I think you are wrong. They are dropping the price because they cannot move the z1 Ally. Not because they are trying to be more competitive. My guess is they are going to lose money on that price drop. It is also not a move by Asus. This is a move by Best Buy. I bet they don't even reup their stock after this.
Wrong cause if what you say was true they would also heavily discount the z1 extreme but they havent each time they dropped the z1 price. Its asus who is trying to compete with steam deck.
I think one of the big use cases for the base Z1 that often gets overlooked is retro emulation. You can get an open box z1 for just $330, that’s only $30 more than a base Ayn Odin 2 and $40 cheaper than the Odin 2 Pro and can run everything including PS3/WiiU/Xbox360 which the Odin 2 can’t (yet) while also having the benefit of being able to take it into a BestBuy if you run into trouble rather than rolling the dice with a Chinese manufacturers customer service.
Best Buy was selling Rog Ally Z1 at $399 during Christmas and the Extreme for $600. This is not the first time it's been $399. Asus announced a new handheld is coming this year so Best Buy is likely trying to get rid of them with the new Ally coming.
I bought the ROG Ally and returned it the next day. It was a nightmare to set up. Windows 11 kept overwriting the graphics card every time it restarted. 3/4 the time it wouldn’t wake up from sleep mode. The buttons were working right. It was a nightmare honestly. I bought the Steam Deck OLED and it was super easy to set up and play. I’ve had no issues whatsoever. I absolutely love it. The OLED screen looks amazing.
I bought my ROG Ally Z1 a few days ago from Best Buy + open box and got it from $399 to $240. At that price point it's basically a steal! I intended to use this to run indie games, emulators and older triple A titles and didn't need the Z1E since I have a desktop PC build for modern AAA games. All I can say is for PC builders who love tinkering this is a better option versus the steam deck. I don't understand how people are saying this isn't worth it. Emulators, Game pass, and Steam, etc. expands the library and use of the device since its running windows as well.
@@cloak55733 like I said if I want to run triple A games then I use my PC. But I have ran dark souls, sekiro, prey, and the remaster of Resident Evil 4 just fine. Just gotta know how to tweak game settings.
I got the Asus ROG ally Z one edition for $299 at Best Buy. At that price, it is an amazing purchase. It plays all the switch games I wanna play, plays every emulator, And I can play cyberpunk and destiny!
@@KayronTho I doubt it will run at 60fps even on lowest settings and low resolution. Maybe 40fps on low settings? I just got me a Z1 Ally too. Going to add either 1tb or 2tb ssd to it. Mainly got it for emulation and light PC gaming.
Thanks for doing this comparison.. Some people act like price does not matter but it does. I got my 64 GB LCD Steam Deck back when it was on sale. I have since upgraded the SSD to 1 TB and installed a 1 TB Micro SD Card. I LOVE it! With that said, I am already out of space and I want to have an easy way to play my Amazon Games, GOG games, Epic Games and stream games from my Xbox and the ROG All Z1 for $399 is looking really good for all that. Thanks again!
I have the Legion Go now. But as for the Rog Ally Z1 Version vs the Original Steam Deck. I'm going with the Rog Ally Z1 version all the way. You can just play more games with ease. for $400 bucks and with Windows 11 out of the box. That's a Steal. Dope video.
I was planning to get a steam deck until I learned about the black screen of Death and how they are outsourcing repairs to what sounds like a Walmart of tech companies. I would be willing to chance it but my luck isn't good.
@@arield1899 The ability to customize those 4 buttons on the back of the steam deck and the 2 track pads in the front which can be use with Wii U and 3Ds games is something even Nintendo switch CANNOT do. Also note the guy in the video is talking about LCD steam deck. Rog ally is not lighter than OLED steam deck. Deck also has better battery life and its more than just a portable gaming pc.
I'm a Z1 Ally Owner and a previous LCD SD owner here, I love it. Got it @$399 w/ 3 months of Game pass, it is also my main PC. A lot of people that don't want to tinker or optimize Windows have the misconception that it is trash, it is not. I'm playing Helldivers 2 @ 720p upscaled to 1080p w/ Quality rendering, 35-45fps on 15w, low/med settings tweaked, I can go 1080p, but I change rendering to Balanced to keep in the 35-45fps range. I'm a System Admin (DoD 12yrs, Sec+, etc.) and if you know what you're doing, the Z1 is a no brainer at the $399 price point. Battery life wise, yes, it does suck depending on the game, but you can push it mostly at 10w, but you have to have the system @10w and the game has to have a Auto Graphics option, or benchmark option to game comfortably at 10w. As for the MicroSD, I have a R8 serial batch model, I've played HD2 for 6 hrs., 30w, and it's still working (make sure to format as NTFS or you'll have issues installing games). The main thing I'll say is don't believe the benchmarks, tinkering its key, the alternative is installing Bazzite. Hopes this helps the non-tinkers and non-tech professionals. **And uninstall the OpenGL/Vulkan compat app if installed.
@@thetechieveti was nodding my head and agreeing with you until you said bg3 was better than dd2… nah lol. They’re both really good fantasy rpg’s, but the gameplay is too different to compare. I didn’t expect to enjoy dd2 so much but man im loving it just as much as i did bg3
I would say save little more get steam deck oled or z1 extreme ally depending on the game, like Xbox or ps5 all depends the games. But at $400 is more personal preference.
Idk about that🤷♂️ For 399$ that’s a pretty good deal for a gaming handheld that can do a solid 60fps on most games. I have the Z1 and I’m happy with it. Although I do plan to upgrade to the Rog ally 2 when it comes out.
