In South Africa the Ally officially released, the Steam deck never did, so it was always grey imports. So this left the Ally as much cheaper at $849 vs the 64GB steamdeck coming in at $800 and the 512 sitting at $1100. The fact that the Ally came in at almost the US pricing was like yeah I'll take it, as we also suffer bouts of load shedding which takes 2 to 4 hours of power away a day.
Maybe the release of the Ally will reduce the price to the Steam deck. I think the Ally would be a good option I just wish Valve would release the SteamOS so I could put it on it.
Mate... hate to tell ya but that's because Valve focused on making quality hardware for as many markets as they could responsibly support to their quality standards. The Ally went into as many markets as possible because it's focused on exploiting the hype the Deck generated around the world for an "affordable" premium handheld. Good luck with an RMA on your eventual cooked SD card on the Ally. Asus definitely doesn't come close to competing with Valve when it comes to STABILITY, OPTIMIZATION & HANDHELD OPERATING SYSTEM. ❤😂
I got the ROG Ally because I also needed a new PC. So for 700 bucks it was a no brainer. I plug my Ally in to a dock with dual monitors, keyboard, and mouse and use it as a desktop device. The fact that I can mobile game on it is an added plus.
Hope you don't use an SD card... you're in for a bad time in the long term, especially if you're using the device in such a "high thermal profile mode" 🫣
@@BillyBob_McSanchez You can replace the SSD or use SD Card, but the option with the harddrive in my opinion is the best. You can also wait a few months and buy the refreshed version of the Rog Ally. It will have more storage
Total War runs well enough on Deck??? I have a deck and own TW Warhammer 1 and 2 - but have not even bothered trying them on the deck because I assumed they would not run well enough… lmk! Thanks!
Last week I took a 2.5 hr flight, and a 3.5 hr flight, and played my steam deck the majority of the flight time. I was running some light emulation, SNES, and a couple indies like Notia, slay the spire and Thumper. I had 5 percent when we were about to land and shut it down. Steam deck is a great portable machine
I think the primary selling point of the Ally over the Deck is that it's considerably more powerful while costing slightly more than the 512 GB Deck. That's probably why ASUS felt they could make some compromises on the quality of the buttons and thumbsticks. They're banking on the internal hardware having a longer shelf life for running AAA games.
I think the problem with that idea is that I think the 512gb steam deck was always bad value since you can buy a 512gb ssd and then just buy the base 400$ model. So as long as you can do some simple DIY you are really comparing 450$ vs 700$. The other thing is the significant difference in performance only comes at 25w from what I've seen. At 15w you are getting a modest ~10-20% performance increase and below that at 5w it actually performs worse. If you go all the way to 25w its not even close but at that wattage you basically have to be plugged into the wall because your battery life will be so poor.
I recently bought a ROG ally. It runs Starfield so well, not sure if it's running any good on the Steam deck. It seems like some updates gave Ally better performance as well. @@danthezulu7707
I have them both and am really loving the ROG right now. So much customization and love being able to surf the web quickly when needed. Was able to setup RetroBat in like 10 mins and have really started with emulation for the 1st time ever. Steam Deck is wonderful too!
I don't think about the OS on my Steam Deck (and that's the beauty of it) and I'm not tempted to install Windows at all, Windows updates and driver updates and yada, not missing Windows one bit, the slightly improved graphics hardware on the ROG Ally doesn't tempt me to get one to replace my Steam Deck. After weighing up the price difference of the two devices, (Curry's want a stinking £699 for a ROG) I just don't see the ROG Ally as valid a competitor. No rush, I'm waiting for Valve to market a new handheld that easily convinces existing Steam Deck owners to replace their device, at this point the task looks like one even Valve will struggle to achieve, a few years down the line with hardware advancements and who knows.
Been a PC gamer from Windows 95 days and all the way to Windows 11 now. I don't mind tweaking things to get best performance and I am fairly skilled at it. I got the SteamDeck with plans on blowing away Steam and installing Windows. After finally getting it (1 year and 1 day exactly) and doing the 1tb SSD upgrade, I really started to try Steam OS and getting my Personal Windows games running on it, never mind my Steam Games. I installed Windows to a SD card, know how many times I actually booted Windows up on the deck in 6 months? Once, just once. 95% of the games with tweaking with proton I was able to get running and if you like retro games to even Nintendo Switch, Emudeck is a god. Everything in one shot. So, the Deck CAN run Windows and people say, it runs good but, is it really needed? And yes, I have GamePass...
I like playing mw2 when I’m staying in hotels for work on the deck. That’s why I dualboot. To my knowledge there’s no way to get it running otherwise. It runs surprisingly well. Very cool to be playing that on a handheld
@mobaby1979 doesn't matter how many titles are there if the person your are selling to is not interested in them buddy. 400 is a small amount compared to the vast array of PC titles already in existence add the fact you do not own those Gamepass games as they can and will be removed due to rental based service of the platform. If I really wanna play Gamepass on Steam Deck (which I do) I just remote play it via my Series X on Steam OS which saves TONS of storage.
If it was a our primary desktop I'm pretty sure most would happily pay the difference for increased performance..but it's not..these are handheld devices intended for causal gaming.."pick up and go" play for 30 to 1 hour here and there. The steam deck does this far better purely due to its software
@@MrEditsCinema I don't agree with that at all. I own both and can tell you the Ally can run just Steam Big Picture mode and run games just as well with the bonus being it'll run the rest the deck doesn't... The reality here is that the Ally is a better machine because it was released 2 years later.
I gotta thank you. So professional, it emphasizes that this is a comparison, that each piece has advantages, etc. The conversation seems so inanely one-sided, or outright biased, in too much content. Driving me nuts.
the steamdeck has never officially released iny country which makes the ROG ally actually cheaper. but I still went with the deck anyway because of a combination of form factor (the trackpads seem like an extremely necessary feature for a handheld PC) and the steamOS support. I know later down the line the ally may have software improvements, but currently all PC games I play are via steam so having that optimisation for the system is hugely valuable to me currently
I have Rog Ally Extreme for last 3 weeks, it's a mini monster, i call it mini LeBron, there are lots of tweaks and fixes needed, the use of it is not as smooth as Steam Deck but i think with updates it'll get better and better. The performance, technical side of Ally is unmatched in handheld consoles. But it's not as smooth as they present it to be. Win11 is both a blessing and a headache.
@@mechanicalmonk2020 Just a small small wrinkle: Rog Raikiri PRO is introduced to be used with Ally right. It takes about 1 hour to figure how to pair it in Ally. For everyone. Or you launch a game and sound is not working, you don't know why you restart the system and it's fixed. Things like that and many more...
In Sweden for example (where I'm from) It's 950$+ for a Rog ally and 600-700$ for a steam deck 512GB (depending on sales) So.. Yeah.. The biggest reason for us right there.
If portability is your main use case and battery life a big factor, then go for the Steam Deck. If you use the Ally in lower watts in order to save on battery, you'll end up with similar performance in 15W mode and at lower than that the Deck will almost always be better. If you have no issue carrying a power bank or being plugged in or intending to use it as a substitute for a desktop, then the Ally will give you better performance without worrying about battery life (as you'll be plugged in). However, the $200-300 difference between the 64gb Steam Deck and the Ally still doesn't justify the relatively "small" boost in game performance the Ally gives. It's mostly 10-20FPS more than the Deck in its 25-30W mode, and it's honestly not worth the $200-300 jump if you're on a budget _AND_ you don't care about the super nice screen on the Ally :)
This is dead on for me. I own the SteamDeck, I love it and I really through about selling for the Ally but, when it comes down to it, It's not huge in performance, it's better but, the OS not really portable optimized (Windows for gaming on a portable). The performance differences are not high enough for me to take the jump. Now if this played every video game emulation up to Xbox one and PS4 with good framerates (yea, I know it's very early in emulation for these consoles), it would a no brainer but, this hardware level is not there yet. Maybe the Allly 2 but, the Deck 2 might be out by then....
Just got my ally today, and I’m loving it. It didn’t take long to update stuff, or setup at all. The most major concern people have with this device is if asus will continue to support due to their track record, but with all the promotion this handheld has gotten I think they will. They put to much effort, money, and time not too. Also considering the handheld market is really huge right now I don’t see them just dumping it that wouldn’t make sense. If someone is choosing between the ally or the deck I would say get the asus rog ally. It can do way more than just play steam games.
I have a deck today. Thinking about swapping to the ally... One of my big reasons is native windows, and the ability to use Disney+ Netflix, MAx etc while on trips.. I dont want to manage 2 devices (ipad and deck) to watch movies etc.
The steam deck is more user-friendly. Turn it on, put your account in, and you're ready to play. Asus rog not so much, with the problems setting up the ally might put off some people. I still prefer my ally, though. I have both devices. If you want to play emulation like ps3 I recommend the ally. Been playing infamous on it and is very smooth.
You can run Playnite on the Ally on boot. Then you can pretty much pick any game and run it from there with controller support. There's also big box and with some tinkering just big screen steam with non steam games added.
@rhianor i do it with several games. It is quite annoying having to configure everything - i really prefer steams community gamepad settings rather than having to input everything in manually in AC. But M&K games work ok with the ally.
Very well said. Having dual boot SteamOS and Windows on a Deck, it is not very pleasant using windows though still need it for games that use anticheat. Hopefully Microsoft release a Windows that purely optimise for these devices.
I own a Steam Deck and I'm beyond happy with it. Was a little intrigued by the ROG Ally but a friend who got one has buyer's remorse... According to him Windows 11 is more of a hindrance compared to SteamOS on a handheld, and he has had to jump through all kinds of hoops to get certain games to run properly.
For anyone on the fence reading this comment... it makes no sense. I returned the Steam Deck because playing anything outside of Steam is a huge pain. On the Ally, you can run Steam in Big Picture mode, which makes everything accessible using the controller input just like it would in Steam OS. The games themselves run natively in Windows, not through a Proton compatibility layer, and games on other storefronts are easer to access on the Ally. Multiplayer games that use different types of anti-cheat are notoriously impossible to run on the Steam Deck, but again, run natively and flawlessly on the Ally. Not sure what this guys friend is talking about, but if a game has controller support, it will work with the Ally. Performance is miles ahead on the Ally, it's lighter, can run any apps that Windows can (like Discord), and has a significantly better screen, which is not only higher resolution at 1080p, but can run up to 120hz and supports FSR. Literally the only thing that the Steam Deck beats the Ally in is battery life, and that's only because it's tuned to run at a lower wattage. But if you're playing low-spec games, you can still get good battery life out of the Ally at 10Watts, so even that isn't a huge deal. So yeah... I returned the Steam Deck right before the return period ended because it was good, but not everything I wanted from a handheld. The Ally ended up being all I wanted and more.
