that my deck doesn't, so I'll probably wait for the next generations
Question is how the SteamOS version, that is specially made for Steam Deck hardware, will behave if that hardware is nowhere to be found. Do not forget that the game optimization is tailor-made for the graphic capabilities and input hardware (as well as pads and haptic feedback) of the Steam Deck. I think the generic SteamOS for PC's will run somewhat fine, but the Steam Deck version will have some problems...
@@blunderingfool that's like getting a half baked SteamOS or SteamOS from Wish, but with a HUGE massive hog that is Windows and all its thousands of useless apps like Teams, OneDrive and Office all running and installing themselves in the background quickly making uour 16gb RAM feel like 8. I also agree that Linux (SteamOS for example) is the best OS for handhelds like these where every little point of performance vs battery life matters.
I have had no problems whit rog ally. Its been a blessing and it plays everything i put at it smoothly i love it havent used main pc for a while. Recommend it 10/10 im using z1 extreme
Still, I'd buy the SD. In my country, the cheapest Steam Deck with 512 GB M.2 upgrade costs about 60% of this ROG Ally model. Also, Steam Deck has official repair parts and community support.
The price difference might only be 50 bucks in the US. But in Sweden where I live, the price difference is 1 848 SEK or 179 USD (witht the current EUR to SEK conversion for the Steam Deck price). And if you don't need all the storage, you can get through the door for half the price of the Ally.
wanted to say something similiar, the price in germany is 679€ for the steam deck to 799€ for the ally. while i am a hypocrite because i bought the highest version of the steam deck, i dont think anyone should buy that. my brother in law bought his steam deck after testing out mine. he bought the smallest version and did upgrade the m.2 and the joysticks immediately. and the non-glare display can be easily achieved with a non-glare display protection. overall he was cheaper doing it his way. but even with just adding an micro SD card you have more then enough space on the deck to have dozens of games in your library. the ally takes just a few wins and only compared to the highest priced steam deck, dropping to a lower priced model the steam deck steam rolls over the ally in my opinion.
The Steam Deck still looks like a much better option to me. Valve will be supporting it far longer that ASUS will the Ally, since ASUS doesn't make any money off it after purchase. Also the Steam Deck is repairable and will probably last for 10 years or more if you treat it right
It can't play newer games. Redfall don't play well, farcry 6 have bad input lag. If we are honest. It's really lacking when it comes to playing AAA games. But it's still worth the money.
@@tykendrick800 Redfall don't play well for many people regardless of handheld or not. Also, input lag has a direct relationship with framerate as well as the display itself, and can also have other factors that can be *fixed*.
@@Soal-el2dy Buying a SteamDeck is a portal into the Steam ecosystem, where you can then give Valve more of your money thru games and other hardware purchases. Buying an Ally just...buys an Ally. They can't really further monetize the project after everyone has one.
This feels a better console to play AAA games, but I believe the steam deck customization layer with the touchpads, 4 rear buttons and an incredible UI to create and share control schemes will be much preferred for playing actual computer games on the move.
I agree, but that just means that Microsoft needs to pull up a new UI for a mobile version of Windows 11, or, alternatively, Valve needs to publish SteamOS for 3rd party hardware as soon as possible.
@@Natsukashii1111 I guess "real multi-player games" all have the same anticheat, and none of those multiplayer games that DON'T have anticheat, or have SteamOS (or Linux entirely) white listed are not "real multi-player games".
The timing of the ROG Ally coming out when Asus is getting dragged for some of their questionable practices in other areas is almost comical. I'm a big switch fan though and more players in the space of handheld that can easily be fed to the tv is a win imo. Though I highly value portability and like them to be small (I struggle to use pretty much all phones these days bc of how they are made for giant people with giant people hands).
There will always be something better than the previous. You buy the ROG ALLY now amd next year you'll see something that's double the performance of that. So just be happy for what you have
@@Velocipastor I really do love the steam deck, it's not the most powerful but it has mousepads, the back grip buttons, gyro, and it's not running bloated spyware like windows 11. It plays the games i want relatively well considering it is a handheld and that's all i need.
Unfortunately, I lost my stream deck due to my kids being a bit wild one morning during drop-off. This is a nice brightside to that because I was going to eventually buy another, but this looks like a decent hardware upgrade. Now I just need to get the wife to okay dropping nearly a grand again (Canada prices) 💀
The main reason why I don’t think I’ll ever be replacing my steam deck is the controls. The trackpads, the gyro, and the back buttons are essential to me. I’d literally be unable to play certain games without these things, especially the back buttons. For example, I play deep rock galactic. I have one of the back buttons mapped so that when I press it, it brings up the chat, and when I long press it, it brings up the on-screen keyboard. I use the gyro and trackpads in tandem for better accuracy in shooting games. These features are so nice that I can’t imagine living without them.
My problem is that with Asus way of managing the blowing up motherboards Idk if I could trust their support to fix devices. Steam Deck has godly support
as a steam deck owner i don’t think it’s acceptable to not have trackpads like the steam deck has, it seems trivial at first but as soon as you have first hand experience it’s just essential
GPD always has a a track pad and even a keyboard on every device because they know Windows is Windows >.< (At home I would have a wireless mouse at hand for Ally, maybe even a keyboard for login screens.)
@@jammo7370 not a bad idea. I might recommend the cheapest Steam Deck + a big SD card, for the best deal on the market though. Get it second hand for even less if there are enough people moving onto these devices.
Right? Im glad theres finally some competition that is reasonably priced, but those trackpads are amazing and *most* people would be fine getting the cheapest steam deck and putting a cheap 500gig sd card for storage. At least this steam deck killer doesnt cost twice as much, I really hate seeing those videos of machines costing twice as much trying to compare themselves to the steam deck. Id certainly expect something that cost that much to be better then it
@@SWOTHDRA not really an upgrade? Lol you can put a much better SSD in the base model steam deck than what comes on the high end model for less money.... besides the screen protector that's the only difference between the models
@@SWOTHDRA honestly SSD speeds are so overrated. You can stare at a spec sheet all you want but in real world usage it really doesn't matter. I have a Samsung SSD in my Steam Deck and a Samsung MicroSD card. Honestly, unless it's a huge open world game, I don't care where I install the game. The MicroSD performance is completely adequate. So maybe you have to wait an extra 4 seconds when you first launch the game. Who cares lol. SSD speeds just don't matter in a real world scenario like the specs would lead you to believe.
@@shibeguy8660 Valve has said they don't plan on releasing a Deck 2 for many years. And if they ever were to do so, they would focus more on battery life and other QoL features instead of more performance.
I'm waiting another 10 yeras for the weight to drop. Everyone glosses over the fact that all these PC handhelds weigh like 3x more than a Nintnedo Switch. Fuck that shit. I already put my Switch down in tabletop mode during long play sessions. For how much these weigh, just get a gaming laptop and a wireless controller.
I've watched the video, and I would like a follow up on the ram situation. Asus has recently swapped to saying AMD expo for ram isnt warrantied, despite it being essential, for the performance most reviewers using it for benchmark. As Steve said "Asus is spearheading Intel's best marketing campaign in years". If this is Shipping with expo off, it would be super interesting to see benchmarks with it on, just to see how much performance is being left on the table If it did ship with expo on, this is hypocrisy to save face during this X3d scandal
Have you not used a laptop lol. They all have XMP and the AMD equivalent enabled. The difference is they come sold to you as a package from Asus with all the hardware included.
While the ALLY sounds cool and all, I do not regret deciding on the steam deck one bit. Yes, the ally software and experience it gives can improve over time, but there were too many built-in issues that I did not care for. I prefer better battery life, face buttons that work well, parts that are fairly easily replaced, and the touchpads, to name a few. I do hope the ally software improves, and I look forward to seeing what Asus' next iteration may look like.
Here in germany the Pricing difference is alot greater, at 120€ between the Steam Deck 512GB and the Ally. Thats pretty hefty for me, and i wouldnt want to spend 120€ more for at times marginal improvements. But as mentioned in the video, this isnt the final version as far as software goes, so time will tell, if they make it more worth it in terms of features and usability, justifying the higher pricing in different regions.
Yeah, 800 is wild especially, if you go for the 64gb and upgrade it yourself, so you will end up with 500 Euro roughly. It's literally a 300 Euro difference.
Sure it is not the final software. But Asus isn't exactly the company that gives you years of laptop support. They literally make a new one the following year, you get usually 2 years warranty and probably less for software support. And what happens when the Ally 2 drops? We don't have to theorize, we have already seen what happens on phones, the new software expects that you run better hardware and everything slowly starts getting more buggy. You will see a new Ally before it gets to the same level as the current Steam Deck. There is a huge difference here that people are missing. Valve is a software company, this is what they excel at. Asus is a hardware company so obviously their hardware is way better. But we are fooling ourselves if we think the Ally will get the same software support as the Deck which is backed by a software conglomerate expert. We are dancing of joy the Ally runs Windows, but remember that is a positive and a negative, Asus has no control over the software. If a bug appears in Windows or something messes with their program for controls, it is out of their hands and the user has to fix it.
@@Nordicsz We also don't really know how Valve will support their Deck, really. We only get promises, and I still don't trust Valve after Index, and also their failed controller.
I still prefer my steam deck only because of the track pads. I use them quite a lot for mouse heavy games like civ since the joystick controllers just doesn't work very well.
I was curious if I'd find the trackpads "useful" I'm super glad I decided to find out... They're fantastic! They're super useful & a massive comfort bonus for use over thumbsticks in a number of games, their additional programmability has been a MASSIVE value add. ❤ Valve have seriously nailed their handheld. There are infinitely more games I'm enjoying on Deck than I'm "missing out on" because they're too big for the Deck. And the ones that are too big for the Deck? They run fantastic on my gaming laptop instead, AND I can always just stream them via Steam Link if I want. Repairable, reliable, affordable. The 256Gb Steam Deck is still the ultimate gaming value as far as I'm concerned. That model is very much "good to go" right out of the box.
This. The versatility of the Deck's controls along with years of development Valve has put into Steam Input makes it actually possible to play games that don't support controllers.
I don't get why these devices aren't getting track pads. If it does not have one it's not worth considering imo. So many games are significantly better and not having them is a huge burden.
The thing that still has me thinking "steam deck" is the haptic touchpads. I only played with the deck a little bit, but absolutely ADORED my steam controller (I wish I didn't throw it out when it died) and those touchpads on the deck are just downright the best aim control method in retro FPS titles there is. I'm EVENTUALLY gonna get a steam deck. I particularly like that the deck has not been incrementally feature creeping and just launched like a CONSOLE. A V2 should have a console-like release schedule, IMO. Some new players will come out that are faster (like the ally) but by having a more "nintendo" like (and god that feels weird, I don't like nintendo much) schedule of just releasing the consoles that THEY want to make, making them REALLY good, and not trying to perpetually compete on performance at the expense of well thought out design, they'll probably keep their crown of the portable gaming kings.
the reality is that nintendo games wait on nintendo consoles, while PC games will not wait for the already barely competent performance of a handheld. decks MUST get refreshes more than once in a half decade or else someone else like asus is just going to come along and scoop up the market valve pioneered
@carb har harb car I totally see your point, but i think a more apt comparison to the switch is, other than the raw modernity that is the sony/Microsoft duel (who have many more modern AAA games like PC) but the portability means that the raw graphical horsepower is a lot less of a critical concern when the device can so easily play the colossal curren library and can STREAM modern stuff - I wouldn't even really want to play modern AAA stuff on a portable anyways. So in that way, I see a value in the higher end, more premium answers like ayaneo makes for big laptop money, but I want valve to focus on maintaining this exact market segment it has, of not raising its own costs by constantly retooling for incremental performance, instead focusing on the WHOLE device and taking the time to get it right. Because as we saw here, despite the big potential performance gains with the rog(and the ergos) the steam deck is still a very very strong competitor because it has a more mature, thoroughly thought out complete package. Different strokes, and I like that Asus can put this quality out. I just think the handheld market valve is shooting for should remain in this $400-550 "true console" range and setting th goal of only competing with themselves.
