A fully capable portable PC with the option to download or stream from any service including Steam is clearly better for any Windows fan. Ignoring the limitations of Steamdeck for the sake of a lo res OLED is silly.
As a handheld enthusiast it was so hard to not buy a Steam Deck when they came out but I wanted to wait in case an OLED model was released. Than the ROG Ally I almost bought one but the idea of having to deal with Windows 11 held me back. Got the glossy Deck OLED finally and am so glad I waited. What Valve has created is truly special. The HDR screen is so good. It feels like a premium handheld console that's unlocked.
Me too I really wanted an OG deck but I had a feeling that I should just wait. Then I saw the Ally and I just about pulled the trigger at Best Buy. So happy with my 512gb Steam Deck OLED
I was not as patient and bought an ROG Ally. The experience was so clunky and so many apps like game pass and EA pass not working, I returned it after 4 days of owning it and bought the 512 oled. Glad I did the experience has been seamless and the screen is so incredible it really adds to the experience. Also wow the joysticks are just so much better on the deck than the Ally, but thats just my personal preference.
Bought a NOLED Deck on day 1 and never regretted it. Also have a pair of NReal Air glasses which run on micro olled displays. So there is handheld, big screen oled glory available for a while now. I totally get the appearance of the Steam Deck Oled though, it is a very, very good device.
I have both, and they are great machines. If I had to choose one it would be a tough choice. I would pick the Steam Deck Oled. If I still had my old lcd deck I would go for the Rog.
@@GarydeBrown VRR with LFC is a gamechanger for these handhelds. With Steam Deck you have to mess about changing refresh rate and using Vsync. Games just run much smoother on my Ally than my LCD Steam Deck. Would never buy any screen for my desktop PC or a handheld without VRR. Would of been tempted if the OLED Deck had VRR as it would of complimented it's lower framerates.
The Steam Deck OLED wins it for me every time. Having slightly more power sounds great in theory, but in practice, having a longer battery life is far more important. And if you’re at home e anyway, you’d just play on your vastly more powerful gaming PC.
I own the last three big handhelds, the AYANEO 2s, the legion go and the Ally. I avoided the SD due to the screen quality but after getting the oled SD, I’ve sold my other three handhelds.
Wow, that says a lot! I have a SD OLED and love it, but I was thinking about adding an Ally into the collection alongside it (mostly for the games that require some extra performance). However when I see comments like yours, I realize I may be better off just keeping that extra $600
@@CompleteProducer84i have both and use both. When at home, if i dont need track pads i use ally cranked out with overclocked 170hz. Ill play lighter titles locally, or heavier games streaming with moonlight/sunshine to my desktop. Its great to play 1080 high refresh rate. If im out and about its always going to be steam deck for battery life.
I have the ally and AFTER the updates and config it's decent. I have 90% of my games on epic games compared to steam where I only have 3 games, so the ally is good for me.
@@Mr.2GD you can, using lutris( the original launcher ) or the way i prefer, using heroic launcher( the interface is better in my opinion and i like it more )
Is important to know that the SteamDeck keeps getting updates from devs that make the experience that much better. ROG for as good of a device as they make it will be just like most of their gaming PCs. Every year there will be a new model and support on the previous models will dwindle
@@carimpest The issue theyre pointing out is not ASUS support, but game developer support. Game developers are already targeting Steam, so its easy to also target Steamdeck at the same time.
@Stevieboy7 but both systems use the same architecture so optimization for amd chipsets would improve performance not only in the steam deck but also in the rog ally or any other amd based system
@@Stevieboy7this wouldn’t matter? If they target steam deck it’ll just run just as good if not even better on the ally since it’s also got steam as a launcher
@@huntertipton6197it’s not being optimized for the ‘steam application’ but the hardware of the deck itself. This doesn’t mean the Ally won’t get better performance from it, but there will be greater increase for the deck. However, the Ally still does have naturally more power which means it doesn’t need as much optimization
The trackpads are a must for me and the biggest reason why I can't justify getting an ROG Ally (ignoring the fact I already had a Steam Deck by the time it was announced). They really do pick up the slack when it comes to PC gaming on a handheld, and even if you don't need it to make a game control well, it still adds a ton of customization. Same with the back buttons. I like having the 4 the Deck has, but at least that one isn't a deal breaker for me. I'd take the two back buttons of the ROG Ally over no back buttons any day of the week.
I honestly rarely use the track pads for gaming but they are a game changer for using the deck in desktop mode. When im in desktop mode and trying to browse the internet, downloading and installing mods, or whatever else, i dont wanna have to try to use some janky joystick mouse or smudge up the screen by tapping on it.
Be honest, you really use those track pads for gaming? I don't know, that just seems uncomfortable and annoying. No reason to use with a device designed to be used as a controller with a touch screen.
I use the track pads all the time, it depends on the type of games you play. there's a lot of MMO's i play like guildwards where the track pads act as extra buttons for mounts and skills, or when i play sims 3 i much prefer using the track pads. I also use my steamdeck as an actual PC if im going to be out of the house for a few days, and i use the deck instead of bringing a laptop with me as well. the trackpads are really freaking useful then if i dont want to bring or forget to bring a mouse with me as well. @@milo_andrs
As a long time PC user that loves to tinker, I have no regrets with my Rog Ally. No issues with windows and asus armory crate so far. I have a powerful desktop pc and a gaming laptop as well. The Rog Ally will be perfect for when I’m traveling.
I'm still in between a rog ally or a gaming laptop, its not like im going to be traveling that much but when i go and visit family that something else, i do have a beast gaming desktop so im unsure what would be best for price/performance
Its great that both of these exist. I personally own an ally but I can see the appeal of that battery life offered by the steam deck. I'm plugged in 90% of the time with everything cranked to 10. If I travelled I would probably still choose the ally because of its smaller size.
This is literally the most difficult decision of my life. I want the Ally but the SD card problems and battery life is very problematic rn so I guess I’ll just wait a lil bit longer.
@@rodrigolopezmaya5974It's here and actually has the best possible upgrades for a refresh. Literally double the battery size, 80whr. That is f*cking enormous. Not only that but the ram is faster and you get more of it which are also bigger improvements than they sound. The ally has a much more powerful chip than the steam deck but the same memory bandwidth and the deck is already held back by its memory. On the ally this legit just mean about +10% performance The extra memory also significantly cuts how much data has to be shuffled around between the ssd and ram which uses tons of power. First handheld I'm actually considering
I've been looking into them, and finally bit the bullet with a Steam Deck OLED when it was announced simply due to the battery life. That was my biggest fear when it came to a portable system, I'll figure out soon enough when my wife finally gives it to me for Christmas if I made the right choice. 😂😂
I found one of the coolest uses for the touchpads, if you emulate the switch version of skyward sword there’s a controller profile you can download that changes the controls so that right stick is camera and the touch pad is the sword and it works amazing
To each their own but after getting the Ally I didn't look back. I haven't once had to worry it it will play a game or not, whether it was Dos, emulated this or that or even the latest AAA titles. That wasn't the case with the Deck, oled or not. If anything it's solidified my faith in Asus again and I'm looking forward to the Ally 2 whenever it gets released.
I got it on launch day and have used it every day since. My gaming laptop collects dust. I haven't had any issues. 0. I upgraded the SDD to 2tb and have a 1tb micro SD as well. All my current play games, Palworls, Baldurs Gate 3, diablo 4, Elden Ring all stay on the SSD. I have mostly emulators and movies on the Micro SD. The updates from Asus have been amazing and keep coming. I'm more excited now about a Ally 2 then ever before
@@araiakunin352 Thank you for the quick reply! I am looking to get one of these to replace my 10 year old custom gaming PC. As much as I have loved my computer she's getting old and is having a hard time keeping up with the new games. Also within these 10 years I have been diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder which causes daily pain and inflammation which makes it hard for me to feel like sitting in my computer chair and at my computer desk for long periods of time. I'm also tired of my computer taking up so much space and I want to being able to take it on the go with me to doctor's appointments (My doc is over 2 hours away). I WAS originally looking into an ASUS gaming laptop about a year ago to solve these issues but now that the ROG has released I'm considering it instead. Mainly I prefer the handheld form factor. I also like that it runs windows because that's what I've used my entire life and I have a lot of windows based games already that I could play right out of the box. My main concern is the battery life. Does this cause you annoyance on a day to day basis? Have you had to purchase an external power source like a battery pack? If so which brand is best? I've looked up so many videos but most of them seem to be fake brand deals so I don't really know the best bang for my buck. I know that using 30w mode uses more power than say 15w mode. I'm not a picky gamer who needs my games to look and play perfect and be 60-120fps. I just want them to be playable at a stable 30fps. Would 15w be good for that or is 30w inevitable? I apologize for the super long comment and all the questions. I've done a lot of research on the ROG ally but it can be hard to tell in the sea of opinions what is factual and what is the truth. If you take the time to read and answer this, thank you.
Great comparison. Because of cost out the gate, longer battery life and that sweet OLED display, the Steam Deck OLED wins for me. I actually already have an orginal Steam Deck but if I were in the market for a PC gaming device right now I would go for Steam Deck OLED.
Just so you are aware, you can run games from other launchers on the steam deck, it's just not as seamless as a native steam game, but the same level of seamless as *any* game on the Ally.
@@SolidSt8DjI’m about to purchase a steam deck oled but my concern is that I have quite a few games on Epic library apart from steam. Any idea if I can run them?
Honestly the biggest boon for the ROG ally is something that I don't see mentioned too often, it's not just a VRR screen, it's a VRR+Low Framerate Compensation screen. So if your framerate is anywhere above 28fps (at least last I checked) you will have 0 visual jutter from the screen/vsync or tearing. The only hit to your play will be logic/latency related which is software driven 9/10 times. Which is massive for the ROG Ally and is something the Deck OLED only can approximate a fraction of with the ability to manually set the refresh rate. But even then if you have a FPS Drop on the deck, you will feel it or see it (tear). On the ROG Ally it'd take a FPS Drop
@@DannysHauntedJourney While yes, the ROG Ally has LFC that engaged below 48fps. Rule of Freesync Premium, you need to have LFC that engaged below your VRR range to qualify. and the ROG Ally has it.
This youtuber misses out on a lot in this video. VRR on the Ally is so amazing. You don't have to lock your frames. VRR is awesome. Where as SD if you want a smooth gameplay, you have to lock your frames.
I don't even use VRR on my desktop gaming PC and Gsync monitor. I don't like my system being maxed out all the time. It produces a lot of extra heat, noise, and extra wear and tear on my PC that I just don't want. Plus, I realized over time that it doesn't smooth out all stutter. If the framedrops are too significant you will still perceive the stutter. I also don't like the clarity and temporal resolution to change like it does with VRR. I prefer to have my games run at a steady framerate that my system can maintain consistently. Noise and temperature are even more important to me on a handheld.
Had a steam deck and loved everything except the performance and being locked to steam. I cannot stand stutter and extremely low frame rates. VRR on the ROG is a god send.
I think in the end there is gonna be a market for handhelds like the deck, ease of use.. less powerful.. but still a well rounded device. Vs handhelds like the ally that offer more power, more options and are able to play a lot more games. It’s good to have the market divided into 2 categories instead of 2 different devices fighting over the same user base. Personally on the go i use my og deck, because i don’t really enjoy playing big games on the go. And at home i use the ally more.