@@hectore4106 I'm surprised it can even do 60fps, the GPU has less cores than the Steam Deck's, although the Z1 does have a better CPU, I'll give it that
@@KingVulpeshonestly was surprised by that too. I tried forza horizon 5 (which is a heavy game) and it did run it at 60fps most of the time. So it’s decent for the value🤷♂️
@@KingVulpes the Z1 has half the CUs of the steam deck gpu, but it clocks over 60% higher which bridges some of the gap so it's not quite as big a difference as you would expect
Holy shit, this is the first video where in the chargers were shown on the review. I know it does not matter to most but some of us take into consideration the charger of these devices
I just bought the Z1. It was slightly less than 400 with an open box deal. I was not planning on getting any of these handheld gaming PCs really, but seeing it in front of me for that price I had to pick it up out of curiosity at least. I however have done zero research on this machine so I didn't realize I was picking up an underpowered version of it. Part of me is a little annoyed at that, but at the same time, if I had seen the regular one for $650 I would have left it on the shelf so either way it's whatever I just have to adjust my expectations on what games it can run at what settings lol The initial setup was pretty easy but I booted it up a couple of days later to try it out and had an aggravating time filled with updates and password recoveries for all of the different company launchers you need to play different games. Stuff like this is ultimately still why I have always tended to prefer console gaming. Every now and then the console hardware itself updates, or your game does. But I've never had anything quite as intrusive as this was. But it is what it is I haven't tested too much on it, but right now it's running Diablo 4 exceptionally well, and I haven't running Jurassic World evolution 2. That one has a couple of different ways you can configure it, you can play it at like 800p with medium settings, or 720p with high settings. However I haven't quite seen if it is going to start to lag when I jam-pack my parks or not. With both of these games I'm going to do a little bit of experimenting on where I can put the frame rate. Diablo I would love to keep at 60, Jurassic World I can deal with 30 honestly. Before I realized I had the underpowered system I installed Dead space remake. I had that thing on 720p at all the lowest settings capped at 30 and it was a stuttery mess. Which now that I understand what I'm working with makes sense but it was a reality check for exactly what I can expect from this machine. Mostly I'm just using it as a portable way to transfer over my game pass subscription. Which is pretty cool that I can do that nice and easy. I installed Prey 2017 since I've heard a lot of good things about it and never tried it out. I figure that's old enough that I should be able to run it If I can take a lot of games from around that time. And get them to run on this thing it'll still be something pretty cool. Because otherwise I'm coming from a Nintendo switch. Where there have been a few really impressive ports of games from around that time and even newer. But the things they have to do to make them playable on that system are very noticeable lol. It fascinated me that The Witcher 3 and Doom Eternal could run on it. But the lengths they have to go through to cut things and cap the frame rate to make it stable are significant. If I can get this machine to run Eldon ring and Red Dead 2. Those alone will make it worth it for me. But no matter what, this will be a big jump from playing on the switch. Lots of games that I wish had switch ports I can just play on this thing with better settings than they would be running on switch anyway Portable gaming in general has always been a big interest of mine so it's cool that these kinds of machines exist. After growing up with crappy versions of arcade games ported to the original Game boy
I hope that's the case with Rog Ally 2 cheaper price tag to compete with Steam Deck LCD, i dont mind LCD screen and 720p resolution and low storage. *As long as we get decent battery life, nice design portable it will be suitable to take Ally 1 to take it on the go and vacations I also hope steam deck 2 comes out with bigger pro version with beefier powerful and bigger version and base smaller version portable one is enough to take it on vacations and on the go gaming* And price value 400 pounds and not 700. That would force Steam Deck 2 and Lenovo Legion Go 2 and other PC handheld companies to bring out base version which is cheaper and affordable. While the pro or max version is for the rich kids. *I can't wait to get into Windows gaming i still love my Steam Deck i just want to play Battlefield 2042, and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 without anti-cheat bothering me and other windows only games that you can't play on steam deck right now due to anti-cheat bs!*
@@nepaliprayasgurung2594You have the exact same problem as i do 😂, play battlefield 2042 & MW3 without anti-cheat. Btw can't wait to buy new ally X with bigger battery which makes it true potable unlike laptops or pc
The z1 reduce to a 900p or 720p panel offers more fps when I play Diablo 4 on a 15watt tdp I get 60-70fps and more with the 25watts the z1 is not that bad as people think since the z1 extreme is 8 cores and 16 threads the z1 with 6 cores and 12 threads that’s where you get the big performance gap so the regular z1 resolution have to be reduced
@@sam.alexander.reviewswhen you say get the deck over the regular ally,do you mean the steam deck LCD or Oled?I would mainly use the handeld pc honestly for emulation and indie games,not AAA titles
Your comment about performance is too misguided, bro the graphs are showing two different things, one is at 1080p at the 25 watt mode, the other is comparaing the 15 watt mode with the steam deck. That doesn’t show whether or not the performance is the same as the steam deck at 25 watts.
I have the z1 extreme and my first 2 devices left and experience no one desires. Thankfully got protection plan and am not afraid to politely trace down geek squad territory management and politely again voice my frustration. My r 8 model has been great and I'm very glad I have one. Petrified it will just brick up one day tho. I have never experienced the SD card issues but my first 2 experiences would have put most ppl off. I do not have a PC tho and desperately want to just enjoy games and have a Windows device in my hand. I got hella kids and work hella hours, I love my desk set up but nothing more than my series s portable monitor and tablet go there as I'm not there that much. I do have a Windows device I can take anywhere now. Unless I ever get into video editing this is all the power I need and can do my spreadsheets if need be. It will be a few years before I fully replace my console and shield TV pro with a handheld PC tho as their quality assurance in all companies right now is something that lacks. If steam was my thing and most of my games were there id have a deck but I like the options PC gaming allows and Xbox imo is still worth it for the consumer who just wants to game. I'd say if anyone is still looking at this on the fence get the z1 extreme from best buy if you like it keep it and get the protection plan within 14 days or Asus is good for one year as well and is just as good, but be prepared to possibly get a faulty unit. To me writing a few emails and store visits getting my issues fixed was worth it as opposed to going down a PC set up rabbit hole at this point in my life.