Also comming from a steam controller user: I love the deck, I don't think the touchpads on here are as good as SC (simply due to size and positioning) but they're still many times better than any alternatives other than a mouse and I still feel like they did a great compromise on the placements of all the controls, some elements aren't perfect but every part is perfectly usable which is the most important part anyways
This is my take on the ROG Ally + Amazing performance if you are okay with 1-2 hours of Battery life. + Higher resolution display allow more flexibility. (Increased graphical fidelity, better scaling in emulators). - Terrible performance if you want to conserve battery life beyond 3 hours (compared to the Steam Deck) - It cannot go much below 7-9W due to the 8-core CPU. So you are stuck with 4 hours at most, with REALLY bad GPU performance. Steam Deck can have 4-8.5 hours with better performance (Which is apparent in older PC-/AAA- games, indies, 2D games and emulation) - Lack of touchpads, You can't play a lot of PC games intuitively without touchpads or navigate around all the "jank" of PC gaming (launchers, mouse-only menus etc) - Unknown repairability. This will likely be bad with Asus pulling both support and repairs beyond the warranty period. Also, it's quite clear that this is a joint effort between Microsoft and ASUS to tone down the disruption of the Steam Deck. It's so blatantly obvious from the ASUS presentation that Microsoft want to position themselves on the front page when it comes to gaming. But the thing is. Linux is starting to run Windows games better than Windows itself. And since many Linux distributions are easier to use- , more stable than Windows-, have no ads or telementry data collection (!!!). Well it's starting to be really hard to justify Windows. And Microsoft sense that. That people might just move away from Windows. The Steam Deck is that bridge. (although KDE Plasma is quite awful compared to many other Linux desktop environments) I really hope that people don't buy into the marketing too much and that we can have the Linux transition that end-users deserve.
@@kelvin1316Also there's a lot of stuff happening in the Linux world, soon we'll have KDE Plasma 6, Pop!_OS (popular desktop Linux OS) will have their own desktop environment, and more
Don't forget the god-tier controller customisation of the Steam Deck! Valve found the perfect solution to unifying the control schemes - make it easy for everyone to program their own controls.
So this is the year of the Linux afterall? Windows isn't going anywhere, like it or not. The simple fact that Ally runs full-fledged Windows 11 and can essentially serve as a docked PC when I need it beats SD in my book.
@@r3tr4d Hehe, well I hope you like your ad-infested telementry data collecting experience in Windows. :) The user experience where Windows 11 even starts suggesting new wallpapers for you to enjoy without you agreeing. Or how it forces you to use web browsers you haven't chosen yourself. Not forget the fantastic feature of how it hides essential commands in the right-click context menu. Ah, what a beatuiful OS to behold. :) Nothing drives me more nuts than using Windows. It's made for Microsofts profit margins, not for end users. You don't own your PC with Windows. Microsoft does, and its a bridge to serve ads for Microsoft. Linux is as much PC as Windows is a PC. Heck even Mac is a PC. I don't know when people started to believe that Windows has exclusive rights to the personal computer space. Ultimately an OS should serve its purpose of an operating system. not shoving proprietary services down people's throats. But it seems like people have forgotten this and defend Microsoft even. Also, you can run Windows on a Steam Deck. You don't need to stick with the OS that comes with your device if you don't want to.
I really wish in the future more of these handhelds will go with steamos, I want it pushed further, I'm feeling pretty done with windows and apple. Touch pads.... These things need them IMO. Maybe it's because I don't play FPS's but I can't even imagine buying another handheld without them. I guess I'm the odd one because most reviews barely mention this with the Ally.
SteamOS is a highly modified Linux OS which is still going to be a pita to run games on. I rather see Microsoft stop doing stupid things with Windows than a Linux OS being ported. Windows also technically has better battery optimization as compared to Linux. More support and overall is still ideal for gaming. Windows 11 just sucks right now.
@@valentinewilson3600 1: SteamOS is not "highly modified". It's a pretty standard Linux desktop OS with Steam thrown on top. 2: MS will not stop doing dumb things. Windows has continuously gotten worse since 7 and nothing is going to change that besides having to compete with another OS in PC gaming (like Linux). 3: Steam OS is extremely easy to run most games on, the experience blows any Windows handheld out of the water. I can easily run my entire Steam library, and that includes multiplayer games 4: Where did you get the info that Windows has better battery optimization? Linux almost always gets superior battery life on the same hardware compared to Windows
I strongly value my battery life, so the majority of all Steam Deck games I play run flawlessly at 10w or below, often 7w or below, and in a surprising number of cases at the 3w floor. It's pretty insane how little that limits me though.
By pure logic, the Battery Life is THE most important aspect for an Handled device...i just dont get those who said the contrary...And the RoG Ally is a way too much drainer...
Same. I usually aim for 3-4 hours of battery life on the Deck. Incidentally the fan is hardly noticeable at those settings. Unless you're playing new AAA games the Ally doesn't seem to make much sense. At least give it a couple of months to see how ASUS/Microsoft get on with software updates.
I nearly sold my Steamdeck for an Ally. Then I thought about the support the Steamdeck gets, especially from the community. So I decided to keep it over the Ally.
I'll probably stick to my steam deck mainly because I already have it. However, I am glad to see valve getting competition as it will lead to better products in the future from both valve and Asus, aswell as anyone else trying to step into this market.
Facts people complaing and fighting overthem not realizing they're both great and have pros and cons this is just a start for comp for companies to come with better more powerful more optimized systems etc... so we get better systems enjoy what you have or get both if u can both systems are great in their own way
I just bought a steam deck a month ago, and seeing this I still do not regret it. It cannot be overstated enough but the dual touchpads on the front of the steam deck are absolutely killer. Having to use the analog stick for the mouse is really not a pleasant experience(something I learned back on my nvidia shield portable). And having 4 mappable rear buttons instead of 2 is also really nice.
I think if I had the cash for either of these I would still go for steam deck due to community support, os, touchpads, grip, and out of the box repair ability
@@caleb7475 yea I do think that there will be good strength in the asus ally community but I think the best path for asus would be to work with valve on using steamos so that game profiles and a lot of the software benefits can be experienced on both devices (also great for the growth of Linux)
The battery test only used UA-cam loop, other tests in real life gaming scenarios with lower spec games on vids from other creators seem to show the steam deck having the edge to a more significant degree than this video outlines (from what I’ve seen anyways!) - this is probably a fairly big deal depending on how much you play unplugged :) For AAA I think it’s a lil more shaky
What exactly will happen when inevitably, any part of Ally will need service or repair? Or when they inevitably drop support for drivers or updates altogether? Can you replace switches if they joycon drift? I would not touch anything ASUS made with a 10 foot pole, Valve has made a name for themselves by caring for Steam Deck well, and I am buying one.
Yeah ASUS repairability and serviceability is absolute dogshit and if their QA is anything to go by, once it gets out of warranty it'll shit out on you and you'll be left holding the bag. Im currently dealing with this exact scenario with a 2020 Zephryus g15. Damn thing literally cannot have cpu boost enabled or it'll crash when left idle. A *damn* shame for a 1000$+ machine.
Uhm, I think since it's a Window machine already, what should Asus do more when it's completed The Deck is a Linux gaming machine and when Valve stops supporting it, boof, you can't play new games Also, since Steam Deck uses SteamOS, any purchase you made on Steam is a revenue for Valve. The revenue encourages Valve to keep supporting the Deck Asus doesn't enjoy such luxury, once you have bought Ally, that's all the revenue Asus can get.
Valve sucks for repairabilty. They claim they will have part available but don’t follow through. I have an index and I broke a lighthouse and the replacement lighthouses were sold out for 2 years but they were still selling the complete kits so they had lighthouses to package with the hmd but not individually. They claim they sell lighthouses individually but they weren’t actually doing so. They were prioritizing getting new customers rather than taking care of their old ones. Valve customer support told me I could get a new kit with a new hmd or buy the htc lighthouse which isn’t as good costs more and wouldn’t match my other lighthouses.
Best selling point for me for the SD that you guys didn't even touch on is the sleep functionality. Until Windows matches what Steam OS can do on that, I'll stick with my SD
I would like to see steam os installed on it and more manufacturers coming out with handheld console running steam. Hopefully the other game launchers would come to the table.
I think it's high time Microsoft and Valve offered a Steam/Xbox gaming mode for these tablet/handheld systems for the more casual consumers anyhow. I don't see why they wouldn't, they'd be able to sell more products under the OS without even necessarily having to build the hardware, given that well others are doing it anyway.
@@ThomasNosey probably isn't that simple. Wifi drivers, controller drivers, screen drivers, etc. Often don't get solid linux versions. Open Source community might eventually get them working but new laptops and wot generally take a while to work properly in Linux, and some of them never really do. Granted, Asus themselves could release blobs for those drivers with little effort and just have it work great from the get-go, but I'm pretty sure Microsoft is subsidizing the device so there's essentially no chance of that.
Linus keep the faith! Love ya! I saw your video here and really enjoy my new Rog Ally Extreme. This is a gamer that owned a Timex St Clair way way back.....
Until Asus back tracks on their very shitty stance on the motherboard fiasco, there's no way I'm investing a single dollar with them no matter how impressive a product might be.
The Steam Deck doing so well in low power mode is because SteamOS is VERY light compared to Windows, and thus there's move overhead for games at limited processing power like that.
Speaking from personal experience, it's way easier for me to recommend 400$ over 700$. Yeah the storage is a factor but it's something easily changed by the end user and so far my friends have installed mostly small games. That price tag is just an awesome affordable selling point.
To be honest, the deck has so much to offer, and i love the vision, and the subtle differences of the deck so much, that i am not drawn to the ally at all. It is a great device, i just personally love the deck more.
@@bionic3500 The ally is newer. It is natural that it is faster, but not everybody needs the most power hungry games and settings. The deck still has so much to offer. Although I have to agree, it is aging. Price to performance still great regardless of that ...
big factor with these portable pcs is how they handle support over a year+ after release in my opinion. like how committed are they to fixing any issues tht arise post launch and how far, will they add new features? community interactions? how much control as an owner of the rog ally do i have before i 'void' the warranty.
Not just ASUS but also Microsoft. With the Steam Deck you can expect it to perform exactly as well or better in 5 years from now. With Windows 11, Microsoft doesn't have the greatest track record of having the latest version of their OS run on older devices.
@@seeibe steam deck is literally unkillable. Hardware wise its almost fully repairable and very easy to repair. Absolutely nothing is glued, normal screws and everything is modular. Software wise, that thing is Linux with an open BIOS. Even if valve ever stops supporting it, the community will make custom Linux distros for it and will never let it die. I expect the steam deck to still be very much alive in 10-15 years. Not to mention many people have this console to play indies and emulation, stuff that will work the same forever. This is a console to keep. We can buy the next versions of it for better performance but this is not a console to throw away. This will stay an emulation beast and "community funny hobby" forever even after valve abandons it.
With how they treat armoury create and their history with software. I wouldn’t trust asus with a teen foot pole. They can barely fix their piece of shit broken spyware bloatware armoury crate, and keep it working. They barely release updates to their products software even when there are known improvements that could be made, or if a bug is minor enough they’ll ignore it.
Should be mentioned that a 64GB Steam deck can be upgraded to 512GB for $50 making the Ally a $250 premium. Also I would miss the steamdeck's touch pads in certain games. I'm glad there more competition in this space though.
@@sophieedel6324 Yeah I will gladly lose out on the touchpads for a notably smaller device if that's the tradeoff to be made. People bringing up RTS games and stuff like that to justify them. I can't imagine bothering with the sorts of game genres where the touchpads would make a huge difference on a steam deck (or any handheld really). Ironically they're probably far more useful in Windows which the Deck doesn't ship with but if I get an Ally I'd likely just load HoloISO on it anyway instead of Windows. The screen is the real game changer considering how garbage tier the Steam deck's one is.
