I HATE being lied to… but I love the ROG Ally
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- Опубліковано 28 тра 2024
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Asus was a bit misleading with their marketing during the preview cycle, but we've now had time to properly test the ROG Ally Z1 Extreme and it's still a very impressive handheld. We were already excited, but when they FINALLY confirmed the final price we almost couldn't believe it. Time to sell your Steam Deck? Maybe...
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MUSIC CREDIT
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Intro: Laszlo - Supernova
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CHAPTERS
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0:00 Intro
2:00 15W Performance
2:55 25W Performance
3:55 Battery
4:30 Display
7:30 Cooling
8:25 Noise
9:25 Software
11:58 Ally Advantages
13:20 Physical Aspects
14:50 Conclusion
17:43 Outro - Наука та технологія
Thanks to dbrand for sponsoring today’s video! Head to shortlinus.com for all your ROG Ally screen protector and skin needs.
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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.
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
@@DenLoken You are right.
@@DenLoken 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.
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 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
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 😂
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
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.
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
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.
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.
I love how you just tell it how it is even when sponsored
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
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
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.....
Seems like a decent start but the Steam Deck has had way more thought and care put into the user experience it would seem. It's like Asus put all the cool features on the whiteboard, but Valve actually thought about how to implement them and how they would interact. If they go for a 2nd iteration, they can probably dethrone the Steam Deck, but by then we'll probably have a new steam deck.
You're very right about that Valve really did think about the interplay between the various functions and -to me this is key- listened a LOT to the community in developing the software. All the functions people see now are for a large part things the community asked for, like Game profiles and more settings in the quick menu etc.
Valve also really wants you to go and experiment with the device - it's really your device. Partnering with iFixit is just such a big finger to Apple and their anti-consumer hatred etc.
@@KLAP_TVfr bro valve is for the community and always have been. I definitely believe the deck will get better and better cuz they actually listen/care bout their consumers
Value didn’t put much thought into the Deck’s aesthetics or its screen display. Both look HIDEOUS, so so UGLY
@@AZBCDE The screen is fine, could it be better? Sure, but then that raises the price.
The aesthetics overall don't really matter in this because that's subjective. It isn't a car or clothes, it's meant to play games.
Aesthetics will come in to play years down the line when more companies have products that can compete with the steam deck, giving people more choice, which would be great.
But at the moment, everyone is so focused on "beating the steam deck" they don't actually look at why the steam deck is holding it's ground.
They made it hella simple to use out the box for (and this is the most important part) even the average person: "Game mode" is the default, here's your games list and if it has a green checkmark all you have to do is download them, and you're good to go.
@@AZBCDE Nah you gotta be smoking crack as the design is perfect for what it is.
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.
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 😅
Excellent review, definitely appreciate the attention to detail as always!
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
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
Why on earth would you even consider switching if you already have a device for that category? They are the same generation.
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.
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.
Do you think replacing the thermal paste might yield slightly better performance? I didn’t see anything about premium thermal past or Liquid Metal on the ROG listing. Knowing ROG they are usually proud of there cooling solution or thermal paste choice.
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
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
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
Thank you for this complete review! ❤
A year later and the Ally never quite became the hit everyone thought it would.
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
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 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
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?
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
Wishing to meet Linus the Genius in person...
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.
@@SimonWoodburyForgetthey have 2 back button i think
But the deck lacks the performance and is limited to certain games
Dude abides.
3:40 That really is incredible when I remember I had a GTX1060 at release, and it struggled to do 60fps at 1080p medium.
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.
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
I'm very excited for the future of handheld gaming. Probably still a long way but I will definitely grab the follow up to the steam deck.
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.
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 just got mine yesterday. was playing around with it all night. Such a cool device
just preordered it! so excited!!!
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!
I wonder if they will start shipping it in a bundle with a fire extinguisher
LMAO
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
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
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
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'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
Thanks for your versus post. Your video is wayyy more informative than any other post on the same topic..
Way more boring and annoying
I fixed the button sticking issue by taking the cover off and getting a fine grit sand paper and ever so slightly sending it out a little more.
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.
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.
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.
This thing is insane. It’s crazy the things we can run on laptops and things such as the ally these days while keeping the devices quiet
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 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
Your comment about XG eGPU is the gold of the whole review! Wish they have that especially supporting 4090 desktop card.
