General Gaming Anyone snagging an Asus ROG Ally next month?

[HardAct]

   Just preordered this thing to see just how much I like it. I play my Steam deck ALOT and am interested in seeing just how well this compares. Being a Total Tech member from Best Buy I have 45 days to return anything so I'll be seriously running it through it's paces. The 1080p / 120hz has me drooling I must say. I really want this for a more stream line Game pass handheld. If this crushes that, I'll be a very happy camper......

[XxEvil AshxX]

But this is just a streaming handheld, isn't it? Not a full blown console like the Steam Deck?

[Spork3245]

23 minutes ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

But this is just a streaming handheld, isn't it? Not a full blown console like the Steam Deck?

 

It's a console, not a streaming device, you're thinking of the Logitech thing.

[XxEvil AshxX]

5 hours ago, Spork3245 said:

 

It's a console, not a streaming device, you're thinking of the Logitech thing.

 

Ah ok. These damn things are gonna require a spreadsheet before long.

[stepee]

I’ll pretty fucking sure @Brian is bare minimum as soon as it can be picked up in store!

[Brian]

6 minutes ago, stepee said:

I’ll pretty fucking sure @Brian is bare minimum as soon as it can be picked up in store!

 

[Raggit]

From what I've heard, the buttons aren't great. Like the face buttons can get stuck in a depressed position. I also read about some person complaining about the right trigger (or was it right stick?) sometimes activating the touch screen as if it were being touched. Considering this device is from a fairly large company, that boggles my mind that this is how it was shipped. Very disappointing.   Aside from that, the interface doesn't appear to be all that great.

 

Honestly, the Steam Deck is more than enough for the type of games I'm looking to play on a handheld. But It's great to see it actually get some competition at a similar price.

[Spork3245]

10 hours ago, Raggit said:

From what I've heard, the buttons aren't great. Like the face buttons can get stuck in a depressed position. I also read about some person complaining about the right trigger (or was it right stick?) sometimes activating the touch screen as if it were being touched. Considering this device is from a fairly large company, that boggles my mind that this is how it was shipped. Very disappointing.   Aside from that, the interface doesn't appear to be all that great.

 

Honestly, the Steam Deck is more than enough for the type of games I'm looking to play on a handheld. But It's great to see it actually get some competition at a similar price.

Weren’t those issues on the prototype that they brought around for people to try?

[Brian]

11 hours ago, Raggit said:

From what I've heard, the buttons aren't great. Like the face buttons can get stuck in a depressed position. I also read about some person complaining about the right trigger (or was it right stick?) sometimes activating the touch screen as if it were being touched. Considering this device is from a fairly large company, that boggles my mind that this is how it was shipped. Very disappointing.   Aside from that, the interface doesn't appear to be all that great.

 

Honestly, the Steam Deck is more than enough for the type of games I'm looking to play on a handheld. But It's great to see it actually get some competition at a similar price.

I can’t find the source but I remember reading that the retail version will not have sticky buttons. I don’t necessarily believe it. I am waiting for hands on impressions from retail units before deciding. 

[Raggit]

 

Around the 13 minute mark they start talking about the physical aspects, including the face buttons getting stuck.

[BloodyHell]

I do like the specs, but I’ll wait a bit, just bought a deck last year 

[Dre801]

No.

[Spork3245]

On 5/15/2023 at 6:06 PM, Raggit said:

 

Around the 13 minute mark they start talking about the physical aspects, including the face buttons getting stuck.

 

 

DF claims they haven’t had any issues with the face buttons or analog sticks (noting the claims others have made), stating that they’re “fine… not great, not bad, just fine”. I’m guessing some units might be defective? Then again, that’s Linus who literally posted benchmarks from a defective 7800x3D and never updated with a working chip. The bigger issue is that some games don’t seem to recognize some shoulder buttons, but hopefully it’s fixed in firmware/driver updates for the device. Also, the screen is VRR when in 120hz mode, which is very welcome.

 

Seems the big issue with it right now is stuttering, particularly in lower power modes (but it looks like they occur in the turbo modes too, just less noticeably). DF seems to think this will be smoothed out, but I definitely wouldn’t get one until it is.

[DPCyric]

On 5/11/2023 at 5:02 PM, HardAct said:

   Just preordered this thing to see just how much I like it. I play my Steam deck ALOT and am interested in seeing just how well this compares. Being a Total Tech member from Best Buy I have 45 days to return anything so I'll be seriously running it through it's paces. The 1080p / 120hz has me drooling I must say. I really want this for a more stream line Game pass handheld. If this crushes that, I'll be a very happy camper......

 

I'm thinking about getting one my PC can't play Halo Infinite or Street Fighter VI. I'm wondering how well this would do outputting those to my monitor. 