From my experience, even though I would like a Steam Deck Pro-like high performance handheld, the touchpads are invaluable when you don't expect to have a mouse or keyboard nearby.
In games the touchpads can be great. As a mouse it’s terrible. Especially if you plan to press them to simulate a mouse click. You almost never click the right thing… navigating steam rom manager using those touchpads is a nightmare. Invaluable for games… a disaster as a mouse
I'm happy to see more options and competition in this space to move the industry forward. The Steam Deck is such an incredible and polished experience that I have no interest in switching devices until a SD2. I also would never buy anything from ASUS, but that's personal preference. I hope anyone that buys an Ally is happy with it. These types of releases are a win-win for gamers in the end!
I purchased multiple motherboards and GPU's from asus, across multiple generations. I don't know why you wouldn't buy their stuff when they are one of the best. Never had an issue and logged thousands of hours on their products.
Thanks to dbrand for sponsoring today’s video! Head to shortlinus.com for all your ROG Ally screen protector and skin needs.
Pre-Order the ASUS ROG Ally here: lmg.gg/ASUSROGALLYPREORDER
Buy a Steam Deck: geni.us/qrCmI1y
Purchases made through some store links may provide some compensation to Linus Media Group.
You should talk about repairability in another video.
Great Video
linus short
Does the CPU explode on this aswell ?
ROG Ally pre-order link does not work
Whoever came up with the idea to have the pulsing white circle appear on your graphs so people can more quickly and easily reference the metrics you are referring to deserves a raise. It made viewing your graphs and data pages SO MUCH BETTER!
Exactly, I always struggle to find the right stat
They should change color to something more contrasty like red, in few cases white color dot was hard to see or find
Yeah I was just about to comment the same 👏🏻
OK editor in disguise we get it you did a good job
i see you - smart.. i think they deserve a raise too!
A Steam Deck feature offer overlooked is its console-like sleep function. As a parent with small children, being able to put my game down at a moment’s notice is a must.
I agree with you here man, same position and I use this feature absolutely non stop. Two kids and gaming on the go
The Rog ally don't have such a function? Omg, that's one of the most important functions. Not only for kids.
A limitation of Windows I suspect. Maybe Microsoft will add the feature, but I doubt it.
Not just for kids… any on the go gaming. Does the ROG Ally really not have this?
That's a Steam OS feature, which the Ally can use.
Every time they talk about these things I start wanting one, but then I remember that whenever go anywhere but home, I'm busy doing things that aren't gaming.
I usually find myself wanting to play something while riding a taxi or waiting for a meeting or something. As I don't rll like mobile games in general - SteamDeck is a very good choice for me
@@ookicookiex Until somebody breaks the windows and steals it
@@zatramantra8105 Do you know that somebody can break a window in your house and steal your PC too? Robbery is a strange fear to have in excuse of not buying something cool
And usually to extra-protect my deck I just have it in my backpack, so it's not a big problem
@@zatramantra8105 I think I would have bigger problems if some idiot was brave enough to breaks a window of a taxi I’m riding in. The deck or whatever would be the least of my worry.
Also weird to use a rare event as a justification for not buying a gaming device. I have used my switch out in public without any worry because i actually know most people aren’t a threat if I don’t bother them and I pay attention to my surroundings.
TLDR: go touch grass weirdo.
When I am stuck at my mother in law's house, I can garantee you that a handled PC could save my life 😂
You overlooked a lot of important points:
1- The sleep mode that Valve offers.
2- The Gyroscope.
3- Some games are optimized specifically from the developers of these games to run better on the Steam Deck.
4- The automatic controller layouts for the Steam Deck.
5- The big community behind Steam Deck that offers software optimizations for it.
6- Driver and software optimizations made from Valve developers to overcome some games' issues that are not fixed on Windows.
7- Asus bad reputation when it comes to faulty hardware products and customer support.
8- You can buy Steam Deck for $400 and buy SD card, and it is much cheaper than ROG Ally.
You forgot they also don’t ship the deck to every country. So these things don’t matter
@@VarzeCS You are right.
@@VarzeCS Neither ROG Ally. I'm on a country that you can't buy both for official ways.
@@henriquecardoso7786 damn sorry to hear that. Where you from?
I don't think specifically optimized games really bring competition against Ally which has better performance anyways.
The biggest advantage the ROG Ally has over the Steam Deck for me is that the Ally will be available in my country unlike the Deck.
you can get it imported
@@SumTheCat for a lot of people, that is either too expensive or just not possible.
@@SumTheCat Yeah import tax to australia basically doubles the cost for example
@@udittlamba well you can do sus stuff
@@kinpact6100 sus stuff exists
No regrets with my steam deck but i'm glad there's competition pushing things along.
Exactly. The size and everything is kinda what I wanted plus love Linux. Will recommend ally and steam deck to those that can’t afford a gaming pc tho
It's only half-hearted competition. The $400 SD is unbeatable value and still not remotely touched by this handheld.
I'm curious when valve will make an updated model with a newer apu.
I think that's the biggest advantage out of anything else mentioned between choosing the steam deck or the ally. This just gives valve and other franchises something to strive towards and improve upon.
@@lelandbatey especially if you get a 1 or 2 TB SSD for it, king of gaming right there
Not enough for me to ditch my deck, but enough for me to know that the next gen of handhelds will be a must have for me. Time to start saving.
Yep, same here, it's nice to know if I need a handheld upgrade for performance I already have some options
Waiting for the V2 or V3. Those will be amazing, especially with Windows, it's a bit too early for gaming handhelds. And I hope they increase the stock storage space.
Yes, just got my steam deck this Friday and I’m saving for the next one a few years from now
I`m not switching from my Deck either. I'm hearing way more downsides to owning an Rog Ally than upsides over my SD. For now anything i play on the SD runs just great at 60 fps so i don't need extra performance. The software is so mature on the Deck and even the hardware is better if Linus is constantly running against sticky buttons, that you can't user replace with official third party options (at least for now) -- just hearing Linus talk about his experience with Windows & the armory crate made me cringe. It is good to know however that PC handhelds are now "a thing" and more competition is coming'which is is only better.
Keep that deck in good shape lol
you know, for a person that used to bus tables just to be able to afford a Gameboy Advance back then, I am genuinely awestruck at how much advance these handhelds are, I was already very impressed with the PSP back then, now to witness this it's mindblowing😮, I don't even mind the nitty gritty ASUS Ally vs Valve Steam Deck, they are both out of this world😅
You are telling the truth!
These content creators have to split hairs and stir up drama.
Im from the nes / og gameboy era and i feel lucky just to be alive right now to witness this revolution in tech.
Kids will never know the pain of having the little bendy light plugged into the cord transfer power port on the side of the game boy color just so they can play Pokémon under the sheets late at night because you had no other time to play as a kid growing up in the 90s.
When I played Witcher 3 on Switch, already was impressed, remembering when I was playing Zelda LA on my old GB classic in 1994, but now playing games like Witcher 3 and Horizon Zero Dawn on ROG Ally with all settings maxed, it’s like a dream for someone who was born in the 80s.
@@AlexDeivid same, Witcher on switch caused me to buy it for ps5 to take it to a bigger screen and look better. Timeless game. PSP game costs were higher then I expected in hs and cash was hard to come by back then. I worked at a K-mart where I put the PSP on layaway. Times have changed man
The Ally LOOKS promising, but with their current track record (see Asus' last debacle with AMD CPUs), the lack of support for repairability, Armoury Crate and overall software (and what that entails), I am not so sure I want to give this one a go.
It sure is tempting to go for this instead of a Steam Deck, but given it's an ASUS product, I'm holding my breath to be honest, even if it means having less performance, "worse" audio and a worse screen.
At the most, I'll take another look at this one in about 4 months, to see if there have been any actual positive changes.
haha right, i always try to wait for the second revision of tech. instead of being a product tester.
That, and Linus is missing an aspect that the Deck has that the Ally doesn’t: good usability for its OEM operating system. The Deck amongst Linux devices is both really good for both Linux people and for just gamers, while the Ally is good for gamers but not general users; and I strongly feel that’s what’s going to hurt it in sales. Linus and the likes are like _"oh you can use it for all the usual Windowsy stuff as well as gaming, unlike the deck!"_ yet as the likes of the GPD One and Ayaneo show, the only people really purchasing them are either supporters of the respective projects or people whose specialised use-cases the devices serve. The same will apply to the Ally, because for as good as it is at gaming, it comes across as a pretty mediocre Windows portable.
Armoury Crate is just horrendous, sudden gpu spikes killing my fps in games, even severely overspecced ones (e.g. warframe that had ~300 fps when uncapped dropping to 20 from time to time)
Uninstalling all of asus stuff helped a lot. Thank God their 200 dollar mouse has internal memory (but even that refused to work on first try)
@@mikhailkiselev9869 ASUS is terrible with software. firefox with 15 tabs is competing with their RGB motherboard software on CPU usage. both about 4%. and its literally only running the mb RGB and 2 sticks of ram, the fans are on a separate controller.
when I opened my phone today
Jayz' video was right next to this one.
OOF
Valve already innovates a lot even when they have zero competition, I'm excited to see how this will push them.
Honestly, the most likely thing is to get it in more retails stores. SteamOS 3.5 is already bringing massive performance increases, and with minor tweaks such as CryoUtilities or major ones such as undervolting/overclocking, the steam deck handedly beats the Ally in performance for less or the same power draw, even at over 30W (Yes, the steam deck can run at greater than 15W).
The sad thing is it won't. Value tends to release a product then never release an updated version. The index is a prime example.
@@starpencil they have developed a new patent Already
@@SolidSt8Dj "the steam deck handedly beats the Ally in performance for less or the same power draw, even at over 30W (Yes, the steam deck can run at greater than 15W)."
Fake news.
@@starpencil still hoping for their vr headset deckard to come soon 😅
I love the fact that these handheld devices are becoming a thing. Very convenient form factor.
Yes as someone who grew up using the game boy, DS, psp and ps vita it’s awesome to see handhelds finally make a comeback
@@jacobmorel775 amd apu's look to have a bright future in laptops (due to power/performance efficiency) and are assumed to be amd's solution to low end gpu's (in a few generations). With prospects like that we're bound to see more powerful and efficient handhelds in the coming years.
I wonder if it'll carry over to mobile games. Mobile games have a janky track record and the popularity of these might inspire developers to develop better titles for that.
@@jacobmorel775 Now if only they would bring back user swappable batteries... So much easier to grab said battery than finding an outlet on the go, plus you're geo locked to juice up once you do.
Right! I'm just speaking about this I'm happy to see Ally challenging steam deck
That push companies to do greater things in their devices
I know they don't often bring up 3rd party stuff when it comes to hardware (unless its the only way to get stuuff working) but i think it deserves a mention that steam deck can install plugins to get aaround some issuues, such as the "searching protonDB to see if your game is compatible" a plugin fixes that by adding the ratiing for the game selected game menu. Also you can improve performance on the steamdeck with tweaks from "CryoUtiliities". Although I know this wiill get lost in the void of comments I think its worth mentioning anyway.
Based on how ASUS has been acting recently I would be terrified to buy one of these. If you do buy one, you better hope it doesn't break, cause their shady asses are going to be a huge pain to work with.
Came from Gamers Nexus absolutely agree
amazing timing for this video lmao
@@mining_steve Was thinking on preordering but after the recent Asus acting I think I'll wait, I dont think this is going to be out of stock.
Yeah better avoid asus, most of their stuff is overpriced anyways and if they don't even honor warranty what's the point. This is also a good way to filter reviewers, any1 still promoting asus after this, better unsubscribe from their channel because they definitly don't care about customers either.
@Rafacka it probably will be considering only us tech savvy actually know how awful ASUS is, the general public doesn't even know what an x3d CPU is let alone that ASUS motherboards cooked them
I'm torn because I like this device, but ever since Asus is being scumbags about their AM5 boards, I don't know if I can back them.
This is the way.