@beemoboppins just because you don't like something doesn't mean it's missing the mark🤨 or are you one of those gen z folk that think everything should be made specifically for your needs?
I love my Ally, long nights of gaming in bed with a beer and dab pen gaming all night on AAA games in Discord with all the bois and they have no idea I'm not at my PC.
Windows is non negotiable to me, too many of the types of games I play don't work on the Steam Deck (older games, Japanese games, visual novels etc), so the Ally was the no brainer. Plus I'm a tinkerer, I've bought like 10 of those retro handhelds over the years and always love tinkering and getting all the power I can out of them, and Steam Deck just feels too user friendly in that it doesn't allow me to tinker with it as much as I'd want.
I luckily have both and after having a serious think - I can't choose . I really can't choose between the OLED Deck and Ally - both are awesome. Then I also have a Switch Lite and I love that too as it's damn light and portable - we are incredibly lucky with the quality of portables these days . ...
I think for a majority of people, the deck is the best option due to its ease of use and better battery life. But the ROG is still a great choice, especially for those who want to tinker or maybe have a huge library of games on other stores such as epic, or want to use the Xbox game pass. I wouldn’t see it as a Xbox vs ps but more like console vs pc, where there are 2 different main demographics for their users.
Yeah, I haven't had any issue playing the AAA titles in my library on my Steam Deck OLED. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised by how well everything ran.
Both are good options for gaming. But I went with ROG Ally because it plays more games and plays more games better. I’m excited for future Decks and Allies and other Gaming PC handhelds.
Yoo same with me, if only valve sell deck in my country, but i get ally instead, the price is also the cheapest among 3 handhelds (deck, ally, go) im not giving my money to those third party seller.
I had an OLED Deck and bought an Ally and sent the Deck back. If the Deck was more powerful and wasn't such a pain in the ass to get things working, I would have kept it... but even after watching HOURS of guides I couldn't get the emulation to work properly, and the other launchers. I tried the same things on the Ally and they just worked straight away, just annoying that the battery life is bad, but I'm rarely far from a power socket. I was gutted, because the Deck is a beautiful piece of tech, but it just wouldn't do what I wanted it to do.
These windows handhelds are much easier to get things up and going. Like emulation, mods, non steam stores etc. I don't understand the narrative of the windows experience being bad. I bet most likely use laptops and shit for work it's the same thing but smaller screen, not a big deal if you interact with a computer at all during your day, if not okay sure I can see the argument but still feel it's a bit overblown
im a noob with emulators and handhelds but i managed to install many emulators using emudeck on my steam deck in a few minutes. the emulators all seem to work well. it was also very easy to setup my xbox cloud and also gog/epic launcher.
Hey! I need help so I’m torn between the steamdeck OLED and rog ally for the simple fact of the matter is I want a pc like experience that will allow me to play virtually any pc game there is. And I also want to download mods for games such as . Arkham knight& Spider-Man remastered. Which is truthfully the only two games I truly want to mod. Based on this info what do you guys suggest I get? I’m 17 btw.
@@MarQuaileFerdinandMarQie In all honesty if you want to play "virtually any PC game" you should spend a couple of hundred more and just get a gaming laptop. You can get a decent specced gaming laptop for 100-150 more than an Asus ROG.
@@MarQuaileFerdinandMarQie i have a steam deck oled. i use the included steam os. some do install windows on it. i guess with windows you can probably play everything just like a pc. i dont know for the rog ally. for the steam deck , i can play my xbox games (ultimate) , i can use many emulators with emudeck program i installed , but i have some issues with some games like from epic. this is with using the steam os. you have to consider that those are still portable systems so some games might be harder to play and to configure the controls. some games are not fully compatible even with steam games. you do can use a mouse or keyboard if you use for example a steam deck stand with usb ports on it. thats what i did. i can even play my steam deck on my big tv since the stand does have a hdmi port. i also have a projector i can also use with the steam deck with my stand. i bought an usb c extension. for the game mods , i dont really know but i guess you could use them.
I had the OG steam deck but I opted to get an ally cause my games were struggling... ergonomics and build quality on the Steam deck are unmatched imo. feels sturdy and confortable to hold and as much as people complaint about the button placements, it just worked so well for me. on the other hand there was no beating the smoother experience on the Ally, the Ally comes on top when it comes to versatility as well cause it can get any launcher and installing any game natively on them without going through the trouble sidewinding Linux, native gamepass is superb here and free ganes from the epic store, amazon etc. just keeps adding on. at the end of the day it depends what ganes you want to play and how... if we ever get a steam deck 2 id probably swing right back
Might be the only one but I got bigger hands and I still find the Steam Deck so uncomfortable to hold!! Not a fan of the joystick location and it’s a hefty device! Ended up getting the Ally and it’s a lot more similar to the Switch and feels a lot more comfortable for me!
Steamdeck OLED is by far the most polished product, both the ROG Ally and Legion Go are pretty clearly first generation products, kind of like what you got buying a Steamdeck at launch in 2022. Once Asus and Lenovo revise their systems I'm sure they will be much more compelling options.
No it's not. STEAM OS is newer than Windows therefore it has LESS accessibility. You're literally just spewing misinformation. You can't add more games on the steam deck then you can on the rog ally out of the box. You can't even run a simple game like Fortnite on the Steam Deck. The most popular game of our times and you can't even run it on the steam deck and you're saying it's the most polished product. Dude is literally just lying in comments to convince himself of his purchase.
@@vssgamess You must work for Microsoft. Game selection doesn't make a system more or less polished, next time you write a comment try to say something relevant to the OP instead of yelling at clouds.
I love my steam deck OLED, using the desktop mode and how clunky it can be to navigate on a controller really cements that I would’ve hated using a windows 11 handheld. Not to mention the ROG doesn’t even have a trackpad so it’d be even worse (along with all the other jank that comes along with Windows 11)
I had the same thoughts but I got an ally 3 months ago and it's just as good as the steam deck more so if you wanna play more demanding games. Navigating on the internet is as easy. The only thing I do miss is the trackpads for overall gaming experience
What about Windows hinders a handheld? Other than the first time you turn it on, when does the OS on Ally become apparent? If you use the devices for their intended ue (playing games), the OS makes no difference.
This is exactly what I'm wondering. Everyone keeps talking about how unoptomized windows is for handheld gaming but no one is giving any examples of why that is. At this point I'm inclined to go ROG because I prefer the way it looks and I can play Kingdom Hearts without excessive issues.
@FurbTastic1998 These people lack their own opinions, and instead simply echo what popular TH-cam say. Ignoring the fact that those tech guys are using these devices like PCs because that's their fields. These same reviewers also review top end laptops and PC builds. I have both Steam Deck, and RoG Ally. The Deck is only easier if you play exclusively steam games. Otherwise you're doing twice as much work to get games to play And the desktop mode of Linux on the Steam Deck is even harder to navigate on a tiny handheld than Windows. Once either device is set up, you don't have to deal with the OS.
As someone that has used both, I am much more of a Steam Deck fan. The community is much more passionate and constantly creates insane stuff to improve it and personally I am more of a person that uses the Steam Deck for games I wouldn't play on my 3090 Strix PC. Although I still downloaded Cyberpunk because I am absolutely obsessed with that game. Highly recommend the Steam Deck OLED!
Excellent, balanced take, Kevin! I use my Steam Deck to supplement my PC, but if you don't have a PC, the Ally and a dock is almost the perfect solution! Still, right now, if I didn't have a Steam Deck, I'd hold fire for the MSI Claw or next gen AMD silicone.
I've got them both, and it's a hard choice. OLED is nice, don't get me wrong, but the Steam Deck's OLED is not the best I've ever seen. Like, it doesn't blow me away, like the OLED Switch does. I've compared a few of the same games on my OLED Switch and my Steam Deck OLED, and every single game I looked at was more colorful on the Switch, and by quite a bit at times. That being said, the OLED, in my opinion, isn't a make or break deal in this particular case. The Ally's screen isn't OLED, but man, for something LCD, it's damn nice. Like so nice that I didn't even miss OLED. To me, the split is more about utility, and the ROG Ally runs games from GOG while still supporting cloud saves, which is a big deal. The Steam Deck runs GOG games with a little bit of incompatibility and no cloud support. So for compatibility across different launchers, the Ally is better. The ally's power is also super compelling. The Steam Deck however, is a battery champ. Pick your battles where your interests are. Personally, I give it to the Ally, but that's because I buy a lot of my games on GOG as well as Steam.
SteamDeck OLED really wins out with battery life and price, and a seamless experience - exactly what’s made Nintendo so successful. But the Ally just looks SO COOL. And I actually like holding the Switch, so I might like the slimmer more flat design of the Ally. And the higher power, I think that means better future proofing? As we see more games coming out exclusively for the new consoles rather than both previous gen and current. Right? Games are going to get more demanding and if I want to stream them, people are going to want a good up-to-date image. I just wish the micro SD card didn’t have issues. Is upgrading internal storage of the Ally easy by any means….? Display I don’t care about as anything will look better than Switch and I’ve still been just fine with my Animal Crossing v2 panel.
Depends on use case. As an actual portable machine the SD wins. If your gonna be tethered to a power bank/outlet you might as well be on your desktop imo. Since full power (25w) from the Alley you have to be plugged in. This is why valve said there wont be a SD2 until they don't have to compromise battery life for more power.
@@lol0609 Currently on Switch I only game probably for less than an hour at a time. Now, if I had a Steam Deck, maybe this would change as I would be excited to play great newer 3D games. But if I continue the trend of not needing portable often, that Turbo mode on the Ally is quite compelling for streaming, esp as I don’t have a PC, and still want to be able to focus my content around showing people what they can do with portable gaming.
@@switchunboxing Def go with the ally then if your gaming sessions are less than 2hrs as it’s a more powerful device. Have you considered the Lenovo Legion go? That’s probably the closest thing to having a gaming pc that’s not a laptop or desktop considering its screen size.
Im super close to buying the ROG since its on sale. Ugh i always feel bad spending alot of money so its always hard for me to pull the trigger but for 399 and what it offers is hard to pass up.
10:00 HARD disagree here. When I first saw images of the Steam Deck, I was worried that it would be uncomfortable to use because of the stick/button placement, but after actually holding and using it, it’s surprisingly incredibly comfortable to use. I find its layout way more comfortable to use than even the switch.
Asus just announced "Fluid Motion Frames" for the Ally which will be released at the end of January. With that feature you can DOUBLE your fps in certain games. The beta currently doesnt work with fast moving objects though, so shooters wont be able to use this. But Baldurs Gate 3 for example can reach 80+ fps in certain areas. No handheld even comes close to this number. Of course there is some ghosting, but honestly, having 80+ fps is more important. And maybe in the future AFMF will even work with faster motion, as itll be continuously worked on. If that happens, then the ROG Ally wins without a doubt..
I loved my Steam Deck from the day I got it, but haven't touched it since I got the ROG. Being able to mod, use other stores, and play 1080p just makes it an easy choice for me. Can't go wrong with either machine, but if those things are important to you, it's not even a contest. Battery isn't great on the Ally but you can play with the settings a lot more than on the Deck. And if you're gonna dock it for any significant period of time, that extra power on the Ally comes in super clutch.