Software is the reason I just went with the steam deck Not to mention these are causal gaming devices intended for a quick 30 min to 1 hour session. Not worth paying the big bucks
Why you should = His opinion. You know, sometimes a creator likes to assume his audience is intelligent enough so that spelling out the obvious isn't required.
The one thing that has really disappointed me about my Steam Deck is the screen. The bevel is so thick. You take it out of the box and see a fantastic huge screen... Only to turn it on and see a huge frame limiting the screen space
Microsofts philosophy with windows has always been that "every problem is a nail (x86 based desktop computer) so have a hammer (windows)." While this has propelled them to be the most successful desktop operating system in existence, its also pigeonholed them into a situation where now new custom form factors and hardware driven by software needs dont fit well with the typical usecase, and thats the main reason why windows is such a huge source of friction on the ally.
huge? idk what you're talking about, man. everything i've installed and run on the Ally so far has worked without a hitch in handheld mode. docked, i've had to look for some fixes but i'd wager most people don't use their Ally with a 65inch 4K monitor, or maybe they do, I have no idea about that but i do know that in my hands and on the 7 inch screen, so far: everything just works. Except for Mirror's Edge 1 on Steam for some reason. Still, 1 out of like 40 games so far, not bad.
Windows has always been about everything for everyone. They have pride it in with it being compatible with almost every piece of hardware out there, and it's impressive. It will work in every case but, some options its good at but, others so-so. Gaming as always been good on it but, hardware levels needed to be higher to support the overhead of Windows. Steam and Proton/Wine has made good efforts to optimize for performance, so less hardware and it plays most Windows games.... They both have their bugs but, they also have their perks... I will admit, if you like Emulation, from Retro to modern console games, EmuDeck is a god, it's all nice and neat in one package with very little work to setup....
@@TheCoolDave I think Windows is a good general purpose OS in a world where the hardware is supposed to be general purpose one size fits all. However, in the world of computing, the windows way of handling things is starting to be outpaced by software driven hardware design. Apple is leading the charge there, with it's custom inhouse ARM based chips all guided by the needs of the OS instead of the OS being built for the hardware. Linux distros are more well situated to adapt in this "software guided" environment since the baseline kernel makes so few assumptions about the underlying hardware and makes zero assumptions about what the desktop user experience is going to be. It gives developers a lot of flexibility about how a distribution package is put together and what it's put together for. I'd like to see Microsoft give 3rd party developers a similar level of flexibility to Windows in the future so that 3rd parties can make smoother user experiences for people using Windows on non-standard systems. That would definitely help iron out the kinks on x86 based handheld windows machines.
If the Steam Deck had ever released officially in Australia I likely would have gotten one. But it didn’t, so I didn’t. The Ally has been pretty good so far!
Just so you know, it isn't cause they dont want to, they have received warning around possible competition issues from Australian regulatory. And since Australia is a small market compared to say US or EU, its best for them not to bother and instead allow customers to purchase by other means. So its no Valve thats the issue. Its Australian government.
@@Secret_Takodachi did the Ally touch you in some place? Cause as the OP stated there he couldn't get a steamdeck, so now he must've get an Ally cause it could have an SD card issue? I mean wow
Consider this: people are ditching their steam decks. I just got one (256 gb model) + 1tb SD card for $300 CAD ($227 US). Pretty freaking compelling. Use market matters a lot
I love my Ally I'm a PC gamer at heart so tweaking values to get better performance is second nature. My biggest issue with the Deck was the fact that my Steam library had way less verified titles than I would like and I tended to use Game Pass a lot. The Ally plays everything I throw at it from any launcher which is functionality I can't get from the Deck without installing windows. And if I'm installing Windows I may as well have the Ally and benefit from the extra power. I have not missed the track pads but then again I've never experienced them first hand but I've not had any issues using the controllers + touchscreen for Windows and I don't really play games that require m/kb exclusive set-ups (that's what my rig is for). Imo they are different machines in their base configuration; if you want a console-like experience with PC titles absolutely go Steam Deck. If you are confident with the set-up that comes with the Ally (because of Winn11) then I recommend the Ally; the screen is amazing, sound is great and it feels premium to me.
I only play at home, and mostly within range of a socket. For me the plugged in turbo mode works excellent. I own both devices and I think we should give the ally a couple months just like the deck needed the time to become what it is. The deck is better for on the go, and the ally is better for playing around the house (that’s actually the most used place for these devices) the are both great in their own category’s! The deck did something amazing for handheld gaming! And i love mine. But i also like the rog for what it does. Competition is good for the market! Lets see in a year how everything is running. Average consumers should never day 1 buy these devices to start with.. because over the last 10 years company’s became way to comfortable releasing stuff that isnt ready.. but thats the market at the moment. Ps, love the Star Wars lego heads!!
I've owned them both, and I would go with the Ally all day. It just runs games much better and off any launcher, and it's not fussy about third party app installs. It's just easy to use because it's Windows. Nothing wrong with the Deck, so long as you know what you're getting into with Linux, but I just prefer the ease of use to play my GoG library without an issue, and not have to find workarounds for games with anti-cheat. I felt super locked into Steams ecosystem on the Deck being that things only seemed to work smoothly when playing Steam games. Not only that, but the screen on the Steam Deck is AWFUL, where as the screen on the Ally is incredible. Personal opinion based on owning both ROG Ally: 9/10 Steam deck 7/10 Disclaimer for certain folks: Please don't be salty about my opinion guys. It's just an innocent opinion based on my experience having tried both devices extensively. I really don't want anyone to feel salty over what I think, because all I have to make anyone feel better is this🖕
@@onomatopoeia5540 Oh, I don't care about that lol. I actually paid 560 bucks for my ROG Ally, so for me, it's worth not having an SD card slot. I also have 1tb of storage inside mine anyway, so I'm good. Been using it everyday over the last month, and it's been a blast 🙃
I was having trouble understanding why he found the Ally to be so hard to use then he dropped the "Armoury Crate is so buggy, you're better off not using it". Tip, its not just a game launcher, it has all the things that make the Windows experience a lot more forgiving.
You can tell dudes who just love Linux. They act so clueless. They're worse than those ads where the person spills something in a nonsensical way to sell you on buying things to clean with 😂
Half of people with steam decks have windows installed on them. Im pretty sure people who love linux are way less clueless than you when it comes to computers seeing how windows is a operating system meant for consumers.
You can fix the cod issue by choosing a gamepad in settings instead of mouse and keyboard. It's annoying but it just sets a m&k no matter what input device you're using.
I decided to order the steam deck over the asus rog ally.. I did go to best buy twice and I checked it out, but something was telling me not to get it.. to many issues with it right now so I'll wait until asus fix the issues.. until then steam deck is my choice, you can't beat the deals they got going on right now..
I have both from launch. No issues with the Ally for me. The reviewers don't know how to use the Armoury crate like this guy said he just stopped using it. You need the Armoury crate to launch the games because it selects what input you will use.
People are free to make whatever choice they want. You forgot to mention the SD Card Oven feature on the Ally! It's great for cooking whatever data you've got stored on it!
The worst part I found when trying to decide which one to get is that they compliment each other so well. Where one lacks, the other excels and vice versa. One is way more powerful than the other, but thr less powerful one has better controls, for example.
Controls are fine on rog ally the buttons are not mushy.gamespot has a review sample the buttons on the review sample are mushy but not on the retail rog ally's.
The Steam Deck is a lot better when playing on low wattage. Games run faster and battery last longer. This is why I choose mine. Also I can't be without the track pads and prefer the Steam OS simple experience. I terms of max performance the Ally is more powerful (probably like 30%). But am still good for now for the games I play is doing well. I can wait till the Steam Deck Pro or 2 is released (probably by mid or the end of 2024 or 2025)
@@madjunir have you tested the new bios on the ROG ally on 10watt?triple aaa games where Rog ally shines so more future proof because of the greater performance.
To me, the Steam Deck is like desktop Linux as a whole - it's fine, so long as you stay in the sandboxed environment they stick you in. But to the author's main point, sometimes even the sandboxed environment doesn't always work quite like you expect. For example, I installed Super Meat Boy on the Deck, which installed the Linux version of the game. However, the Linux version isn't up to parity with its Windows counterpart, such that it was missing features and bug fixes that the Windows version has. That being said, I wouldn't buy the Ally either, given that it's running newer hardware that isn't fully baked yet. Last I checked the r/ROGAlly subreddit, peoples' SD card readers were borked. That's the kind of thing I expect from a $50 Chinese drug store handheld, not a premium, $700 device.
Just for information's sake, you can make the Steam Deck use the Windows version of a game that defaults to a Linux version fairly easily through the game's settings.
I have been super impressed with my Steam Deck. Even games that are not Deck Verified are super easy to get comfortably running after fiddling with the settings and community button layouts. And that's coming from me! A console gamer who doesn't like fiddling with getting PC games running.
I have both the Steam Deck over the Asus Rog Ally. But truthfully, I would still prefer the Steam Deck because it is easier to run & play games. But for emulating past games, the Asus Rog Ally is the winner.
It's baffling that a manufacturer would design a Windows-based gaming handheld without trackpads or usable launcher software. It was also obvious to me that trying to pack those specs into such a thin device would make it run uncontrollable hot
The way I see this, the ROG Ally is a continuation of what was already going on in the handheld PC gaming market . As a PC gamer I would not have bought a Windows based handheld, which may seem counter-intuitive to many. I just wasn't looking to paint myself into a corner with Windows in that form factor. It was the SD's very purposeful design that convinced me to get into this market, the things it's doing rather than the things it isn't. To me the Ally is about raw power which for many is important. What I wanted was a console environment to play my backlog on, one with a performance sweet spot. This is a great market, it's opening up wonderfully and may even turn out to be the way forward for all of us, which I doubt any of us would have dared predict in the past.
Wow!! I never thought GameSpot would weigh on this and favout the Steam Deck!! This is HUGE for those still on the fence about which handheld PC to get! 😊
haha thats what I was thinking, surprised about it, it's usually hard for these companies to pick sides because they can lose sponsors. Kudos to them and I agree, the steam Deck is better than the Bug Ally.
Console Vs a laptop missing it's mouse and keyboard with a tiny screen. For the average consumer the deck is an easier device. However the deck does let you get at the complexity underneath. That's the point where even with a deck you go get a mouse and keyboard plug it into a big monitor and treat it like a desktop AND learn how to drive Linux. Which on SteamOS is not all that hard but does require dropping preconceived notions of how an OS works.