Z1 never made sense. Z1 extreme offers a huge performance boost so I understand it’s niche, but the non extreme Z1 is going up against a behemoth with almost no advantages that separate it from the Steamdeck.
There are a lot of people happy with the Z1. A $400 Z1 makes a lot of sense. Playing some indie games at 120hz is so fluid. Having a bigger gaming foot print is a HUGE advantage, not sure what you are talking about. I can play all my Windows, UBI and EA store games with ease. With a dock, wireless keyboard and mouse its a full PC when you're out of town. I don't need to lug my gaming laptop, controller and massive power brick with to game.
@@cloak55733 I don't play new AAA games on the Z1. But Crysis Remastered runs fine depending if you want 60fps or better graphics.. Many games are playable.
I would never by a Z1 version of the Asus ROG Ally. Only the Z1 Extreme version makes any sense to me. Asus dropping the price is also an indication that they want shift stock ahead of launching the next gen Asus Ally later this year.
I switched to rog ally after using steam deck but i dont regret my choice even after seeing the oled steam deck. Not having to wonder if its steam deck verified is bliss. Ive played like way more pc compatible games than when i had steam deck but the downside is all those windows updates that come out frequently. They both suck at battery life tho for AAA games anyway
Don't forget about the fact that the non extreme version still runs Windows and therefore supports GamePass and GeForce now, which means that even on that weaker device you can get a 4080 performance with several hours of battery life and almost no fan noise as long as you have a decent network connection and a GeForce now subscription. There are definitely drawbacks on everything running natively on the device but considering the price drop below 400$ and the freedom that you get with Windows 11 I think it has a lot of potential. The extreme version performs much better but still not great compared to gaming pcs or current gen consoles plus for demanding games you only get an hour of battery life and a heating up noisy handheld which isn't a satisfying gaming experience to me at all. Paying the 10$ GeForce now subscription and using a docking station I get a decent desktop pc plus a quiet long lasting high end gaming handheld even with the non extreme version.
i dont think oled on these type handhelds like these arent a must since they use cheap oleds panels.i saw someone had issues on steam oled screem in just 3mos of use. so lcd is just fine as long as its high resolution.
I believe they dropped the price because the original difference between the z1 and z1 extreme price was 50$ and performance was a huge gap. Im guessing 90% or more of people who bought it spend the exta 50$ to get the better unit. Asus dropped the price to get rid of the stock of z1 that just have not been selling, that being said even if people think they can compete with the steam deck, valve themselves if not concerned because it doesn't matter who makes and sells the handheld most people will buy their games from steam if it's not free on gamepass or cheaper elsewhere. Valve isn't looking to compete considered they make the steam deck and sell it at a loss and make their money back on the games that we buy from them, just like the playstation and xbox. So honestly people buying a different handheld might actually be making valve more money then buying the steam deck.
Fortnite, Destiny 2, Warzone 2 not running on SteamOS due to anticheat is the developers’ fault. Blame the developers. As for getting them running on the Steam Deck, the only way is via streaming. Anything else will cause the Destiny 2 developers to ban you because they are user hostile.
If you run the Z1 with Bazzite its a Steam Deck on Steroids. 120Hz, VRR Display, Great Speakers and similiar Battery Life at 15W. If you can get a Z1 for below 300€ its a absolute Steal but only with Bazzite. Windows sucks hardcore on this thing
i mean i like my 379€ steam deck 512gb refurbished dont use it doh :) but wanted to buy it again after i got my 64gb at launch as the 2nd bach in december or januari liked it played with it a month and sold it for double cause no use and needed the money. but here am i again buying one. even doh i wanted a 64gb refurbished slap a 2tb ssd in there and never use it its pretty cool the 512gb way better then 64gb is anoying atleast back in the day, otherwise yeah nah i dont game on the go, i have my pc. on my break i dont game after work i sit on my pc. when im out i dont game, i dont even game on my phone anymore.... and still its the kid in me that loved portable gaming console.. i havea gpd xd that i bought like in 2018 love that thing use it once a year... got a psvita in 2020 for 50€ cause hacks love it played on it like 5hours its been eating dust ever since... its just the 12 year old me who loved my psp back then and when i saw a pocket pc with windows XP and the htc hd2 phone running linux android windows i loved that stuff...
Only thing i care about is the fan noise cause oh my fucking god, i have LCD Steam Deck and the fan is so loud i actually start thinking if i wouldn't be better with the Switch, THE SWITCH. I'm so sensitive to it while playing, might be because i had PS4 and hated that air fryer cause of it. I just want my devices to be quiet
I feel like the Z1 Ally just doesn't compete unless you're really desperate for a Windows handheld... And even then, running Windows, I feel like you _need_ more power. The Steam Deck in that performance range is just gonna be the better option imo, not to mention the far better battery life when you can lower the TDP.
Bro is lying about the fluidty of ally vs steamdeck if u wanna game out the box get steamdeck if u wanna have to customize every game get ally and buttons stuck def happen also rog
software is still horrible, untill they make a steam os type of software their device will be worse, while the specs might be better I just want the fluid performance all around because I don't play triple A games on it.
