My ASUS ROG Ally review. Looking at Benchmarks and performance of the retail units
Nomad Survival - store.steampowered.com/app/19...
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Dave2D is really nailing that "mad scientist isolated in his lab" look.
I'm starting to think that it's the "troubled dad" look lol
I’m waiting for the Kleenex boxes on the feet
i'm jealous of his flow!
giving me Rick vibes.
His hairline is getting bald lol that's why he doing long hair now 😊😅😅
The fact that Asus included Office and McAfee in this product tells everything you need to know right there. Good job calling them out Dave.
I mean, Office I can understand because of the Microsoft partnership, but McAfee!? No, no, no.
its great that its more than just a gaming device - so handy on my business trips and holidays I can now just take 1 device
"Everything you need to know" Just run a fresh install and get rid of McAfee, not that difficult...? PITA no doubt, but your over here acting like it's a dealbreaker.
@@Futura2500 No one is sincerely using Microsoft Office products with this device without some extra peripherals. Be serious
@@WeaponsArtist and then people make fun of Linux while saying stuff like this... Steam Deck works out of the box.
It still amazes me that Windows games mostly run very well on Steam Deck despite running on Linux with compatibility layers. Software really is so important.
@@lumeronswift I am using mint Linux on my 10 years old laptop with 2GB RAM. Works like magic
A long time ago now, like 15ish years ago, I had tried Linux out for gaming (using cedega to launch windows games, I don't know if that's still a thing)... I was amazed that not only did it run, but I was getting a higher FPS in Linux, emulating windows, than I was in even a debloated Windows install.
It's not emulation. So, good enough.
@@aaronjones4529yeah and it's only gotten exponentially better year by year in the last like 5 years or so. Still a long way to go though. For desktops it sucks because all your peripherals usually have software components to fully utilize that are windows exclusive. And features like gsync, dlss, ray tracing and such are still nonexistent or...sketchy at best. It is PERFECT for a tailor-made piece of hardware like the deck tho.
Still uses compatibility layers just smoother now and we have proton 👍 still not straight forward fucked if you run into an anti cheat that’s unsupported or devs are just being cunts (bungie with destiny 2)
It's nice that they're looking into allowing more control to the device. Impatient to see what disabling cores on this thing will do, plus the potential for undervolting if UXTU allows so in the future.
The thing about the steam deck is that the software just works and valve has constantly kept updating things. That support is unmatched
just like apple
@@franciscojunior3574 except that Valve isn't anti consumer and supports open source.
@@cnr_0778 Erm, Steam was trying to be a monopoly for years and it was invented as a very strict DRM when Half-Life 2 came out. So, no, Valve is not always pro-consumer. Their store is plagued by trash/shovelware but they refuse to do anything about it because anything that gets sold on there generates revenue for them. Just because they made Steamdeck repairable (it actually saves them soooo much money to do that) doesn't mean their primary concern is the customers. Apple is a long running hardware company who has manufacturing downpat. Valve barely can afford to have one product at low volumes (in comparison). They could not possibly force the user to their own parts and pieces etc. and they could not possibly keep up with all the demand of repairs or replacements if people had issues with their devices. So, it is a marketing win. It is ensuring the community is filling in the gaps. They are a bit better with software support of course, because that's what they are good at and they want this to be about the Steam ecosystem. Again, a win for themselves first and foremost.
As long as you don't play heavily anti cheat enabled games or use Xbox PC game pass
@@zenithquasar9623 Companies can have varying degrees of pro-consumerism. You talk of apple like its the most pro consumer thing out there cause of all of its products but most of its products gets outdated after only a couple years plus those products are exceptionally more expensive do its its premium quality and expectations. Valve compared to apple doesn't have that many products and as for shovel ware that's every store front from steam to epic to even on consolse like playstation and switch.
That performance gap with the new update really makes your review THE DEFINITIVE one to watch, it really is a surprising gap :o
It'll only get better again Asus has said ...
@@losteden6390 ye, nobody cares what Asus says. Shit manufacturer
@@losteden6390 ya i def believe it this product is like brand new
why surprising? it should be performing like a 7840u, day 1 it performed like a 6800u lol
@@darkdiablo1601 if i spent up to 1k on a handheld which ones the best
Really appreciate the extra mile you go through to deliver us the experience the manufacturer intended, instead of just using it as it and calling it a day. 🙏🏻
THIS is why I dig Dave's reviews. He WILL point out the flaws. He's my top one and Jarrod's. They think about the consumer first and if it's worth our money or if we'll even like it. I did not know that the steam deck was made to last a few years. It's a good point on it and would love to hear from Asus or if they'll make the new Ally 2 more long lasting. Either way, now I got doubts. I might still buy it, especially cuz my vacation time is coming up and need one or a laptop. Either way, thanks Dave. You rock!
The detail. He waited. Done each game battery drain test. That's alot of dedication. I love his videos because, his reviews always be on side of user perspective. Sweet, simple, short. Great review as usual. Thanks, I was waiting for yours to come.