I feel the same way. Won't support Asus anymore.
don't feel bad though, ASUS will always be ASUS, and your ROG Ally RMA will have a very complicated and time consuming procedure.
Big supporter of ASUS here but out of the loop, what happened with the boards?
@@deuteronomy2749 Gamers Nexus has 3 videos regarding this. The last one focuses on Asus' "handling" of the issue.
The button sticking issue is an actual gamebreaker for me. The fact that they knew about the issue and didnt fix it makes me feel like they wont support this very well... Stuff like that is a huge red flag for me...
Yeah, I don't understand why Linus didn't tell more about this. This is awful, more because you cannot replace them, as seen on the Steam Deck.
Probably because they were already in production
Not a excuse. It shouldn't of been caught and fixed before production was started.
@@benl8962 That's literally the problem. It's not an obscure issue, that Linus accidentally discovered. It's one of the main buttons getting stuck, during normal use. There's no way it was news to them, when Linus told them
Your controls matter a lot. Steam partnering with i-fixit was a big selling point that you could replace inputs as they were out.
Glad to see competition in the PC handheld scene. Can't wait to see what Valve is cooking for Steam Deck 2.
My thought exactly. Plus, the Steam Deck was what convinced me to finally dump Windows all together on my gaming PC. I really have no desire to go back. No, I don't care about the occasional AAA "masterpiece" I miss out on as a result, either. I'm not against the idea of running an updated Steam OS on a portable device from a competitor with better hardware, though, so long as it has a trackpad.
@@shogakusha a gaming PC without windows... hahahahaha. that's a good one. a linux lurker...
@onlysublime Bless your heart. Thinking is hard! Don't you worry about it. If you're really curious, you can ask whoever turns the computer on for you.
@@onlysublime You must be new to gaming. Linux gamings been about for years. Yeah it used to be really shaky, but it's a lot more stable these days and it's just gonna get better. All while Windows becomes a bloated piece of shit OS (more than it already is)
@@Reploidx9 and yet the Linux lurker has the need to keep going to windows threads to plead for people to switch
Just shows you how important software is for the deck punching above its weight. Imagine the Ally’s hardware with Valve’s programming and joysticks/touchpads.
Nintendo is still performing due to their software not hardware.
Touchpads and Valves controller customization software is what makes the SteamDeck such a big win for me from a PC gaming perspective. Games that were never designed for controller controls are made possible by Valve.
Even controller based games I find touchpad mouse/trackball controls better than joystick. Fallout 4 for example.
The watt difference is just Windows vs Linux/Arch. Valve optimizes their hardware directly.
No touchpad that’s so stupid
There's one really bad sticking point: The only battery information they gave was for looping a video, which is pointless.
Other reviews show less than four hours in desktop apps for the Ally, and consistently from an hour fifteen minutes to two hours of battery while gaming in Performance.
Combine this with the surprisingly bad frame rate in Silent mode and it just feels like there's something either unfinished or broken onboard this device.
The Deck has longer battery life in games with dynamic power consumption based on target FPS, giving anywhere from three to six hours in a majority of games.
Just remember not to enable Expo or the warranty is void. GG ASUS.
Good luck to asus for denying those warranties. They advertise the speeds on the box.
Expo? like high performance mode or what?
Asus with CS are bad for years now. Nothing has change
If you live in the EU then a company can't void your warranty for this.
@@MrGoatsy I don't think it's allowed in the USA either, but Asus still tries to BS their way into not honouring warranties for their screw ups.
Hopefully there is never a problem with the Ally, otherwise Asus will push a new update that voids your warranty.
I just love the timing on the ASUS Video from Gamers Nexus. Every second commend is about their shitty behaviour.
What?
Yeah, Valve has been good about their customer support for issues with the steamdeck. I don't think there is enough value here to risk potential problems with Asus right now! I don't want to be out 700+ dollars because they don't think it's important to support their products.
@@oliveprocessor3068 valve isn’t amazing either, they refuse to launch in Australia and New Zealand to avoid the customer protections here.
@@Snoop_Dugg Could maybe be because those are obnoxiously expensive markets to sell literally anything in if you don't live there, and they didn't wanna gamble with this entire new device
Unless there's an actual statement that seems like a pretty cynical take
I love how you just tell it how it is even when sponsored
Man, lack of trackpads really is the biggest dissapointment. I use the trackpads on my Steam Deck *a lot*. I also was a total cheapskate and bought the 64GB version and stuck an SD card in. Performance and size/weight seem pretty nice for the Ally.
Same, I use trackpad+gyro for all aiming in FPS games and couldn't live without it. Plus they're so versatile in what they allow you to do with control schemes and how to interact with more desktop like elements of the OS
Well, everyone is different, right? I would love to get rid of trackpads on my steam deck in exchange to smaller body size. And trackpads realistically are the only reason why steam deck is SO HUGE. It's mainboard is actually accurately sized by the sceen size. Though ROG Ally is much smaller actually.
I agree completely, the trackpads are a must. Point n click games, desktop, programs, RTS, MOBAS are all possible and a joy to do on the deck because of those trackpads. To me the Ally is a console, the Deck is a PC for this reason. And I also agree that comparing the Ally to the most expensive Deck is a mistake, it should be compared to the cheapest one. I paid $15 on Craigslist for a 256GB 2230 SSD to replace the cheapo 64GB drive it came with.
I bet it isn't even an option because of amazing patent law :-)
@@doc8125 same
the community around the steamdeck is a huge point for me, decki plugins made it super cool to customize my deck
One thing that barely anyone talks about. The ecosystem and the insane community behind the Steam Deck. Being Linux and very open, the target audience has a LOT of developers in it that are very skilled and make stuff specifically for Deck as a hobby. Steam Deck has insane software made by the community and will keep getting more and more stuff. Ally is just a random windows device, just like Aya Neo and stuff. Cool but quickly forgotten. Maybe not, because it's Asus, but still
@@azenyr ive always thought ASUS have made great hardware but crappy software. they have always struggled in that regard. without a community behind them, good hardware isnt enough. i welcome it though
@@azenyr at the end of the day *personally* I prefer the rog ally. I recently developped a liking for rog products aftwr my revent purchase of the ROG6 phone. I do agree there is some software issues burlt at the end of the day it was easy to fix and I was satisfied with the product itself.
@@dot_rich Yeah, the idea of an ASUS-brand OS is something that really pushes me away from this thing. And who knows if they'll commit to supporting it long-term like Valve has their Steam Deck?
This is exactly why I waited 1 year before buying (that, and the 1yr anniversary sale was a happy accident lol); to see if an ecosystem would grow to support it, or if it's just another niche toy that would be useless after 2~3 years due to lack of support and parts. Classic IPODs could still be easily repaired/upgraded today thanks to a large community willing to support third party parts manufacturers ever after TWO decades, which is what I hoped the Steam Deck situation would be down the road. ROG might have better specs, but I won't hold my breath for this. I'd be more than glad to be proven wrong tho, competition is (almost) always good.
Valve's dedication to right to repair, constant software improvements plus touchpads making more games playable like RTS and colony sims still makes me prefer the Steam Deck.
Yeah I'm super torn, I love the raw specs of the Ally and they've got the gear junkie in my drooling but everything outside of that including linux is a win for me on Valve's side.
So much cope in the comments. If you’re not into RTS games the ROG Ally is clearly the superior device.
@@BigBoss7777777 I dunno, I'm pretty iffy on the buttons if they're decidedly not good on the Ally, And while touch pads aren't 'great' I certainly can find more uses for them in all kinds of situations. Touch screen is nice, I don't think the deck has that.
i've tried to play rts games on the steam deck and the experience is an atrocity against mankind. Touch pads are not a mouse and never will be
@@AstralDragn the Steam Deck definitely has a touchscreen.
Right?
The Steam Deck currently costs "only" ~370€ (cheapest option during summer sale)) and the ROG Ally costs 800€
That is a huge price difference especially since you dont need the most expensive Steam Deck version.
In addition, the Steam Deck comes with a case which is a nice bonus.
But the most important feature that is missing for the ROG Ally is the quick resume.
But the deck lacks the performance and is limited to certain games
Dude abides.
Asus being less than honest with data with their product seems to be a trend recently. They may say that upclocking their device might void the warranty.
bruh, overclocking voids any SOC warranty. its not just asus.
@@MrPaxiout updating your bios to fix a critical design flaw does void the warranty at Asus
@@MrPaxiogo get Gamers Nexus latest video
Playing devils advocate. Using a 3 game sample to debunk “up to” performance claims is pretty useless as well.
from what i’ve seen i think i’ll stick with the steam deck. I know that the steam community will have my back with repairability and support
I did get the $400 64 Gig. I do intend to put in a 1-2 TB SSD. I don't know that the Ally will have other options for more than 1/2 TB, or as much support as Deck users get in upping their storage. I'll be happy with it for the next 5 years by which time, who knows what will be out and at what price.
Steam deck is mid now
I'm sticking with my deck for now too i only play less demanding titles on it if i want to play the latest and greatest I have a pc for that
Yeah after seeing Gamers Nexus Video about ASUS from today, I will stay away from their products for a while.
@@ghostlegit Software optimization is the key. What brings u double performance when ur game runs still shit. The Ally will get 2 years support and then their will be a new one and the old ones won't have a support like the deck
I'm still watching, but I LOVE the visual cues you're adding to the performance charts to highlight the numbers as you talk about them. It's already much easier to follow along without needing to pause (and I can still pause if I want to explore the numbers in more detail). PLEASE keep doing this - I'm a big fan!
For the same price i wouldnt be sure which one to take but the steam deck for 400$ + 50$ for a bigger ssd is still the much better value i think
Imagine a Frameworks handheld where you can upgrade the hardware as time goes on.
Framework 16 first (probably gonna empty my bank account decked-out at $3000) but yeah...........one day! 😁🤞
Won’t happen then what’s the point of making handhelds after one purchase you’d never need the company again
I could see separate company’s making parts like motherboards cases screens and stuff so you could build your own like a desktop
The only components that can be upgraded in a laptop are the RAM, SSD, and battery. Gaming laptops have been around for a long time, but handhelds are far more limited. Until we see laptops with full upgradeability, I don’t think we’ll see it in handhelds.
That and an external gpu with its own battery would be amazing
The missing Trackpads are a deal breaker for me.
The additional extra height of the screen of the deck is nicer for emulation.
With the deck you can set the refresh rate of the screen and the fps target using a single slider. 45 fps on 45 hz = money
The Steam Deck console-like sleep function is important on the go.
i agree, after running windows only on my deck for few months, I cant imagine dong it without trackpads.
I completely agree with you, also the fact that valve will probably make a lot of new models of the steam deck and will support it for a long time whereas I doubt the ally will get the same support.
@@fadeeeed how is running windows on it? I’ve been thinking of switching to it.
@@fadeeeed there is touch screen that you can use
I think this shows why valve decided to go with Arch, instead of windows.
and im happy they did, and are actively investing in linux gaming.
the ally sure has great performance when juiced up, but if you have to be tethered to the wall in order to use it, you might as well get a nice laptop and a controller. im not sure how i feel about it, it is great that there is competition from some of the big bois, but for now the deck seems to be the better option overall
Yeah Arch is just better
No you don't need to be hooked to an wall 😆🤦. Stop with this garbage argument about battery because the Deck Baterry life is completely garbage gaming also. Nearly every owner I know has a power brick of 65W therefore you don't need to be hooked to a wall 🤦.
The Ally still has better performance compared to the deck at 15 watts. So no, you don’t need to be tethered to a wall to be able to play the dumb thing.
Also windows was never built with devices like these in mind, with such puny batteries. Majority of gaming laptops have a 99.9 watt hour battery, that still gets a good battery life even in something like a mobile RTX3050ti/4050 or 3060 mobile.
Plus valve also made their “steam OS” really customized, and I guess free to use for any device, so they could’ve had windows and Steam OS on the device. Cuz Linux still stucks with gaming, especially outside of steam.