I got a 1tb nvme off eBay for cheap. Installed it in my steam Deck and dual Boot windows and steamos. I can play mw2 on windows and most other games on steam os
Having owned both, I'm returning the Ally and rebuying a Steam Deck. The screen and internals on the Ally are far superior. It just proves that Valve could have put better hardware on their device to push more frames and higher refresh. But the UI/UX experience of the Steam Deck is far, far, far better. SteamOS is night and day superior over having to deal with Windows and all its quirks. I'm a longtime PC gamer. I have no problem with Windows inherently. But using it, combined with Asus's bloatware, are just not what I want to experience in a handheld device.
It really just depends on what you need. Obviously the ROG is more powerful. No debate. But the fact is, both of these are luxury devices. Ppl buying likely have a console, a PC, both, or whatever. For me, the Steam Deck is the clear winner. I'm not going to play the latest AAA games on my deck. I've got a great PC for that. I use the deck for pre-2017 games and emulation. And since I pretty much keep everything under 12 Watts, the steamdeck is the lower wattage king. I mean it can emulate ps2 games at like 8 watts, ps1 and lower at 6 watts. So nice. Now, where I think the Ally wins hands down is for someone looking for a tiny desktop replacement that's also a handheld. Get a decent dock and monitor, boom, you're set.
More time and testing went into the deck than the ally. Right now they are beta testing a premium price console on customers. It needs more time and testing
Yet no one with an ally will acknowledge this. For some reason they are defending it like it’s their child and crapping on the steam deck, I don’t understand it
@@urboijash3955 my steamdeck i had since launch imo we are beta testing SteamOS - there are still loads of problems that havent been sorted out since launch - we have been promised SteamOS 3.5 which will be avilable on any device - it hasnt happened - all these proton versions just to get a game working its hardly smooth, If you remember as well the SD had the same SD card problem which i encountered myself on my day 1 Steamdeck. Neither device is perfect - however i think i lean more towards the ally now than my Steamdeck
I had both at launch. They both were in beta then, but perfectly manageable. The Steam Deck has a one year lead time, and a corresponding better user experience. The underlying hardware is significantly better on the Ally though, the screen being an immediate apparent one. I love both, but ever since my Ally arrived, I haven’t used my Steam Deck anymore.
@@Futura2500 Who exactly did promise SteamOS 3.5 to be available on any device? Not an official source from what I know. It's just a wish from the community.
@@kenplays017the steam deck did not come with the 2tb HDD, loll ... That's not the brag you think it is. You just telling us you're a hoarder. You do not need more then 512 gigs of space on a portable. You're not playing your entire collection of games at once. You can run every emulator from a flash drive, which the ally has USB 3.2 and transfers 10 gigs a second easy... That sd card transfers barely 200 megs a second
Yes steam os delivers a much better experience, similar like the switch. The Rog Ally is just like a miniature pc with windows 11 and has just so many bugs and problems. With the steam deck you know it's a device which can last many years. After the ally's sd card frying who knows what comes next.
Reviewer: early on in the video: You can plug in the Ally and make it a lot more powerful than the Steam Deck Also the reviewer near the end of the video: I had an issue with my Ally that could have been fixed quickly with a keyboard and mouse but that's inconvenient for a device that's meant to be a handheld.
I dont get his point? The Ally is still in early days. Everyone seems to be putting out all these clickbait vids for views on how its over for the ally. I'm happy with my ally, I dont want to buy a new gaming laptop or carry my desktop pc around.
Yea but with ASUS’s track record, they’re probably not going to support it for very long, and they take forever to acknowledge and make fixes and improvements. Valve on the other hand is extremely responsive, has proven that they’re going to constantly update and add new features to the deck, and the customer service experience is night and day difference compared to Asus who is infamously known for terrible customer service when something is wrong lol
I'm kind of stuck between the two because the Steam Deck isn't officially available in my country, so getting it through a reseller costs around SGD $919 for the 512GB model (or even up to $1,000+), and the ROG Ally retails for SGD $999 here for the 512GB model as well.
Just get a base model and upgrade the SSD yourself. Bought my Deck only for rm1850 last year and it's far and still cheaper than Ally of RM3699. You can get a PS5 with that extra money 😊
I think in the end you're better getting a device that will be more reliable than more powerful. To each their own, I want to get an Asus Rog Ally at some point to play more of those demanding games, like Returnal and Hunt: showdowns, the enemy within.
I've been using the ally for two weeks. Other than the setup that is a little annoying. I have tried dozens of games with very little issues. Battery life is the biggest problem with the device. It all depends on your lifestyle. The ally is a beast of a machine. Cant wait what the future holds for hand held gaming
I have both. The best way for me to explain it is this. The Steam Deck is easier for beginners, but much harder to do advanced stuff. The Ally is harder for beginners, but much easier to do advanced stuff. As a more advanced user, it's so much easier to get my launchers and games up and running in Windows. It's a exercise in torture to do so on the Steam Deck and will have you pulling your hair out. But for basic playing games, or simple troubleshooting issues, the Steam Deck is definitely easier. Each has a different use case and user target. Also Steam Deck has been out for a year and a half and had a lot of updates. That's why biased video titles like this help no one. You are probably not an advanced user, so Steam Deck is better for you. My Ally can do everything I want it to, play every game I want it to, and has no issues with launching games, because I spent a few minutes to set them all up.
In my opinion any handheld that wants to be a handheld pc has to have trackpads and support gyroscopic aiming as a minimum. The whole point of pc gaming is having better graphics and better control options. As a handheld the graphics are similar to console already but to sacrifice the control options and to be stuck with just sticks is a non starter
With the ROG ally, you get more bang for your rands in SA, as the steam deck is ridiculously priced over here. However, I bought my steam deck, screen protector and 512gb mem card off Amazon at such an amazing price. It will be here in 2 weeks, but I feel I got a better deal that way. What detoured me with the ally was windows. I hate windows. But that’s just a matter of opinion. I could have also got a Ps5, but I’m a dad now and I hardly get time to game because I have to power up my console and sit down to play. Now I’m able to game anywhere I feel like it, so I’m happy either way. I just want to game
Idk a lot of this is subjective. Personally I think the thumbsticks feel good they definitely have less tension and move around with less force then I'm accustomed to but you get used to it fast. The face buttons feel great imo and they've never stuck for me. I prefer my face buttons to be on the mushier side with a slight click which they are. The screen is amazing hands down and so are the hall triggers. There are a few things I've noticed with slight downsides for me. I don't mind this D-pad style and it feels good to the touch but when playing 2d games like gba games or something like metroid dread I sometimes get accidental diagonals. The back buttons are just fine. They are definitely made with a cheaper plastic which kinda feels weird with the rest of the device but they work well. I would have rather had 2 on each side like the SD to assign more functions then 1 big one that sticks out but its fine. As far as armory crate, I've had no issues with it. Its not perfect and there are things id like to see added but they are doing that. You mentioned there was no way to close a game but they just added that feature with 322 along with adding more options with the fps limiter and more. Windows can be finicky and it can be a pain to get setup if you dont know your way around but once you get everything in place its wonderful! And perhaps most importantly, the GAMES JUST WORK and they run amazingly! I do wish they would have just ditched the lesser non extreme machine as nobody is gonna buy it anyways. I'd have liked to see another tier up with an OLED or MiniLED display and perhaps more internal storage
@mechanicalmonk2020 The video is literally titled why you should pick the steam deck over the ally and some of the opinions in the video were stated like they were matter of fact but ok im glad you only read the first sentence of my comment....always gotta be somebody...
I will probably pick a steamdeck since I plan to use it more on the go, so battery life is important to me and since it performs better on low wattage I guess it makes more sense. Performance wise I have a really nice desktop. :)
Battery life is close to the same on both. Maybe 10 minutes difference. You just need to buy a power bank. Believe me, after you try the ally, you won't bact to the steam deck, the screen quality and performance are a huge difference. I had the deck for almost a year and the ally since day one, and I cN tell you that people are just creating a console war between these 2 devices.
@dannypassion you are mostly right! But depending on the use case of the person asking, there is definitely some choice to be made. Low power games I rather play on the deck.. and if I take a device with me on the go it needs to be plug and play, with the deck having a simple both great system (and a huge head start) I definitely recommend the deck to most average people out there. Doesn't mean it's better!
@@dannypassionno that's not true at all, if you're thrashing both systems there's an element of truth. However out of the box you can get the Deck down to about 5W the Ally is 10W. That's where you can greatly extend the life of the Deck.
@@dannypassion oh I get you. I don't have any problems with any of the devices. But I've been watching some videos from both devices and it seems that sd when it comes to low wattage performs better. Also, not sure now, but I've seen that ally has issues to cap the wattage being consumed by the device. Like, you set 15w for example and it keeps eating 22w.
@@onomatopoeia5540 there is a second hand market for the XG mobile, you know? I end up spending less than 11 hundred and getting better peeformance and visual quality than both PS5 and Series X on a lot of games. Totally worth it.
@@onomatopoeia5540you’re laughing now but foldable monitors are coming out soon. Let’s see how you feel when the person who has XG mobile, Rog Ally and a 13-20 inch foldable 1080-1440p 120hz monitor in their to go bag are sitting next to you in a food court just having a little fun while the wife is shopping.
I own both handhelds and they feel very good but at the end of the day I would recommend the Ally The steam deck is also very good but more enjoyable for indie games or if you dont mind 25-40 fps and under for anything more demanding like AAA. The Ally will give better screen quality in the Resolution/Colors/Brightness and 120hz. Also a lot more power under the hood which gives those AAA games a solid 60 and sometimes up to 100 FPS. Its really insane how good the games feel at those high frame rates on the 120hz screen vs the 60hz.
I’m getting 50-60fps on the deck in mw2. I’m dual booting windows. Game runs surprisingly well. But if I didn’t have the deck already I would go with the ally for the performance for sure
@@christien6230 I have one and can say without a doubt it can quite often play many games at 1080p and 120hz screen is going to be useful anytime a game goes beyond 60fps which so far is everything I have played.
The screen is larger than every cellphone in existence. It's not very small. The switch has a smaller screen. I have my ROG set to 720 with super resolution enabled. I get 120fps on games like resident evil 2 remake.
@@bombshooter1507 super resolution can only be used when you set resolution below native (720 works the best). It upscales it to a 1080p image. It's in incredibly powerful upscaling algorithm. Combined with FSR 2.0, you can get games like cyberpunk to run around 45 fps at 18w pretty stable with lots of bells and whistles turned to medium/high and it's incredibly hard to tell it's not a native resolution image
And no, some people complain, but with SRS enabled I've not be able to tell much difference. FRS 1.0 will make the image blurry if the game supports it, which is why I suggest only using FRS 2.0 if the game needs the extra boost to frame rate. I've been playing everything at 720 around 18w and getting really great performance with decent battery. I have battery care enabled so the battery only charges about 80% to prevent cell burnout... After an hour and a half of gaming (recently been playing space marine around 115 fps) and ending with around 35% battery. Text has been clean and clear across every game.
