Asus ROG Ally Review vs Steam Deck: The Fastest PC Handheld... But Is It The Best?

Weeks in the works and delayed owing to BIOS issues, our review of the Asus ROG Ally is finally complete. We're looking at the highest specification PC handheld we've seen yet with the Z1 Extreme processor paired with fast memory and a 1080p 120Hz VRR panel. But we're also looking at Windows 11 - which has traditionally performed poorly in the handheld space. This is clearly the most powerful PC mobile device around - but is it the best?

00:00 Introduction
00:44 Unboxing and First Impressions
01:03 Form Factor + Controller Issues
02:15 IO - Ports and Sockets
02:38 Cooler Impressions
03:32 The 1080p 120Hz VRR Display
04:31 Software: The Armoury Crate
07:24 Software: Command Centre
08:05 Asus ROG Ally System Specs vs Steam Deck
09:29 Performance Intro
10:35 Benchmark: Control
12:04 Benchmark: Cyberpunk 2077
13:06 Benchmark: Forza Horizon 5
14:41 Benchmark: God of War
15:50 Benchmark: Returnal
16:44 Benchmark: A Plague Tale Requiem
17:55 Benchmark: Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition
18:33 Benchmarks: Z1 Extreme vs Ryzen 7 6800U
19:23 9W Silent Mode - Significant Problems
21:08 Snapshot Comparisons vs PS4/PS5
23:00 Asus ROG Ally Battery Life vs Steam Deck
25:09 Turbo Mode Battery Life
26:09 The Wrap Up
29:55 And Now, The Conclusion

[kwedl]

The Steam Deck, ROG Ally, even Switch etc. really highlight that battery technology can't keep up with how fast CPU, GPU and storage technology is advancing.

[ZekeFreek]

We need some kind of paradigm shift in battery tech because that's the real bottleneck. We're gonna be hardstuck at this level in portable gaming without some major advancements in that field.

[AquaticBagpipe]

There's no channel like Digital Foundry. I love these technical comparisons and deep dives!

[rafaelraad]

Deck owner here but happy to see a booming pc handheld market. More power to the consumer. I would support them all if I had the money to.

[Laius-nsyu]

Latest update gives major performance boost across all TDP settings plus it fixes the issues with the proprietary software. Also, Asus will be allowing the option to park CPU cores, which should increase the performance even more at low TDP.

It would be great if you guys can test Auto TDP with the Ally. The Phawx was able to double the battery life of games using this tool while keeping the 60fps target. This is huge and tells us about how crazy efficient the Z1 can be.

[multiverso]

my doubt is whether Asus will treat the ROG as a finished product, as they do with their cell phones. Or whether it will be a console, which receives updates and improvements over time, so that games continue to run on the same product for an entire console generation, like the steam deck.

[MarceloTezza]

Richard is the king, presentation perfection, thanks for your brilliant work! Its an honor.

[FanTheDeck]

Very excited to see the DF breakdown. Well done!!

[Tainted]

I prefer my SD, trackpads for functionality and precompiled shaders (equal no stutters). Bought mine at launch (350usd). Upgraded the M.2 SSD to a 2tb (180usd), purchased two 1tb SD cards (140usd), and upgraded the analog sticks to magnetic.

[Cogglesz]

Only been a year?! Must say as cool as the Ally is props to Valve for heading in this direction, It's really opening up a new niche, Might even lead to a successful Steam OS/console someday with the traction gained. I thought it was out for like 3 years with all the improvements and competition that's opened up! Looking forward to seeing the portable pc gaming space grow

[xentrix]

The steam deck has so much support both from valve and the community ounce the ally starts dropping off a little in profits asus is going to spit it out and move on to the next thing

[xBINARYGODx]

i love all the comments that are basically "competition is good, but I don't switch from deck or even consider anything once deck two comes out".

Thats not how competition works - if YOU are not likely to ever switch, then no, you don't actually like or support competition.

[FSAPOJake]

The SOC in the Ally is really cool, but I'm not in a rush to sell my Steam Deck to get one. No touchpads on the ROG is a dealbreaker due to how often I use them for general desktop mode controls on the Deck.

[Smegheid]

If anything, this underscores how amazing a piece of work Proton is. The steam deck manages to stay within shouting distance of a system running native windows on a significantly updated SoC.

[repinsvizios]

As someone who usually plays games at around the 6-9W mark on my Steam Deck, it is nuts just how much more performant the Deck is at those voltages.

[YouthInAsia]

Hope that battery is easily accessible/replaceable, because the longevity of the pack may not be so good. Charging at 65w means faster charging, but also faster degradation.

[Caswagna]

Wouldn’t it make sense to make these handhelds 720p native? The screen is so small, I’d imagine the pixel density would still be pretty high and you’d help along the frame rates

[recordatron]

I think the Deck is still the best handheld PC device in balance. Seems the bespoke software Valve worked to implement generally provides a more optimised experience. Will be interesting to see a refreshed version in the future with newer more performant hardware.

[eliadbu]

Great review, Richard!
I think it shows several things:
1) valve did a fantastic job with the Steam Deck - both with software and hardware and that 30 fps limit battery test just showed how much.
2) Asus shows it is incapable of creating well-tuned device, whether UI, performance, or software. Some of this is for sure to blame on Windows 11 atrocious power management.
3) I think with better hardware and tuning, we can get much more from devices with such form-factor.

[CasualtiesOfGaming]

I'm glad to see more competition in the handheld pc market but I'm sticking with my steam deck for now. I bought the cheapest model and upgraded the ssd, meaning I'm into it for 450, not 650 so that 700$ price point is meh to me