I hate that neither Asus nor others like Aya Neo want to invest in touchpad that Valve has been innovating on since they launched their controller.
I’m rooting for this and every other handheld to be successful, as competition is great for us consumers, but I’m good with the Steam Deck for now
I will stick to the SteamDeck and save for the next VALVE product. I do like that more options are coming out though as this will ultimately benefit us as consumers.
the extra cost is not worth it for me at least
Tbh the increased performance is a bit pointless to me without a Steam Input style solution to playing mouse and keyboard centric games.
And in true Valve fasion, the Steam Deck 2 will be amazing everyone will be anticipating the 3rd variant years later but sadly it will never come😅 All jokes aside I love my Steam Deck but it seems like the ROG ally will fill a nice void for people not interested in strategy or older PC games. I want handheld gaming to take off
@@JohnnyCagewinsThat’s the valve curse. However they are probably more likely to update a console rather than a game series. Steam deck v1 is only gonna be viable for a few more years.
@JohnnyCagewins I honestly don't want Valve to rush out the next model too quickly. Let them perfect the experience of the current model and listen to community feedback like they have been already. When technology allows for a better screen AND better battery life for a reasonable price then come out with the next model. I can see Valve offering a higher tier model for a higher price since the most popular model was the 512gb version.
The future of heldhelds is so exciting! I'll be sticking with the steam deck because the user experience is just so nice, but I'm glad to see other big manufacturers stepping in.
You know you ruin your eyes playing on small screen watchin on little details ? Its not even ajusted to mobile gaming you are just playing pc games on small screen.Really Unhealthy
@@dzenacs2011 You do understand the the distance from your eye to the screen is different right. While the screen is smaller it is, at least in my experience, much closer to my eyes.
@@dzenacs2011 you mean you didnt ruin yours already playing pokemon on a nonbacklit gameboy color ?
afaik that's an urban legend. It's the long time staring into low brightness of screens that's killing our eyes (that's even so in low light apartments). We're build to walk in the bright sun light.
That doesn't mean we should Play from a 10cm distance, though.
Top steam deck is 570 pounds, the rog handheld is 700 pounds so the rog is 130 pound more
I still fundamentally believe that one of the biggest "pros" for the deck is the trackpads. No other handheld has either replicated or competed with this at all and it's such an invaluable feature for people who play lots of strategy games for example.
Steam owns the patent for those type of trackpads,
Makes the Sims series, Simcity, City Skylines, etc etc all completely playable on the Steam Deck. Accurate mouse controls that don't rely on a joystick, or switching what kind of control said joystick offers, is a huge plus in my book.
Add in that I just find it hard to believe that anyone is going to spend so much money to play high end games, when they likely already have a gaming PC, and I don't know that it will be as successful as Linus hopes. You can get a refurbished 3080TI for $700 most days of the week, and if someone already has a gaming PC, upgrades seem more likely. The Steam Deck sold very well in the beginning, with preorders and sales since, but that was also because the bang for the buck was really there...I'd imagine the people that would buy a handheld gaming PC have already bought one. The Steam Deck.
Personally I hope I'm wrong, and that it sells like hotcakes. That'll convince other manufacturers to get into the space, and that can only ever be good for the consumer.
The steam controller r&d is finally earning its money back
You're right. All 4 people who play those games will only buy steam decks.
Glad someone mentions the trackpads. Ofter overlooked, and a big mistake not talking about them when he was speaking about how hard it was to control the mouse in windows with rog ally's joysticks.
I play many games exclusively with the right trackpad instead of joystick for camera. No Mans Sky is a big example. I love steam deck hardware input devices and flexibility, it's literally perfection
Its really confusing for me. I live in Australia so the steam deck is much more expensive while the Ally is available. As much as I love the steam deck and its track pads and buttons, the fact the Ally runs on Windows is probably going to buy me over as I'd often have it plugged into a monitor and use it as my desktop.
You can run Linux on the steam deck as a desktop too? And it’ll work better because it’s not packed to the brim with Microsoft nonsense.
Im happy to see more competition in the handheld pc market i bet it will sell a lot but what i adore more with my steam deck and valve is the massive support they have for the device you can tell valve wants it to succeed hearing that linus himself told asus about the button issue and seeing the production model still has the same problem is very telling of its future support from them
Look at there motherboards and JaysTwoCents newest video... Seems quite common for them
The support probably wont be as good but TBF your example isn't that relevant. By the time Linus told them about the buttons, like a month or two ago, the hardware was very probably already manufactured.
I really want to support the linux (no pun) push, too. The more power I can give with valve in getting games working on linux the better. I was really hoping the popularity of the pc handhelds and steamdeck would finally get that ball rolling where we can ditch windows.
Changing something like that doesn't take weeks. It takes months. But I can believe that they didn't care enough, given what they did with their motherboards for AMD platform.
@@petmach Sure, but that would only be relevant if we were talking about a very obscure issue, that Linus somehow discovered. But this is one of the control buttons. There's no way that this was news to them, when Linus told them
Your issue with the ally will be fixed with the next fw update (beta), but it's also likely removes your warranty is your turn on a non default feature (like 120Hz)!
-Asus
Thanks for the heads-up we appreciate ya, boss! 👍
Killed it!
LMAO
Does Asus randomly invalidate your Ally warranty for updating it to avoid it exploding?
I hate that we actually have to worry about this on such an expensive brand ASUS. I'm disappointed let's hope EVGA makes amd motherboards now.
@@pulsebear And maybe EVGA can also make HEDT motherboards, like the new Xeon platform...
Not that anybody can afford them, but still it would be nice to have...
Did your motherboard explode? Typed from an ROG AZOTH
LoL
I was thinking the same thing.
After the corrupt practices it sure is going to be hard to sell a bunch of them. Hopefully nothing catches fire, are you allowed to run XmP or will they void your console 🤔 😂
Right?! As much as I like this machine, I just can't even consider supporting ASUS at all right now...
Literally went to Best Buy and just bought one a couple hours ago. Just got home to charge it. I am extremely excited.
Yeah, definitely didn't sell out immediately
@@donniedarko4497 no lie
The best 30 minutes of handheld gameplay you've ever had.
More like an hour
@@HarryL2020 It's still pretty good. If you're not constantly gaming on max, you can get 2 hours out of it.
@@corronchilejano Handhelds are pointless without a much longer battery life, may as well just play a pc at this point. 1-2 hours is practically useless.
@@newax_productions2069 its not practically useless to use on a commute to work. 1-2 hours is perfect for that
Sega Game Gear entered the chat.
I think this is a good case for how going Linux works in Valves favor. The modularity and opensourcey-ness allows Valve to customize the OS and get around Microsoft's mobile UI failings.
So happy to see more competition. I want to see a future where mobile gaming PCs really take off.
It was pretty funny how "use Steam Big Picture mode" was the suggested fix for the shortfalls of ASUS' software.
I wonder how well the Ally would work with one of the SteamOS ISOs.
@@seshpenguin Depends on the hardware and if it's supported.
@@Gfirex Yea, it's a customized SoC among other things so it might be up to the community to write and port drivers for Linux.
The trackpads on the Steam Deck are a big selling point for me, the extra precision helps.
Crazy I know, but it’s a deal breaker when others don’t have them lol
Don't forget the touch sensitive joysticks. Amazing to make certain functions and controls only activate while you are actually touching the joystick. I use it to turn on and off "gyro as a joystick/mouse" in many games when I want precision control. After experiencing how flexible the steam deck is with all its hardware, all other handhelds seem dead to me.
And btw 80% of the target audience of these handhelds are people who are playing old triple As, indies or emulation. Steam Deck power is already overkill. I play Read Dead Redemption on it all medium-high with FSR at 40-50 fps, perfect. I've seen comments about "cant run COD Vanguard on the steam deck!" And im like seriously dude? Play COD on the PC or big console for the love of god.
The SD costing $300 (~40%) less is the biggest selling point for me.
@@azenyr I completely agree.
Don't forget the gyro as well.
When i see the Ally it definitely catches my eye when i see the better performance, but the way that valve treats there user/customer base is what will keep me around with the SD its just a better experience..What would be a huge W was if when valve came out with the SD2 is if they allowed people to send in the OG decks as either a trade in or if they allowed people to send in the OG deck and pay a price to upgrade the orginal on to the new specs....That my friends would be a HUGE W
Isnt going to happen.
Lmao this guy
Important point is longevity. Steam deck is literally unkillable. Hardware wise its almost fully repairable and very easy to repair. Nothing is glued, normal screws and everything is modular. Software wise, that thing is Linux with an open BIOS and very open almost everything. Even if valve ever stops supporting it, the community will make custom Linux distros for it and will never let it die (they are already making custom distros to dual boot on it). Having 16GB of RAM is also very good logevity wise compared to it's performance. I expect the steam deck community to still be very much alive in 10-15 years. Not to mention many people have this console to play indies and emulation, stuff that will work the same way, forever. This is a console to keep. We can buy the next versions of it for better performance but this is not a console to throw away. This will stay an emulation beast and a "community console" forever even after valve abandons it. Asus will probably abandon this in 3-4 years and Microsoft will never give a fck to it. If the BIOS is closed up, it's a dead device very soon.
Learn how to use literally
So parity once it runs SteamOS.
And if all fails, you can still use at it as a tiny linux server (for many applications) for your home network needs!
@@sergeykish Ally is still missing many things. Is it repairable? Is it modular? It seems like at least the wifi card isn't, a dead wifi is a dead system. The microSD card reader also doesn't seem modular. Stuff is soldered. In Steam Deck everything has connectors and can be easily changed without requiring any soldering. I just replaced my joysticks with hall effect ones and it was literally plug and play, 5 minutes max. I have also put some noctua thermal paste and now the system never goes above 80C and is much quieter. Everything is so easily accessible and hackable. That's the beauty of the Steam Deck. And I am still waiting for someone or some damn youtuber to show if the Ally can actually boot other OSs. These special devices have special BIOSes that are sometimes VERY locked up, and sometimes won't let you boot from external devices. I don't think its the case but better check it before buying.
The Trackpads on steam deck are a game changer. I didn't realize this until I started using them. They also allows you to type with both thumbs instead of conventional taping the directional pads/thumbstick. They also allows you to use the mouse in desktop mode seamlessly, making it truly portable than to attach to a dock for ease of use. This brings to the point linus mentioned "have to wait for proton to support games", to that I have never faced such issues. Even Diablo 4 is playable on the deck now, using the trackpad if you prefer using a mouse. I would have bought the ROG, but steam deck community and valve support has been super solid and very active. This is also part of the reason i don't buy those Chinese handhelds because they lack the community support, which the ROG seem to lack at this point.
Its not released yet so it's kinda hard for a device to have a community when the community doesn't own it yet.
People have been creating programs that support controller input on PC for many years now. It’s not like there is no workaround to it, but I will admit that having community layouts is amazing. For starters, DS4 is an amazing program for games that don’t have built in controller support.
not just the physical but the level of customizable/programmable control layouts for all the buttons, sticks, triggers, and pads makes a world of difference. esp in the realm of pc gaming
A mouse attached to a handheld pc is miles better than a trackpad which have ALWAYS sucked on EVERY device a trackpad has been on.
Valve's idea to add a trackpad was completely braindead.
Its time for trackpads to go the way of the dinosaur
Aya seems to actually have community support... OneX and GPD tho... Worse than Dell
I'd be really interested to see what the ROG Ally's performance looks like on SteamOS. You don't have to worry about Asus' software if you just change the OS :)
The Ally runs Windows not iOS lmao, if you want to remove ASUS's software, just remove it. No point in flashing an entirely different operating system and running every game through a compatability layer just to remove ASUS bloat.
@@FoxyDrewYes but what if you want to remove Windows telemetry?
