I Can’t Put This Down - ROG Ally 2.5 Months Later

I have never had a handheld that I enjoyed more after a review, but after 2.5 months of using the ASUS ROG Ally daily, that's where I find myself.

Feature Products

Disclaimer: This video description includes Amazon affiliate links. Anything you purchase from those links helps support the channel.

[TakiUdon]

I'm still waiting for the ultimate Windows handheld. Hopefully, ROG keeps going with this product line

[waltersullivan]

As a truck driver who currently lives in a situation where i dont have the space for consoles and pcs this thing is a godsend. Havent gamed in at least 4 to 5 years so its nice to get back into gaming

[FreddyBoBeddy]

Got this for myself, because it was something I can pick up locally, and take back to the store if I wish to return it, without having to ship anything. I had planned to just test it out and send it back before the return window closed, but it's impressed me enough that now I'm going to buy the protection plan for it. I'm glad I found this video. Made me feel much better about the fomo I was feeling for the Steam Deck.

[nl]

Really appreciate the update. I always value real world usage over focused "review time" usage even when good reviewers like yourself try to do what you can to simulate how you would realistically use it.

[neovssmith]

The new minimum brightness level in bios 323 might get you to update it and just use a manual fan curve

[HandheldScene]

I love the Ally, Especially since I fitted a Multiport with 100Watt charging support, It opens the Ally's restrictive lack of ports.
Now have 2TB internal storage, 4TB external SSD, HDMI output 60Htz, two free USB type A 3.1 ports.

[DeadHeadDraven]

The newest firmware might be worth you checking out, a lot of us are seeing a performance improvement at 15w compared to earlier firmware

[Bahnzii]

Nice update vid Taki. I agree with all of your points, especially the VRR screen, that's a real game changer for me! Going through my Steam queue on the Ally has been a blast. I saw you had Stray in your vid...I recently finished that on the Ally. What a great before bed every night experience!! Looking forward to more of your reviews and yes, if Asus sticks with this platform, an 8xxx Ally with some tweaks would be sweet.

[creativerayn]

I loved the speakers too, surprisingly good especially with Atmos. Nice video and reminds me of why I love the device, I hope they keep supporting and upgrading it.

[hakaiyou]

It's a beast! Cannot get enough of it! Even hooked it to a TV via a docking... AMAZING!

[MithosDagon]

I also love my ROG Ally, and I have a steam deck as well as a couple of smaller handhelds. The Windows has been great for compatibility and makes installing mods way easier.

[Fre]

There's also something awesome about the Ally : the bypass charging feature :) Basically when you plug it in with a 65W or higher wattage charger you will draw power from the charger itself and the battery is fully protected. This means you can safely use it as a normal console, plug it in to charge, put it on turbo, connect it to a TV and enjoy :) Absolutely love this feature

[zeppast]

I really wanted to get the Ally but it seems to be hit or miss with some people having a lot of issues while others have no issues at all. I'm just not willing to spend $700 on a device with so many reported problems right now.

[mpandunky]

The brightness & fan noise at night issue is very relevant. I like that you're focusing on such a human story instead of just droning on about tech specs.

[gangwu]

My Ally is also two month old now. It has been working great and better in my experience, very similar to my SD. Each updates it’s getting better. Maybe I’m also learnt a few tricks to play with it too. The games I have been playing are mostly in my steam library, I only used 10 to 15w most of the time and the performance has been great so far. Battery life seems to be on par with my SD, because I usually play for an hour and a half both devices anyway, so no noticeable diffidence for me. I think people are exaggerating the fan noise with the new bios for some reason.

[colinweaver]

Same! I’m so happy with it. Just blown away by performance. Just wishing for some 3rd party case/shell options to improve ergonomics.

[feelsgewdgaming]

Im glad you’re enjoying it. I have had such a struggle using this thing since I got it on day one. Constant bugs and crashes. 80% of my time felt like i was TS’ing. For a casual player, this is not for you. I think the deck is better for a lot of people because of the consolized UI. Windows 11 is garbage in a handheld form factor. They need time to make a handheld ui for windows asap.

At one point due to my constant crashes because of some amd driver bug, i had to reimage and now it’s at a good place. This was a result of the rog XG mobile constantly getting rid of functionality and forced me to reimage. What a nightmare.

It’s a great system no doubt when things all work seamlessly, but if you’re not into fixing windows 11 constantly do not buy this. It’s a headache.

[pixel]

I got mine on release date as well and I don't stop using it. Use it as my PC as well while docked. Love it!

[hayes]

For me, I wanted to play a old mmo that’s Windows based on a private server and didn’t want to build a pc for that. In came Rog Ally and it works flawlessly for my use case plus I’m wanting to try Starfield on it when it releases

[dylanpursel]

I've had my ally for a week now, I love it to death... Portable fallout is a thing now and I love it (writing this comment on my ally too)