Definitely
Amazing product review and points of comparison against its competitors. Thank you for also breaking down some pros and cons of the design choices made by Valve vs Asus. Definitely allows for more informed buying decisions based on the use case of the consumer! Awesome job, Dave!
No shit.
This is the most honest and best review I have seen of a product. Well done. Subscribed.
good to have you, your way of doing and seeing things in the review space on KZhead
The work that Valve has done behind the scenes to support the Steam Deck is really unparalleled compared to any gaming device I’ve seen. They have made it drastically better compared to a year ago. They even do stuff like release support for controllers and other external hardware that they don’t even manufacture. They’ve been killing it. I hope that ASUS does the same with the Ally, but it’s a lot to live up to. We will see!
Very unlikely to happen. Valve doesn’t make money on the Steam Deck, they make money from people buying games on the Steam Store. So they have a financial interest in supporting the Steam Deck for as long as possible. Asus only makes money from the initial purchase, so its in their best interest to release a new model as soon as possible and hope you will buy it.
@@feezee82 damn this is a great point. While I don't believe that they don't make ANY money on the steam deck (sure, I'm sure the profit margins may be a little tight but their is surely a profit margin nonetheless), you're right in that their bigger interest would be in ensuring that people continue to buy their games on the steam store which forces them to make sure that steam deck is always in tip top shape!
@@feezee82 Asus makes better and more powerful hardware for the right price, valve wont win competing with ASUS in hardware. Software is also looking sticky for valve because ASUS has connections with Microsoft.
Not to mention that Asus has a terrible update support on their ROG phones
@@undisturbed809 “Software is looking sticky for valve” Bud, as long as Valve keeps updating SteamOS like it does now, there is no way that’s gonna happen. Microsoft has been very bad with their software updates and unless they release their own handheld console, I do not believe they are gonna bother updating Windows for handheld devices.
One of the things I had forgotten about coming back to PC gaming was the amount of troubleshooting you need to do before you can play a game. It's not terrible, but having to do that on a hand held would be a deal breaker for me.
this is where the steam deck prevails, for gaming it just works, only issues arise if you play untested games, but if its rated playable or verified it just works, now let me reiterate, thats for gaming, using the steam deck for desktop work still has a ways to go
Yep
I've played "unsupported" games and about 25% of even those games just work. And not to mention, Valve has been killing it in terms of software updates. In fact, I'd say that right now, I would get the Steam Deck over the Ally UNLESS you ONLY play games with anti-cheat crap.
The Steam Deck does a surprisingly good job of 'consolizing' the PC experience for lack of better words
I rarely ever have to troubleshoot anything. Usually, with both handhelds and my desktop, I just load and play. Unless I want to crank up performance.
The Ally is almost a Steam Deck ad. It has really allowed me to notice all of the small but brilliant decisions Valve made with the Deck beyond just raw horsepower.
100% agree. I decided to buy a Steam Deck after watching this video
Trackpads. That alone is such a massive benefit of the Steam Deck.
@@CosmicApe only for some people
@@brianv3ntura For quite a bit. I've read the lack of track pads bothers 100s of thousands.
If the Ally had track pads, better D PAD and buttons that don't stick, I would definitely buy one and sell my deck. That is way more important to me than getting a few more FPS from a game and a better screen I have windows on my deck and can play everything I want.
I don’t know if you’ve heard this enough but great video. Straight to the point. You touched on topics and stayed focused on them and did not go on a tangent and explained clearly. I got what I came for on the video and the 9 minutes flew by so fast. This was good. Thank you.
Life advice: Always wait for the Dave version of the review. Well done mate! Thanks for the useful information as always!
Exactly. Thanks Dave. I was going to buy a 7840U handheld because I felt the benchmarks was so much better. However Asus is a large experienced manufacturer and uses 2 fans. An looks really nice.
Spot on. Most of the reviewer complaints I saw could be resolved by software/firmware updates. The big selling point for me is the multi-platform capability and the ability to install other apps. For simplicity/average user, Steam Deck might be preferable. I, for one, plan to strip the Ally of any bloatware as soon as I get it and tweak it to my liking, install emulators, etc. For that purpose, along with being able to step outside of the Steam ecosphere, I think the Ally is preferable.
Your honest approach is the sole reason why I've been a long time subscriber. Well done. I have the Steam Deck and I enjoy the hell out of it... The Ally seems to be a great machine, but I'm hooked on this Steam community... They're so damn helpful and knowledgeable. My deck is literally getting repaired as we speak, no questions asked. Left trigger was sticking on occasion... They're all over it. So easy.
I also had that issue and got a free repair, and later on almost to the 1 year mark, was sent a brand new unit due to random resetting. Valve customer service is second to none
@@donniedarko4497 Awesome to hear. I'm dialed in with it. I don't really get into the crazy mods etc, I'm more or less, download and play. The only addition I've used is the Vibrant and the plug in that shows how games actually play based on a Platinum, Gold, Silver etc.