I don't get the Ally being hard to use. We were playing games on it on the way home from Best buy. Easiest hand held I have used. If you can use a laptop or desktop pc with windows 11 its basically the same thing. I can just download a game and run it without even changing any settings. I sold the Steam deck after trying the Ally out. It is cool how I can even mod games on it. Its the best device I own and I have a gaming pc, series x, ps5, switch, ect. Its portable and I already own 200 games that run on it. There are like 5 Ally's at work now and none have had a problem. I am playing Rise of the Tomb Raider now on the Ally and have moded outfits for Lara. This beats the console versions because they can't mod most games. I can set the Ally up to match the battery life of the Steam deck easily. Why not just plug the Ally in? I have a charger in my vehicle, at work and at home so there is no problem. Steam deck was laggy, low resolution and sound quality was half what the Ally is. If you try both you will pick the Ally. I saw this happen over and over at work. Steam deck can't even play call of duty online or many none Steam games. A friend finally installed windows 11 on his Steam deck to get it to play the games.
Z1 has a weak chip close to the ps4 that’s why they are trying to get rid of it, spend that extra 100 bucks to get the z1 extreme for double the performance then the z1 or just settle for deck
These companies are just kidding themselves. Valve & Nintendo has a platform to sell games. And isnt worry about Asus, MSI, etc. Hardware bc the money is in game distribution
I think you are wrong. They are dropping the price because they cannot move the z1 Ally. Not because they are trying to be more competitive. My guess is they are going to lose money on that price drop. It is also not a move by Asus. This is a move by Best Buy. I bet they don't even reup their stock after this.
Yeah that can be right and it can be the right choice for some who value windows specifically to play games that aren’t proton compatible.
@iamcbride I am not saying that people should get the ROG Ally. I'm saying the price drop isn't so it can compete.
nah it is a move by asus you can see it also on they're site
@@Prodbytocile Their*
Wrong cause if what you say was true they would also heavily discount the z1 extreme but they havent each time they dropped the z1 price. Its asus who is trying to compete with steam deck.
I think one of the big use cases for the base Z1 that often gets overlooked is retro emulation. You can get an open box z1 for just $330, that’s only $30 more than a base Ayn Odin 2 and $40 cheaper than the Odin 2 Pro and can run everything including PS3/WiiU/Xbox360 which the Odin 2 can’t (yet) while also having the benefit of being able to take it into a BestBuy if you run into trouble rather than rolling the dice with a Chinese manufacturers customer service.
Buying the non extreme ally rn for 300$ open box was gonna get an odin but this is way better since i can play steam games
@ I agree wholeheartedly! Hope you love your Ally!
Best Buy was selling Rog Ally Z1 at $399 during Christmas and the Extreme for $600. This is not the first time it's been $399. Asus announced a new handheld is coming this year so Best Buy is likely trying to get rid of them with the new Ally coming.
A new handheld coming already? Man that does not give me much confidence for the long-term support x.x
Its prob like how ASUS does their rog gaming phones and gpu new version every 1-1.5 years. Id gladly upgrade my rog z1 extreme has been great.
@@MangoPanicexactly
I just got the Z1 for $320 open box and it’s so fucking fun.
What's your short review on it now?
I bought the ROG Ally and returned it the next day. It was a nightmare to set up. Windows 11 kept overwriting the graphics card every time it restarted. 3/4 the time it wouldn’t wake up from sleep mode. The buttons were working right. It was a nightmare honestly.
I bought the Steam Deck OLED and it was super easy to set up and play. I’ve had no issues whatsoever. I absolutely love it. The OLED screen looks amazing.
@user-uu2uv8bw2s there are tutorials how to mod games on steam deck.
holy user error
Steam deck oled always
You shouldn't have returned it. You could have just tossed it into the trash can. Is so terrible.
So many have returned ROG it’s a wonder they are still selling it at retail
I bought my ROG Ally Z1 a few days ago from Best Buy + open box and got it from $399 to $240. At that price point it's basically a steal! I intended to use this to run indie games, emulators and older triple A titles and didn't need the Z1E since I have a desktop PC build for modern AAA games. All I can say is for PC builders who love tinkering this is a better option versus the steam deck. I don't understand how people are saying this isn't worth it. Emulators, Game pass, and Steam, etc. expands the library and use of the device since its running windows as well.
Is z1 non extreme burn sd card also?
After all these updates, how about running never AAA games on Z1?
@@ricki_daynes nah still works fine. Just remove the sd card when running graphic heavy intensive games that run at 15W or more.
@@rmmm329 very fair prob at this point saving for the Ally X though
@@cloak55733 like I said if I want to run triple A games then I use my PC. But I have ran dark souls, sekiro, prey, and the remaster of Resident Evil 4 just fine. Just gotta know how to tweak game settings.
Thank you so much for featuring us 🙌❤
well you paid him to do so didn't you?
I got the Asus ROG ally Z one edition for $299 at Best Buy. At that price, it is an amazing purchase. It plays all the switch games I wanna play, plays every emulator, And I can play cyberpunk and destiny!
Wait you can play Destiny 2 on the base edition?? Does it run 60 fps?
@@KayronTho
I doubt it will run at 60fps even on lowest settings and low resolution.
Maybe 40fps on low settings?
I just got me a Z1 Ally too. Going to add either 1tb or 2tb ssd to it.
Mainly got it for emulation and light PC gaming.
I thought he was going to benchmark, those digital trends benchmarks are old. There have been tons of updates on the ally.