@@chad286 deck oled last longer than my ally no matter how I tweak at home I play my Rog ally with max settings and just plug it when I'm out I use my deck oled I love both..
Got the deck on launch, was fun but disappointing how the games I wanted to play were either unplayable, needed some proton work around or would break after an update. Got my ally and it's been plain sailing ever since, easy to use, everything works and it's extra power makes it the superior option imo. Steam decks collecting dust the ally gets played daily
I definitely wouldn't call it the superior option. It's a side grade sure, but battery life is practically non-existent on the ally. You basically always need it tethered, and at low TDP the steam deck performs better.
@@donovan6320Different use cases i guess. I think most Ally buyers like myself kind of already buy with the wall adapter life in mind. But once you do, that 40W manual mode… man, it absolutely chews through almost any game. absolute dream
@@donovan6320 the customisation and increased performance kills it. Whatever decent games the steam deck can play are at low settings row FPS looking like crap. With negligible boosts in battery life on those games. The fact that it will play anything you throw at it without some tedious work around edges it for me this accompanied with the adjustable wattage, fan speeds and ram, what a beast of a machine
The issue I have with these 'handhelds' is the form factor. To me, these devices are way too big to be considered proper handhelds. Even the Nintendo Switch doesn't feel like a handheld for me, despite being smaller. When I see a Steam Deck, I always think it looks goofy and cumbersome to hold or bring with you on the go. You need a backpack, and even then, with a protective case, it becomes very large, almost taking up the space of a laptop in your bag. It's ridiculous. My ideal size for a proper handheld is the PSP or the PS Vita. These truly feel like handhelds to me.
In my opinion these still are. I mean the fact you aren’t playing ported versions but the actually pc version of the games on the go is great. Yes, they’re not POCKET portable (which is miss), what they provide is being able to play your pc library on the go (that isn’t a laptop which doesn’t provide the same experience). I see them as portable because imagine you have a couple games you play on your pc, and then are now going somewhere far from home (holiday, work etc). You can’t carry your pc around like a gaming console, but what you can do is pack in a portable pc like the deck or ally.
@@pian-0g445 I agree that it has some appeal, but for me, it's not a very interesting form factor. I have small girl hands, and I almost never use a backpack. My PS Vita is always with me when I want to play on the go because I can put it in my purse. Something like a Steam Deck or a Lenovo Legion Go requires at least a backpack. It's big enough that I can replace it with my laptop when I really need to travel. I can play my Steam games on my laptop and also use it for work.
If You talk about Windows on Steam deck it is only usable on LCD version at the moment. With OLED there are no drivers released from Valve for audio, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. So windows is a NO NO for OLED for now.
Window 11 on rog is not a really issue for me it runs smoothly and can play most of the game but Mine rog ally had sd card reader issues and had to returned. I thought it was window driver issue at first but then found out that the internal card is defected.
Microsoft have said they are considering a handheld version with Windows 12. If they do then SteamOS is screwed. On a side note, I've been running SteamOS via Nobara on my Ally and it's cool but I wouldn't say it's better than Windows once it's setup. With armoury crate it's just as easy as clicking the game and it starting, regardless of the launcher. Also games perform worse with Proton, this is true on the Ally and on a desktop PC. You get people claiming Linux runs better, but they are normally cherry picked or not apples to apples. Linux has come a long way, but it has a long way to go. I love the comepetion as we benefit from it.
There was literally a comparison done last week by TomsGuide vs 3 linux distros…Windows was the slowest. The reality is over large test sets the two oses are basically on average the same.
@@eagle_rb_mmoomin_418 not on RDNA 3 they are not. The Mesa driver needs improving and that's not mentioning RT performance. My 7900 XTX performs worse in every game on Linux and the ally is the same with it's RDNA 3 GPU. RDNA 2 is another story and does run well. I'm a firm believer of testing things my self rather than relying on a small amount of data. I'm far from the only RDNA 3 owner that's noticed this. I wouldn't mind but they've been out over a year at this point and we are only now getting undervolt and fan control in kernel 6.8. It's simply not good enough in this day and age. Especially when the competition has those features day one. Now I know all the excuses that gets made about it, but it doesn't change the fact. The day stuff like this is not an issue is the day I permanently move to Linux, but I don't have blind passion for the OS and can see the weaknesses and want it to improve. Constructive criticism is good, saying Linux is bad with no explanation is not good.
Summary, both are handhelds but one uses windows and one uses Linux. Another difference is battery life, and the fact it’s made by steam which is the biggest game market with constant sales everyday. ( yes ally can too but the os of the deck is really good for non pc gamers ).
I just got the Ally extreme version in the UK 6 months late but the price came down so why not. As my PS5 and Series X is in the living room, I can't hog the TV all the time as it's not fair on the Mrs. For me as I'm not a gamer that plays in outside areas the Ally for me is perfect to continue to use my Xbox game pass and also now get the benefits of Steam games that are not available to buy in the Microsoft store for whatever reason on Ally. So for me I have it plugged in most of the time which negates battery life for my usage requirements. The Steam Deck Oled looks a fantastic machine aswell but as I also have a Switch I think it would be overkill for me getting the deck aswell especially as I was an early adopter of the LCD version. Software on Ally needs a bit of patience as it's not as easy just to play games out the box. Windows has a lot of quirks which piss me off at the best of times but once all updates and set up has been done, it has been an absolute joy and a beast..It has suprised me how well cloud games work on it, especially Forza 5, Hi Fi Rush and I even got into GTA5 again. I think both machines having had the LCD deck are both great in any case and just depends what suits you. I would say ease of use and battery life go for the deck Oled as Valve have optimised it well but if you want to play a range of games requiring a bit more juice and having VRR then the Ally is a great option. I have no regrets yet! Only thing I want to do is play my PS5 games on it. I know there is a way but I'm a bit apprehensive to install the software to enable it. If anyone has it running pS5 games can you let me know it it's difficult or easy to sort out? Many thanks and great video!
I thinking about to send my steamdeck oled back. Trying it out for few days, its great no doubt, my problem is that the action buttons (x y b a) have a little bit much space and dont feel like they sitting firmly in there. And after some time they just fall out or get broken. The next fact is the thing that other launchers (gog,battlenet,origin, epic games) dont work perfect if you download them un desktop mode and then the 1 year warranty of valve's steam deck is ridiculous for such a console. the fact that that keept me away from the ally is for sure the battery life and windows 11, but at least rog does 2 years of warranty. And it mochte not seems as a big diffrent but a handhald that u use lile every thing, its a very big diffrence. You will see in 1 year.
After much research Between the ROG Ally and the SD OLED, I ordered the ROG Ally, it's currently over £100 Cheaper than the Top SD OLED model ! I like to tinker and want the freedom Windows will give me. With the money I saved with the ROG currently being Only £549 That gave me money to splash on a thin compact 65W Power bank, Dock, screen protectors, case. I did order a 2TB 2230 M.2 Drive which is a lot of money
I bought both the Steam Deck and the Ally because I was not sure which one I wanted, too many conflicting good and bad opinions out there. I will tell you after loading Cyberpunk 2077, RDR2, Spiderman and Horizon Zero Dawn which are all high graphcially intense games only the Ally could handle playing them on medium with frame rates in the 40-70. The Steam Deck actually crashed on Cyberpunk on medium and couldn't even load RDRD2. Now, keep in mind these numbers are reflective of hooking it up to a 65" OLED via HDMI and setting it at 1440p which the Steam Deck can't do and at 800p looks horrible on low settings. Why would anyone buy a handhelp and be ok playing a AAA game on low settings. Plus the Ally you can set this thing on Manuel and specifically set the CPU and GPU on HIGH, then set the fans speeds independently. Oh, I forgot to tell you I also compared the screens...... absolutely ridiculous to promote an OLED screen and then only give it 800p, do you realize that is one step above what we used to call HD 720p, come on man. So, Yes the Ally even at 1440p looks so so much better than the Deck at 800p with an OLED. I could go on and on but regardless of what updates they give this thing, if the GPU can't push 1080p graphics (not possible with an 800p screen) or faster fps... no othe updates matter. oh, yeah. I returned the Steam Deck and got my money back. I felt like the Steam Deck is a total waste of money compared to the Ally
If steam deck ever moves away from linux for steam deck then I'd consider switching. But for now even installing GFN on a steam deck is a pain in the ass, and without using a native app, the browser version is trash. I wish MS would work with these guys on a handheld optimised version of windows, because any non-windows handheld is a no-go.
It's more down to whether or not you're willing to put time into tinkering to get everything running on the steam deck, vs just pick up and play on the Ally. Both systems can run the same amount of games, but I think the steam deck is better suited to more knowledgeable people vs the ally just being aimed at the unwashed masses.
ROG Ally if you mostly play AAA games, if you play games with anti cheat (Fortnite, COD, etc.) or if you never had a PC before but wanna take a dip into it. (Even though steam deck could be a little better experience IMO). Anything else get the Steam Deck OLED.
Great comparison. I picked up a SD OLED even though I already had an LCD. The Ally looked intriguing, and I'm an ASUS fanboy, but SD is just so easy to use. It doesn't take much to install bnet/Epic and such. Great content. How many beanies do you own? 😊 seriously tho, where'd you get that nice denim jacket?
Steam understand the handheld market better to be honest. Most people who owns a gaming PC would rather play their big titles on PC. But Handheld is still a good alternative for them to play indie, JRPs, or RPGs in General. Yes ROG have more power, but why would you need so much power for Indie, JRPs and RPGs. The Market share for people who demand a Strong More Powerful Handheld to play any games is much smaller too, since most poeple who needed this would probably get a gaming laptop.
I never let my ally get hot, it had like 2 hours of play time and nothing would operate with an sd card inserted even if what I was doing had nothing to do with the sd card slot.
I saw somewhere that when you download a game from Steam to Windows they don't really run at similar speeds, and if you drop the write speed to 30 mbps you will get a more consistent download speed and it wont overheat the SD card leading to shorter life span.
I think the Steam Deck OLED is better for camping imo. Run it offline bc there’s no WiFi. Brighter screen so you can easily play it while being outdoors. And the battery life is longer. I don’t enjoy playing tethered (even on a portable battery) as it takes away from the point of being portable for me. Thanks Kevin!
Saying that the Steam Deck is just for indie and moderately demanding games is an understatement. I can play Elden Ring on medium-high graphics at a constant 30-45 fps, and that is truly impressive for a handheld like the Steam Deck. You can clearly play AAA titles as long as you are okay with locking them at 30-45 fps for the best smooth experience. If you want a high FPS at extreme graphics experience, it's better to go back to a desktop PC.
Things I just can’t ignore of the Ally: screen bleeding (not that much noticeable until you see it, I’m kinda nitpick), poor viewing angles (guess too much used to oled screens), sd card slot design issue, loose sticks (like, VERY loose), ABXY buttons also poorly designed cause if u press them hard enough at a certain angle they can get stuck under the plastic, and ABYSMAL baterry life (trust me, it’s ridiculous how this thing drains battery). If they launch a renewed model in the future with better construction, better power management to improve battery and an oled screen, it will fuckin rock.
I'm steam deck user, but I wouldn't discount the ROG Ally and Legion Go. Yes Windows 11 sucks, but The Xbox app on it is slowly being revised and now has compact mode for small screen device. Also, Game Pass. As of now, I have three games I wishlisted on Steam (Steamworld Build, Sea of Stars, While the irons hot) that's available on Game Pass. I still enjoy gaming on the steam deck, but the game pass tease is real.