@@rescuerammer5357 definitely Steam deck is a great experience out of the box without tinkering. Only thing I'd recommend is "Cryo Utilities" as it's super easy for anyone and gives about 20 percent performance boost for free. Also emulation, but I've found that a lot easier with EmuDeck. Tinkering can be addictive bother
Hello Pal , Please I want to Know If Steam Deck Plays Fifa 23 pretty good ?
My girlfriend repaired my deck the other night 😏
Definitely nailed it on the support. Or lack of it. We’re upon launch and local resellers don’t have cases, the charger with HDMI port, etc. I’ll have to test it well when it comes because if I consider those pop ups a pain, I’ll just return it.
You make a good point, Dave. When life has so much going on, you just want things simple and quick. That’s the appeal of consoles, quick resume and so on. Turn on and a couple of clicks and you’re set. Like a Nintendo Switch. No to bloat, pop ups, multiple programs to get things done, etc.
Huge communities supporting a product they love. This warms my heart feels like back when older games had huge mod followings like StarCraft broodwar. Quake 3 arena mods. Etc. When so many people put in effort to make something they love better. It just becomes an awesome experience for everyone involved. And your interested in the game for many many years to come. Steams huge community is what makes me come back to buy their games so I can play with all their stuff and support that communities provide. 10/10 steam keeps gaming alive.
Mac user over here… was between getting a Steam Deck or a ROG Ally, went for the Ally in the end. Using it as a standalone handheld and windows old and recent enough games, got tired of all the Parallels and CrossOver tinkering, it works don’t get me wrong, but just want the plug-n-play’est experience. To my surprise, just swapping an Apple Studio display to the ROG Ally works 100%, even the camera, mic, speakers and connected keyboard/mouse peripherals to the screen. That said, man, since I bought it, it was like 3hrs of just tinkering around to get all the apps updates, windows updates, BIOS updates, good god… makes one appreciate the 15mins open and use experience of getting a MacBook or similar (minus Apple being Apple tends to slash legacy software too unhinged). That said, it’s an amazing handheld still today, crazy prices too during these holidays, got a -$200 for “Boxing Day Sales” and an extra -$100 open box, at a Best Buy.
The situation is a bit more complex. TDP vs. TDP comparisons assume that every manufacturer used the standard voltage curve profiles that are made for the chip from AMD. Board manufacturers have the ability to increase the performance of a given TDP or range of TDPs by scaling the curve up. You would not be able to see this if you only looked at the listed TDP, and a lot of the available sensors would still appear to operate under the normal limits. However, you can effectively have a 2-3W boost hidden into your "TDP" at any given level. This kind of boost can inflate your scores by up to 100% at lower TDP levels. Finding out if a device did this is a lot more work than anyone would want to do, and if you do not have a lot of devices with the same chip from different manufacturers, you'd never be able to pick out the the ones that juiced their numbers. Ally represents real performance for this processor.
This ^. I feel like if you look at the total power draw at 9W the Ally will be the lowest. If he would've matched the total power draw of the whole device the Ally would've been even better. AMD/Asus have definitely improved it a lot that's for sure.
Sure but the average user doesn’t care if it TDP varies or not. It’s literally about what they get at face value. If they both say 3W TDP, that’s what they will compare with the experience accompanying that.
Better than compare TDP only, you can compare battery life (for similar battery sizes of course - like the ally and the deck) - on games running at similar performance - like horizon 5 high 60 fps. Dave did that and the steam deck came up WAY ahead. So with or without “fake” TDP and profile curves/boosts etc, the Steam deck does provide value on lower wattage usage…
Exactly
Asus Rog Ally AutoDtp Tomb Raider 370 mhz cpu, gpu 880 mhz smooth 60fps shock.
Thanks for this update Dave, I was having doubts but this definitely made me pull on trigger for Rog ally now 🎉
Clean and serious work done here, well done and appreciated 👍
I am extremely thankful for this video. It made things clear for me. Awesome delivery, great information, helpful visuals and great content. Thank You sir! God Bless You 🙏🏾
They must have silenced you for speaking the truth Actually, the silence was as deafening as the 9W performance:(
Dave, thanks for the review! I heard some reviewers talk about input lag. Was that something you encountered with the Ally?
I agree with the premise of this video. Though I've had some software glitches with my Ally, I haven't encountered any of the issues early reviewers had with stuck buttons.
D4 this week and my Ally in a couple of weeks , Christmas has come early, Great content Dave!
I think this was the first review which really discussed the support philosophy from Asus and the user experience. I know from experience that Asus is pushing the product to life-support when a new product is for sale - I had some smartphones with exactly this issue in my past. More critically I see the user experience for now - Microsoft Windows is not made for such a device (at least for now) and their own solution is just a band-aid to get the system up running. That it is expected from the customer to do the configuration and optimization kills this device for many customers. Even thoug I have the experience I do no longer have the patience for doing this - in that regard Valve has simply the better solution. If you want just mobile gaming without in-depth tinkering then you should get a Switch or a SteamDeck - if you want the power and flexibility and do not fear tinkering then the ROG Ally is a good choice.