Steam deck was nice, but honestly I'm loving my Rog Ally way better. No hacks needed to play all my games. Gamepass Etc. My Steamdeck was collecting dust for months, can't stop playing my Ally
For me, its the fact that ill be able to play on Epic and Game Pass, without a bunch of work arounds. Also, unlike the steam deck, you can go pick this up at a store.
The answers is the ROG Ally is better. It has Windows 11 with the availability of a larger gaming library than Steam itself with non-Steam games and third party apps that can run other games and emulators. With constant updates it'll get better over time. And you can even run Steam on it as well. The Steam Deck is already quite behind in performance and tech since it has released in the beginning of 2022. With the lack of being able to run new current certain triple A titles. The name of this video misguides old and new gaming enthusiasts into considering acquiring a much less superior product.
Great detailed review. However, you left out the comparison running games from the Steam Deck that aren't inside of the Steam ecosystem. That's the frustrating part of SteamOS.
It is not hard to get games up and running on the ally so I guess I fundamentally disagree with this video. They all get added to the crate and they all launch fine from there, I played sf6, flight sim, forza horizon, and Diablo 4; using steam, game pass and battle net and they all worked more seamlessly than they do on my PC thanks to armory crate. And let’s not forget that the ally is a month old and the steam deck is into it’s second year of revisions. It’s short sighted to say the experience won’t improve with inevitable software updates, just like it did on the steam deck.
People want to be "hand held"(pun intended) through their gaming. Tell me what I can and can't do and make it very easy so I don't have to think. Kinda sounds like Apple. HARD PASS.
I havent bought either device yet and will probably wait for the next gen or more competition. I think if i were pick right now id go for the ally . Better speakers, screen res and size comparing the two. That bezel on the deck is a real turn off for me, If they released new spec I might sway more toward the deck. Battery is a bit less efficient on the ally but you will probably have it plugged in most of the time anyways. Im surprised the rog ally is only 150 more than the deck with the 512gb option as they normally charge a steep premium for that range of products.
@@kenomenorias3200 I say it like that because the 512gb is already at a premium price point. If i were to save for a handheld, id prefer to get something more futureproof if it meant investing more. It depends on what you can afford. If you’re on a budget steam deck is the clear winner.
I have both and the rog ally is way better it’s more powerful and the screen is way better 1080 p makes a big difference on a 7 inch screen especially when playing triple a games resident evil 4 remake looks and play terrible on the steam deck , but looks amazing on the rog ally the steam deck is ok for indi games,1080 p just looks so much better than 720p it’s day and night
Rog ally is really impressive. However, it cant beat the steam deck when it comes to the value. In Canada rog ally costs almost 1000 and then i gotta need a carry case and sd card which will take me almost 1100 bucks. My Steam deck came with a great case and its not cheap by any mean, easily cost 50 $ . Steam really care about their customers. So far i have seen rog ally is supposed to be a steam deck killer, but its not the case yet, it just performs better ,but it doesn't destroy steam deck. Considering that my steam deck is 500$. Most people are hyping up because of its 120 hz display, you are likely to not gonna get proper benifit, and no matter what you do, people would play games on the Ally around 800p-700p resolution since it got a terrible battery life. And in low wattage ally cant even touch steam deck, steam put a magic in its processor. As long as it can give me like 40fps i am fine and slow games work like a charm in 30fps. One thing , in the year steam made like thousands of games certified, i cant expect this from asus . If i want to spend 1100 dollar on ally then asus should treat it the way ninetendo treat to its switch and sony to its PlayStation. Btw, ps5 cost me 620 dollars. Only buy Ally if you want something more than steam deck. Although, one thing i love about ally is its vibrant screen.
Cancellend my preorder of steam deck and waited, got an ally and its excellent. After a week your super comfy with it. The buttons are NOT mushy, , the sticks are almost too sensetive. Your arguing over some basic button layouts overall horesepower, if the games won't play smooth whats the benefit of a button layout?
Well said but as someone that hates windows but uses it I have to disagree with what’s “the best”. Really depends on the users. I have both the deck (on loan from a friend) and decided to buy the rog just because of windows. Rog is more comfy, stronger, and 100% compatible with pc games. Most studios design games for windows and it shows between these two devices. If you want a console like experience though stay away. Get the deck.
@@fillerbunnyninjashark271 On SteamOS the OS upgrades unintrusively in the background, and when it's ready you just reboot and boom, you're there. Windows will have you updating multiple things, often requiring reboots in-between and often this takes quite long.
People need to stop talking about Steam Deck's "playable" ticks like they're just some helpful feature that tells you what plays well with the hardware. They are there to tell you whether or not their Proton compatibility layer completely destroys the user experience to the point that it is unplayable. And that strikes at the heart of Steam Deck's flaws. It only works well out of the box for some of the games in your Steam library, and for everything else you need to figure it out for yourself. The Ally doesn't need those green ticks because, like any other Windows gaming device, the only determining factor for its playability is its hardware. Look, I own a Steam Deck. I like it for the games it works with. But each time a game doesn't fall in the middle of the Venn diagram of 'games I own on Steam' and 'games that play nice with Proton,' the Steam Deck forfeits the game to the Ally.
Tbh I definitely love the steam deck but my ally just plays and runs more smoothly especially with games like sons of the forest I can barley play that on the steam deck lol but the ally it just works. Def prefer ally.
this comparison is now out-of-date. either prerecorded days ago or released this video without actual testing and simply echoes the negativity found in the web. new bios and new armory crate has been released today July 5, 2023 which addressed several issues mentioned in the video. i actually hate asus, but i have both sd and ally. if budget is a concern, SD by far is the best bang for the buck, you just cant beat steam deck price over performance hands down and it can play diablo 4. =)
Pulled the trigger on the steam deck today for this reason. I'm a new dad and I can't afford to sit around and try to get a game to work when I only have small windows to myself to relax.
Why you should pick the ROG Ally over steam Deck: Steam Deck: This item is not available for reservation in your country ROG Ally: Ready to buy in several online shops. F Steam Deck hard in the backdoor
![BEST Gaming Handheld in 2024!? [Steam Deck OLED | Ally X | Legion Go | Claw]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/czoKrKcgHaY/mqdefault.jpg)
![BEST Gaming Handheld in 2024!? [Steam Deck OLED | Ally X | Legion Go | Claw]](/img/tr.png)
In South Africa the Ally officially released, the Steam deck never did, so it was always grey imports. So this left the Ally as much cheaper at $849 vs the 64GB steamdeck coming in at $800 and the 512 sitting at $1100. The fact that the Ally came in at almost the US pricing was like yeah I'll take it, as we also suffer bouts of load shedding which takes 2 to 4 hours of power away a day.
Maybe the release of the Ally will reduce the price to the Steam deck. I think the Ally would be a good option I just wish Valve would release the SteamOS so I could put it on it.
Yeah, it's that way in a lot of countries, and good luck with RMA . The ally you judge takes bavk to Best Buy if something is wrong.
Bit the SteamDeck is available at Incredible Connection and other local retailers.
@@Aussious07 grey imports + heavily marked up
Mate... hate to tell ya but that's because Valve focused on making quality hardware for as many markets as they could responsibly support to their quality standards. The Ally went into as many markets as possible because it's focused on exploiting the hype the Deck generated around the world for an "affordable" premium handheld.
Good luck with an RMA on your eventual cooked SD card on the Ally. Asus definitely doesn't come close to competing with Valve when it comes to STABILITY, OPTIMIZATION & HANDHELD OPERATING SYSTEM. ❤😂
I got the ROG Ally because I also needed a new PC. So for 700 bucks it was a no brainer. I plug my Ally in to a dock with dual monitors, keyboard, and mouse and use it as a desktop device. The fact that I can mobile game on it is an added plus.
Yea, it depends on the person, this guy is telling his preferences.
Hope you don't use an SD card... you're in for a bad time in the long term, especially if you're using the device in such a "high thermal profile mode" 🫣
If you need more storage you can just replace the SSD,
@@czort123Is it possible to add a flash drive to the Ally?
@@BillyBob_McSanchez You can replace the SSD or use SD Card, but the option with the harddrive in my opinion is the best. You can also wait a few months and buy the refreshed version of the Rog Ally. It will have more storage
If you like strategy games, the Steam Deck with their trackpad is a no brainer. I love to play my Total War games on it. You can even play WOW on it.
I hate track pads, so I'll only play games with controller support.
@@thaddeusk it's difficult to find strategy games that only play with the controller.
Total War runs well enough on Deck??? I have a deck and own TW Warhammer 1 and 2 - but have not even bothered trying them on the deck because I assumed they would not run well enough… lmk! Thanks!
@@thaddeuskGood thing it has controllers as well 😂
I want to play WoW on it. How do I do this?!
Last week I took a 2.5 hr flight, and a 3.5 hr flight, and played my steam deck the majority of the flight time. I was running some light emulation, SNES, and a couple indies like Notia, slay the spire and Thumper. I had 5 percent when we were about to land and shut it down.
Steam deck is a great portable machine
A powerbank could save you from that issue considering you're also sitting on a plane.
Bro how do you play Noita on the deck it’s hard to aim no?
@@AbhilashPotharaju very hard yeah. I think gyro would a good use case there maybe. I quit playing it because of aiming
I got the Ally and been having a blast with it! Only negative for me is battery life but I generally play plugged in.
I think the primary selling point of the Ally over the Deck is that it's considerably more powerful while costing slightly more than the 512 GB Deck. That's probably why ASUS felt they could make some compromises on the quality of the buttons and thumbsticks. They're banking on the internal hardware having a longer shelf life for running AAA games.
The steam sale took care of that this week. Good time for gamers
Primary selling point for the Ally is you can buy it.
They might have a way to upgrade those.
I think the problem with that idea is that I think the 512gb steam deck was always bad value since you can buy a 512gb ssd and then just buy the base 400$ model. So as long as you can do some simple DIY you are really comparing 450$ vs 700$. The other thing is the significant difference in performance only comes at 25w from what I've seen. At 15w you are getting a modest ~10-20% performance increase and below that at 5w it actually performs worse. If you go all the way to 25w its not even close but at that wattage you basically have to be plugged into the wall because your battery life will be so poor.
I recently bought a ROG ally. It runs Starfield so well, not sure if it's running any good on the Steam deck. It seems like some updates gave Ally better performance as well. @@danthezulu7707
I have them both and am really loving the ROG right now. So much customization and love being able to surf the web quickly when needed. Was able to setup RetroBat in like 10 mins and have really started with emulation for the 1st time ever. Steam Deck is wonderful too!
I don't think about the OS on my Steam Deck (and that's the beauty of it) and I'm not tempted to install Windows at all, Windows updates and driver updates and yada, not missing Windows one bit, the slightly improved graphics hardware on the ROG Ally doesn't tempt me to get one to replace my Steam Deck. After weighing up the price difference of the two devices, (Curry's want a stinking £699 for a ROG) I just don't see the ROG Ally as valid a competitor.