@@FoxyDrew SteamOS is a flavor of Linux, not iOS. And you don't "flash" an operating system. You install it.
where are people getting "ios" from can people not read he said OS not IOS lmao
@@theuprising2216 people that can't read or have no clue about what they're talking about
I bought a Steamdeck. I love it. Maybe if the ROG had the dual touchpads I would have gone for it but those Steamdeck touchpads are amazing. As far as performance all my favorite games play really well on it.
what are your favorite games?
Last time I heard so much about pads, my kids were younger and needing me to run to the Walgreens
Yeah I got a steam deck during the spring sale for like 20% off change out the 64gb to a 1tb ssd, all together about 470
Which version of the steam deck - I just wanna play baldurs gate
@@serpercival2018 well my friend says it plays very well on the deck with very little fps glitches, but the install size is like 120gb
I like what the Z1 Ally’s trying to do but, as someone who has a Deck I cannot underestimate the ability Valve gives you to customize your control schemes. Being able to do so much with all buttons, triggers and trackpads on the deck is so nice. I have a feeling a Deck 2 or a Deck 2.0 is going to likely be the Z1 Ally with better I/O.
you have a deck but no pc ? ? ? that feature has been on the pc client of steam for years
valve said that the deck 2 wont have better peformance
@@kareemelbrashy1478 pretty sure it will since ASUS bumped up the competition. The Ally is the only competition that the Deck has at this point. The million dollar question for all is that what kind of support that ASUS will give to the Ally since everyone who knows ASUS well knows that they have terrible customer support and now experiencing issues with their mobos.
@@stankbuddhaWe're talking about handheld vs. handheld.
A PC is not a handheld.
right? also the trackpads, admittedly they aren't as useful in games but I couldn't imagine navigating desktop without them, and that's not something they would be able to just patch in
It wasn't mentioned, but the Ally also lacks game suspend/resume. Kind of a big deal when playing on the go.
Also shader downloading
It has that feature
Kind of a big deal all around. Those PC games take a while to start up, not the same as a console game starting up. The auto resume is amazing. I play the Witcher 3 till 1am wake up hit power and leave right where I left off.
If you can eventually get the Steam Deck's OS on this thing, I think it would be an absolute FORCE. That being said, it doesn't really do anything that my deck doesn't, so I'll probably wait for the next generations
Question is how the SteamOS version, that is specially made for Steam Deck hardware, will behave if that hardware is nowhere to be found. Do not forget that the game optimization is tailor-made for the graphic capabilities and input hardware (as well as pads and haptic feedback) of the Steam Deck. I think the generic SteamOS for PC's will run somewhat fine, but the Steam Deck version will have some problems...
Wouldn't that just be Big Picture Mode? (With some limitations.)
@@blunderingfool that is an application Steam Deck OS is an operating system
@@blunderingfool that's like getting a half baked SteamOS or SteamOS from Wish, but with a HUGE massive hog that is Windows and all its thousands of useless apps like Teams, OneDrive and Office all running and installing themselves in the background quickly making uour 16gb RAM feel like 8. I also agree that Linux (SteamOS for example) is the best OS for handhelds like these where every little point of performance vs battery life matters.
@@azenyr office doesn’t run in the background, otherwise it would be truly dire 😂
I have had no problems whit rog ally. Its been a blessing and it plays everything i put at it smoothly i love it havent used main pc for a while. Recommend it 10/10 im using z1 extreme
Still, I'd buy the SD. In my country, the cheapest Steam Deck with 512 GB M.2 upgrade costs about 60% of this ROG Ally model. Also, Steam Deck has official repair parts and community support.
Yeah I don't understand why more people don't just take the 64gb SD and upgrade it for cheap to a 512gb one, it's just a no-brainer
Community support will maybe come when people get it
Apparently price disparity is great for a lot of stuff
just buy the cheapest steam deck and upgrade the storage with a $30 sd card lol
@@W3RTY allegedly, there was a time when the 64gb SD didn't support M.2 SSDs. It only had an EMC module. It's probably changed now, but who knows
The price difference might only be 50 bucks in the US. But in Sweden where I live, the price difference is 1 848 SEK or 179 USD (witht the current EUR to SEK conversion for the Steam Deck price). And if you don't need all the storage, you can get through the door for half the price of the Ally.
Also a much greater difference here in germany. On Asus site they offer it for 799€. Most expensive Steam Deck is 679€.
wanted to say something similiar, the price in germany is 679€ for the steam deck to 799€ for the ally.
while i am a hypocrite because i bought the highest version of the steam deck, i dont think anyone should buy that. my brother in law bought his steam deck after testing out mine. he bought the smallest version and did upgrade the m.2 and the joysticks immediately. and the non-glare display can be easily achieved with a non-glare display protection. overall he was cheaper doing it his way. but even with just adding an micro SD card you have more then enough space on the deck to have dozens of games in your library.
the ally takes just a few wins and only compared to the highest priced steam deck, dropping to a lower priced model the steam deck steam rolls over the ally in my opinion.
Yeah, the price comparison was really misleading in this video.
@@Psytrickx Here in the UK, the price difference is £50. Steam deck 512GB is £650, the Asus ally Is £700
@@Psytrickx exactly the same in Portugal, 799€, which is a bit of a disappointment.
The Steam Deck still looks like a much better option to me. Valve will be supporting it far longer that ASUS will the Ally, since ASUS doesn't make any money off it after purchase. Also the Steam Deck is repairable and will probably last for 10 years or more if you treat it right
Doesn't make any money after purchase??
It can't play newer games. Redfall don't play well, farcry 6 have bad input lag. If we are honest. It's really lacking when it comes to playing AAA games. But it's still worth the money.
@@tykendrick800 Redfall don't play well for many people regardless of handheld or not.
Also, input lag has a direct relationship with framerate as well as the display itself, and can also have other factors that can be *fixed*.
@Tyrone Kendrick I don't think Redfall should be used as a yardstick for anything 🤣🤣. Redfall doesn't work well on any platform.
@@Soal-el2dy Buying a SteamDeck is a portal into the Steam ecosystem, where you can then give Valve more of your money thru games and other hardware purchases.
Buying an Ally just...buys an Ally. They can't really further monetize the project after everyone has one.
A year later and the Ally never quite became the hit everyone thought it would.
This feels a better console to play AAA games, but I believe the steam deck customization layer with the touchpads, 4 rear buttons and an incredible UI to create and share control schemes will be much preferred for playing actual computer games on the move.
I agree, but that just means that Microsoft needs to pull up a new UI for a mobile version of Windows 11, or, alternatively, Valve needs to publish SteamOS for 3rd party hardware as soon as possible.
@@GeoStreber dont think that'll bring touchpads to the ally
Nah steam deck is limited to single player game. If you want to play real multi-player games, well ally is way better.
@@Natsukashii1111 No it isn't lol
@@Natsukashii1111 I guess "real multi-player games" all have the same anticheat, and none of those multiplayer games that DON'T have anticheat, or have SteamOS (or Linux entirely) white listed are not "real multi-player games".
The timing of the ROG Ally coming out when Asus is getting dragged for some of their questionable practices in other areas is almost comical. I'm a big switch fan though and more players in the space of handheld that can easily be fed to the tv is a win imo. Though I highly value portability and like them to be small (I struggle to use pretty much all phones these days bc of how they are made for giant people with giant people hands).
There will always be something better than the previous. You buy the ROG ALLY now amd next year you'll see something that's double the performance of that. So just be happy for what you have
that being said, im totally selling my steam deck and getting the win max 2
The good ole arguement. Everyone has to have the best stuff so they dont look more poor to their master race this or that friends
@@doctadrey3000 omg no, i play all my games with gyro, wich makes the win max 2 a no go
@@Velocipastor I really do love the steam deck, it's not the most powerful but it has mousepads, the back grip buttons, gyro, and it's not running bloated spyware like windows 11. It plays the games i want relatively well considering it is a handheld and that's all i need.
@@Foogi9000 I use it for emulation so needing something more powerful is pointless when the deck is already sufficient enough
Unfortunately, I lost my stream deck due to my kids being a bit wild one morning during drop-off. This is a nice brightside to that because I was going to eventually buy another, but this looks like a decent hardware upgrade. Now I just need to get the wife to okay dropping nearly a grand again (Canada prices) 💀
Gah I have the same issue
Sell your kids
Lose the wife then buy whatever you want....
Glad I not married what a nightmare.
The main reason why I don’t think I’ll ever be replacing my steam deck is the controls. The trackpads, the gyro, and the back buttons are essential to me. I’d literally be unable to play certain games without these things, especially the back buttons. For example, I play deep rock galactic. I have one of the back buttons mapped so that when I press it, it brings up the chat, and when I long press it, it brings up the on-screen keyboard. I use the gyro and trackpads in tandem for better accuracy in shooting games. These features are so nice that I can’t imagine living without them.
Rock and Stone
This just makes me more excited about whatever SOC Valve builds for the next Steam Deck.
not to mention they did not lie its actually custom amd chip this one isnt
@@Eskoxo Valve did lie, didn't you watch? They promised 400 nits, but it's over 500! !!! x)
@@shi-woonyi2605 remember valve say about their deck targeting for 30 fps gaming? It turn out can run 60fps+
agree! this is a positive for us no matter what it will push valve
Didn't they say it won't get performance improvements for the next revisions.
My problem is that with Asus way of managing the blowing up motherboards Idk if I could trust their support to fix devices. Steam Deck has godly support
as a steam deck owner i don’t think it’s acceptable to not have trackpads like the steam deck has, it seems trivial at first but as soon as you have first hand experience it’s just essential
especially when you're running windows on the thing and you HAVE to use a mouse given the meh touchscreen support.
GPD always has a a track pad and even a keyboard on every device because they know Windows is Windows >.<
(At home I would have a wireless mouse at hand for Ally, maybe even a keyboard for login screens.)
@@Chronon88 if i wind up getting an ally i might do the super scuffed move of using a steam controller with it for any mouse stuff lol
@@jammo7370 not a bad idea. I might recommend the cheapest Steam Deck + a big SD card, for the best deal on the market though. Get it second hand for even less if there are enough people moving onto these devices.
Better screen, better performance, better cooling, lighter >>> trackpad 💀
Reminder that the steam deck has haptic trackpads, the unique analog sticks etc. and the base tier model can be upgraded.
The upgrade in ssd is ba slow version, so not really an upgrade
Right? Im glad theres finally some competition that is reasonably priced, but those trackpads are amazing and *most* people would be fine getting the cheapest steam deck and putting a cheap 500gig sd card for storage. At least this steam deck killer doesnt cost twice as much, I really hate seeing those videos of machines costing twice as much trying to compare themselves to the steam deck. Id certainly expect something that cost that much to be better then it
@@SWOTHDRA not really an upgrade? Lol you can put a much better SSD in the base model steam deck than what comes on the high end model for less money.... besides the screen protector that's the only difference between the models
@@SWOTHDRA honestly SSD speeds are so overrated. You can stare at a spec sheet all you want but in real world usage it really doesn't matter.
I have a Samsung SSD in my Steam Deck and a Samsung MicroSD card. Honestly, unless it's a huge open world game, I don't care where I install the game. The MicroSD performance is completely adequate. So maybe you have to wait an extra 4 seconds when you first launch the game. Who cares lol.
SSD speeds just don't matter in a real world scenario like the specs would lead you to believe.
It would be nice to see something like a 1 year later video to see how they sand after the ally has time to mature.
That's what I'm waiting for but at that point I suspect a deck 2 announcement and the deck has proved itself to me already
Sand
@@shibeguy8660 Valve has said they don't plan on releasing a Deck 2 for many years. And if they ever were to do so, they would focus more on battery life and other QoL features instead of more performance.
I'm waiting another 10 yeras for the weight to drop. Everyone glosses over the fact that all these PC handhelds weigh like 3x more than a Nintnedo Switch. Fuck that shit. I already put my Switch down in tabletop mode during long play sessions. For how much these weigh, just get a gaming laptop and a wireless controller.