Ironically, people said the same thing when the Deck came out ("If you are okay with tinkering, you can get deck") That speaks volumes to Valve's efforts in improving Steamdeck and also standardising it. Because unlike the Steam Machines, which were basically too much and too many, Steam Deck will prolly not have such a fast cycle (maybe 3 years?) meaning devs can actually target it, and test and optimise around it.
A big difference is that the steamdeck is part of an ecosystem, and Valve continues to get returns from investing into the Steamdeck. For Asus, I expect they make large % of their profits on initial purchase (I don't know if they have their own Store in Armory care), so perhaps not a big incentive to keep investing it's improvement over time, like Dave said, they would probably prefer to sell you Ally2 in 2 years, which is a shame. I'm considering getting an Ally anyway to use as portable gaming/laptop.
I have an ASUS ROG Phone 5, and I think they only put out one or two updates during the entire life of the device. I took it to a phone repair shop a few months ago, and the tech there laughed when he saw the most recent update was January of 2022.
Good to see the performance fixed and matching the 7840u or 780m! I was worried with the initial performance results but now I’m excited!
Well explained!!! Great Review, this helps a lot to which system I eventually would like to get.
I don’t know what KZhead algorithm led me to this in my home feed, but thanks for this. What a great, honest take / update on the ROG Ally. Subscribed 👍🏻
This, Is why I watch Dave2D and why I knew it wasn't all doom and gloom early on. Thank you for the video! Keep being great.
Not surprised at all, ASUS really hasn't been on the ball lately across the board....at least they are getting their collective shit together and are fixing this one. Thanks for reporting on it Dave, I see no one else doing this lately!
I mean valve did it worse with the software pf the deck, so to be honest i guess asus is doing it better than valve xd The first version of steam os 3.0 was crazy xd
@@Nsfwstar people forget so fast. ppl are comparing the ally to the already updated SD , the SD issues at launch too. but people forgot all about that LULZ
@@Nsfwstar Um, never said Valve was perfect, not even once. I've got a SD, and I've had it since launch. They fixed it up good, and hopefully so does ASUS on this one. I'm not a Windows guy so it's not in my wheelhouse so to speak, but I hope they succeed, it's a good handheld all told.
@@NsfwstarValve fanboys are rabid, it’s crazy.
@@Tha_Lyons The bigger problem is that the ASUS story regarding motherboards came out right around reviews dropping. It's not just about the SD software, it's about ASUS as a company not being trustworthy, beyond this product.
I think i know which one im gonna get thank you, you guide me more than other reviews thanks a lot man
Hey Dave, long time viewer here! Recently purchased a steam deck and I was suffering from buyers remorse with the deck when I saw people raving about the ROG Ally. You're really helped me realise how nice the deck is and how long the shelf life is, and that for me as an emulation geek the deck is probably a better idea when it comes to battery life. I got dual boot working for windows with CoD. Thank you, have a great day!
Great review! The problem is that they currently don’t have a way to financially keep the support for this device like you want. Can’t truly compare that aspect to valve. I see it being a new device every year or two which they specialize in unfortunately
Yup like how they handle their support on ROG phones only 1 year or 2 if you are lucky, from what I remember
Absolutely, and it is important to keep this in mind. But the advantage of running native windows is that ASUS do not necessarily need to do anything for games to run because AMD did a driver update that lets it run for PC, or Microsoft did a DirectX update or whatever. Not because *they HAVE* to update it because *it doesn't work if they don't* So it's give and take. The big concern to me would be stuff like stick replacements and general aftermarket support, but then again - if you manage to find the part numbers then Aliexpress will probably be able to provide.
If I remember correctly most of the Steam deck reviews were the same when it was initially launched. That it's a product that "needs improvement". But Valve actually committed to it and supported the device and now we have an awesome version of the device. I hope Asus does the same here but like Dave said they are a hardware company. But here's to hoping.
for me the main problem of Ally is that it didnt really fix any of the problems people have with Deck .... on the contrary it made them even worse ... thx to being overly focused on "onpaprer" highest specs possible
@@kampru6867 BS they already fixed some issues like for example things in armory crate. And there will be further improvments. The Steam Deck also had its flaws when it came out.
Exactly what they doing with their laptop is what they going to do in their handhelds. Just hope they don't f*ck up this like their TUF gaming laptop
ASUS software support just plain sucks. Just look at their Armory Crate, or even their RGB software...utter garbage. Love their hardware, loathe their software.
@@roningai4791 you misunderstood what i meant ... i meant the complains reviewers had about the deck (so stuff like battery and so on)
Great words. Great review. Listen to this man, Asus. Thank you for all you've done Dave2D 🙂
That's what I call good research and troubleshooting!! Good review!!
Had the steam deck for the past 6 months and absolutely love it. Still trying to stay on top of what’s happening with this product too but I won’t be sure until it falls into the hands of the public and the real problems are uncovered
Even then, my biggest concern is the point he raised with longevity, issue with big hardware manufacturers is if they're under a certain price, have the products don't work and then they'll last for a year or 2 max, fact of the matter is if I go to best buy and they tell me I would get geek squad protection on it, I'm simply not gonna get it
@@nonpondo_ that’s a really good point!