No rush, I'm waiting for Valve to market a new handheld that easily convinces existing Steam Deck owners to replace their device, at this point the task looks like one even Valve will struggle to achieve, a few years down the line with hardware advancements and who knows.
If I didn't already have a Steam Deck I probably would have gotten an Ally instead. I almost exclusively use Windows on my Deck anyway.
Windows means, easy emulation, easy game fixes, game mods, piracy to fix denuvo games...
@@thaddeuskyou should probably get an ally since it was made for Windows
no one needs windows on a handheld device ;-D
Been a PC gamer from Windows 95 days and all the way to Windows 11 now. I don't mind tweaking things to get best performance and I am fairly skilled at it. I got the SteamDeck with plans on blowing away Steam and installing Windows. After finally getting it (1 year and 1 day exactly) and doing the 1tb SSD upgrade, I really started to try Steam OS and getting my Personal Windows games running on it, never mind my Steam Games. I installed Windows to a SD card, know how many times I actually booted Windows up on the deck in 6 months? Once, just once. 95% of the games with tweaking with proton I was able to get running and if you like retro games to even Nintendo Switch, Emudeck is a god. Everything in one shot.
So, the Deck CAN run Windows and people say, it runs good but, is it really needed? And yes, I have GamePass...
I like playing mw2 when I’m staying in hotels for work on the deck. That’s why I dualboot. To my knowledge there’s no way to get it running otherwise. It runs surprisingly well. Very cool to be playing that on a handheld
Same here. I rarely booted windows and just enjoying the Linux 😊
GamePass is life. Over 400 PC GamePass games….
@mobaby1979 doesn't matter how many titles are there if the person your are selling to is not interested in them buddy.
400 is a small amount compared to the vast array of PC titles already in existence add the fact you do not own those Gamepass games as they can and will be removed due to rental based service of the platform.
If I really wanna play Gamepass on Steam Deck (which I do) I just remote play it via my Series X on Steam OS which saves TONS of storage.
How do you run gamepass games on steam os natively? is there a way?
Well right now is the Steam Summer sale,$359 for 64Gb plus $100 for 1Tb ssd $459 plus taxes vs $699 plus taxes mmmmm something to think about
If it was a our primary desktop I'm pretty sure most would happily pay the difference for increased performance..but it's not..these are handheld devices intended for causal gaming.."pick up and go" play for 30 to 1 hour here and there.
The steam deck does this far better purely due to its software
@@MrEditsCinema I don't agree with that at all. I own both and can tell you the Ally can run just Steam Big Picture mode and run games just as well with the bonus being it'll run the rest the deck doesn't... The reality here is that the Ally is a better machine because it was released 2 years later.
You sure about the Ally running steam games good? My experience speaks otherwise that’s just my experience though
Just wait for prime day and try to get a good deal on that 1tb SSD. Maybe you can save a little more cash.
Majority of the indies I play on ally get 80-90 fps and up on 10w mode I’m good with that lol
I gotta thank you. So professional, it emphasizes that this is a comparison, that each piece has advantages, etc. The conversation seems so inanely one-sided, or outright biased, in too much content. Driving me nuts.
the steamdeck has never officially released iny country which makes the ROG ally actually cheaper. but I still went with the deck anyway because of a combination of form factor (the trackpads seem like an extremely necessary feature for a handheld PC) and the steamOS support. I know later down the line the ally may have software improvements, but currently all PC games I play are via steam so having that optimisation for the system is hugely valuable to me currently
I have Rog Ally Extreme for last 3 weeks, it's a mini monster, i call it mini LeBron, there are lots of tweaks and fixes needed, the use of it is not as smooth as Steam Deck but i think with updates it'll get better and better. The performance, technical side of Ally is unmatched in handheld consoles. But it's not as smooth as they present it to be. Win11 is both a blessing and a headache.
Interesting to see it's still "updates _will_ fix things" and not yet "updates _have_ fixed things"
@@mechanicalmonk2020 Just a small small wrinkle: Rog Raikiri PRO is introduced to be used with Ally right. It takes about 1 hour to figure how to pair it in Ally. For everyone. Or you launch a game and sound is not working, you don't know why you restart the system and it's fixed. Things like that and many more...
Asus and updates, name a more once in a blue moon pair😂😂😂
@hdtekstil this happens on the deck. I still get bugs and deck fans pretend they don't exist
yeah bugs will happen on electronic devices all the time
@@EddiePReacts
In Sweden for example (where I'm from) It's 950$+ for a Rog ally and 600-700$ for a steam deck 512GB (depending on sales)
So.. Yeah.. The biggest reason for us right there.
And that's not even counting the 64GB and 256GB capacities which are even cheaper and offer up the same performance as the 512GB version.
ROG ally still blows the deck out of the water and can play all the games the deck cannot
If portability is your main use case and battery life a big factor, then go for the Steam Deck. If you use the Ally in lower watts in order to save on battery, you'll end up with similar performance in 15W mode and at lower than that the Deck will almost always be better.
If you have no issue carrying a power bank or being plugged in or intending to use it as a substitute for a desktop, then the Ally will give you better performance without worrying about battery life (as you'll be plugged in).
However, the $200-300 difference between the 64gb Steam Deck and the Ally still doesn't justify the relatively "small" boost in game performance the Ally gives. It's mostly 10-20FPS more than the Deck in its 25-30W mode, and it's honestly not worth the $200-300 jump if you're on a budget _AND_ you don't care about the super nice screen on the Ally :)
This is dead on for me. I own the SteamDeck, I love it and I really through about selling for the Ally but, when it comes down to it, It's not huge in performance, it's better but, the OS not really portable optimized (Windows for gaming on a portable). The performance differences are not high enough for me to take the jump.
Now if this played every video game emulation up to Xbox one and PS4 with good framerates (yea, I know it's very early in emulation for these consoles), it would a no brainer but, this hardware level is not there yet.
Maybe the Allly 2 but, the Deck 2 might be out by then....
well, some months later. I'm pretty sure only ROG Ally will have FSR3+ frame generation as it's gpu is on RDNA 3, while Deck is on RDNA 2.
Everything runs and loads great for me on the ROG Ally... So I'm not sure why I would give up compatibility and power.
Just got my ally today, and I’m loving it. It didn’t take long to update stuff, or setup at all. The most major concern people have with this device is if asus will continue to support due to their track record, but with all the promotion this handheld has gotten I think they will. They put to much effort, money, and time not too. Also considering the handheld market is really huge right now I don’t see them just dumping it that wouldn’t make sense. If someone is choosing between the ally or the deck I would say get the asus rog ally. It can do way more than just play steam games.
Exactly they definitely wont be dumping their product. That's what these companies from overseas does releasing a handheld pc every month.
I've heard several reviewers say that the Ally buttons are better with the consumer version and that it was only the review units having poor buttons
lol
I have a deck today. Thinking about swapping to the ally... One of my big reasons is native windows, and the ability to use Disney+ Netflix, MAx etc while on trips.. I dont want to manage 2 devices (ipad and deck) to watch movies etc.
The steam deck is more user-friendly. Turn it on, put your account in, and you're ready to play. Asus rog not so much, with the problems setting up the ally might put off some people. I still prefer my ally, though. I have both devices. If you want to play emulation like ps3 I recommend the ally. Been playing infamous on it and is very smooth.
Yes but the steam deck can’t run all your games in your steam library and there’s too many caveats with the deck
@@paulwilliams2024 neither the ally... try run games that need a mouse...
You can run Playnite on the Ally on boot. Then you can pretty much pick any game and run it from there with controller support.
There's also big box and with some tinkering just big screen steam with non steam games added.
@rhianor i do it with several games. It is quite annoying having to configure everything - i really prefer steams community gamepad settings rather than having to input everything in manually in AC.
But M&K games work ok with the ally.
@@rhianor well I haven’t had any issues I literally can run any game I could on gaming laptop or desktop including every game in my steam Library
Very well said. Having dual boot SteamOS and Windows on a Deck, it is not very pleasant using windows though still need it for games that use anticheat. Hopefully Microsoft release a Windows that purely optimise for these devices.
I own a Steam Deck and I'm beyond happy with it. Was a little intrigued by the ROG Ally but a friend who got one has buyer's remorse... According to him Windows 11 is more of a hindrance compared to SteamOS on a handheld, and he has had to jump through all kinds of hoops to get certain games to run properly.
For anyone on the fence reading this comment... it makes no sense. I returned the Steam Deck because playing anything outside of Steam is a huge pain. On the Ally, you can run Steam in Big Picture mode, which makes everything accessible using the controller input just like it would in Steam OS. The games themselves run natively in Windows, not through a Proton compatibility layer, and games on other storefronts are easer to access on the Ally. Multiplayer games that use different types of anti-cheat are notoriously impossible to run on the Steam Deck, but again, run natively and flawlessly on the Ally. Not sure what this guys friend is talking about, but if a game has controller support, it will work with the Ally. Performance is miles ahead on the Ally, it's lighter, can run any apps that Windows can (like Discord), and has a significantly better screen, which is not only higher resolution at 1080p, but can run up to 120hz and supports FSR. Literally the only thing that the Steam Deck beats the Ally in is battery life, and that's only because it's tuned to run at a lower wattage. But if you're playing low-spec games, you can still get good battery life out of the Ally at 10Watts, so even that isn't a huge deal.
So yeah... I returned the Steam Deck right before the return period ended because it was good, but not everything I wanted from a handheld. The Ally ended up being all I wanted and more.
Software is the reason I just went with the steam deck
Not to mention these are causal gaming devices intended for a quick 30 min to 1 hour session. Not worth paying the big bucks
unless you want to dock your system and play longer hours...
You should rename this video, "In my opinion, this is why I chose the Steam Deck."
Gets less clicks
This is what the title indirectly means dude
I love this idea despite what the other replies say
Why you should = His opinion. You know, sometimes a creator likes to assume his audience is intelligent enough so that spelling out the obvious isn't required.
@@PublicEnemyMinusOnew reply
The one thing that has really disappointed me about my Steam Deck is the screen. The bevel is so thick. You take it out of the box and see a fantastic huge screen... Only to turn it on and see a huge frame limiting the screen space
A company is releasing a new screen for it, which is kinda tempting.
It's still 7 inch!
Give this man a raise, good review 🎉
Microsofts philosophy with windows has always been that "every problem is a nail (x86 based desktop computer) so have a hammer (windows)." While this has propelled them to be the most successful desktop operating system in existence, its also pigeonholed them into a situation where now new custom form factors and hardware driven by software needs dont fit well with the typical usecase, and thats the main reason why windows is such a huge source of friction on the ally.