1080p on a handheld is counterproductive. Id rather have native at a lower resolution and higher fps. Native 720p > 1080p running 720, it looks so much worse.
Either one is a good choice. If you don't game on a PC, sd is more like a console experience. Also, factor in the weight of these handhelds. Lighter is definitely better. I'm not sure which of these 2 is lighter but the oled sd is a lot light than the original one
@@HandheldSpaceAUyeah being able to do everything easily via SteamOS like owning a console with its interface is quite handy. You can connect it with a dock to a monitor or TV and then go into desktop mode to have a PC experience if you want as well.
IMO, ROG ally is still a better pick. -The screen got VRR and I feel like it's a must for handheld PC. -IPS display is actually quite good. Not as deep black as OLED, but dark and bright contrast games look good on Ally. -Ability to up the performance above 15w is also a great for modern AAA titles. -Armory crate has come a long way since release. It might not offer console-like experience, but the features inside are plenty. -I think most people that use modern computers will be fine with using Windows on Ally. Linux is great, but we're talking about mainstream users here. But then again, deck oled will still be better for people who likes it simple. The ability to properly enter sleep mode inside games, the console-like UI, and better battery life are just amazing. Deck still is better for steam backlog cleaner. Ally for performance oriented people. Deck OLED for console-like PC handheld experience.
If you have a main gaming pc/laptop already, steam deck is more suitable for you. If you have no gaming pc/laptop, the windows based handheld is the best for you. Why? because its still more fun playing AAA games with great fps in a big screen over a small screen. If you also want to play AAA games in a handheld, if you have gaming pc/laptop there are many ways on how to remote play in steam deck.
I was thinking about that. How easy is it to do? That would basically make all of the Steam library playable, would it not? (Most of my games are in Steam, but I do have Game Pass and a couple of others.) Thanks.
Not sure why TH-cam refuses to recommend this channel i never get notifications on it. So bizzare, I've toggled notification bell on and off doesn't fix it.
I’m really debating which one I should get. I’d want it to be my main ‘gaming pc’ and play heftier games like bg3 and the new dragon age game (when that ever comes out lol). But also less demanding games like stardew valley. I’d mainly play it docked like a console but would want to take it along sometimes. Seems to me like the ally would be better power wise, but I really like valve as a company and the steam deck seems a lot more user friendly. Any advice on which one I should get?
to be really honest, I think neither are going to fulfill that "main gaming pc" need right now, the devices are simply not powerful enough, ROG ally has the slight advantage in some games, but it is not really that huge of a gap, you would probably still not want to play cyberpunk or any major AAA game on the ROG the same way you woudn't on the deck, mainly because of performance but also battery life, the battery gets drained really fast on a more demanding game. You would not get that "main gaming pc" experience unless you are plugged to a wall 24/7, and if that is the case, you have better options for the price.
Update: I got the steam deck OLED and honestly I’ve had no problem playing heavier games on medium/high settings. I mostly play docked but if I want to take it with me I can which is great. Maybe I’m just not as picky as y’all about performace 🤷♂️ For me this definitely was the way to go
Its also far less user friendly. On the ally I have relatively often that I need to install something extra for a.game, getting popups that are not useable with a controller etc. It's is much faster though, but when using the speed I basically have no play time when not near a power socket. When using the same power as the steam deck, it isn't faster (sometimes even slower) and still uses more power.
I know you mentioned the steam deck being better with older games but I must say it runs new triple A games very well I played cyber punk and Baldurs gate and it ran from 30-60 fps on both on medium settings.
@@albertmills9365 on the default settings which is all medium settings the game runes on around 70-80 fps I personally increased the settings and now it runs around 55~ fps
Can't forget offline mode ally can run more software/games then the steam deck but alot other store don't support offline mode or work correctly. And Any handheld is not better then one and the other just comes that a personal use case.
Any game that works with offline mode on deck works fine on the Ally. This hasn't changed at all. Issues with offline mode concerning EGS and others is solely down to them and the Deck would have the exact same issues
I was looking for a review like this for me to pick :) The Asus Ally it is.. Thank you so much. I think I will buy a nice dock for the Ally and use it as a computer as well.
I love my Ally, only "downfall" is it can run games without controller support and if the Ally doesn't auto map controls then your stuck waiting till more controller support arrives for that game or just using a mouse and keyboard. Either way it'll run it and usually at high/ultra settings right off the bat. That may sound redundant if you already have a gaming PC but at least you have options where the Steam Deck doesn't. Just upgrade your internal memory to NVME it's easy and don't be a n00b and try to game off the Micro SD but if you do, set the download speed on steam to 30 mbps so the SD card doesn't overheat from writing.
@@SolidSt8Dj Cause I have all of that.. I have a gaming PC, laptop and I was looking for a handheld machine that I could use as a PC with my TV. Should I wait for the Lenovo Legion Go to go on Sale? I'm able to buy the Ally for 649€ in my region and the Lenovo is still 799€.
@@JookerSKif u want a pure portable handheld gaming machine the ally is the way to go,I was also choosing between the ally and legion go but the Legion go is a chunk and why not buy a gaming laptop at that point plus I have a PS5 and no gaming laptop or PC but the ally is perfect fit for me ❤
The Ally is a much better choice for me tbh. I can play anything from anywhere, the performance is superb, is comfortable and I got Lucky. Never had the issues everyone else had and I could easily mod to use a 2280 ssd. Honestly there are very few games officially verified for Steam Deck and While an OLED screen is nice, is not the whole reason I purchased one of these for. I own a regular steam deck and is not fully dedicated to low demanding games and I am looking forward to see the Claw in action.
I still fail to understand why Steam Deck would be picked over an Ally. The ally has much better hardware and is more compatible with any game. Are people just choosing to ignore this on purpose or something?
One word ……windows no one likes dealing with windows then there’s the battery…..it sucks……then there is the support rog help community sucks. the only category rog is good at is power and like Xbox power isn’t everything 😂
Just picked up a 64gig sd, gonna change the ssd and i may pick up the jsaux backplate in purple Theres work arounds to use other launchers on steam os, using battlenet to play diablo 4 rn
I have a LCD Steam Deck and was thinking about getting a ROG Ally but I want to wait and see how the Steam Deck 2 will be first or ROG Ally 2 first. I'm more familiar with windows anyway and know how to get any free game for PC.
Steam Deck OLED is not a Steam Deck 2 it doesn’t close the gap with Windows devices. I don’t understand these Steam Deck vs Ally and any windows device comparison videos, they are totally different. I have a Loki Max and Steam Deck I play the Loki Max way more. Windows is easy to use and plays all games. Steam Deck is a joke compared to the power of the Loki Max. It’s not even close so to compare them is pointless. Touch screen works perfectly on Windows and controlling the pointer with an analog stick is easy. There are so many shortcut macros to make it even easier to navigate Windows. Games have auto settings that optimize games for your system little to no changes need to be made.
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I hate to be that guy but the steam deck sucks compared to the Ally
Just FYI, the original Gameboy was 4 batteries not 2.
ROG Ally is a PC that can be played handheld. Steamdeck is a handheld that can do PC stuffs
well steam deck is just linux so for most developers its the opposite
A fully capable portable PC with the option to download or stream from any service including Steam is clearly better for any Windows fan. Ignoring the limitations of Steamdeck for the sake of a lo res OLED is silly.
@toddanderson8530 800p is fine on a small screen, if you want higher resolution go play with your phone instead
Nah they both are handheld computers, one runs linux and one runs windows
Mama TH-cam flagged your comment for Feedback. Since you used (first little in ) Peter and (first letter) Cat.
As a handheld enthusiast it was so hard to not buy a Steam Deck when they came out but I wanted to wait in case an OLED model was released. Than the ROG Ally I almost bought one but the idea of having to deal with Windows 11 held me back. Got the glossy Deck OLED finally and am so glad I waited. What Valve has created is truly special. The HDR screen is so good. It feels like a premium handheld console that's unlocked.
Isn’t the screen incredible? Really an impressive thing
Me too I really wanted an OG deck but I had a feeling that I should just wait. Then I saw the Ally and I just about pulled the trigger at Best Buy. So happy with my 512gb Steam Deck OLED
Yes it’s such luck I decided to wait as well lol Emudeck being a thing has really opened my mind to just how incredible this thing is I love it 😊
I was not as patient and bought an ROG Ally. The experience was so clunky and so many apps like game pass and EA pass not working, I returned it after 4 days of owning it and bought the 512 oled. Glad I did the experience has been seamless and the screen is so incredible it really adds to the experience. Also wow the joysticks are just so much better on the deck than the Ally, but thats just my personal preference.
Bought a NOLED Deck on day 1 and never regretted it. Also have a pair of NReal Air glasses which run on micro olled displays. So there is handheld, big screen oled glory available for a while now. I totally get the appearance of the Steam Deck Oled though, it is a very, very good device.
I have both, and they are great machines. If I had to choose one it would be a tough choice. I would pick the Steam Deck Oled. If I still had my old lcd deck I would go for the Rog.
Funny, I have both too and I’d choose the Ally for its power and VRR screen. Opinions! Aren’t they great? 😜
This is a 1:1 of my experience
@@FakeReal007Yea but I rather travel and play for longtime with updates
@@GarydeBrown VRR with LFC is a gamechanger for these handhelds. With Steam Deck you have to mess about changing refresh rate and using Vsync. Games just run much smoother on my Ally than my LCD Steam Deck. Would never buy any screen for my desktop PC or a handheld without VRR. Would of been tempted if the OLED Deck had VRR as it would of complimented it's lower framerates.
The Steam Deck OLED wins it for me every time. Having slightly more power sounds great in theory, but in practice, having a longer battery life is far more important. And if you’re at home e anyway, you’d just play on your vastly more powerful gaming PC.
I own the last three big handhelds, the AYANEO 2s, the legion go and the Ally. I avoided the SD due to the screen quality but after getting the oled SD, I’ve sold my other three handhelds.
Wow, that says a lot! I have a SD OLED and love it, but I was thinking about adding an Ally into the collection alongside it (mostly for the games that require some extra performance). However when I see comments like yours, I realize I may be better off just keeping that extra $600
@@CompleteProducer84i have both and use both. When at home, if i dont need track pads i use ally cranked out with overclocked 170hz. Ill play lighter titles locally, or heavier games streaming with moonlight/sunshine to my desktop. Its great to play 1080 high refresh rate. If im out and about its always going to be steam deck for battery life.
@@CompleteProducer84 just got a alloy for 550
@@CompleteProducer84What games do require that little bit extra performance?
This is the way. Only kept the Switch OLED for indies, super light build and best battery. Everything else, the SD OLED.
I have the ally and AFTER the updates and config it's decent. I have 90% of my games on epic games compared to steam where I only have 3 games, so the ally is good for me.
Hi, stupid question, can you not install epic in steam deck?