I think the last issue wouldn't be a huge a problem for me if ASUS would allow trading in older ROG Ally's for a discounted newer version in the future. I'm really hoping that ASUS could polish its system better in the future because the Ally has my vote when it comes to hand-held gaming devices in the market.
thx - the best Asus rog ally review so far…long time support will be crucial for the success of this device!
I've just installed Windows To Go on an SD card for my Deck, after you install the drivers from the Steam Windows resources page & turn on the visual keyboard auto-popup, it's great! Now I've got the standard Deck experience for 90% of things I want to do, & a Windows install for the ones that don't work on the Deck yet 😊 Oh & btw I went with installing on an SD card instead of dual booting off the internal storage so that my Deck experience remains totally separate from the Windows one. You just press volume down when you hit the power button to turn on, & then select which to boot when you want to switch between them. Love it.
Phawx just posted a video today about optimizing the clocks to maximize the battery and it sounds like there's a ton of potential to improve this via software.
It's windows based. There will be tons of community support for this.
@Harvey Kent lmao, you sound like a clown. Superficial reviews? Okay bro
@@conchobar "It's Windows based" Are you implying Linux doesn't have community support? LOL
This is nothing new as it was around when Ayaneo 2 was released. If the demands on the Cpu and Gpu vary a lot it will cause the frame rate to be more unstable.
Yea there will be all kinds of software like that and thats one big advantage windows has and i watched his video today seems like you can really improve the battery life in some games. Im really excited for the ally been counting down the days.
Seeing all this handhelds comming out I am really looking forward to the next Steamdeck.
I'm glad I got mine from Best Buy, since I can just return it. I thought SteamOS had jank, but I never thought I would fall out of love with this thing in just one day. From the first hour (after updating everything) of tweaking my Ally and the 10 solid hours that followed, I could not get a single feature working correctly or consistently.
Wonderful video!!! I have been very happy with my SD, other than two issues: screen and having to deal with non verified games. The Ally seemed like it was perfect in correcting those two issues. But, I’m a Mac user, and I don’t want to deal with windows tweaking and worrying about setting up a game.
I really hope that since they're partnering with Best Buy, it means some stores might get demo units bc, while it's large, I just love the controls of the Steam Deck, and I would really want to get this in my hands to know how it compares. It does look cool, just different to a Steam Deck and some good/bad things respectively. I appreciate this more balanced review.
yeah same , it would be great to actually have this device in my hands before I even remotely think of jumping ship
OMG thank you so much for this! People keep comparing a "Prototype" to a 1 year released device. I had the SD and it was amazing. But the ROG Ally is going to push the AAA titles and low end gaming too like emulation. I am excited to see what the Ally looks like in a year. The SD got better after the year and I see the Ally doing the same thing.
Nice analysis! Really good look at some of the intricacies that most reviewers don't talk about.
The most informative comparison video thank you!
Good review. The Steam Deck suffered from the same thing though, early release with barely finished software. It's almost a completely different machine now than from 12 months ago. I agree it needs to feel more like a console than a PC. The best feature by far is launching a game and being straight into the action, or even better unpausing from 3 days ago and picking up right where you left off. Microsoft needs to do a lot of work in Windows to get that level of refinement.
I have to disagree with this take. The Steam Deck experience today is practically identical to how it was in April of 2022 when I got my Steam Deck. Is it different? Yes, but that comes down to developer support of the steam deck. The actual interface and functionality is very similar. We’ve got new tools to control performance and battery life, sure. We have community tools to enable plugins and better desktop mode support, yes. But the fundamental paradigm of downloading and running games on the go is practically identical. The flow of the software is very similar. I don’t think that can appreciably change for the Ally as long as it uses Windows.
The performance for these devices seems to be in a good spot. I'd love to see people make more efficient batteries that last longer someday.
Best review I’ve seen thank you for your honesty
Love the takes and perspective on the ally.
I remember that the deck had the same problems at launch with software issues and minor problems, If asus can keep up with fixing the software this device could probably be one of the best handhelds out there and the fact that they are already rolling out pretty good updates before launch is a good sign that they do intend to update the ally for a long time. I think people are going a little too hard on asus, especially when the deck had the same problems at launch, as a deck user (and rog ally preorderer) I really want this to succeed because it will bring more pressure and competition to the handheld market.
Its all the steam deck fanboys lol
We need to wait until Asus fully updates Armory Crate. When they add the ability to disable cores, I think that is where we will see the biggest gains in low wattage performance. Going from 8 to 4 cores should (in theory) boost performance of the remaining 4 cores while maintaining the same low 9w. If that theory holds true, then the RDNA 3 and Zen 4 APU should out perform the Deck's RDNA 2 and Zen 2 APU purely from efficiency. Again, no way to confirm this until Asus releases that feature.