Ikr, I'm also curious if the z1 can run most AAA games on low preset more performance
Thanks for doing this comparison.. Some people act like price does not matter but it does. I got my 64 GB LCD Steam Deck back when it was on sale. I have since upgraded the SSD to 1 TB and installed a 1 TB Micro SD Card. I LOVE it! With that said, I am already out of space and I want to have an easy way to play my Amazon Games, GOG games, Epic Games and stream games from my Xbox and the ROG All Z1 for $399 is looking really good for all that. Thanks again!
I have the Legion Go now. But as for the Rog Ally Z1 Version vs the Original Steam Deck. I'm going with the Rog Ally Z1 version all the way. You can just play more games with ease. for $400 bucks and with Windows 11 out of the box. That's a Steal. Dope video.
I was planning to get a steam deck until I learned about the black screen of Death and how they are outsourcing repairs to what sounds like a Walmart of tech companies. I would be willing to chance it but my luck isn't good.
I bought an open box Z1 and it’s the best bang for your buck! The cheapest gaming PC you can buy and it’s portable.
Hello, do you have it? How are you doing with triple A? nintendo switch emulation? thank you
@@arield1899 The ability to customize those 4 buttons on the back of the steam deck and the 2 track pads in the front which can be use with Wii U and 3Ds games is something even Nintendo switch CANNOT do. Also note the guy in the video is talking about LCD steam deck. Rog ally is not lighter than OLED steam deck. Deck also has better battery life and its more than just a portable gaming pc.
I'm a Z1 Ally Owner and a previous LCD SD owner here, I love it. Got it @$399 w/ 3 months of Game pass, it is also my main PC.
A lot of people that don't want to tinker or optimize Windows have the misconception that it is trash, it is not. I'm playing Helldivers 2 @ 720p upscaled to 1080p w/ Quality rendering, 35-45fps on 15w, low/med settings tweaked, I can go 1080p, but I change rendering to Balanced to keep in the 35-45fps range.
I'm a System Admin (DoD 12yrs, Sec+, etc.) and if you know what you're doing, the Z1 is a no brainer at the $399 price point. Battery life wise, yes, it does suck depending on the game, but you can push it mostly at 10w, but you have to have the system @10w and the game has to have a Auto Graphics option, or benchmark option to game comfortably at 10w.
As for the MicroSD, I have a R8 serial batch model, I've played HD2 for 6 hrs., 30w, and it's still working (make sure to format as NTFS or you'll have issues installing games).
The main thing I'll say is don't believe the benchmarks, tinkering its key, the alternative is installing Bazzite.
Hopes this helps the non-tinkers and non-tech professionals. **And uninstall the OpenGL/Vulkan compat app if installed.
Yeah and z1 can't run Dragons Dogma2 😂😂😂😂😂 extreme can😂😂
@@jcc4543have you personally tested it? 🧐if not, then I don’t even see why you commented, guy. Plus, Baldur’s Gate 3 > DD2 easily
@@thetechieveti was nodding my head and agreeing with you until you said bg3 was better than dd2… nah lol. They’re both really good fantasy rpg’s, but the gameplay is too different to compare. I didn’t expect to enjoy dd2 so much but man im loving it just as much as i did bg3
@@duppypixels Lol I can respect that, actually a good point.
I would say save little more get steam deck oled or z1 extreme ally depending on the game, like Xbox or ps5 all depends the games. But at $400 is more personal preference.
Picked up the ally because retro games up to ps3 and Nintendo switch
That also means a newer edition coming out, thus unload the old stock at cost pretty much.
Steam Deck easy. The only important reason the Ally (extreme) in general is better than Deck is power and VRR. Z1 model is just a waste of money
Z1 also has VRR?
agree
I don't think the Z1 is worth it, the Z1 extreme is a bigger difference
Idk about that🤷♂️
For 399$ that’s a pretty good deal for a gaming handheld that can do a solid 60fps on most games. I have the Z1 and I’m happy with it. Although I do plan to upgrade to the Rog ally 2 when it comes out.
@@hectore4106 I'm surprised it can even do 60fps, the GPU has less cores than the Steam Deck's, although the Z1 does have a better CPU, I'll give it that
@@KingVulpeshonestly was surprised by that too. I tried forza horizon 5 (which is a heavy game) and it did run it at 60fps most of the time. So it’s decent for the value🤷♂️
@@KingVulpes the Z1 has half the CUs of the steam deck gpu, but it clocks over 60% higher which bridges some of the gap so it's not quite as big a difference as you would expect
Also ally 2 coming this year
Really? Is there a release date yet?
They still beta toilet testing it. So if it fail they try to flush it down the drain
@@BMakk205 no its not coming maybe next year they're waiting on rdna 4
@@BMakk205
It's not coming. You could grow angel wings and halo over your head if you wait for it.
Meh
cant wait for when the orange pi neo comes out to see how it competes up with the steam deck
If I didn’t have a Steam Deck I’d hop on that deal. I do prefer the Steam Deck ergonomics but I’d slightly prefer Windows to proton.
Why not just dual boot windows on your deck then?
Rog Ally with stuck buttons is an instant no buy for me. Video over at the 3:12 mark. Thank you.
Holy shit, this is the first video where in the chargers were shown on the review. I know it does not matter to most but some of us take into consideration the charger of these devices
What one would you say is a better option for someone who doesn't have a gaming pc and looking in to getting into pc gaming
i'd say steam deck, its a lot easier to use generally than the ally
@@sam.alexander.reviews thanks 👍 I'll go for that
Are ASUS ROG Ally and Steam Deck both doing the same thing?
I just bought the Z1. It was slightly less than 400 with an open box deal. I was not planning on getting any of these handheld gaming PCs really, but seeing it in front of me for that price I had to pick it up out of curiosity at least. I however have done zero research on this machine so I didn't realize I was picking up an underpowered version of it.