@@Mr.2GD you can't
@@LocalMultiplex yes you can
@@Mr.2GD you can, using lutris( the original launcher ) or the way i prefer, using heroic launcher( the interface is better in my opinion and i like it more )
Is important to know that the SteamDeck keeps getting updates from devs that make the experience that much better. ROG for as good of a device as they make it will be just like most of their gaming PCs. Every year there will be a new model and support on the previous models will dwindle
To be fair asus has being very consistent with updates, I was in shock To be honest since support for gaming laptops is more or less none existing
@@carimpest The issue theyre pointing out is not ASUS support, but game developer support. Game developers are already targeting Steam, so its easy to also target Steamdeck at the same time.
@Stevieboy7 but both systems use the same architecture so optimization for amd chipsets would improve performance not only in the steam deck but also in the rog ally or any other amd based system
@@Stevieboy7this wouldn’t matter? If they target steam deck it’ll just run just as good if not even better on the ally since it’s also got steam as a launcher
@@huntertipton6197it’s not being optimized for the ‘steam application’ but the hardware of the deck itself. This doesn’t mean the Ally won’t get better performance from it, but there will be greater increase for the deck.
However, the Ally still does have naturally more power which means it doesn’t need as much optimization
The trackpads are a must for me and the biggest reason why I can't justify getting an ROG Ally (ignoring the fact I already had a Steam Deck by the time it was announced). They really do pick up the slack when it comes to PC gaming on a handheld, and even if you don't need it to make a game control well, it still adds a ton of customization. Same with the back buttons. I like having the 4 the Deck has, but at least that one isn't a deal breaker for me. I'd take the two back buttons of the ROG Ally over no back buttons any day of the week.
Steam deck have back buttons what are you talking bout 😂
I honestly rarely use the track pads for gaming but they are a game changer for using the deck in desktop mode. When im in desktop mode and trying to browse the internet, downloading and installing mods, or whatever else, i dont wanna have to try to use some janky joystick mouse or smudge up the screen by tapping on it.
Be honest, you really use those track pads for gaming? I don't know, that just seems uncomfortable and annoying. No reason to use with a device designed to be used as a controller with a touch screen.
I use the track pads all the time, it depends on the type of games you play. there's a lot of MMO's i play like guildwards where the track pads act as extra buttons for mounts and skills, or when i play sims 3 i much prefer using the track pads. I also use my steamdeck as an actual PC if im going to be out of the house for a few days, and i use the deck instead of bringing a laptop with me as well. the trackpads are really freaking useful then if i dont want to bring or forget to bring a mouse with me as well. @@milo_andrs
@@milo_andrsI played through the entirety of stalker with the touchpads and it was a great experience
As a long time PC user that loves to tinker, I have no regrets with my Rog Ally. No issues with windows and asus armory crate so far. I have a powerful desktop pc and a gaming laptop as well. The Rog Ally will be perfect for when I’m traveling.
I'm still in between a rog ally or a gaming laptop, its not like im going to be traveling that much but when i go and visit family that something else, i do have a beast gaming desktop so im unsure what would be best for price/performance
@@KenjiBiHI guess that’ll depends on what kind of game do you plan on playing. There’s some games my ROG ally cannot run but my ROG laptop can
@@Wooden_Hammer the games i would mainly be playing would be Warframe & singleplayer games like witcher 3
@@KenjiBiHthe Ally will struggle with Witcher 3, you’d be better off with a gaming laptop
@@Wooden_Hammer gotcha thank you very much for the info
Its great that both of these exist. I personally own an ally but I can see the appeal of that battery life offered by the steam deck. I'm plugged in 90% of the time with everything cranked to 10. If I travelled I would probably still choose the ally because of its smaller size.
This is literally the most difficult decision of my life. I want the Ally but the SD card problems and battery life is very problematic rn so I guess I’ll just wait a lil bit longer.
Hope we get an updated version (please release it in black or dark gray... White color tech is for the kitchen lmao)
My whole setup is white. Guess I should make it a second kitchen@@rodrigolopezmaya5974
@@rodrigolopezmaya5974It's here and actually has the best possible upgrades for a refresh. Literally double the battery size, 80whr. That is f*cking enormous. Not only that but the ram is faster and you get more of it which are also bigger improvements than they sound.
The ally has a much more powerful chip than the steam deck but the same memory bandwidth and the deck is already held back by its memory. On the ally this legit just mean about +10% performance
The extra memory also significantly cuts how much data has to be shuffled around between the ssd and ram which uses tons of power.
First handheld I'm actually considering
Own both and love both. Funny enough i use my Ally as a desktop for work all day and have played some games but end up using the deck for most gaming.
that's my plan this year lol
I've been looking into them, and finally bit the bullet with a Steam Deck OLED when it was announced simply due to the battery life. That was my biggest fear when it came to a portable system, I'll figure out soon enough when my wife finally gives it to me for Christmas if I made the right choice. 😂😂
You did!!!! My girl bought me on for Christmas as well but I couldn’t wait so I gave her 1 gift early & she did the same
@@certified2919You and your girlfriend are sweet! Merry Christmas to you guys
@@MarluxiaX2 thanks brotha, you as well!!!
I found one of the coolest uses for the touchpads, if you emulate the switch version of skyward sword there’s a controller profile you can download that changes the controls so that right stick is camera and the touch pad is the sword and it works amazing
🧢
To each their own but after getting the Ally I didn't look back. I haven't once had to worry it it will play a game or not, whether it was Dos, emulated this or that or even the latest AAA titles. That wasn't the case with the Deck, oled or not. If anything it's solidified my faith in Asus again and I'm looking forward to the Ally 2 whenever it gets released.
I'm getting my Ally tomorrow. Very curious to see what it's next version will be like. 2024 will be wild for these devices!
@randerins how is your experience going on
How are your feelings a month Later? Have you had any issues with the Ally?
I got it on launch day and have used it every day since. My gaming laptop collects dust. I haven't had any issues. 0. I upgraded the SDD to 2tb and have a 1tb micro SD as well. All my current play games, Palworls, Baldurs Gate 3, diablo 4, Elden Ring all stay on the SSD. I have mostly emulators and movies on the Micro SD. The updates from Asus have been amazing and keep coming. I'm more excited now about a Ally 2 then ever before
@@araiakunin352 Thank you for the quick reply! I am looking to get one of these to replace my 10 year old custom gaming PC. As much as I have loved my computer she's getting old and is having a hard time keeping up with the new games. Also within these 10 years I have been diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder which causes daily pain and inflammation which makes it hard for me to feel like sitting in my computer chair and at my computer desk for long periods of time. I'm also tired of my computer taking up so much space and I want to being able to take it on the go with me to doctor's appointments (My doc is over 2 hours away). I WAS originally looking into an ASUS gaming laptop about a year ago to solve these issues but now that the ROG has released I'm considering it instead. Mainly I prefer the handheld form factor. I also like that it runs windows because that's what I've used my entire life and I have a lot of windows based games already that I could play right out of the box. My main concern is the battery life. Does this cause you annoyance on a day to day basis? Have you had to purchase an external power source like a battery pack? If so which brand is best? I've looked up so many videos but most of them seem to be fake brand deals so I don't really know the best bang for my buck. I know that using 30w mode uses more power than say 15w mode. I'm not a picky gamer who needs my games to look and play perfect and be 60-120fps. I just want them to be playable at a stable 30fps. Would 15w be good for that or is 30w inevitable?
I apologize for the super long comment and all the questions. I've done a lot of research on the ROG ally but it can be hard to tell in the sea of opinions what is factual and what is the truth. If you take the time to read and answer this, thank you.
Great comparison. Because of cost out the gate, longer battery life and that sweet OLED display, the Steam Deck OLED wins for me. I actually already have an orginal Steam Deck but if I were in the market for a PC gaming device right now I would go for Steam Deck OLED.
I liked the Steam Deck so much I had to get the OLED as well as keeping my original. Great devices.
Why the hell would you do that lol
@@Mardoxx7 Why the hell wouldn't I do that lol
@@Aethelbeorn Maybe because you literally can't use them at the same time? It's a waste lol
@@Mardoxx7 Maybe you literally can't but I literally can lol
@@Aethelbeorn I see, just by seeing your profile pic I should have known I wasn't talking to a sane person, good luck I guess lol
Love both but I think I’ll pickup the Ally simply for the other launchers required to play some of the games I have like Alan Wake 2
Just so you are aware, you can run games from other launchers on the steam deck, it's just not as seamless as a native steam game, but the same level of seamless as *any* game on the Ally.
@@SolidSt8Dj Some games are just a huge pain even with those other launchers. It is still much easier on the Ally than Deck
@@SolidSt8DjI’m about to purchase a steam deck oled but my concern is that I have quite a few games on Epic library apart from steam. Any idea if I can run them?
@@shrinathsudershanadd them as nonsteam game into your library then u re good to go
@@chad286 sorry but not all games will work and even on steam not all of them do work properly.
Honestly the biggest boon for the ROG ally is something that I don't see mentioned too often, it's not just a VRR screen, it's a VRR+Low Framerate Compensation screen.
So if your framerate is anywhere above 28fps (at least last I checked) you will have 0 visual jutter from the screen/vsync or tearing. The only hit to your play will be logic/latency related which is software driven 9/10 times. Which is massive for the ROG Ally and is something the Deck OLED only can approximate a fraction of with the ability to manually set the refresh rate. But even then if you have a FPS Drop on the deck, you will feel it or see it (tear). On the ROG Ally it'd take a FPS Drop
I think it is actually above 48 fps.
VRR is only applicable between 48hz and 120hz
No you can set VRR to run from 1 to 120 Hz with CRU which might even be better than low framerate compensation below 48 Hz.
@@DannysHauntedJourney While yes, the ROG Ally has LFC that engaged below 48fps.
Rule of Freesync Premium, you need to have LFC that engaged below your VRR range to qualify. and the ROG Ally has it.
People who have never used it don’t know how good it is..
This youtuber misses out on a lot in this video. VRR on the Ally is so amazing. You don't have to lock your frames. VRR is awesome. Where as SD if you want a smooth gameplay, you have to lock your frames.
I don't even use VRR on my desktop gaming PC and Gsync monitor. I don't like my system being maxed out all the time. It produces a lot of extra heat, noise, and extra wear and tear on my PC that I just don't want. Plus, I realized over time that it doesn't smooth out all stutter. If the framedrops are too significant you will still perceive the stutter. I also don't like the clarity and temporal resolution to change like it does with VRR. I prefer to have my games run at a steady framerate that my system can maintain consistently.
Noise and temperature are even more important to me on a handheld.
Had a steam deck and loved everything except the performance and being locked to steam. I cannot stand stutter and extremely low frame rates. VRR on the ROG is a god send.
This. The stuttering and frametearing on the Deck is atrocious. VRR, especially with low power devices, is a critical and essential feature.
I think in the end there is gonna be a market for handhelds like the deck, ease of use.. less powerful.. but still a well rounded device. Vs handhelds like the ally that offer more power, more options and are able to play a lot more games. It’s good to have the market divided into 2 categories instead of 2 different devices fighting over the same user base. Personally on the go i use my og deck, because i don’t really enjoy playing big games on the go. And at home i use the ally more.
@beemoboppins just because you don't like something doesn't mean it's missing the mark🤨 or are you one of those gen z folk that think everything should be made specifically for your needs?
I love my Ally, long nights of gaming in bed with a beer and dab pen gaming all night on AAA games in Discord with all the bois and they have no idea I'm not at my PC.
😂
Nice!