Probably another year and a half we'll have one with Strix Point and 32GB memory. 16 RDNA3+ CUs
I've watched the video, and I would like a follow up on the ram situation. Asus has recently swapped to saying AMD expo for ram isnt warrantied, despite it being essential, for the performance most reviewers using it for benchmark. As Steve said "Asus is spearheading Intel's best marketing campaign in years".
If this is Shipping with expo off, it would be super interesting to see benchmarks with it on, just to see how much performance is being left on the table
If it did ship with expo on, this is hypocrisy to save face during this X3d scandal
i skinned my wife
dude, the issue is only for desktop mobo chip not mobile one....
Have you not used a laptop lol. They all have XMP and the AMD equivalent enabled. The difference is they come sold to you as a package from Asus with all the hardware included.
While the ALLY sounds cool and all, I do not regret deciding on the steam deck one bit. Yes, the ally software and experience it gives can improve over time, but there were too many built-in issues that I did not care for. I prefer better battery life, face buttons that work well, parts that are fairly easily replaced, and the touchpads, to name a few. I do hope the ally software improves, and I look forward to seeing what Asus' next iteration may look like.
Here in germany the Pricing difference is alot greater, at 120€ between the Steam Deck 512GB and the Ally. Thats pretty hefty for me, and i wouldnt want to spend 120€ more for at times marginal improvements.
But as mentioned in the video, this isnt the final version as far as software goes, so time will tell, if they make it more worth it in terms of features and usability, justifying the higher pricing in different regions.
Yeah, 800 is wild especially, if you go for the 64gb and upgrade it yourself, so you will end up with 500 Euro roughly.
It's literally a 300 Euro difference.
Steam deck hat besseren Support, ganz klar. Ein custom APU mit Optimierung ist wesentlich besser
Sure it is not the final software. But Asus isn't exactly the company that gives you years of laptop support. They literally make a new one the following year, you get usually 2 years warranty and probably less for software support. And what happens when the Ally 2 drops? We don't have to theorize, we have already seen what happens on phones, the new software expects that you run better hardware and everything slowly starts getting more buggy.
You will see a new Ally before it gets to the same level as the current Steam Deck. There is a huge difference here that people are missing. Valve is a software company, this is what they excel at. Asus is a hardware company so obviously their hardware is way better. But we are fooling ourselves if we think the Ally will get the same software support as the Deck which is backed by a software conglomerate expert. We are dancing of joy the Ally runs Windows, but remember that is a positive and a negative, Asus has no control over the software. If a bug appears in Windows or something messes with their program for controls, it is out of their hands and the user has to fix it.
@@Nordicsz We also don't really know how Valve will support their Deck, really. We only get promises, and I still don't trust Valve after Index, and also their failed controller.
@@zxbc1 all those still get updates last I heard, even though they don't sell anymore. Which speaks a lot for Valves commitment, unlike Asus.
Supporting ASUS at this time is a hard pass till they start cleaning up their act. Thanks for the deck Gaben.
Wait till they start exploding in your hands, but it's your fault because you played at 120Hz
What do you mean clean up their act?
@@drunk_puppy8678 gamers Nexus covered it in a recent video.
This, I know this video was likely before GN video, but damn if it ain't bad timing.
facts
I'd be interested in longevity tests on the Ally. Hopefully it doesn't crank the core voltage and make the CPU self-immolate. *cough cough*
12:28 You can open the keyboard with the shortcut "M2 + Up(Dpad)" so you don't have to go digging in the quick settings menu.
I still prefer my steam deck only because of the track pads. I use them quite a lot for mouse heavy games like civ since the joystick controllers just doesn't work very well.
I was curious if I'd find the trackpads "useful" I'm super glad I decided to find out... They're fantastic! They're super useful & a massive comfort bonus for use over thumbsticks in a number of games, their additional programmability has been a MASSIVE value add. ❤ Valve have seriously nailed their handheld.
There are infinitely more games I'm enjoying on Deck than I'm "missing out on" because they're too big for the Deck. And the ones that are too big for the Deck? They run fantastic on my gaming laptop instead, AND I can always just stream them via Steam Link if I want.
Repairable, reliable, affordable. The 256Gb Steam Deck is still the ultimate gaming value as far as I'm concerned. That model is very much "good to go" right out of the box.
Sleep function too!
Same here. Minecraft, strategy games etc. Trackpad is must for me and only reason I Got steamdeck
This. The versatility of the Deck's controls along with years of development Valve has put into Steam Input makes it actually possible to play games that don't support controllers.
I don't get why these devices aren't getting track pads. If it does not have one it's not worth considering imo. So many games are significantly better and not having them is a huge burden.
The thing that still has me thinking "steam deck" is the haptic touchpads. I only played with the deck a little bit, but absolutely ADORED my steam controller (I wish I didn't throw it out when it died) and those touchpads on the deck are just downright the best aim control method in retro FPS titles there is.
I'm EVENTUALLY gonna get a steam deck. I particularly like that the deck has not been incrementally feature creeping and just launched like a CONSOLE. A V2 should have a console-like release schedule, IMO. Some new players will come out that are faster (like the ally) but by having a more "nintendo" like (and god that feels weird, I don't like nintendo much) schedule of just releasing the consoles that THEY want to make, making them REALLY good, and not trying to perpetually compete on performance at the expense of well thought out design, they'll probably keep their crown of the portable gaming kings.
the reality is that nintendo games wait on nintendo consoles, while PC games will not wait for the already barely competent performance of a handheld. decks MUST get refreshes more than once in a half decade or else someone else like asus is just going to come along and scoop up the market valve pioneered
@carb har harb car I totally see your point, but i think a more apt comparison to the switch is, other than the raw modernity that is the sony/Microsoft duel (who have many more modern AAA games like PC) but the portability means that the raw graphical horsepower is a lot less of a critical concern when the device can so easily play the colossal curren library and can STREAM modern stuff - I wouldn't even really want to play modern AAA stuff on a portable anyways. So in that way, I see a value in the higher end, more premium answers like ayaneo makes for big laptop money, but I want valve to focus on maintaining this exact market segment it has, of not raising its own costs by constantly retooling for incremental performance, instead focusing on the WHOLE device and taking the time to get it right.
Because as we saw here, despite the big potential performance gains with the rog(and the ergos) the steam deck is still a very very strong competitor because it has a more mature, thoroughly thought out complete package.
Different strokes, and I like that Asus can put this quality out. I just think the handheld market valve is shooting for should remain in this $400-550 "true console" range and setting th goal of only competing with themselves.
Also comming from a steam controller user: I love the deck, I don't think the touchpads on here are as good as SC (simply due to size and positioning) but they're still many times better than any alternatives other than a mouse and I still feel like they did a great compromise on the placements of all the controls, some elements aren't perfect but every part is perfectly usable which is the most important part anyways
This is my take on the ROG Ally
+ Amazing performance if you are okay with 1-2 hours of Battery life.
+ Higher resolution display allow more flexibility. (Increased graphical fidelity, better scaling in emulators).
- Terrible performance if you want to conserve battery life beyond 3 hours (compared to the Steam Deck)
- It cannot go much below 7-9W due to the 8-core CPU. So you are stuck with 4 hours at most, with REALLY bad GPU performance. Steam Deck can have 4-8.5 hours with better performance (Which is apparent in older PC-/AAA- games, indies, 2D games and emulation)
- Lack of touchpads, You can't play a lot of PC games intuitively without touchpads or navigate around all the "jank" of PC gaming (launchers, mouse-only menus etc)
- Unknown repairability. This will likely be bad with Asus pulling both support and repairs beyond the warranty period.
Also, it's quite clear that this is a joint effort between Microsoft and ASUS to tone down the disruption of the Steam Deck. It's so blatantly obvious from the ASUS presentation that Microsoft want to position themselves on the front page when it comes to gaming. But the thing is. Linux is starting to run Windows games better than Windows itself. And since many Linux distributions are easier to use- , more stable than Windows-, have no ads or telementry data collection (!!!). Well it's starting to be really hard to justify Windows. And Microsoft sense that. That people might just move away from Windows. The Steam Deck is that bridge. (although KDE Plasma is quite awful compared to many other Linux desktop environments) I really hope that people don't buy into the marketing too much and that we can have the Linux transition that end-users deserve.
@@kelvin1316Also there's a lot of stuff happening in the Linux world, soon we'll have KDE Plasma 6, Pop!_OS (popular desktop Linux OS) will have their own desktop environment, and more
Very nice summary, it's basically the same as what I wrote on a piece of paper. Just add the suspend feature.
Don't forget the god-tier controller customisation of the Steam Deck! Valve found the perfect solution to unifying the control schemes - make it easy for everyone to program their own controls.
So this is the year of the Linux afterall? Windows isn't going anywhere, like it or not. The simple fact that Ally runs full-fledged Windows 11 and can essentially serve as a docked PC when I need it beats SD in my book.
@@r3tr4d Hehe, well I hope you like your ad-infested telementry data collecting experience in Windows. :) The user experience where Windows 11 even starts suggesting new wallpapers for you to enjoy without you agreeing. Or how it forces you to use web browsers you haven't chosen yourself. Not forget the fantastic feature of how it hides essential commands in the right-click context menu. Ah, what a beatuiful OS to behold. :)
Nothing drives me more nuts than using Windows. It's made for Microsofts profit margins, not for end users. You don't own your PC with Windows. Microsoft does, and its a bridge to serve ads for Microsoft.
Linux is as much PC as Windows is a PC. Heck even Mac is a PC. I don't know when people started to believe that Windows has exclusive rights to the personal computer space. Ultimately an OS should serve its purpose of an operating system. not shoving proprietary services down people's throats. But it seems like people have forgotten this and defend Microsoft even.
Also, you can run Windows on a Steam Deck. You don't need to stick with the OS that comes with your device if you don't want to.
I really wish in the future more of these handhelds will go with steamos, I want it pushed further, I'm feeling pretty done with windows and apple.
Touch pads.... These things need them IMO. Maybe it's because I don't play FPS's but I can't even imagine buying another handheld without them. I guess I'm the odd one because most reviews barely mention this with the Ally.
SteamOS is a highly modified Linux OS which is still going to be a pita to run games on. I rather see Microsoft stop doing stupid things with Windows than a Linux OS being ported. Windows also technically has better battery optimization as compared to Linux. More support and overall is still ideal for gaming. Windows 11 just sucks right now.
@@valentinewilson3600
1: SteamOS is not "highly modified". It's a pretty standard Linux desktop OS with Steam thrown on top.
2: MS will not stop doing dumb things. Windows has continuously gotten worse since 7 and nothing is going to change that besides having to compete with another OS in PC gaming (like Linux).
3: Steam OS is extremely easy to run most games on, the experience blows any Windows handheld out of the water. I can easily run my entire Steam library, and that includes multiplayer games
4: Where did you get the info that Windows has better battery optimization? Linux almost always gets superior battery life on the same hardware compared to Windows
I strongly value my battery life, so the majority of all Steam Deck games I play run flawlessly at 10w or below, often 7w or below, and in a surprising number of cases at the 3w floor. It's pretty insane how little that limits me though.
That's called optimization
It’s rare that my Steam Deck runs at more than 10 watts.
@@Isamu27298 the only game that tested that was Tales of Arise and Elden Ring for me xd
By pure logic, the Battery Life is THE most important aspect for an Handled device...i just dont get those who said the contrary...And the RoG Ally is a way too much drainer...
Same. I usually aim for 3-4 hours of battery life on the Deck. Incidentally the fan is hardly noticeable at those settings. Unless you're playing new AAA games the Ally doesn't seem to make much sense. At least give it a couple of months to see how ASUS/Microsoft get on with software updates.
I might consider when I know the firmware upgrades won't blow it up
I nearly sold my Steamdeck for an Ally. Then I thought about the support the Steamdeck gets, especially from the community. So I decided to keep it over the Ally.
thats a big plus valve has replaced at least 3 things from VR for me out of warranty and even ships 1st
sell your steamdeck and get a lapto
@@raccoon2276 Brother in Christ, Laptops are not as portable like Handhelds
@@raccoon2276 I like analog sticks and being able to stand up and stuff :>
I have a Deck and i just got the ROG Ally. I love Ally so much. Use it every day
I'll probably stick to my steam deck mainly because I already have it. However, I am glad to see valve getting competition as it will lead to better products in the future from both valve and Asus, aswell as anyone else trying to step into this market.