Part of me is a little annoyed at that, but at the same time, if I had seen the regular one for $650 I would have left it on the shelf so either way it's whatever
I just have to adjust my expectations on what games it can run at what settings lol
The initial setup was pretty easy but I booted it up a couple of days later to try it out and had an aggravating time filled with updates and password recoveries for all of the different company launchers you need to play different games. Stuff like this is ultimately still why I have always tended to prefer console gaming. Every now and then the console hardware itself updates, or your game does. But I've never had anything quite as intrusive as this was. But it is what it is
I haven't tested too much on it, but right now it's running Diablo 4 exceptionally well, and I haven't running Jurassic World evolution 2. That one has a couple of different ways you can configure it, you can play it at like 800p with medium settings, or 720p with high settings. However I haven't quite seen if it is going to start to lag when I jam-pack my parks or not.
With both of these games I'm going to do a little bit of experimenting on where I can put the frame rate. Diablo I would love to keep at 60, Jurassic World I can deal with 30 honestly.
Before I realized I had the underpowered system I installed Dead space remake. I had that thing on 720p at all the lowest settings capped at 30 and it was a stuttery mess. Which now that I understand what I'm working with makes sense but it was a reality check for exactly what I can expect from this machine.
Mostly I'm just using it as a portable way to transfer over my game pass subscription. Which is pretty cool that I can do that nice and easy. I installed Prey 2017 since I've heard a lot of good things about it and never tried it out. I figure that's old enough that I should be able to run it
If I can take a lot of games from around that time. And get them to run on this thing it'll still be something pretty cool. Because otherwise I'm coming from a Nintendo switch. Where there have been a few really impressive ports of games from around that time and even newer. But the things they have to do to make them playable on that system are very noticeable lol. It fascinated me that The Witcher 3 and Doom Eternal could run on it. But the lengths they have to go through to cut things and cap the frame rate to make it stable are significant.
If I can get this machine to run Eldon ring and Red Dead 2. Those alone will make it worth it for me. But no matter what, this will be a big jump from playing on the switch. Lots of games that I wish had switch ports I can just play on this thing with better settings than they would be running on switch anyway
Portable gaming in general has always been a big interest of mine so it's cool that these kinds of machines exist. After growing up with crappy versions of arcade games ported to the original Game boy
Red dead redemption runs well on my steam deck lcd
Where's the video comparing steam OS to windows? Didn't see it in the description.
The Z1 model should have came with a 720p panel to at least save more battery with along with it's lower powered cpu.
I hope that's the case with Rog Ally 2 cheaper price tag to compete with Steam Deck LCD, i dont mind LCD screen and 720p resolution and low storage.
*As long as we get decent battery life, nice design portable it will be suitable to take Ally 1 to take it on the go and vacations I also hope steam deck 2 comes out with bigger pro version with beefier powerful and bigger version and base smaller version portable one is enough to take it on vacations and on the go gaming*
And price value 400 pounds and not 700. That would force Steam Deck 2 and Lenovo Legion Go 2 and other PC handheld companies to bring out base version which is cheaper and affordable.
While the pro or max version is for the rich kids. *I can't wait to get into Windows gaming i still love my Steam Deck i just want to play Battlefield 2042, and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 without anti-cheat bothering me and other windows only games that you can't play on steam deck right now due to anti-cheat bs!*
@@nepaliprayasgurung2594You have the exact same problem as i do 😂, play battlefield 2042 & MW3 without anti-cheat. Btw can't wait to buy new ally X with bigger battery which makes it true potable unlike laptops or pc
I just came across a ROG Ally Z1 (Base, Non-extreme) for $100. I’m waiting for it to come in. I pray it’s something I like
Awesome deal
Where?
The z1 reduce to a 900p or 720p panel offers more fps when I play Diablo 4 on a 15watt tdp I get 60-70fps and more with the 25watts the z1 is not that bad as people think since the z1 extreme is 8 cores and 16 threads the z1 with 6 cores and 12 threads that’s where you get the big performance gap so the regular z1 resolution have to be reduced
Have you heard of punctuation?
@@kennymccormick8295 it ain’t my fault you cannot understand 🐌
Is the regular ally worth it?or is the extreme one the only way to go
IMHO, just go extreme, if you're looking at the regular ally, get the deck instead
@@sam.alexander.reviewswhen you say get the deck over the regular ally,do you mean the steam deck LCD or Oled?I would mainly use the handeld pc honestly for emulation and indie games,not AAA titles
battery life is king. steamdeck baby.
Your comment about performance is too misguided, bro the graphs are showing two different things, one is at 1080p at the 25 watt mode, the other is comparaing the 15 watt mode with the steam deck. That doesn’t show whether or not the performance is the same as the steam deck at 25 watts.
Exactly of course the deck will have better fps at 800p compared to the z1 at 1080p
I dig the price but with worse performance at 15w, and similar performance at 25w, even though it has a better screen, I'm not sure I dig it
I have the z1 extreme and my first 2 devices left and experience no one desires. Thankfully got protection plan and am not afraid to politely trace down geek squad territory management and politely again voice my frustration. My r 8 model has been great and I'm very glad I have one. Petrified it will just brick up one day tho. I have never experienced the SD card issues but my first 2 experiences would have put most ppl off. I do not have a PC tho and desperately want to just enjoy games and have a Windows device in my hand. I got hella kids and work hella hours, I love my desk set up but nothing more than my series s portable monitor and tablet go there as I'm not there that much. I do have a Windows device I can take anywhere now. Unless I ever get into video editing this is all the power I need and can do my spreadsheets if need be. It will be a few years before I fully replace my console and shield TV pro with a handheld PC tho as their quality assurance in all companies right now is something that lacks. If steam was my thing and most of my games were there id have a deck but I like the options PC gaming allows and Xbox imo is still worth it for the consumer who just wants to game. I'd say if anyone is still looking at this on the fence get the z1 extreme from best buy if you like it keep it and get the protection plan within 14 days or Asus is good for one year as well and is just as good, but be prepared to possibly get a faulty unit. To me writing a few emails and store visits getting my issues fixed was worth it as opposed to going down a PC set up rabbit hole at this point in my life.