This was such a good review that I had to sucscribe so I can see more in the future! Good job :)
Just a tidbit; @ 4:55, the feature is (what I believe) a staple for all ASUS laptops. I have a ROG Z13, and it has the same app with that feature as well - and it is definitely appreciated knowing my battery has a longer lifespan.
Asus probably won't support the Ally that long. Like you said, in 2 years people are gonna get the Ally 2. This is essentially a gaming laptop in the form of a handheld and Asus pumps out laptops left and right. That's why I went for the Steam Deck.
You made a good move. Which model did you get?
Same here. Ordered it today. The 512 model with etched glass. I just don’t want to open it up, so I’ve gone for the highest storage.
@@MattWiles don't hesitate and upgrade your steam deck from 512 gb to 2Tb, I'm not even particularly smart or technical person in terms of electronics and i managed to upgrade it. Months ago 2230 2Tb's cost like 400 - 500, now it's half than that. You can probably wait it out if you want it... So it lowers even more.
Not only that, I just feel like Windows is not the best option when it comes to PC handhelds. Although, ChimeraOS is a thing for Ally users to utilise soon for those who loved SteamOS as much as I do.
dnt buy asus they been pumping out sponsorships to try to hide the fact of their bios problem that fried every 7000x3d models while blaming the user and not replacing a single thing!
Dave is hitting all the right points. Even though it drains battery faster due to high Watts it charges a lot faster too. When I play BOTW on the steam deck I get 2 hours of batter but it takes longer than that to charge. My GPD Win 4 runs it at faster drain but I can recharge the battery in much less time and get back to being portable.
How does botw run on steam deck? Was there a lot of skipping due to performance? Was the gpd4 that much better?
@@Ifalvarado BotW can run somewhere between 40-55 fps (you could try tweaking the Graphic packs some more to get it higher). Also, the game can become more demanding during combat so it's safer to run the display at a lower fps.
Wait, do emulators work on the steam deck
@@ZeroChanceLance they do, on rog ally too
@@ZeroChanceLance the emulation experience on the steam deck is much better than any other hand held out there right now
For some reason i did not know you before but with this video you got my sub. great video dude
Great follow up review! Now this is the Ally that was promised
Well you're right on the support stuff, Asus has a bad reputation there, it launches new cool stuff and then next gen is out of frame, like remember the external Gpu's stuff? the Mothership laptops which were supposed to be upgradable and then died, there's been several Asus stuff that never grew old and had a lack of support.
As always, Dave's heart is in the right place and is so big Asus might finally listen to him and us. If Asus announces a new ROG Ally in the near future, I fear this device will have better lifespan from using SteamOS bases firmware.
I appreciated your points on user-friendliness! For someone new to gaming, a audience I focus on in my videos, it'd be important to know that the steamdeck is more approachable!
Easily the best review out there. You’ve touched base on what a regular persons experience would be.
I just bought my Steam Deck after watching all of those Ally reviews. The Ally can be powerful, but it is still not working as a console. You can not snooze it with a push of a button. You can do that with the Steam Deck and that is a must-have for this portable form factor in my opinion.
It does have a sleep function so you can pick up where you left of but it eats away battery. Wish it was as intuitive as my SD tho.
The sleep function is hit or miss on the deck, most of the time it just resets the game.
I’ve just bought a Deck too…. Today! I’ve spent hours, maybe days on end researching and comparing both devices. I even have the Ally on order too, but I’ll cancel that. It ultimately came down to the software and hardware synergy on the Deck. I don’t want to use Windows and I don’t even want GamePass… I hate subscription models and don’t want to support them. I’m quite new to Steam but I love what I see and I want more of that. The Deck hardware is so much nicer. The Ally looks like a cringy cheap gaming PC. Plastic rubbish. I also want to try trackpads. I love RTS games.
@@oo--7714 lol absolutely not ! even yuzu works
@@oo--7714 That's bullshit :p I've been using my SD for over a year now and it has reset my SD like 3 times in the thousands of times I've put it in sleep mode :p
My theory for the 9W performance is because it has 8 cpu cores, those 4 extra cores' impact are significant in a very limited power scenario. Now if they disable those 4 extra cores on 9W that would be nice
And they have to disable those cores physically. It's known issue of Ryzen processors being underpowered on low wattage especially when battery is removed
From my testing of various games on a Steam Deck vs 6800U handheld, the CPU is not the issue, the GPU is. It rarely goes lower than 10W on the 6800U, meanwhile the Steam Deck GPU goes as low as 1W on some titles.
@@seeibe would be nice if you could do the test on the 7840U, because the 6800U has different GPU with a different architecture, so that conclusion can't be final
This review is a masterpiece. Well done
Very important information. Thank you.