I'm want a Rog Ally end of 2023 & a Switch 2 end of 2024 ❤
Best choice
Windows is non negotiable to me, too many of the types of games I play don't work on the Steam Deck (older games, Japanese games, visual novels etc), so the Ally was the no brainer. Plus I'm a tinkerer, I've bought like 10 of those retro handhelds over the years and always love tinkering and getting all the power I can out of them, and Steam Deck just feels too user friendly in that it doesn't allow me to tinker with it as much as I'd want.
I luckily have both and after having a serious think - I can't choose . I really can't choose between the OLED Deck and Ally - both are awesome. Then I also have a Switch Lite and I love that too as it's damn light and portable - we are incredibly lucky with the quality of portables these days . ...
Battery life and the ergonomics of the deck were reasons I went with that. Also not a fan of ASUS overall anymore.
I think for a majority of people, the deck is the best option due to its ease of use and better battery life.
But the ROG is still a great choice, especially for those who want to tinker or maybe have a huge library of games on other stores such as epic, or want to use the Xbox game pass.
I wouldn’t see it as a Xbox vs ps but more like console vs pc, where there are 2 different main demographics for their users.
i have steam deck and the game pass xbox cloud works great and some epic games do work also
I play Triple A titles on Steam Deck and I'm happy with how good it plays Resident 4 Remake and Cyberpunk 2077.
Yeah, I haven't had any issue playing the AAA titles in my library on my Steam Deck OLED. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised by how well everything ran.
Yes but how many fps?
@@Barelo30-40 fps
I run cyberpunk on steam deck oled and it’s very nice looking and playable. Got 3 hours of battery life playing it on the default settings
I had my Ally for about a week now and love it 😊
Extreme or regular? I'm looking forward to buying one and don't know what to choose
@@khalidxtreme1872 Extreme but you should get the rog ally x tho
@@khalidxtreme1872 Extreme
Both are good options for gaming. But I went with ROG Ally because it plays more games and plays more games better. I’m excited for future Decks and Allies and other Gaming PC handhelds.
Do you encounter issues because of Windows not being super compatible with a handheld
@@aerodynamix_cfdummm I haven’t yet especially when I put it in gamepad mode
Steam made the decision easy for me because they dont ship to where I live. And I can just go to Best Buy and buy the Ally.
Yoo same with me, if only valve sell deck in my country, but i get ally instead, the price is also the cheapest among 3 handhelds (deck, ally, go) im not giving my money to those third party seller.
I had an OLED Deck and bought an Ally and sent the Deck back.
If the Deck was more powerful and wasn't such a pain in the ass to get things working, I would have kept it... but even after watching HOURS of guides I couldn't get the emulation to work properly, and the other launchers.
I tried the same things on the Ally and they just worked straight away, just annoying that the battery life is bad, but I'm rarely far from a power socket.
I was gutted, because the Deck is a beautiful piece of tech, but it just wouldn't do what I wanted it to do.
These windows handhelds are much easier to get things up and going. Like emulation, mods, non steam stores etc. I don't understand the narrative of the windows experience being bad. I bet most likely use laptops and shit for work it's the same thing but smaller screen, not a big deal if you interact with a computer at all during your day, if not okay sure I can see the argument but still feel it's a bit overblown
im a noob with emulators and handhelds but i managed to install many emulators using emudeck on my steam deck in a few minutes. the emulators all seem to work well. it was also very easy to setup my xbox cloud and also gog/epic launcher.
Hey! I need help so I’m torn between the steamdeck OLED and rog ally for the simple fact of the matter is I want a pc like experience that will allow me to play virtually any pc game there is. And I also want to download mods for games such as . Arkham knight& Spider-Man remastered. Which is truthfully the only two games I truly want to mod. Based on this info what do you guys suggest I get? I’m 17 btw.
@@MarQuaileFerdinandMarQie In all honesty if you want to play "virtually any PC game" you should spend a couple of hundred more and just get a gaming laptop.
You can get a decent specced gaming laptop for 100-150 more than an Asus ROG.
@@MarQuaileFerdinandMarQie i have a steam deck oled. i use the included steam os. some do install windows on it. i guess with windows you can probably play everything just like a pc. i dont know for the rog ally. for the steam deck , i can play my xbox games (ultimate) , i can use many emulators with emudeck program i installed , but i have some issues with some games like from epic. this is with using the steam os. you have to consider that those are still portable systems so some games might be harder to play and to configure the controls. some games are not fully compatible even with steam games. you do can use a mouse or keyboard if you use for example a steam deck stand with usb ports on it. thats what i did. i can even play my steam deck on my big tv since the stand does have a hdmi port. i also have a projector i can also use with the steam deck with my stand. i bought an usb c extension. for the game mods , i dont really know but i guess you could use them.
I had the OG steam deck but I opted to get an ally cause my games were struggling... ergonomics and build quality on the Steam deck are unmatched imo. feels sturdy and confortable to hold and as much as people complaint about the button placements, it just worked so well for me. on the other hand there was no beating the smoother experience on the Ally, the Ally comes on top when it comes to versatility as well cause it can get any launcher and installing any game natively on them without going through the trouble sidewinding Linux, native gamepass is superb here and free ganes from the epic store, amazon etc. just keeps adding on. at the end of the day it depends what ganes you want to play and how... if we ever get a steam deck 2 id probably swing right back
Might be the only one but I got bigger hands and I still find the Steam Deck so uncomfortable to hold!! Not a fan of the joystick location and it’s a hefty device! Ended up getting the Ally and it’s a lot more similar to the Switch and feels a lot more comfortable for me!
Steamdeck OLED is by far the most polished product, both the ROG Ally and Legion Go are pretty clearly first generation products, kind of like what you got buying a Steamdeck at launch in 2022.
Once Asus and Lenovo revise their systems I'm sure they will be much more compelling options.
No it's not. STEAM OS is newer than Windows therefore it has LESS accessibility. You're literally just spewing misinformation. You can't add more games on the steam deck then you can on the rog ally out of the box. You can't even run a simple game like Fortnite on the Steam Deck. The most popular game of our times and you can't even run it on the steam deck and you're saying it's the most polished product. Dude is literally just lying in comments to convince himself of his purchase.
Its because of Windows.
@@vssgamess You must work for Microsoft.
Game selection doesn't make a system more or less polished, next time you write a comment try to say something relevant to the OP instead of yelling at clouds.
@budthecyborg4575 thr rog can run big games like fortnite and alan wake 2 steam deck can't due to it being a steam only device/weaker hardware.
I love my steam deck OLED, using the desktop mode and how clunky it can be to navigate on a controller really cements that I would’ve hated using a windows 11 handheld. Not to mention the ROG doesn’t even have a trackpad so it’d be even worse (along with all the other jank that comes along with Windows 11)
I had the same thoughts but I got an ally 3 months ago and it's just as good as the steam deck more so if you wanna play more demanding games. Navigating on the internet is as easy. The only thing I do miss is the trackpads for overall gaming experience
What about Windows hinders a handheld?
Other than the first time you turn it on, when does the OS on Ally become apparent?
If you use the devices for their intended ue (playing games), the OS makes no difference.
This is exactly what I'm wondering. Everyone keeps talking about how unoptomized windows is for handheld gaming but no one is giving any examples of why that is. At this point I'm inclined to go ROG because I prefer the way it looks and I can play Kingdom Hearts without excessive issues.
@FurbTastic1998 These people lack their own opinions, and instead simply echo what popular TH-cam say. Ignoring the fact that those tech guys are using these devices like PCs because that's their fields. These same reviewers also review top end laptops and PC builds.
I have both Steam Deck, and RoG Ally.
The Deck is only easier if you play exclusively steam games. Otherwise you're doing twice as much work to get games to play
And the desktop mode of Linux on the Steam Deck is even harder to navigate on a tiny handheld than Windows.
Once either device is set up, you don't have to deal with the OS.
As someone that has used both, I am much more of a Steam Deck fan. The community is much more passionate and constantly creates insane stuff to improve it and personally I am more of a person that uses the Steam Deck for games I wouldn't play on my 3090 Strix PC. Although I still downloaded Cyberpunk because I am absolutely obsessed with that game. Highly recommend the Steam Deck OLED!
Excellent, balanced take, Kevin!
I use my Steam Deck to supplement my PC, but if you don't have a PC, the Ally and a dock is almost the perfect solution!
Still, right now, if I didn't have a Steam Deck, I'd hold fire for the MSI Claw or next gen AMD silicone.
I've got them both, and it's a hard choice. OLED is nice, don't get me wrong, but the Steam Deck's OLED is not the best I've ever seen. Like, it doesn't blow me away, like the OLED Switch does. I've compared a few of the same games on my OLED Switch and my Steam Deck OLED, and every single game I looked at was more colorful on the Switch, and by quite a bit at times. That being said, the OLED, in my opinion, isn't a make or break deal in this particular case. The Ally's screen isn't OLED, but man, for something LCD, it's damn nice. Like so nice that I didn't even miss OLED. To me, the split is more about utility, and the ROG Ally runs games from GOG while still supporting cloud saves, which is a big deal. The Steam Deck runs GOG games with a little bit of incompatibility and no cloud support. So for compatibility across different launchers, the Ally is better. The ally's power is also super compelling. The Steam Deck however, is a battery champ. Pick your battles where your interests are. Personally, I give it to the Ally, but that's because I buy a lot of my games on GOG as well as Steam.
SteamDeck OLED really wins out with battery life and price, and a seamless experience - exactly what’s made Nintendo so successful.
But the Ally just looks SO COOL. And I actually like holding the Switch, so I might like the slimmer more flat design of the Ally. And the higher power, I think that means better future proofing? As we see more games coming out exclusively for the new consoles rather than both previous gen and current. Right? Games are going to get more demanding and if I want to stream them, people are going to want a good up-to-date image. I just wish the micro SD card didn’t have issues.
Is upgrading internal storage of the Ally easy by any means….?
Display I don’t care about as anything will look better than Switch and I’ve still been just fine with my Animal Crossing v2 panel.
Very simple to replace the storage on the ally took me less than 20 mins just poo the back and everything is pretty straight forward
Depends on use case. As an actual portable machine the SD wins. If your gonna be tethered to a power bank/outlet you might as well be on your desktop imo. Since full power (25w) from the Alley you have to be plugged in. This is why valve said there wont be a SD2 until they don't have to compromise battery life for more power.
@@lol0609 Currently on Switch I only game probably for less than an hour at a time. Now, if I had a Steam Deck, maybe this would change as I would be excited to play great newer 3D games. But if I continue the trend of not needing portable often, that Turbo mode on the Ally is quite compelling for streaming, esp as I don’t have a PC, and still want to be able to focus my content around showing people what they can do with portable gaming.
@@switchunboxing Def go with the ally then if your gaming sessions are less than 2hrs as it’s a more powerful device. Have you considered the Lenovo Legion go? That’s probably the closest thing to having a gaming pc that’s not a laptop or desktop considering its screen size.
@@lol0609 I think the Lenovo is going to be too big for me. I love the size of the Ally!
ROG Ally over steam deck any day… Also ROG Ally has been sale on best buy starting at 399
Im super close to buying the ROG since its on sale. Ugh i always feel bad spending alot of money so its always hard for me to pull the trigger but for 399 and what it offers is hard to pass up.