I prefer the Legion Go to the ROG Ally any day.
I got the ally extreme for the same price as the steam deck lcd. The oled is around 180 euro more. What to get ?
is that the one that fry sd cards?
Yup and still on shelves lol.. we are all paying to be beta testers
Deck all the way
Ergonomic. Ergonomic. Ergonomic. Then battery. Then we can start looking at the next priority
Z1 never made sense. Z1 extreme offers a huge performance boost so I understand it’s niche, but the non extreme Z1 is going up against a behemoth with almost no advantages that separate it from the Steamdeck.
There are a lot of people happy with the Z1. A $400 Z1 makes a lot of sense. Playing some indie games at 120hz is so fluid. Having a bigger gaming foot print is a HUGE advantage, not sure what you are talking about. I can play all my Windows, UBI and EA store games with ease. With a dock, wireless keyboard and mouse its a full PC when you're out of town. I don't need to lug my gaming laptop, controller and massive power brick with to game.
@@labountiso you have z1? What about the performance after all those updates all year long on AAA titles?
@@cloak55733 I don't play new AAA games on the Z1. But Crysis Remastered runs fine depending if you want 60fps or better graphics.. Many games are playable.
I would never by a Z1 version of the Asus ROG Ally. Only the Z1 Extreme version makes any sense to me. Asus dropping the price is also an indication that they want shift stock ahead of launching the next gen Asus Ally later this year.
Also a class action law suit is otw the rouge overheats the Sd card slot and frying people Sd cards
WOW, Nice! I already have 2 original Steam Deck, but Asus Rog Ally Z1 at $400 is pretty nice~ XD
That's the non extreme chip though.
The z1 is a waste of silicon.
what happen with your left thumb?
Birth defect
I switched to rog ally after using steam deck but i dont regret my choice even after seeing the oled steam deck. Not having to wonder if its steam deck verified is bliss. Ive played like way more pc compatible games than when i had steam deck but the downside is all those windows updates that come out frequently. They both suck at battery life tho for AAA games anyway
So after all those year long updates now Z1 non extreme version runs newer AAA titles?
Nah bruh, z1 is bad they wanna get rid of it... this bait vid 😂
Don't forget about the fact that the non extreme version still runs Windows and therefore supports GamePass and GeForce now, which means that even on that weaker device you can get a 4080 performance with several hours of battery life and almost no fan noise as long as you have a decent network connection and a GeForce now subscription. There are definitely drawbacks on everything running natively on the device but considering the price drop below 400$ and the freedom that you get with Windows 11 I think it has a lot of potential. The extreme version performs much better but still not great compared to gaming pcs or current gen consoles plus for demanding games you only get an hour of battery life and a heating up noisy handheld which isn't a satisfying gaming experience to me at all. Paying the 10$ GeForce now subscription and using a docking station I get a decent desktop pc plus a quiet long lasting high end gaming handheld even with the non extreme version.
Your thumbnail is kinda clickbait
i dont think oled on these type handhelds like these arent a must since they use cheap oleds panels.i saw someone had issues on steam oled screem in just 3mos of use. so lcd is just fine as long as its high resolution.
Yeah the z1 isn’t a steam deck competitor, now if it was the z1 extreme that’s a different case
I thought the lcd steamdeck wasn't staying around?
it is untill the steam deck 2
I bought Legion go instead of Steam Deck oled. I still prefer performance and screen resolution.
It's not about the price but the whole device Z1 isn't the worst thing but the best thing❤❤❤❤❤❤❤like the switch lite
Sooo... If I emulation kind of guy, which one to get :D?
Of course Z1
I believe they dropped the price because the original difference between the z1 and z1 extreme price was 50$ and performance was a huge gap. Im guessing 90% or more of people who bought it spend the exta 50$ to get the better unit. Asus dropped the price to get rid of the stock of z1 that just have not been selling, that being said even if people think they can compete with the steam deck, valve themselves if not concerned because it doesn't matter who makes and sells the handheld most people will buy their games from steam if it's not free on gamepass or cheaper elsewhere. Valve isn't looking to compete considered they make the steam deck and sell it at a loss and make their money back on the games that we buy from them, just like the playstation and xbox. So honestly people buying a different handheld might actually be making valve more money then buying the steam deck.
Xbox Game Pass!!! That’s where the ROG shine!!!!
The Z1 (non extreme) is so bad tho lol
Yeah I agree with you.
Extreme is far better
but it is stronger than the steam deck
@@ProdbytocileExtreme yes, non-extreme? No.
@@ProdbytocileNope. The non extreme sucks at both performance and battery. Might as well just add a little more money to get the steam deck OLED.
@@megadudex9000 it is rnda 3 is better than 2 but it suck ass because of the screen
Has worse performance because the ally is pushing 120hz 1080p screen instead of 800p 60hz
nice video men, keep with good content
Interesting gamer thumb 00:55
its a birth defect 👍
@sam.alexander.reviews apologies, bro 🙏 you look great, and it's no defect🤛
Windows is not fun wen it comes to handheld gaming def not optimized get a steamdedk before legion and ally I have all 3
Fortnite, Destiny 2, Warzone 2 not running on SteamOS due to anticheat is the developers’ fault. Blame the developers. As for getting them running on the Steam Deck, the only way is via streaming. Anything else will cause the Destiny 2 developers to ban you because they are user hostile.