Facts people complaing and fighting overthem not realizing they're both great and have pros and cons this is just a start for comp for companies to come with better more powerful more optimized systems etc... so we get better systems enjoy what you have or get both if u can both systems are great in their own way
The era of portable PCs has begun. These got potential
I just bought a steam deck a month ago, and seeing this I still do not regret it. It cannot be overstated enough but the dual touchpads on the front of the steam deck are absolutely killer. Having to use the analog stick for the mouse is really not a pleasant experience(something I learned back on my nvidia shield portable). And having 4 mappable rear buttons instead of 2 is also really nice.
Not to mention if you press the power button the game just sleeps and suspends, no library hold up or anything
No touchpads kills the Asus interest for me as well. It is critical to playing a lot of not-so-controller friendly PC games
I'd rather have Ally's touch Screen.
You will regret it in exactly a month when it releases. It’s okay, FOMO is real - maybe you can email support and see if they will return?
@@immerse_yaself deck also has a touch screen 🤷♂️
I think if I had the cash for either of these I would still go for steam deck due to community support, os, touchpads, grip, and out of the box repair ability
Me too. Maybe in six months if they community around the asus product gets good I would consider it. But for now I like emudeck on steamdeck.
None of that matters to me so I wish I hadn't pulled the trigger a few months ago on a Steam Deck right about now
@@caleb7475 yea I do think that there will be good strength in the asus ally community but I think the best path for asus would be to work with valve on using steamos so that game profiles and a lot of the software benefits can be experienced on both devices (also great for the growth of Linux)
@@lithepanther thats fair enough, I hope you're still enjoying your steam deck though :D
@@lithepanther Sell your deck to fund your Ally then!
The battery test only used UA-cam loop, other tests in real life gaming scenarios with lower spec games on vids from other creators seem to show the steam deck having the edge to a more significant degree than this video outlines (from what I’ve seen anyways!) - this is probably a fairly big deal depending on how much you play unplugged :) For AAA I think it’s a lil more shaky
What exactly will happen when inevitably, any part of Ally will need service or repair? Or when they inevitably drop support for drivers or updates altogether? Can you replace switches if they joycon drift? I would not touch anything ASUS made with a 10 foot pole, Valve has made a name for themselves by caring for Steam Deck well, and I am buying one.
Yeah it's weird nobody is talking about repairability
Yeah ASUS repairability and serviceability is absolute dogshit and if their QA is anything to go by, once it gets out of warranty it'll shit out on you and you'll be left holding the bag. Im currently dealing with this exact scenario with a 2020 Zephryus g15. Damn thing literally cannot have cpu boost enabled or it'll crash when left idle. A *damn* shame for a 1000$+ machine.
This is the sole reason that's preventing me from considering the Ally
Uhm, I think since it's a Window machine already, what should Asus do more when it's completed
The Deck is a Linux gaming machine and when Valve stops supporting it, boof, you can't play new games
Also, since Steam Deck uses SteamOS, any purchase you made on Steam is a revenue for Valve. The revenue encourages Valve to keep supporting the Deck
Asus doesn't enjoy such luxury, once you have bought Ally, that's all the revenue Asus can get.
Valve sucks for repairabilty. They claim they will have part available but don’t follow through. I have an index and I broke a lighthouse and the replacement lighthouses were sold out for 2 years but they were still selling the complete kits so they had lighthouses to package with the hmd but not individually. They claim they sell lighthouses individually but they weren’t actually doing so. They were prioritizing getting new customers rather than taking care of their old ones. Valve customer support told me I could get a new kit with a new hmd or buy the htc lighthouse which isn’t as good costs more and wouldn’t match my other lighthouses.
Best selling point for me for the SD that you guys didn't even touch on is the sleep functionality. Until Windows matches what Steam OS can do on that, I'll stick with my SD
Agreed love putting my steamdeck to sleep in the middle of a game and picking it right back up the next day its a thing of beauty forsure
@bean-whipped mine often gets bugged audio after waking it up. It still works but I have to restart the game to fix the sound
I’d love to see how the ASUS would work with the Steam OS installed
True, how much of Valve's wizardry is Proton and the highly customized OS is a good question, the ROG ran Windows.
Install it then :D
I would like to see steam os installed on it and more manufacturers coming out with handheld console running steam. Hopefully the other game launchers would come to the table.
I think it's high time Microsoft and Valve offered a Steam/Xbox gaming mode for these tablet/handheld systems for the more casual consumers anyhow. I don't see why they wouldn't, they'd be able to sell more products under the OS without even necessarily having to build the hardware, given that well others are doing it anyway.
@@ThomasNosey probably isn't that simple. Wifi drivers, controller drivers, screen drivers, etc. Often don't get solid linux versions. Open Source community might eventually get them working but new laptops and wot generally take a while to work properly in Linux, and some of them never really do.
Granted, Asus themselves could release blobs for those drivers with little effort and just have it work great from the get-go, but I'm pretty sure Microsoft is subsidizing the device so there's essentially no chance of that.
Linus keep the faith! Love ya! I saw your video here and really enjoy my new Rog Ally Extreme. This is a gamer that owned a Timex St Clair way way back.....
Until Asus back tracks on their very shitty stance on the motherboard fiasco, there's no way I'm investing a single dollar with them no matter how impressive a product might be.
Dont worry i'll buy one for you
What happened with their mobos
AMEN BROTHER THE ONLY WAY WE CAN FORCE COMPANIES TO CHANGE THEIR ANTICONSUMER PRACTICES IS WITH OUR WALLETS !!!!
STOP BUYING ASUS BOTTOM LINE
@@offbeatkyle 🐑
That's kinda dumb bro. This thing is incredible
The Steam Deck doing so well in low power mode is because SteamOS is VERY light compared to Windows, and thus there's move overhead for games at limited processing power like that.
It's not even running the games natively. It's running Windows games.
@@OutOfNameIdeas2 It's running GAMES. Without Windows bloatware hogging resources.
@@BenDover-dl2pl it's running windows native games in Linux, that is overhead
@@harisiregar232 have you used Proton? I've gotten better performance on Linux than Windows on the same PC. Don't underestimate the bl0at
@@harisiregar232 it is barely any overhead
Speaking from personal experience, it's way easier for me to recommend 400$ over 700$. Yeah the storage is a factor but it's something easily changed by the end user and so far my friends have installed mostly small games. That price tag is just an awesome affordable selling point.
The regular Z1 is $599, and when you match the storage with a micro sd card for the steam deck (+$50), it becomes 599 vs 449.
@@Soreyu the cheap Ally's SoC has a 4CU GPU instead of 12CU, so expect roughly a third the performance. That thing is DOA.
@@Soreyu not available in EU* We have to put out $700+taxes+import so more like $850 and in some countries, probably closer to $900
@@tnaxpw 800 euro in finland
@@tnaxpw probably $1000 in my country lmao (Indonesia)
To be honest, the deck has so much to offer, and i love the vision, and the subtle differences of the deck so much, that i am not drawn to the ally at all. It is a great device, i just personally love the deck more.
That is ending fast its reached it limits new gamers are struggling bad on it 😂
@@bionic3500 The ally is newer. It is natural that it is faster, but not everybody needs the most power hungry games and settings. The deck still has so much to offer. Although I have to agree, it is aging.
Price to performance still great regardless of that ...
Power is everything when it comes to gaming.
I think it just goes to show how impressive the Steam Deck really was
Is*
@@codyrap95 Steam Deck really 'was' when it first released. I wasn't wrong
Was and still is.
@@Gurusum6 Was, because the Ally and other competitors are here now. It's not impressive anymore.
@@griffin955 Software is still ahead, so it's still impressive.
big factor with these portable pcs is how they handle support over a year+ after release in my opinion. like how committed are they to fixing any issues tht arise post launch and how far, will they add new features? community interactions? how much control as an owner of the rog ally do i have before i 'void' the warranty.
Not just ASUS but also Microsoft. With the Steam Deck you can expect it to perform exactly as well or better in 5 years from now. With Windows 11, Microsoft doesn't have the greatest track record of having the latest version of their OS run on older devices.
@@seeibe steam deck is literally unkillable. Hardware wise its almost fully repairable and very easy to repair. Absolutely nothing is glued, normal screws and everything is modular. Software wise, that thing is Linux with an open BIOS. Even if valve ever stops supporting it, the community will make custom Linux distros for it and will never let it die. I expect the steam deck to still be very much alive in 10-15 years. Not to mention many people have this console to play indies and emulation, stuff that will work the same forever. This is a console to keep. We can buy the next versions of it for better performance but this is not a console to throw away. This will stay an emulation beast and "community funny hobby" forever even after valve abandons it.
Maybe Asus will have a feature to send a BIOS that will void your warranty.
Its just a windows PC. What support do you need?
With how they treat armoury create and their history with software. I wouldn’t trust asus with a teen foot pole. They can barely fix their piece of shit broken spyware bloatware armoury crate, and keep it working. They barely release updates to their products software even when there are known improvements that could be made, or if a bug is minor enough they’ll ignore it.
Should be mentioned that a 64GB Steam deck can be upgraded to 512GB for $50 making the Ally a $250 premium. Also I would miss the steamdeck's touch pads in certain games. I'm glad there more competition in this space though.
Or, in my case, for $150 CAD upgrade the deck to 2TB.
The touch pads add too much bulk. While the Steam Deck is fine at home, it is way too big as a portable device.
@@sophieedel6324 Speak for yourself
@@sophieedel6324 Yeah I will gladly lose out on the touchpads for a notably smaller device if that's the tradeoff to be made. People bringing up RTS games and stuff like that to justify them. I can't imagine bothering with the sorts of game genres where the touchpads would make a huge difference on a steam deck (or any handheld really). Ironically they're probably far more useful in Windows which the Deck doesn't ship with but if I get an Ally I'd likely just load HoloISO on it anyway instead of Windows. The screen is the real game changer considering how garbage tier the Steam deck's one is.
Only if you mention that the Ally has double the amount of storage at that price point already and a far more competent chipset
just preordered it! so excited!!!
The fact that the Deck is actually $399 + 50-70 bucks for a 512gb SD card still kills everything else for me.
Smooth brain take.
It has emmc storage instead of SSD in base model
Yeah but the decks hardwares is old school, can't handle most games
@@animesh2217 emmc is still quite fast and every games I tried running from an SD card were just fine.
@@horacegentleman3296 How so? Its sooo much cheaper
From my experience, even though I would like a Steam Deck Pro-like high performance handheld, the touchpads are invaluable when you don't expect to have a mouse or keyboard nearby.
That's what the touchscreen is for
@@LuisPerez-5 Then explain why laptops with touchscreens all still have trackpads lmao. They're different inputs for different use cases.
In games the touchpads can be great. As a mouse it’s terrible. Especially if you plan to press them to simulate a mouse click. You almost never click the right thing… navigating steam rom manager using those touchpads is a nightmare. Invaluable for games… a disaster as a mouse
@Luis Perez you can't use the touchscreen for games
@@gooddempsey I agree, but it's still better than nothing like in the Ally's case.
I'm happy to see more options and competition in this space to move the industry forward. The Steam Deck is such an incredible and polished experience that I have no interest in switching devices until a SD2. I also would never buy anything from ASUS, but that's personal preference. I hope anyone that buys an Ally is happy with it. These types of releases are a win-win for gamers in the end!
You're missing out on Asus, trust me.
@@LATasKara Asus was great but I have had issues with them the last couple years. Now they are even exploding CPUs
@@LATasKara For now, nah
I purchased multiple motherboards and GPU's from asus, across multiple generations. I don't know why you wouldn't buy their stuff when they are one of the best. Never had an issue and logged thousands of hours on their products.