10:00 HARD disagree here. When I first saw images of the Steam Deck, I was worried that it would be uncomfortable to use because of the stick/button placement, but after actually holding and using it, it’s surprisingly incredibly comfortable to use. I find its layout way more comfortable to use than even the switch.
Asus just announced "Fluid Motion Frames" for the Ally which will be released at the end of January. With that feature you can DOUBLE your fps in certain games. The beta currently doesnt work with fast moving objects though, so shooters wont be able to use this. But Baldurs Gate 3 for example can reach 80+ fps in certain areas. No handheld even comes close to this number. Of course there is some ghosting, but honestly, having 80+ fps is more important. And maybe in the future AFMF will even work with faster motion, as itll be continuously worked on. If that happens, then the ROG Ally wins without a doubt..
I loved my Steam Deck from the day I got it, but haven't touched it since I got the ROG. Being able to mod, use other stores, and play 1080p just makes it an easy choice for me. Can't go wrong with either machine, but if those things are important to you, it's not even a contest. Battery isn't great on the Ally but you can play with the settings a lot more than on the Deck. And if you're gonna dock it for any significant period of time, that extra power on the Ally comes in super clutch.
True for portable not good cause battery is bad mine just took 1 hour and a half other than that it is crazy good
@@jcc4543i think thats good enough for me coz steamdeck also lasted that long
also its never last me that long on aaa games never even 2hours and up
@@chad286 deck oled last longer than my ally no matter how I tweak at home I play my Rog ally with max settings and just plug it when I'm out I use my deck oled I love both..
@@jcc4543 i see, good way to fully use both device
Got the deck on launch, was fun but disappointing how the games I wanted to play were either unplayable, needed some proton work around or would break after an update. Got my ally and it's been plain sailing ever since, easy to use, everything works and it's extra power makes it the superior option imo. Steam decks collecting dust the ally gets played daily
I definitely wouldn't call it the superior option. It's a side grade sure, but battery life is practically non-existent on the ally. You basically always need it tethered, and at low TDP the steam deck performs better.
@@donovan6320Different use cases i guess. I think most Ally buyers like myself kind of already buy with the wall adapter life in mind. But once you do, that 40W manual mode… man, it absolutely chews through almost any game. absolute dream
@@retrofxmedia If it wanted that I would pack my laptop and controllers and play with a much nicer experience.
@@donovan6320 the customisation and increased performance kills it. Whatever decent games the steam deck can play are at low settings row FPS looking like crap. With negligible boosts in battery life on those games. The fact that it will play anything you throw at it without some tedious work around edges it for me this accompanied with the adjustable wattage, fan speeds and ram, what a beast of a machine
@@django9713 uhh it's not negligible, it's upwards of 50% compared to the ally on the OLED models...
The issue I have with these 'handhelds' is the form factor. To me, these devices are way too big to be considered proper handhelds. Even the Nintendo Switch doesn't feel like a handheld for me, despite being smaller. When I see a Steam Deck, I always think it looks goofy and cumbersome to hold or bring with you on the go. You need a backpack, and even then, with a protective case, it becomes very large, almost taking up the space of a laptop in your bag. It's ridiculous. My ideal size for a proper handheld is the PSP or the PS Vita. These truly feel like handhelds to me.
In my opinion these still are. I mean the fact you aren’t playing ported versions but the actually pc version of the games on the go is great.
Yes, they’re not POCKET portable (which is miss), what they provide is being able to play your pc library on the go (that isn’t a laptop which doesn’t provide the same experience).
I see them as portable because imagine you have a couple games you play on your pc, and then are now going somewhere far from home (holiday, work etc). You can’t carry your pc around like a gaming console, but what you can do is pack in a portable pc like the deck or ally.
@@pian-0g445 I agree that it has some appeal, but for me, it's not a very interesting form factor. I have small girl hands, and I almost never use a backpack. My PS Vita is always with me when I want to play on the go because I can put it in my purse. Something like a Steam Deck or a Lenovo Legion Go requires at least a backpack. It's big enough that I can replace it with my laptop when I really need to travel. I can play my Steam games on my laptop and also use it for work.
If You talk about Windows on Steam deck it is only usable on LCD version at the moment. With OLED there are no drivers released from Valve for audio, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. So windows is a NO NO for OLED for now.
Window 11 on rog is not a really issue for me it runs smoothly and can play most of the game but Mine rog ally had sd card reader issues and had to returned. I thought it was window driver issue at first but then found out that the internal card is defected.
Microsoft have said they are considering a handheld version with Windows 12. If they do then SteamOS is screwed. On a side note, I've been running SteamOS via Nobara on my Ally and it's cool but I wouldn't say it's better than Windows once it's setup. With armoury crate it's just as easy as clicking the game and it starting, regardless of the launcher. Also games perform worse with Proton, this is true on the Ally and on a desktop PC. You get people claiming Linux runs better, but they are normally cherry picked or not apples to apples. Linux has come a long way, but it has a long way to go. I love the comepetion as we benefit from it.
There was literally a comparison done last week by TomsGuide vs 3 linux distros…Windows was the slowest. The reality is over large test sets the two oses are basically on average the same.
@@eagle_rb_mmoomin_418 not on RDNA 3 they are not. The Mesa driver needs improving and that's not mentioning RT performance. My 7900 XTX performs worse in every game on Linux and the ally is the same with it's RDNA 3 GPU. RDNA 2 is another story and does run well. I'm a firm believer of testing things my self rather than relying on a small amount of data. I'm far from the only RDNA 3 owner that's noticed this. I wouldn't mind but they've been out over a year at this point and we are only now getting undervolt and fan control in kernel 6.8. It's simply not good enough in this day and age. Especially when the competition has those features day one. Now I know all the excuses that gets made about it, but it doesn't change the fact. The day stuff like this is not an issue is the day I permanently move to Linux, but I don't have blind passion for the OS and can see the weaknesses and want it to improve. Constructive criticism is good, saying Linux is bad with no explanation is not good.
Summary, both are handhelds but one uses windows and one uses Linux. Another difference is battery life, and the fact it’s made by steam which is the biggest game market with constant sales everyday. ( yes ally can too but the os of the deck is really good for non pc gamers ).
Honestly buy whatever you want. It’s your money so don’t listen to others that aren’t real reviewers.
I just got the Ally extreme version in the UK 6 months late but the price came down so why not. As my PS5 and Series X is in the living room, I can't hog the TV all the time as it's not fair on the Mrs. For me as I'm not a gamer that plays in outside areas the Ally for me is perfect to continue to use my Xbox game pass and also now get the benefits of Steam games that are not available to buy in the Microsoft store for whatever reason on Ally. So for me I have it plugged in most of the time which negates battery life for my usage requirements. The Steam Deck Oled looks a fantastic machine aswell but as I also have a Switch I think it would be overkill for me getting the deck aswell especially as I was an early adopter of the LCD version. Software on Ally needs a bit of patience as it's not as easy just to play games out the box. Windows has a lot of quirks which piss me off at the best of times but once all updates and set up has been done, it has been an absolute joy and a beast..It has suprised me how well cloud games work on it, especially Forza 5, Hi Fi Rush and I even got into GTA5 again. I think both machines having had the LCD deck are both great in any case and just depends what suits you. I would say ease of use and battery life go for the deck Oled as Valve have optimised it well but if you want to play a range of games requiring a bit more juice and having VRR then the Ally is a great option. I have no regrets yet! Only thing I want to do is play my PS5 games on it. I know there is a way but I'm a bit apprehensive to install the software to enable it. If anyone has it running pS5 games can you let me know it it's difficult or easy to sort out? Many thanks and great video!
I thinking about to send my steamdeck oled back. Trying it out for few days, its great no doubt, my problem is that the action buttons (x y b a) have a little bit much space and dont feel like they sitting firmly in there. And after some time they just fall out or get broken.
The next fact is the thing that other launchers (gog,battlenet,origin, epic games) dont work perfect if you download them un desktop mode and then the 1 year warranty of valve's steam deck is ridiculous for such a console. the fact that that keept me away from the ally is for sure the battery life and windows 11, but at least rog does 2 years of warranty. And it mochte not seems as a big diffrent but a handhald that u use lile every thing, its a very big diffrence. You will see in 1 year.
After much research Between the ROG Ally and the SD OLED, I ordered the ROG Ally, it's currently over £100 Cheaper than the Top SD OLED model ! I like to tinker and want the freedom Windows will give me. With the money I saved with the ROG currently being Only £549 That gave me money to splash on a thin compact 65W Power bank, Dock, screen protectors, case. I did order a 2TB 2230 M.2 Drive which is a lot of money
Ugh the Ally is $400 right now.. so tempting
What did u end up going with
I bought both the Steam Deck and the Ally because I was not sure which one I wanted, too many conflicting good and bad opinions out there. I will tell you after loading Cyberpunk 2077, RDR2, Spiderman and Horizon Zero Dawn which are all high graphcially intense games only the Ally could handle playing them on medium with frame rates in the 40-70. The Steam Deck actually crashed on Cyberpunk on medium and couldn't even load RDRD2. Now, keep in mind these numbers are reflective of hooking it up to a 65" OLED via HDMI and setting it at 1440p which the Steam Deck can't do and at 800p looks horrible on low settings. Why would anyone buy a handhelp and be ok playing a AAA game on low settings. Plus the Ally you can set this thing on Manuel and specifically set the CPU and GPU on HIGH, then set the fans speeds independently. Oh, I forgot to tell you I also compared the screens...... absolutely ridiculous to promote an OLED screen and then only give it 800p, do you realize that is one step above what we used to call HD 720p, come on man. So, Yes the Ally even at 1440p looks so so much better than the Deck at 800p with an OLED. I could go on and on but regardless of what updates they give this thing, if the GPU can't push 1080p graphics (not possible with an 800p screen) or faster fps... no othe updates matter. oh, yeah. I returned the Steam Deck and got my money back. I felt like the Steam Deck is a total waste of money compared to the Ally
Informative bro thanks better review then a video
The touchpads are very important for playing things like strategy and P&C adventure titles.
🧢 it doesnt work well with age of empires 2 at all
VRR is just as compelling a display feature as OLED imo
For gaming it certainly is if you want a smooth experience.
If steam deck ever moves away from linux for steam deck then I'd consider switching. But for now even installing GFN on a steam deck is a pain in the ass, and without using a native app, the browser version is trash. I wish MS would work with these guys on a handheld optimised version of windows, because any non-windows handheld is a no-go.
It's more down to whether or not you're willing to put time into tinkering to get everything running on the steam deck, vs just pick up and play on the Ally. Both systems can run the same amount of games, but I think the steam deck is better suited to more knowledgeable people vs the ally just being aimed at the unwashed masses.
ROG Ally if you mostly play AAA games, if you play games with anti cheat (Fortnite, COD, etc.) or if you never had a PC before but wanna take a dip into it. (Even though steam deck could be a little better experience IMO). Anything else get the Steam Deck OLED.
Great comparison. I picked up a SD OLED even though I already had an LCD. The Ally looked intriguing, and I'm an ASUS fanboy, but SD is just so easy to use. It doesn't take much to install bnet/Epic and such.
Great content.
How many beanies do you own? 😊 seriously tho, where'd you get that nice denim jacket?