If you run the Z1 with Bazzite its a Steam Deck on Steroids. 120Hz, VRR Display, Great Speakers and similiar Battery Life at 15W.
If you can get a Z1 for below 300€ its a absolute Steal but only with Bazzite. Windows sucks hardcore on this thing
i mean i like my 379€ steam deck 512gb refurbished dont use it doh :) but wanted to buy it again after i got my 64gb at launch as the 2nd bach in december or januari liked it played with it a month and sold it for double cause no use and needed the money. but here am i again buying one. even doh i wanted a 64gb refurbished slap a 2tb ssd in there and never use it
its pretty cool the 512gb way better then 64gb is anoying atleast back in the day, otherwise yeah nah i dont game on the go, i have my pc. on my break i dont game after work i sit on my pc. when im out i dont game, i dont even game on my phone anymore....
and still its the kid in me that loved portable gaming console.. i havea gpd xd that i bought like in 2018 love that thing use it once a year... got a psvita in 2020 for 50€ cause hacks love it played on it like 5hours its been eating dust ever since... its just the 12 year old me who loved my psp back then and when i saw a pocket pc with windows XP and the htc hd2 phone running linux android windows i loved that stuff...
45 min battery life .. that’s terrible.. I would never buy a device with only one hour battery life .. 😂 i keep my Nintendo switch
is one hour 45 minutes where you live? 😅
The z1 is better at 720 or 900p and there is a lot of games I play with the z1 not extreme and the steam deck struggles with those titles
Software is one thing but the bigger picture and overall package is better off with the steam deck..
Only thing i care about is the fan noise cause oh my fucking god, i have LCD Steam Deck and the fan is so loud i actually start thinking if i wouldn't be better with the Switch, THE SWITCH. I'm so sensitive to it while playing, might be because i had PS4 and hated that air fryer cause of it. I just want my devices to be quiet
That’s one of the main reasons I bought the Ally! People like to pretend the fan noise isn’t a huge issue with the deck.
@@CosmonautchroniclesThe OLED model is whisper quiet under load, but surely it wasn't revealed yet when you got your Ally.
Was down to $299 yesterday.
no way, link???
Welcome to 4 months ago.
It's $299 now.
Hate rog ally love steam deck oled
Steam Deck is too limited for me, ROG Ally feels great though. Just the VRR + speakers is worth it.
get neither and save up for SD oled
To think that I just bought a Z1 Extreme Ally for $350 😅
Where?
Asus sucks tho
I will pick an Asus rog ally.
I need Windows for my old programs
Steamdeck is the best for sure 🎉
Me buying one for £600 2 weeks ago...
I feel like the Z1 Ally just doesn't compete unless you're really desperate for a Windows handheld... And even then, running Windows, I feel like you _need_ more power.
The Steam Deck in that performance range is just gonna be the better option imo, not to mention the far better battery life when you can lower the TDP.
They want to get rid of this trash thats the main reason...
At the end of the day the Deck is still leaps and bounds better because Windows on a hand held is trash.
And windows gamers get butthurt when they see a windows game running better on linux😂😂
Bro is lying about the fluidty of ally vs steamdeck if u wanna game out the box get steamdeck if u wanna have to customize every game get ally and buttons stuck def happen also rog
Bro what are you talking about
Guess u have trouble reading it OK bud
software is still horrible, untill they make a steam os type of software their device will be worse, while the specs might be better I just want the fluid performance all around because I don't play triple A games on it.
It's terrible. Don't get it.
they must have TONS of normal Z1 and are burning the stock, that thing can barely run windows 11
how are they coming after steam deck if ROG Ally Z1 is worse in pretty much everyway than SD?
I don't get the Ally being hard to use. We were playing games on it on the way home from Best buy. Easiest hand held I have used. If you can use a laptop or desktop pc with windows 11 its basically the same thing. I can just download a game and run it without even changing any settings. I sold the Steam deck after trying the Ally out. It is cool how I can even mod games on it. Its the best device I own and I have a gaming pc, series x, ps5, switch, ect. Its portable and I already own 200 games that run on it. There are like 5 Ally's at work now and none have had a problem. I am playing Rise of the Tomb Raider now on the Ally and have moded outfits for Lara. This beats the console versions because they can't mod most games. I can set the Ally up to match the battery life of the Steam deck easily. Why not just plug the Ally in? I have a charger in my vehicle, at work and at home so there is no problem. Steam deck was laggy, low resolution and sound quality was half what the Ally is. If you try both you will pick the Ally. I saw this happen over and over at work. Steam deck can't even play call of duty online or many none Steam games. A friend finally installed windows 11 on his Steam deck to get it to play the games.
You can't match the battery life of the oled steam deck no matter what settings you use that's just bullshit
Steam OS is user friendly Champion…
Windows is …….. ……. …… Loading……😂
One x PLAYER…🤓…. Most compact handheld pc…
Z1 has a weak chip close to the ps4 that’s why they are trying to get rid of it, spend that extra 100 bucks to get the z1 extreme for double the performance then the z1 or just settle for deck
It’s a extra $300 not 100
Rog ally oled
Clickbait
These companies are just kidding themselves. Valve & Nintendo has a platform to sell games. And isnt worry about Asus, MSI, etc. Hardware bc the money is in game distribution
wow
Steam deck >>>>>> Asus Rog Ally
Got my z1 for 350 living it and my buddy has an OLED steam deck and I think the 120 vrr screen on the z1 looks wayyyy better