[HardAct]

    Supposedly I have 45 days to return it being a total tech member from Best Buy. Says It'll be here tomorrow. Really looking forward to putting it through it's paces. Hearing about the battery life though has me worried but I will not keep it if I can't live without it, I have to love it or I'm out.  Still have my Steam deck and it's been great, just want access to my Gamepass library and this just might fit the bill. We shall see. 45 days is easily enough time to push it to it's limits and make a decision....

[Brian]

I plan to walk into BB tomorrow during lunch.  If it’s there, I’ll buy it. 

[stepee]

1 hour ago, Brian said:

I plan to walk into BB tomorrow during lunch.  If it’s there, I’ll buy it. 

 

If its not there just get the rokid max and connect to your laptop instead

[Brian]

3 hours ago, stepee said:

 

If its not there just get the rokid max and connect to your laptop instead

Yea I’m out on the glasses for now. I will probably wait for the Apple version for normies in a few years. 

[Brian]

Impressions are all over the place but I am having a shit week so I bought it.  I pick it up after work. 

 

[Keyser_Soze]

I was actually looking at this earlier wondering if you ended up buying it. I guess that answers that question!

[Brian]

The impressions have been wide ranging except for the screen.  everyone is saying it’s a huge improvement over the Deck. I picked it up but I probably won’t open it until tomorrow. I have too much work to do tonight 

[skillzdadirecta]

@JPDunks4?

[JPDunks4]

I got one.  I never have been able to get into mobile gaming really, i have a Switch and a Steam Deck, and barely use either.  Plan on using this more as a mobile PC in some ways as well.  So far I like it but havent game on it yet.

 

Will try to get Battlenet on it for Diablo.

[atom631]

on a side note - I was looking at the steam deck. the base model has 64mb onboard storage. can an ssd be added? if so, is it even worth getting the more expensive model ?

 

there been some killer deals on gaming laptops recently. I had an alienware with an i7, 32gb ram, 1tb ssd and a 3080ti in my cart. wouldve been around 1550. or very similar spec with a 3070ti for 1100. but a handheld is compelling. 

[Brian]

On 6/15/2023 at 11:20 PM, atom631 said:

on a side note - I was looking at the steam deck. the base model has 64mb onboard storage. can an ssd be added? if so, is it even worth getting the more expensive model ?

 

there been some killer deals on gaming laptops recently. I had an alienware with an i7, 32gb ram, 1tb ssd and a 3080ti in my cart. wouldve been around 1550. or very similar spec with a 3070ti for 1100. but a handheld is compelling. 

Cheap model and get a micro SD card. SD cards works as well as the internal storage. 
 

The Deck can’t compete with those laptops. If you don’t have a gaming PC, I suggest a laptop.  Otherwise get a handheld. 

[HardAct]

On 6/15/2023 at 6:42 PM, JPDunks4 said:

I got one.  I never have been able to get into mobile gaming really, i have a Switch and a Steam Deck, and barely use either.  Plan on using this more as a mobile PC in some ways as well.  So far I like it but havent game on it yet.

 

Will try to get Battlenet on it for Diablo.

   I've been playing a shit ton of Diablo 2R on this thing, and as many above asked/said the buttons and there issues are a non problem on retail units.

 

    I do not think this is a Steam Deck killer though either as this is 699.99 and a Steam Deck is 399.99 / 64G non NvME SSD - 649.00 for the 512G NvME. I have the most expensive one but if I had it to do over I'd buy the 399.99 version and put the fastest 1Tb Micro SD card in it! The 399.99 Steam Deck is a fantastic deal IMHO after owning one since launch.

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   Now for my Impressions: It's actually growing on me after having it a full week. I actually wasn't impressed out the gate as a Portable handheld as the Battery is just pathetic! I will not complain about the SD Battery ever again. I guess we are still not quite there AAA gaming on a handheld and "Portable" Once you get over that It's pretty great. I'm still not sold on keeping it and I'm going to go as close to the Finish line {BB's Return line for Total Tech Members is 45 days} as I can and make my decision then, so I have 3 more weeks+ to really give it a solid "Do I Have to have this" run.

 

   The screen Is wonderful, and we have all heard this already. Being able to switch from 120/60Htz on the fly is great. It actually took me a few days to get used to the UI and W11 as I only have Windows 10 with no hands on with W11 until now. This thig is just chalked full of bloat ware from Microsoft at the start and actually takes a good hour to 1 1/2 hours to even get into gaming at boot up. Mine wouldn't even start up until it was plugged in and charged a few minutes. NBD though. 