Love the Rog Ally- both are amazing- I bet the OLED steam deck is amazing for emudeck emulators
Ally is more capable although the deck is great. Also Emudeck is on both windows and SteamOS
@@crestofhonor2349 don’t you have to pay on windows for emudeck
You can pay for the Rog Ally monthly though which is a huge plus. I can't necessarily risk paying half a thousand at one time for the Steam Deck
Steam understand the handheld market better to be honest. Most people who owns a gaming PC would rather play their big titles on PC. But Handheld is still a good alternative for them to play indie, JRPs, or RPGs in General. Yes ROG have more power, but why would you need so much power for Indie, JRPs and RPGs. The Market share for people who demand a Strong More Powerful Handheld to play any games is much smaller too, since most poeple who needed this would probably get a gaming laptop.
I never let my ally get hot, it had like 2 hours of play time and nothing would operate with an sd card inserted even if what I was doing had nothing to do with the sd card slot.
I saw somewhere that when you download a game from Steam to Windows they don't really run at similar speeds, and if you drop the write speed to 30 mbps you will get a more consistent download speed and it wont overheat the SD card leading to shorter life span.
I think the Steam Deck OLED is better for camping imo. Run it offline bc there’s no WiFi. Brighter screen so you can easily play it while being outdoors. And the battery life is longer. I don’t enjoy playing tethered (even on a portable battery) as it takes away from the point of being portable for me. Thanks Kevin!
Saying that the Steam Deck is just for indie and moderately demanding games is an understatement. I can play Elden Ring on medium-high graphics at a constant 30-45 fps, and that is truly impressive for a handheld like the Steam Deck. You can clearly play AAA titles as long as you are okay with locking them at 30-45 fps for the best smooth experience. If you want a high FPS at extreme graphics experience, it's better to go back to a desktop PC.
Things I just can’t ignore of the Ally: screen bleeding (not that much noticeable until you see it, I’m kinda nitpick), poor viewing angles (guess too much used to oled screens), sd card slot design issue, loose sticks (like, VERY loose), ABXY buttons also poorly designed cause if u press them hard enough at a certain angle they can get stuck under the plastic, and ABYSMAL baterry life (trust me, it’s ridiculous how this thing drains battery).
If they launch a renewed model in the future with better construction, better power management to improve battery and an oled screen, it will fuckin rock.
I'm steam deck user, but I wouldn't discount the ROG Ally and Legion Go. Yes Windows 11 sucks, but The Xbox app on it is slowly being revised and now has compact mode for small screen device. Also, Game Pass. As of now, I have three games I wishlisted on Steam (Steamworld Build, Sea of Stars, While the irons hot) that's available on Game Pass. I still enjoy gaming on the steam deck, but the game pass tease is real.
Man, this is a really tough decision lol. Both look very good. Im stuck lol
You don't need 120fps to use 120hz on the Ally. VRR!
Ended up returning the ally bc of the kinks, but man I’m so excited for the hardware to improve. Once it performs better, it’s gonna be a must have.
I love this new trend! I went with rog ally due to the game compatibility issues on the steam deck.
1080p on a handheld is counterproductive. Id rather have native at a lower resolution and higher fps. Native 720p > 1080p running 720, it looks so much worse.
It would be better to have steam OS available for other handhelds over a handheld version of windoze Bring on the linux desktop
Watching this on my rog ally 😉
So I guess as someone who will never play on an actual PC, Ally is the way to go then.
Either one is a good choice.
If you don't game on a PC, sd is more like a console experience.
Also, factor in the weight of these handhelds. Lighter is definitely better.
I'm not sure which of these 2 is lighter but the oled sd is a lot light than the original one
@@Guitario666the ally is lighter it’s about 22 grams lighter than the steam deck oled
@@CJTheTokay nice
The Steam Deck is the definitive best option, especially for those who won't play/aren't existing PC gamers.
@@HandheldSpaceAUyeah being able to do everything easily via SteamOS like owning a console with its interface is quite handy.
You can connect it with a dock to a monitor or TV and then go into desktop mode to have a PC experience if you want as well.
Hoping MS release a game-dedicated, lightweight Windows without all the trash background apps & processes.
IMO, ROG ally is still a better pick.
-The screen got VRR and I feel like it's a must for handheld PC.
-IPS display is actually quite good. Not as deep black as OLED, but dark and bright contrast games look good on Ally.
-Ability to up the performance above 15w is also a great for modern AAA titles.
-Armory crate has come a long way since release. It might not offer console-like experience, but the features inside are plenty.
-I think most people that use modern computers will be fine with using Windows on Ally. Linux is great, but we're talking about mainstream users here.
But then again, deck oled will still be better for people who likes it simple. The ability to properly enter sleep mode inside games, the console-like UI, and better battery life are just amazing. Deck still is better for steam backlog cleaner.
Ally for performance oriented people. Deck OLED for console-like PC handheld experience.
If you have a main gaming pc/laptop already, steam deck is more suitable for you.
If you have no gaming pc/laptop, the windows based handheld is the best for you.
Why? because its still more fun playing AAA games with great fps in a big screen over a small screen. If you also want to play AAA games in a handheld, if you have gaming pc/laptop there are many ways on how to remote play in steam deck.
Yes, agreed with this. Moonlight is amazing!
Got the oled and now im thinking of selling my asus
To the people saying just get an Ally for other game launchers, what is the difference between that vs installing Windows on steam deck?? /gen
I was thinking about that. How easy is it to do? That would basically make all of the Steam library playable, would it not? (Most of my games are in Steam, but I do have Game Pass and a couple of others.)
Thanks.
Not sure why TH-cam refuses to recommend this channel i never get notifications on it. So bizzare, I've toggled notification bell on and off doesn't fix it.
I’m really debating which one I should get. I’d want it to be my main ‘gaming pc’ and play heftier games like bg3 and the new dragon age game (when that ever comes out lol). But also less demanding games like stardew valley. I’d mainly play it docked like a console but would want to take it along sometimes. Seems to me like the ally would be better power wise, but I really like valve as a company and the steam deck seems a lot more user friendly. Any advice on which one I should get?
to be really honest, I think neither are going to fulfill that "main gaming pc" need right now, the devices are simply not powerful enough, ROG ally has the slight advantage in some games, but it is not really that huge of a gap, you would probably still not want to play cyberpunk or any major AAA game on the ROG the same way you woudn't on the deck, mainly because of performance but also battery life, the battery gets drained really fast on a more demanding game. You would not get that "main gaming pc" experience unless you are plugged to a wall 24/7, and if that is the case, you have better options for the price.
You right, brother. If i want a god gaming experience, i have to play it on pc
Update: I got the steam deck OLED and honestly I’ve had no problem playing heavier games on medium/high settings. I mostly play docked but if I want to take it with me I can which is great. Maybe I’m just not as picky as y’all about performace 🤷♂️ For me this definitely was the way to go
The ssd card reader and lousy battery life on thr rog, is its only downer. Other than that, the rog is far better
Its also far less user friendly. On the ally I have relatively often that I need to install something extra for a.game, getting popups that are not useable with a controller etc.
It's is much faster though, but when using the speed I basically have no play time when not near a power socket. When using the same power as the steam deck, it isn't faster (sometimes even slower) and still uses more power.
I know you mentioned the steam deck being better with older games but I must say it runs new triple A games very well I played cyber punk and Baldurs gate and it ran from 30-60 fps on both on medium settings.
everything that i've read says baldurs gate is pretty bad on steamdeck, and the device isn't really great for new aaa games.
@@albertmills9365those ppl usually expect 60fps so that makes sense
@@trisfaleel Not really. Even at 30fps frequent frame drops happen, especially in act 3
Well I just got my steam deck recently the oled version and baldurs runs well for me@@albertmills9365
@@albertmills9365 on the default settings which is all medium settings the game runes on around 70-80 fps I personally increased the settings and now it runs around 55~ fps
Can't forget offline mode ally can run more software/games then the steam deck but alot other store don't support offline mode or work correctly. And Any handheld is not better then one and the other just comes that a personal use case.
Any game that works with offline mode on deck works fine on the Ally. This hasn't changed at all. Issues with offline mode concerning EGS and others is solely down to them and the Deck would have the exact same issues
I was looking for a review like this for me to pick :) The Asus Ally it is.. Thank you so much. I think I will buy a nice dock for the Ally and use it as a computer as well.
Why not just pick up a gaming laptop then?
The Ally is the worst PC Handheld on the market.
I love my Ally, only "downfall" is it can run games without controller support and if the Ally doesn't auto map controls then your stuck waiting till more controller support arrives for that game or just using a mouse and keyboard. Either way it'll run it and usually at high/ultra settings right off the bat. That may sound redundant if you already have a gaming PC but at least you have options where the Steam Deck doesn't. Just upgrade your internal memory to NVME it's easy and don't be a n00b and try to game off the Micro SD but if you do, set the download speed on steam to 30 mbps so the SD card doesn't overheat from writing.
@@SolidSt8Dj Cause I have all of that.. I have a gaming PC, laptop and I was looking for a handheld machine that I could use as a PC with my TV. Should I wait for the Lenovo Legion Go to go on Sale? I'm able to buy the Ally for 649€ in my region and the Lenovo is still 799€.
@@JookerSKif u want a pure portable handheld gaming machine the ally is the way to go,I was also choosing between the ally and legion go but the Legion go is a chunk and why not buy a gaming laptop at that point plus I have a PS5 and no gaming laptop or PC but the ally is perfect fit for me ❤
The Ally is a much better choice for me tbh. I can play anything from anywhere, the performance is superb, is comfortable and I got Lucky. Never had the issues everyone else had and I could easily mod to use a 2280 ssd. Honestly there are very few games officially verified for Steam Deck and While an OLED screen is nice, is not the whole reason I purchased one of these for. I own a regular steam deck and is not fully dedicated to low demanding games and I am looking forward to see the Claw in action.
Been waiting for this comparison
Team ROG Ally!. day 1 deck owner here and I didn't like it as much as the Ally
How did you do with the bat3 for ROG?
Which would be a better console to play days gone on, if I want to play on the go, like on an airplane or in the car.
I still fail to understand why Steam Deck would be picked over an Ally. The ally has much better hardware and is more compatible with any game. Are people just choosing to ignore this on purpose or something?
One word ……windows no one likes dealing with windows then there’s the battery…..it sucks……then there is the support rog help community sucks. the only category rog is good at is power and like Xbox power isn’t everything 😂
For me the variable refresh rate is a game changer with the Ally. No comparison
Just picked up a 64gig sd, gonna change the ssd and i may pick up the jsaux backplate in purple
Theres work arounds to use other launchers on steam os, using battlenet to play diablo 4 rn
I have a LCD Steam Deck and was thinking about getting a ROG Ally but I want to wait and see how the Steam Deck 2 will be first or ROG Ally 2 first.
I'm more familiar with windows anyway and know how to get any free game for PC.
Steam Deck OLED is not a Steam Deck 2 it doesn’t close the gap with Windows devices. I don’t understand these Steam Deck vs Ally and any windows device comparison videos, they are totally different.
I have a Loki Max and Steam Deck I play the Loki Max way more. Windows is easy to use and plays all games. Steam Deck is a joke compared to the power of the Loki Max. It’s not even close so to compare them is pointless.
Touch screen works perfectly on Windows and controlling the pointer with an analog stick is easy. There are so many shortcut macros to make it even easier to navigate Windows.
Games have auto settings that optimize games for your system little to no changes need to be made.