Just got mine today. Its pretty sweet. And I got it a day early
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
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.
I haven’t used the deck but just preordered the ally. I like using Macs for work, productivity, etc and parallels runs all of my RTS games but shooters are rough, and games like Diablo are strictly direct x 12 these days. Not to mention a need for serious processing power so you need a pro model to jump the gap (only to find out the game probably won’t run great anyway).
The ally is the perfect calling. It will take care of my racing games, shooters, and RPGs. Even better it can practically be played in the car and charged via usb. I have zero expectations for gaming on the go so battery life isn’t much of a concern as much as portability and the ability to play direct x 12 games. A small gaming laptop I’m sure won’t even make it an hour so we will see how this goes!
Amazing job at reviewing both products and not being biased making sure to list major pros and cons about the both
👍🏿 and a sub don’t worry I made sure to put on the 🔔
He said the Steam Deck Sucks at the beginning of the video.
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.
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".
I got a customized Steam Deck with a 1tb swap and I just got my Asus Ally yesterday. I enjoy both, but the Ally has some great visuals on the screen. I'm keeping both.
I'm not sure if this feature was implemented yet when this video came out or not, but there are some simple default commands using the buttons on the back of the Ally that make its ease of use a lot better.
M1/M2 + D-Pad UP = Pull Up Keyboard
M1/M2 + D-Pad Left = Go To Desktop
M1/M2 + D-Pad Down = Task Manager
And remember, these are default now, so once you set up your Ally and update Armor Crate SE to the latest version, this should work for you. Cheers!
Its a LTT video so you can be sure the research was bad and there are mistakes not fixed...
To be fair to LTT, the Armory Crate SE software has gotten significantly better over a few updates. I have no doubt in my mind that these features probably weren't available when they made this video. @@bepowerification
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.
I’ve been waiting for a steam deck for a long time. It was sold out for for a long time so I was able to buy it fairly recently. As soon as I bought it, a couple weeks later the Ally was released. Happens every time, I want the best gaming device but I ain’t rich so now they release the best hand held! Thanks
This is so cool, if this were integrated into a book along with your other ideas I would read it on the spot
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.
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 😂
If I didn't already have a steam deck, I would definitely get this, but I use my Steam deck for mostly indie games or less demanding games. Big AAA titles I us my desktop for, so the extra power on the ROG isn't as big a deal to me.
Cool review and comparsion!
Thanks for the video
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.
i disagree. until they sell me an audio board, that is. (it's not available on ifixit and my vol+ is stuck)
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.
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.
I think Valve was really smart opting for more juice for the GPU than the CPU. A 4 cores CPU paired with an 8 CU GPU was more balanced IMO, giving really good performance at lower TDPs. I think that for a Deck 2, valve will opt for a 6-core CPU.
Hey! I thought you guys were gone forever. Glad you’re back!
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.
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!
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 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 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
to be fair, my steam decks face buttons also got stuck a bunch of times, had to open it up and sand the holes in the case a bit and it fixed it lol.
Just bought mine, excited to get home and try it!
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 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
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 💀
I bought the top dog steam deck about 6 months ago, didnt even know about the ROG. But im honestly happy with the steam deck. Its simple to use and it doesn't get hot. The only drawback is the 800p screen. Runs everything i play pretty well
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.
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
I have a Deck and i just got the ROG Ally. I love Ally so much. Use it every day
"120hz at 1080p!... but, make sure you're plugged into an outlet or this thing won't even last an Uber ride."
Nearly every review has mentioned the buttons. I don't know how anyone can deal with buttons getting STUCK under the body. That would drive me nuts during gameplay.
Buttons from ally or deck ?
@@m.g.a3481 ally
@@m.g.a3481 The ally.
To be fair some of the earlier Steam Deck models also had that issue, but it was an easy RMA. Idk if I'd trust Asus with that.
@@pathway4582 In this case it seems like a design flaw since every review mentions an issue with the buttons. Even if you get a replacement it's the same just as Linus even points out on his retail model.
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.
You can also now buy an updated display screen for the Steam Deck thats just as vibrant as the Ally.
Great vid. Pre-ordered Ally and D-brand screen protector because of it. 👍
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