I almost exclusively run windows on my steam deck and I've been enjoying it.
sweet
huge? idk what you're talking about, man. everything i've installed and run on the Ally so far has worked without a hitch in handheld mode. docked, i've had to look for some fixes but i'd wager most people don't use their Ally with a 65inch 4K monitor, or maybe they do, I have no idea about that but i do know that in my hands and on the 7 inch screen, so far: everything just works. Except for Mirror's Edge 1 on Steam for some reason. Still, 1 out of like 40 games so far, not bad.
Windows has always been about everything for everyone. They have pride it in with it being compatible with almost every piece of hardware out there, and it's impressive. It will work in every case but, some options its good at but, others so-so. Gaming as always been good on it but, hardware levels needed to be higher to support the overhead of Windows. Steam and Proton/Wine has made good efforts to optimize for performance, so less hardware and it plays most Windows games....
They both have their bugs but, they also have their perks... I will admit, if you like Emulation, from Retro to modern console games, EmuDeck is a god, it's all nice and neat in one package with very little work to setup....
@@TheCoolDave I think Windows is a good general purpose OS in a world where the hardware is supposed to be general purpose one size fits all. However, in the world of computing, the windows way of handling things is starting to be outpaced by software driven hardware design. Apple is leading the charge there, with it's custom inhouse ARM based chips all guided by the needs of the OS instead of the OS being built for the hardware.
Linux distros are more well situated to adapt in this "software guided" environment since the baseline kernel makes so few assumptions about the underlying hardware and makes zero assumptions about what the desktop user experience is going to be. It gives developers a lot of flexibility about how a distribution package is put together and what it's put together for.
I'd like to see Microsoft give 3rd party developers a similar level of flexibility to Windows in the future so that 3rd parties can make smoother user experiences for people using Windows on non-standard systems. That would definitely help iron out the kinks on x86 based handheld windows machines.
If the Steam Deck had ever released officially in Australia I likely would have gotten one. But it didn’t, so I didn’t.
The Ally has been pretty good so far!
What? Do they really not ship to Australia?
Just so you know, it isn't cause they dont want to, they have received warning around possible competition issues from Australian regulatory. And since Australia is a small market compared to say US or EU, its best for them not to bother and instead allow customers to purchase by other means. So its no Valve thats the issue. Its Australian government.
Same issue in South Africa, we can get gray imports, but those cost an arm and a leg
might wanna only play your Ally in the AC... otherwise your SD card will eventually get cooked from persistent high power mode use GOOD LUCK
@@Secret_Takodachi did the Ally touch you in some place? Cause as the OP stated there he couldn't get a steamdeck, so now he must've get an Ally cause it could have an SD card issue? I mean wow
Consider this: people are ditching their steam decks.
I just got one (256 gb model) + 1tb SD card for $300 CAD ($227 US). Pretty freaking compelling.
Use market matters a lot
I love my Ally I'm a PC gamer at heart so tweaking values to get better performance is second nature. My biggest issue with the Deck was the fact that my Steam library had way less verified titles than I would like and I tended to use Game Pass a lot. The Ally plays everything I throw at it from any launcher which is functionality I can't get from the Deck without installing windows. And if I'm installing Windows I may as well have the Ally and benefit from the extra power. I have not missed the track pads but then again I've never experienced them first hand but I've not had any issues using the controllers + touchscreen for Windows and I don't really play games that require m/kb exclusive set-ups (that's what my rig is for). Imo they are different machines in their base configuration; if you want a console-like experience with PC titles absolutely go Steam Deck. If you are confident with the set-up that comes with the Ally (because of Winn11) then I recommend the Ally; the screen is amazing, sound is great and it feels premium to me.
As a PC gamer I'll stick with my Windows 10 PC & Valve's version of Linux. Windows 11 LAWL
Windows 11 is great. Feels much more curent and modern. A pleasure to use.@@Secret_Takodachi
I only play at home, and mostly within range of a socket. For me the plugged in turbo mode works excellent. I own both devices and I think we should give the ally a couple months just like the deck needed the time to become what it is. The deck is better for on the go, and the ally is better for playing around the house (that’s actually the most used place for these devices) the are both great in their own category’s! The deck did something amazing for handheld gaming! And i love mine. But i also like the rog for what it does. Competition is good for the market! Lets see in a year how everything is running. Average consumers should never day 1 buy these devices to start with.. because over the last 10 years company’s became way to comfortable releasing stuff that isnt ready.. but thats the market at the moment. Ps, love the Star Wars lego heads!!
I've owned them both, and I would go with the Ally all day. It just runs games much better and off any launcher, and it's not fussy about third party app installs. It's just easy to use because it's Windows. Nothing wrong with the Deck, so long as you know what you're getting into with Linux, but I just prefer the ease of use to play my GoG library without an issue, and not have to find workarounds for games with anti-cheat. I felt super locked into Steams ecosystem on the Deck being that things only seemed to work smoothly when playing Steam games. Not only that, but the screen on the Steam Deck is AWFUL, where as the screen on the Ally is incredible.
Personal opinion based on owning both
ROG Ally: 9/10
Steam deck 7/10
Disclaimer for certain folks: Please don't be salty about my opinion guys. It's just an innocent opinion based on my experience having tried both devices extensively. I really don't want anyone to feel salty over what I think, because all I have to make anyone feel better is this🖕
Can't you do all that on a Deck with GeForce Now?
@@partsground4096you can
dual boot is the way
Sd card fryer: 2/10
@@onomatopoeia5540 Oh, I don't care about that lol. I actually paid 560 bucks for my ROG Ally, so for me, it's worth not having an SD card slot. I also have 1tb of storage inside mine anyway, so I'm good. Been using it everyday over the last month, and it's been a blast 🙃
Only reason I need to avoid the Ally is that Asus is the one backing it.
I was having trouble understanding why he found the Ally to be so hard to use then he dropped the "Armoury Crate is so buggy, you're better off not using it". Tip, its not just a game launcher, it has all the things that make the Windows experience a lot more forgiving.
You can tell dudes who just love Linux. They act so clueless. They're worse than those ads where the person spills something in a nonsensical way to sell you on buying things to clean with 😂
Half of people with steam decks have windows installed on them. Im pretty sure people who love linux are way less clueless than you when it comes to computers seeing how windows is a operating system meant for consumers.
You can fix the cod issue by choosing a gamepad in settings instead of mouse and keyboard. It's annoying but it just sets a m&k no matter what input device you're using.
I decided to order the steam deck over the asus rog ally.. I did go to best buy twice and I checked it out, but something was telling me not to get it.. to many issues with it right now so I'll wait until asus fix the issues.. until then steam deck is my choice, you can't beat the deals they got going on right now..
I have both from launch. No issues with the Ally for me. The reviewers don't know how to use the Armoury crate like this guy said he just stopped using it. You need the Armoury crate to launch the games because it selects what input you will use.
People are free to make whatever choice they want. You forgot to mention the SD Card Oven feature on the Ally! It's great for cooking whatever data you've got stored on it!
Just dont use sd card there are internal one instead problem solved right?
I think I’m going to stick with ROG because of my game library.
The worst part I found when trying to decide which one to get is that they compliment each other so well. Where one lacks, the other excels and vice versa. One is way more powerful than the other, but thr less powerful one has better controls, for example.
Controls are fine on rog ally the buttons are not mushy.gamespot has a review sample the buttons on the review sample are mushy but not on the retail rog ally's.
@@Elshrimpo I haven't had any issues with controls either, and haven't really felt the lack of trackpads so for me rog ally is the clear choice
@@djoj20 indeed
The Steam Deck is a lot better when playing on low wattage. Games run faster and battery last longer. This is why I choose mine. Also I can't be without the track pads and prefer the Steam OS simple experience.
I terms of max performance the Ally is more powerful (probably like 30%). But am still good for now for the games I play is doing well. I can wait till the Steam Deck Pro or 2 is released (probably by mid or the end of 2024 or 2025)
@@madjunir have you tested the new bios on the ROG ally on 10watt?triple aaa games where Rog ally shines so more future proof because of the greater performance.
Also, VRR is the real game changer here on the Ally IMO.
To me, the Steam Deck is like desktop Linux as a whole - it's fine, so long as you stay in the sandboxed environment they stick you in. But to the author's main point, sometimes even the sandboxed environment doesn't always work quite like you expect. For example, I installed Super Meat Boy on the Deck, which installed the Linux version of the game. However, the Linux version isn't up to parity with its Windows counterpart, such that it was missing features and bug fixes that the Windows version has.
That being said, I wouldn't buy the Ally either, given that it's running newer hardware that isn't fully baked yet. Last I checked the r/ROGAlly subreddit, peoples' SD card readers were borked. That's the kind of thing I expect from a $50 Chinese drug store handheld, not a premium, $700 device.
Just for information's sake, you can make the Steam Deck use the Windows version of a game that defaults to a Linux version fairly easily through the game's settings.
I have been super impressed with my Steam Deck. Even games that are not Deck Verified are super easy to get comfortably running after fiddling with the settings and community button layouts.
And that's coming from me! A console gamer who doesn't like fiddling with getting PC games running.
Very informative. Thank you.
I have both the Steam Deck over the Asus Rog Ally. But truthfully, I would still prefer the Steam Deck because it is easier to run & play games. But for emulating past games, the Asus Rog Ally is the winner.
It's baffling that a manufacturer would design a Windows-based gaming handheld without trackpads or usable launcher software. It was also obvious to me that trying to pack those specs into such a thin device would make it run uncontrollable hot
The way I see this, the ROG Ally is a continuation of what was already going on in the handheld PC gaming market . As a PC gamer I would not have bought a Windows based handheld, which may seem counter-intuitive to many. I just wasn't looking to paint myself into a corner with Windows in that form factor. It was the SD's very purposeful design that convinced me to get into this market, the things it's doing rather than the things it isn't. To me the Ally is about raw power which for many is important. What I wanted was a console environment to play my backlog on, one with a performance sweet spot. This is a great market, it's opening up wonderfully and may even turn out to be the way forward for all of us, which I doubt any of us would have dared predict in the past.
Wow!! I never thought GameSpot would weigh on this and favout the Steam Deck!! This is HUGE for those still on the fence about which handheld PC to get! 😊
haha thats what I was thinking, surprised about it, it's usually hard for these companies to pick sides because they can lose sponsors. Kudos to them and I agree, the steam Deck is better than the Bug Ally.
Console Vs a laptop missing it's mouse and keyboard with a tiny screen. For the average consumer the deck is an easier device. However the deck does let you get at the complexity underneath. That's the point where even with a deck you go get a mouse and keyboard plug it into a big monitor and treat it like a desktop AND learn how to drive Linux. Which on SteamOS is not all that hard but does require dropping preconceived notions of how an OS works.