Its an all in one, portable gaming, desktop gaming with xg mobile and home pc when docked to a monitor. That's a big thing missed from the review, idea is that it can replace many things you have, laptop, desktop and tablet and perform better than those. With a portable monitor, wireless keyboard n mouse Yr ready to go content creating. Yes change the internal specs every year or so, it's what laptops manufacture do (and mobile phones). Just keep the layout the same. Makes sense to get your moneys worth and improve on performance on the same games. Gaming mobile phones always change the spec every year for performance gains. If they don't change people will just buy laptop or other handheld gaming brands as shown on your review. This will kill off the steam deck and version 2 will just be laughing at it. Low wattage performance on steam deck isn't that much better. Plus most game you can't play or just really bad quality due to not being powerful enough. The ally has flexibility, and expansion from the XG mobile. Ticks alot of boxes but would have been good to have ocilink or tb 4 support due to the price of the XG mobile. I remember the steam deck being so glitchy when it came out and only supported a hand full of games. People where modding this to install windows and use as an all in one but it isn't a good experience. The ally is just something what comsumer want and will more developement it will be a killer
ROG Ally is the beast and best better build berrer hardware like speakers better cooling and is cheap and can be buy at any time for same price than aya neo 2s
The amount of reviewers that got an ally with broken buttons was a lot, can you imagine spending almost $1000 dollars for it to be broken and sent back. Now you have to wait half a month to get a replacement, THAT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. I cant believe some people think thats ok. 🤦🏻
Come on Dave, we ne ayeneo 2s review!! You had it for a week already!
Excellent video, Dave! However, I really appreciate MS Office in Ally. I am looking forward to using it as a handheld PC. Perfect choice for me.
Installing it takes minutes, so no reason to pre-install it.
@@Leynad778 Exactly. This is a gaming console first. Office being pre installed and for sure as usual with Windows, booting office 365, onedrive etc up by itself in the background all the time it's not only a waste of disk space, it's a waste of RAM, CPU and battery life for most of us. Windows in a handheld like this still feels like a nightmare. Don't forget the horrible modern windows standby problems.
@@azenyr Not to mention W11 too. A definite downgrade of W10
Uhm good points made here Dave. Making me just wait after release see what happens after a while, awesome vid as always.
This reivew was excellent. Gained a follower today.
I own a steam deck since launch, and have been watching the inspired competition, here’s why no one has beaten the deck: Inputs & price. The entire experience of playing, buying and setting up games on the deck is really slick. The reviewers show some of the AAA popular titles, but we all have that game that is 15 years old, you used to play with a keyboard and mouse, and now you’re curious whether you can play it again, but like a boss while taking a leak. With the deck you can. For me, this game is Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, its amazing. It runs amazing on deck too. But its sooo much more fun with the Gyro Aiming, keyboard mapping and layering and trigger shortcuts. You can make splinter cell play like assassins creed odyssey, by automatically lowering/equipping the gun at half trigger, scope on full squeeze, switch ammo types with the back buttons, etc etc. All the inputs, especially starting at 400 eu, its amazing. Stick in a 1 tb sd card and you’re golden. Unfortunately, the reviews from IGN and other of the steam deck were made when it just launched, and they were ironing out the kinks. So it only got a 7/10. But with how its working right now, I bet that would have been 9/10. These competitors are coming close, but only offer windows machines to play Halo or other shooters, on my deck I can play Civ, age of empires, cities skylines, and Among Us, because of all the input mapping and track pads. So, really the question is has any device beaten the Deck yet? And these FPS and wattages numbers really don’t tell the whole story. Especially when you figure in the price….
Preordered the Aokzoe a1 pro for the bigger screen better battery life. Taking a risk for customer support, but willing to take that. No tax for the a1 pro so its only like $40 more expensive than the ally. Don’t care too much about 144hz because most games wont get passed 60hz as Dave said
Zero support and no trackpads, its like taking a step backward in customization and usability.
@@jonathont5570 and the asus has track pads. I had the track pads on the steam deck and never even used it to be honest
My wishes as a Flow X13-XGM owner for the next Ally version: - Larger Screen easily 10"+ - Strong kickstand - Trackpad - Removable controllers - More buttons - Another USB port - Maxed out SSD option - Camera front+back - Detachable Keyboard Cover
Very happy to see you addressing my two main concerns here, that this is less of a plug and play concept than the SteamDeck (mostly) is, and that long term platform support is questionable.
Thanks for the video. It definitely confirms my thoughts to sit and wait to see what happens to the market now that the steam deck has revitalized it. I’m personally interested in PC gaming handhelds as a budget gaming and workspace hybrid with quiet fans. Getting into PC gaming takes a lot of technical debt now and upfront cost and you end up with something that’s not ideal so a $700 device that’s powerful enough to play AAA games with an okay experience is a godsend to me. Ironically, I’d be using it with Microsoft office and the adobe suite along with gaming at minimum. I’d honestly like never use it as a handheld and probably immediately hook it to a dock, monitor, and mouse and keyboard. It’d probably even get used for gaming less than working. Heck, I barely use my Switch (I game on my Xbox much more because I prefer that full tv or monitor experience), but when I do it’s literally just on my bed. I game in long sessions when I do have the time (not like 10hrs at a time but maybe an hour or so) and that doesn’t work on commutes. When it might be useful like on a long flight it just dies and ends up being a couple of hours (or less because the battery life on handhelds isn’t great on actually fun and demanding games) out of 8+. I’d prefer if Nintendo had made a more powerful home only console and stuck with the DS line as portables. The Steam Deck honestly interests me more as a gaming device with its user experience and software and steamOS built on Linux, but I’m not super after a handheld for a pure gaming device (or really at all). I’d be far more interested if valve went ahead and built a Series X/PS5 console competitor with higher end specs. Steam is a major PC game distributor and has a fantastic offering, but mid to high end tier PC gaming still has a lot of barriers to entry (from cost to user experience).