I got a 1tb nvme off eBay for cheap. Installed it in my steam
Deck and dual
Boot windows and steamos. I can play mw2 on windows and most other games on steam os
Having owned both, I'm returning the Ally and rebuying a Steam Deck. The screen and internals on the Ally are far superior. It just proves that Valve could have put better hardware on their device to push more frames and higher refresh. But the UI/UX experience of the Steam Deck is far, far, far better. SteamOS is night and day superior over having to deal with Windows and all its quirks. I'm a longtime PC gamer. I have no problem with Windows inherently. But using it, combined with Asus's bloatware, are just not what I want to experience in a handheld device.
Gamepass. That’s the issue. Steam Deck is cheaper to buy. But the Ally has Gamepass, and that’s a huge huge difference.
Cloud gaming works wonderfully. And you can always dual boot windows
I own both. Ally, in my opinion is better. But because of my use case. I use it for digital art, gaming and watching Netflix.
It really just depends on what you need. Obviously the ROG is more powerful. No debate. But the fact is, both of these are luxury devices. Ppl buying likely have a console, a PC, both, or whatever.
For me, the Steam Deck is the clear winner. I'm not going to play the latest AAA games on my deck. I've got a great PC for that. I use the deck for pre-2017 games and emulation. And since I pretty much keep everything under 12 Watts, the steamdeck is the lower wattage king. I mean it can emulate ps2 games at like 8 watts, ps1 and lower at 6 watts. So nice.
Now, where I think the Ally wins hands down is for someone looking for a tiny desktop replacement that's also a handheld. Get a decent dock and monitor, boom, you're set.
More time and testing went into the deck than the ally. Right now they are beta testing a premium price console on customers. It needs more time and testing
Yet no one with an ally will acknowledge this. For some reason they are defending it like it’s their child and crapping on the steam deck, I don’t understand it
@@urboijash3955 my steamdeck i had since launch imo we are beta testing SteamOS - there are still loads of problems that havent been sorted out since launch - we have been promised SteamOS 3.5 which will be avilable on any device - it hasnt happened - all these proton versions just to get a game working its hardly smooth, If you remember as well the SD had the same SD card problem which i encountered myself on my day 1 Steamdeck. Neither device is perfect - however i think i lean more towards the ally now than my Steamdeck
I had both at launch. They both were in beta then, but perfectly manageable. The Steam Deck has a one year lead time, and a corresponding better user experience. The underlying hardware is significantly better on the Ally though, the screen being an immediate apparent one. I love both, but ever since my Ally arrived, I haven’t used my Steam Deck anymore.
@@Futura2500 Who exactly did promise SteamOS 3.5 to be available on any device? Not an official source from what I know. It's just a wish from the community.
issue is the steamdeck have no warranty support on other countries they just been selling as reseller
For me it’s steam deck, much cheaper and play and suspend gameplay is awesome 👏
You mustn’t have played the ally. It’s actually a lot better and that’s why I have my SD to my younger brother.
@@jaycleaves my steamdeck is 3TB(internal 2 TB+1GB micro SD) and ROG Ally is 512Gb and no mousepad so obviously Steadeck is better
@@kenplays017 And you can easily upgrade it on the ally as well. If you didn’t know 👏🏽
@@kenplays017the steam deck did not come with the 2tb HDD, loll ... That's not the brag you think it is. You just telling us you're a hoarder. You do not need more then 512 gigs of space on a portable. You're not playing your entire collection of games at once. You can run every emulator from a flash drive, which the ally has USB 3.2 and transfers 10 gigs a second easy... That sd card transfers barely 200 megs a second
Yes steam os delivers a much better experience, similar like the switch. The Rog Ally is just like a miniature pc with windows 11 and has just so many bugs and problems. With the steam deck you know it's a device which can last many years. After the ally's sd card frying who knows what comes next.
Reviewer: early on in the video: You can plug in the Ally and make it a lot more powerful than the Steam Deck
Also the reviewer near the end of the video: I had an issue with my Ally that could have been fixed quickly with a keyboard and mouse but that's inconvenient for a device that's meant to be a handheld.
I dont get his point? The Ally is still in early days. Everyone seems to be putting out all these clickbait vids for views on how its over for the ally. I'm happy with my ally, I dont want to buy a new gaming laptop or carry my desktop pc around.
Yea but with ASUS’s track record, they’re probably not going to support it for very long, and they take forever to acknowledge and make fixes and improvements. Valve on the other hand is extremely responsive, has proven that they’re going to constantly update and add new features to the deck, and the customer service experience is night and day difference compared to Asus who is infamously known for terrible customer service when something is wrong lol
Exactly. Plus the next steam deck will be better anyway.
I'm kind of stuck between the two because the Steam Deck isn't officially available in my country, so getting it through a reseller costs around SGD $919 for the 512GB model (or even up to $1,000+), and the ROG Ally retails for SGD $999 here for the 512GB model as well.
Just get a base model and upgrade the SSD yourself. Bought my Deck only for rm1850 last year and it's far and still cheaper than Ally of RM3699. You can get a PS5 with that extra money 😊
Buy 64gb version then upgrade 1-2TB SSD and put matte screen protector yourself.. You save quite of money to buy other stuff for upgrade..
@@cocobos I already have a PS5, but thanks! I'll wait for the 7/7 sales and see if I can get the Steam Deck at a lower price!
@@dlwlrma177Trust me get the ally. You’ll thank me later
You are better off getting the steam deck
I think in the end you're better getting a device that will be more reliable than more powerful. To each their own, I want to get an Asus Rog Ally at some point to play more of those demanding games, like Returnal and Hunt: showdowns, the enemy within.
I've been using the ally for two weeks. Other than the setup that is a little annoying. I have tried dozens of games with very little issues. Battery life is the biggest problem with the device. It all depends on your lifestyle. The ally is a beast of a machine. Cant wait what the future holds for hand held gaming
I have both. The best way for me to explain it is this. The Steam Deck is easier for beginners, but much harder to do advanced stuff. The Ally is harder for beginners, but much easier to do advanced stuff. As a more advanced user, it's so much easier to get my launchers and games up and running in Windows. It's a exercise in torture to do so on the Steam Deck and will have you pulling your hair out. But for basic playing games, or simple troubleshooting issues, the Steam Deck is definitely easier. Each has a different use case and user target. Also Steam Deck has been out for a year and a half and had a lot of updates. That's why biased video titles like this help no one. You are probably not an advanced user, so Steam Deck is better for you. My Ally can do everything I want it to, play every game I want it to, and has no issues with launching games, because I spent a few minutes to set them all up.
better get an sd card slot cooler! lol I'm sure AliExpress already sells one
Does it play farming simulator 22 without to much tinkering?
Yeah, pretty much what I said about it also 😊😊
I still choose Ally over Deck ❤
In my opinion any handheld that wants to be a handheld pc has to have trackpads and support gyroscopic aiming as a minimum. The whole point of pc gaming is having better graphics and better control options. As a handheld the graphics are similar to console already but to sacrifice the control options and to be stuck with just sticks is a non starter
With the ROG ally, you get more bang for your rands in SA, as the steam deck is ridiculously priced over here.
However, I bought my steam deck, screen protector and 512gb mem card off Amazon at such an amazing price. It will be here in 2 weeks, but I feel I got a better deal that way.
What detoured me with the ally was windows. I hate windows. But that’s just a matter of opinion. I could have also got a Ps5, but I’m a dad now and I hardly get time to game because I have to power up my console and sit down to play. Now I’m able to game anywhere I feel like it, so I’m happy either way. I just want to game
Idk a lot of this is subjective. Personally I think the thumbsticks feel good they definitely have less tension and move around with less force then I'm accustomed to but you get used to it fast. The face buttons feel great imo and they've never stuck for me. I prefer my face buttons to be on the mushier side with a slight click which they are. The screen is amazing hands down and so are the hall triggers.
There are a few things I've noticed with slight downsides for me. I don't mind this D-pad style and it feels good to the touch but when playing 2d games like gba games or something like metroid dread I sometimes get accidental diagonals. The back buttons are just fine. They are definitely made with a cheaper plastic which kinda feels weird with the rest of the device but they work well. I would have rather had 2 on each side like the SD to assign more functions then 1 big one that sticks out but its fine.
As far as armory crate, I've had no issues with it. Its not perfect and there are things id like to see added but they are doing that. You mentioned there was no way to close a game but they just added that feature with 322 along with adding more options with the fps limiter and more. Windows can be finicky and it can be a pain to get setup if you dont know your way around but once you get everything in place its wonderful! And perhaps most importantly, the GAMES JUST WORK and they run amazingly!
I do wish they would have just ditched the lesser non extreme machine as nobody is gonna buy it anyways. I'd have liked to see another tier up with an OLED or MiniLED display and perhaps more internal storage
Video: a lot of this is subjective
Comments: I disagree, a lot of this is subjective you see
@mechanicalmonk2020 The video is literally titled why you should pick the steam deck over the ally and some of the opinions in the video were stated like they were matter of fact but ok im glad you only read the first sentence of my comment....always gotta be somebody...
The biggest weakness the Steamer has versus the ROG is obsolescence, something you need to consider with any computer
I like both of them I’m getting both of them . Over the Nintendo switch.
If only Steam Deck is available in more regions. Grey shipping and not having local warranty is risky and not cost-saving.
The buttons on the asus rog ally are actually premium and the best I have ever used in a handheld.
I will probably pick a steamdeck since I plan to use it more on the go, so battery life is important to me and since it performs better on low wattage I guess it makes more sense.
Performance wise I have a really nice desktop. :)
For on the go it works extremely well!
Battery life is close to the same on both. Maybe 10 minutes difference. You just need to buy a power bank. Believe me, after you try the ally, you won't bact to the steam deck, the screen quality and performance are a huge difference. I had the deck for almost a year and the ally since day one, and I cN tell you that people are just creating a console war between these 2 devices.
@dannypassion you are mostly right! But depending on the use case of the person asking, there is definitely some choice to be made. Low power games I rather play on the deck.. and if I take a device with me on the go it needs to be plug and play, with the deck having a simple both great system (and a huge head start) I definitely recommend the deck to most average people out there. Doesn't mean it's better!
@@dannypassionno that's not true at all, if you're thrashing both systems there's an element of truth. However out of the box you can get the Deck down to about 5W the Ally is 10W. That's where you can greatly extend the life of the Deck.
@@dannypassion oh I get you. I don't have any problems with any of the devices.
But I've been watching some videos from both devices and it seems that sd when it comes to low wattage performs better.
Also, not sure now, but I've seen that ally has issues to cap the wattage being consumed by the device.
Like, you set 15w for example and it keeps eating 22w.
I'll stick to the Ally, specially now that I just got the XG Mobile. The eGPU option is a dealbreaker for me.