Dave always gave us the most accurate review that every other reviewers just never bother to realize it. Respect👏👏👏
Every reviewer? Idk man I'm all about praise but saying ALL the reviews for the ALLY were bad it just a bit dumb. The Phawx for example is continuously providing insights into the Rog ally and constantly reiterates that there's like going to be differences closer to releases etc etc. Not all reviewers "don't bother" to maintain accuracy...
Looks like you should check out The Phawx then. Dave didn’t even touch ground with VRR, which is the main reason for that 120Hz panel. Something creators like Dave always forget.
I bought an Asus Rog Ally and i really love this product, the screen is simply AMAZING. About Asus not supporting with the new model, if they do that i will stop buying them anything. (I dont think is the best costumer approach)
What a great review I enjoyed watching it❤ I'm thinking of getting one later on I've always liked asus rog products most of my computer is Asus rog the motherboard the water cooler my RTX 4070 TI the power supply and my external SSD m.2 hard drive cases to me the Asus rog line is an awesome product and rarely had problems with them and also their packaging is just awesome and also the looks of all Asus rog products but most of all it all runs really good I get great performance out of their products but yes keep up the good work on your reviews
They could easily keep the support up if they dedicate a team for the original ROG Ally, they have the money to afford it, and there are still millions of programmers out of work, so there would be no excuse. That being said, with ASUS being a hardware-based company, selling some of the best high-tech computers I've seen, they could easily make the ROG Ally upgradeable, and modular. Making it last FAR longer than any handheld on the market.
Asus is a hardware company first, so no, I don't expect them wanting their products to never need disposing
I don’t think they’re going to suddenly revise the entire system just to make it modular. Only thing that isn’t soldered is the ssd and an entire motherboard would be expensive. Plus, selling new, difficult to replace motherboards would be extremely difficult and not a good business move. Asus is a company, not a group of hobbyists.
They will just make Ally 2 in 6 months. Don't dream too loud. My G14 stopped having driver/bios updates and improvements after half a year, and a bit more after the new one came out and now mine is completely abandoned. It's the maxed out 2500€ G14. Zero support. All the software support is now exclusively windows/linux updates and AMD/Nvidia drivers and that's it. Zero Asus involvements.
@@azenyr what update do you want beside windows, and gpu driver? Are you really like bloated software getting update?? I had asus 10 years ago and newly asus lately. They had been decreasing bloatware to the max and build it as clean as possible. in the past they had software like splendid, wavemaxxx audio, touchpad driver, instant on, even powerdirector😂
@@azenyr pp ppplllppppppp
I've had the steam deck for a long time, but I am getting the ROG Ally. I'm okay with tinkering a bit. I've been doing that with my own computer forever. I will of course be removing that extra software for sure. The main thing is there just simply are lots of games I like to play that don't work on the steam deck. Niche japanese games seem to have the hardest time just running, and its been a big pain point for me. So after being away from my computer a week and only having the steam deck I figured I did need something that just ran windows and that happened to be the weekend the preorder for these started.
I like that it has Microsoft office and all, it’s an handheld gaming PC with Win11 that you could still dock and perform all office tasks on. Connecting the external GPU by ASUS turns it into a beast which gives the experience close to a desk top gaming PC. Many will buy both to replace their laptops and still get the portable handheld experience. It’s the bug on windows I do not like at all, can be so stressful.
I need to know what skin that is on your Steam Deck. I love that it is obviously a TOTK Switch look. My Steam Deck is needing something cool on it.
The SF6 example is interesting considering the number of people jumping ship to the Ally because they're tired of 'jumping through hoops' to get games working on the Steam Deck. They're gonna be pretty disappointed when they realise they have more/different tweaking to do just to get games to run. The performance looks great though.
Valve being a software store means that they have an incentive to support the deck for a LONG time. They aren't being pro-consumer. It is actually in their business interest to have long hardware life cycles (less r&d money) and to keep old hardware running, so that owners keep buying products (games) with practically no marginal cost of sale.
Yeah, no company is your friend. But steam is probably the closest "pro consumer" corporation we have today. Their hardware and software support is unmatched. The repairability on the steam deck, as well as keeping the software open is so rare these days.
And that's the whole "consoles business model." That's why console generations are supposed to last 6-7 years.
@@anakinskyguy6582 I think the deck can last longer than that. Since it is a pc and valve games/software have high longetivity.
Thank you Dave for being one of the few people to figure this out!!! This is why we trust in Dave
Can’t wait for mine to arrive!
why a single male youtuber like dave made far better review than corporate Linus Tech Tip