😂😂😂😂 spending more money rather than buying a more superior pc or laptop for a cheaper price? Yeah cap😂
@@onomatopoeia5540 there is a second hand market for the XG mobile, you know? I end up spending less than 11 hundred and getting better peeformance and visual quality than both PS5 and Series X on a lot of games. Totally worth it.
@soyrobin2001 he just dont understand this combo is tru portability.. u have a handheld and add a little xg mobile to transform it to a pc.
@@onomatopoeia5540you’re laughing now but foldable monitors are coming out soon. Let’s see how you feel when the person who has XG mobile, Rog Ally and a 13-20 inch foldable 1080-1440p 120hz monitor in their to go bag are sitting next to you in a food court just having a little fun while the wife is shopping.
@@jayinhd4296 all that money spent on a more inferior device? Why would i laugh when i can build a better pc or buy a laptop with cheaper price?🤣🤣🤣
I own both handhelds and they feel very good but at the end of the day I would recommend the Ally The steam deck is also very good but more enjoyable for indie games or if you dont mind 25-40 fps and under for anything more demanding like AAA. The Ally will give better screen quality in the Resolution/Colors/Brightness and 120hz. Also a lot more power under the hood which gives those AAA games a solid 60 and sometimes up to 100 FPS. Its really insane how good the games feel at those high frame rates on the 120hz screen vs the 60hz.
I’m getting 50-60fps on the deck in mw2. I’m dual booting windows. Game runs surprisingly well. But if I didn’t have the deck already I would go with the ally for the performance for sure
@HughJanus329 I on high graphics settings and at 1080p I'll over 60fps on the Ally
The Ally can't even run 1080p well or use 120hz lol
@@dannypassionrunning high settings on a screen that small really is kinda pointless. It's almost completely indistinguishable from medium.
@@christien6230 I have one and can say without a doubt it can quite often play many games at 1080p and 120hz screen is going to be useful anytime a game goes beyond 60fps which so far is everything I have played.
Sounds like a bought and paid for ad. Got the Ally, love the Ally. I know nothing about PC gaming whatsoever and I figured it out.
Can somebody verify if the 1080p vs 800p difference is actually discernible in such a small screen?
The screen is larger than every cellphone in existence. It's not very small. The switch has a smaller screen. I have my ROG set to 720 with super resolution enabled. I get 120fps on games like resident evil 2 remake.
@@fillerbunnyninjashark271 Thanks mate for the reply. What is 720p super resolution? Is 720p noticeably worse than 1080p on the Ally?
@@bombshooter1507 super resolution can only be used when you set resolution below native (720 works the best). It upscales it to a 1080p image. It's in incredibly powerful upscaling algorithm. Combined with FSR 2.0, you can get games like cyberpunk to run around 45 fps at 18w pretty stable with lots of bells and whistles turned to medium/high and it's incredibly hard to tell it's not a native resolution image
And no, some people complain, but with SRS enabled I've not be able to tell much difference. FRS 1.0 will make the image blurry if the game supports it, which is why I suggest only using FRS 2.0 if the game needs the extra boost to frame rate. I've been playing everything at 720 around 18w and getting really great performance with decent battery. I have battery care enabled so the battery only charges about 80% to prevent cell burnout... After an hour and a half of gaming (recently been playing space marine around 115 fps) and ending with around 35% battery. Text has been clean and clear across every game.
Steam deck was nice, but honestly I'm loving my Rog Ally way better. No hacks needed to play all my games. Gamepass Etc. My Steamdeck was collecting dust for months, can't stop playing my Ally
For me, its the fact that ill be able to play on Epic and Game Pass, without a bunch of work arounds. Also, unlike the steam deck, you can go pick this up at a store.
Brought to you and PAID by Valve Corporation
The answers is the ROG Ally is better. It has Windows 11 with the availability of a larger gaming library than Steam itself with non-Steam games and third party apps that can run other games and emulators. With constant updates it'll get better over time. And you can even run Steam on it as well. The Steam Deck is already quite behind in performance and tech since it has released in the beginning of 2022. With the lack of being able to run new current certain triple A titles. The name of this video misguides old and new gaming enthusiasts into considering acquiring a much less superior product.
Top 1 reason to get the steam deck over the ally.
1. Cost
1. Trackpads. Mouse input with joysticks is horrible.
With a better Screen on the Steam Deck i'd agree. I stick to my Ally :)
Great detailed review. However, you left out the comparison running games from the Steam Deck that aren't inside of the Steam ecosystem. That's the frustrating part of SteamOS.
It is not hard to get games up and running on the ally so I guess I fundamentally disagree with this video. They all get added to the crate and they all launch fine from there, I played sf6, flight sim, forza horizon, and Diablo 4; using steam, game pass and battle net and they all worked more seamlessly than they do on my PC thanks to armory crate. And let’s not forget that the ally is a month old and the steam deck is into it’s second year of revisions. It’s short sighted to say the experience won’t improve with inevitable software updates, just like it did on the steam deck.
People want to be "hand held"(pun intended) through their gaming. Tell me what I can and can't do and make it very easy so I don't have to think. Kinda sounds like Apple. HARD PASS.
I havent bought either device yet and will probably wait for the next gen or more competition. I think if i were pick right now id go for the ally . Better speakers, screen res and size comparing the two. That bezel on the deck is a real turn off for me, If they released new spec I might sway more toward the deck.
Battery is a bit less efficient on the ally but you will probably have it plugged in most of the time anyways. Im surprised the rog ally is only 150 more than the deck with the 512gb option as they normally charge a steep premium for that range of products.
Im surprised why people consider 150 as "only". It could get you a lot of things. Such amount can be a make or break for some.
@@kenomenorias3200 I say it like that because the 512gb is already at a premium price point. If i were to save for a handheld, id prefer to get something more futureproof if it meant investing more. It depends on what you can afford. If you’re on a budget steam deck is the clear winner.
I have both and the rog ally is way better it’s more powerful and the screen is way better 1080 p makes a big difference on a 7 inch screen especially when playing triple a games resident evil 4 remake looks and play terrible on the steam deck , but looks amazing on the rog ally the steam deck is ok for indi games,1080 p just looks so much better than 720p it’s day and night
I’m addicted to re4 remake all over again on the ally amazing gameplay despite the stutters. Can’t believe the remake is playable on the go now
You can't get a steam deck in thailand so for me it was down to the ROG ally or the Legion GO. I chose the GO mainly cause it came with a trackpad.
Asus' customer support is a mixed bag. So that is a factor to be considered.
Rog ally is really impressive. However, it cant beat the steam deck when it comes to the value. In Canada rog ally costs almost 1000 and then i gotta need a carry case and sd card which will take me almost 1100 bucks.
My Steam deck came with a great case and its not cheap by any mean, easily cost 50 $ . Steam really care about their customers.
So far i have seen rog ally is supposed to be a steam deck killer, but its not the case yet, it just performs better ,but it doesn't destroy steam deck. Considering that my steam deck is 500$. Most people are hyping up because of its 120 hz display, you are likely to not gonna get proper benifit, and no matter what you do, people would play games on the Ally around 800p-700p resolution since it got a terrible battery life. And in low wattage ally cant even touch steam deck, steam put a magic in its processor. As long as it can give me like 40fps i am fine and slow games work like a charm in 30fps.
One thing , in the year steam made like thousands of games certified, i cant expect this from asus . If i want to spend 1100 dollar on ally then asus should treat it the way ninetendo treat to its switch and sony to its PlayStation. Btw, ps5 cost me 620 dollars. Only buy Ally if you want something more than steam deck. Although, one thing i love about ally is its vibrant screen.
Steam Deck is not available in my country
Cancellend my preorder of steam deck and waited, got an ally and its excellent. After a week your super comfy with it. The buttons are NOT mushy, , the sticks are almost too sensetive. Your arguing over some basic button layouts overall horesepower, if the games won't play smooth whats the benefit of a button layout?
I personally feel the Ally's triggers are too heavy. The Deck triggers are just so smooth
Well said but as someone that hates windows but uses it I have to disagree with what’s “the best”. Really depends on the users. I have both the deck (on loan from a friend) and decided to buy the rog just because of windows. Rog is more comfy, stronger, and 100% compatible with pc games. Most studios design games for windows and it shows between these two devices. If you want a console like experience though stay away. Get the deck.
If you want steam deck ally, then open up steam big picture mode. And you can even put it to start up when you turn on your device.
That does not give you the Deck's better upgrade method, the suspend/resume, the power settings, etc
Not the same at all. Missing most of the features. All you can get on the ally is the UI.
@@rustybroomhandlewhat better upgrade feature? Loll
@@fillerbunnyninjashark271 On SteamOS the OS upgrades unintrusively in the background, and when it's ready you just reboot and boom, you're there. Windows will have you updating multiple things, often requiring reboots in-between and often this takes quite long.
People need to stop talking about Steam Deck's "playable" ticks like they're just some helpful feature that tells you what plays well with the hardware. They are there to tell you whether or not their Proton compatibility layer completely destroys the user experience to the point that it is unplayable. And that strikes at the heart of Steam Deck's flaws. It only works well out of the box for some of the games in your Steam library, and for everything else you need to figure it out for yourself. The Ally doesn't need those green ticks because, like any other Windows gaming device, the only determining factor for its playability is its hardware.
Look, I own a Steam Deck. I like it for the games it works with. But each time a game doesn't fall in the middle of the Venn diagram of 'games I own on Steam' and 'games that play nice with Proton,' the Steam Deck forfeits the game to the Ally.
Tbh I definitely love the steam deck but my ally just plays and runs more smoothly especially with games like sons of the forest I can barley play that on the steam deck lol but the ally it just works. Def prefer ally.
this comparison is now out-of-date. either prerecorded days ago or released this video without actual testing and simply echoes the negativity found in the web.
new bios and new armory crate has been released today July 5, 2023 which addressed several issues mentioned in the video.
i actually hate asus, but i have both sd and ally. if budget is a concern, SD by far is the best bang for the buck, you just cant beat steam deck price over performance hands down and it can play diablo 4. =)
If only the Steam Deck wasn't out of stock every time I go to buy it! 😂
Buying the 512GB Steam Deck at this point is pretty pointless when you can get a 512GB NVMe for ~ $50.
Pulled the trigger on the steam deck today for this reason. I'm a new dad and I can't afford to sit around and try to get a game to work when I only have small windows to myself to relax.
@@goated3285 thank you!
Almost reminds me of iphone vs Android. Lol I pick Android and I pick Asus here. I think preference depends mostly on what games you play most.
Why you should pick the ROG Ally over steam Deck:
Steam Deck: This item is not available for reservation in your country
ROG Ally: Ready to buy in several online shops.
F Steam Deck hard in the backdoor
Love both of my consoles