 

  I have a  512Gig Samsung Evo Plus Micro SD card coming TODAY to further my hands on impressions so that will be cool. Not a fan of the Sticks on this thing. There really really loose feeling. I have done the GuliKit Hall Effects Stick swap on my Steam Deck and I just love them, so compared to these I'm not a fan. Don't get me wrong though they work it's just a preference thing here and I like a little bit more "Stiffness?" 

 

  Maybe it's just me but I had a very frustrating experience getting Chrome on this thing! I mean it was just hair pulling and I can't afford to pull any hairs if you know what I mean guys? Microsoft will bombard you with popups stating you don't need to download a browser yadda yadda in many frustrating ways. I just use Chrome for everything and I just want it over edge is it that hard MS? Buttone are all very responsive, the analogue triggers are great but again there a little to smooth/loose feeling hard to explain like the sticks. Maybe just to smooth making me feel like there loose maybe? Also not a fan of the flat white as it's gets dirty easy and hard to clean. 

 

  Gaming has been where it shines as it should and it's a great gaming experience over all. If though you think your going to play AAA games at 1080p / 120 htz easily your mistaken. Diablo 4 runs well at 720p / 60Htz low settings at around 40-60FPS well enough though to be enjoyable. It's just that the Battery in games like this will only give you 60-80 minutes unplugged drawing 20 watts {Performance mode}. if you were to set it to TURBO 30 watts I can't see over 45 minutes but I don't do that. Plugged it this thing really is a great experience but that isn't very "portable" so at least know know what your getting and make decisions accordingly. 

 

    Games I've played range from Pacman 256 { I just love this game, it's my go to for toilet to doctors visits lol } and Vampire Survivor to Forza 4&5 and Borderlands 3 and everything in between. I did Try Halo Infinite but it really ran like shit unplugged, I really need to play and beat this game soon. Deathloop played well so did Fallout 4, so it varies depending on the game and windows optimization I guess. Hoping MS comes out with a stripped down version of W11 for systems like this. It's ships with MS Excel  / Teams / Etc, etc and I just do not see how anyone would buy this for stuff like that, it's all there as it's a full Windows 11 OP.

 

  So.........

    Very good gaming experience, very good buttons and Userface. Fast with a beautiful screen. Gamepass in the palm of your hands is really great and is the #1 reason why I bought this thing. as like I said I have a SD. Personally I'd pick the SD over this if you can't justify just throwing 700 dollars at things like this, but for me that is not a problem. I does run AAA games better than the SD at higher settings, better resolution but also poor battery life so demanding games will make this very portable "UNFRIENDLY" to most. Near an outlet and plugged it this is pretty fantastic and is at least worth looking into. 7.5/10 

[Brian]

25 minutes ago, HardAct said:

  Hoping MS comes out with a stripped down version of W11 for systems like this. It's ships with MS Excel  / Teams / Etc, etc and I just do not see how anyone would buy this for stuff like that, it's all there as it's a full Windows 11 OP.

A big selling feature for me is a full windows experience. I went away this past weekend for 4 days and I brought the Ally. I docked it with a KB/M and monitor setup and did work. Work done, unplugged it and sat on the porch and played some games.  Done gaming, dock it and did some personal stuff.   If Microsoft wants to streamline Windows for handhelds, that’s fine but don’t gimp it. 

[stepee]

I tried to get myself to get one today since best buy has them in stock but I just couldn’t convince myself of any situation I’d use it in after the initial testing of it due to getting a laptop and ar glasses recently.

 

There is still room for a better handheld in my setup that replaces the deck but this one doesn’t seem to be that, it’s going to be all about the display for me and while this would be an improvement there, it wouldn't match either the oled on x-real or the hdr micro led on my laptop so I determined I’d simply never opt to use it.

 

Ideally I’m waiting for someone to come out with a pc handheld that has touchpads and design similar to Steam deck with a 7” 120hz hdr oled vrr display at any resolution 720p or above. That’s my dream device right now and I’ll need something that is at least close to even bother setting up my handheld environment with all the emulators and everything again. 

[Brian]

For me, this is an easy replacement for the Deck. While I appreciate all the work Valve has done, Linux is too much for a foreign language for me. I enjoy this is windows based. I had no issues with setup outside it takes a while. The touch screen is responsive so I don’t miss the track pads too much. I got all my launchers loaded. Game Pass games downloaded. Chiaki and emu deck up and running. 
 

It’s smaller and lighter with a better screen and speakers. Performance is pretty good. The battery life isn’t great but I rarely use handhelds for long periods of time. 

I was tempted to get the XG Mobile (6850M XT) for $800 and seeing if it’s a better setup for me than the laptop.  Unfortunately it is sold out. 
 

It seems to be selling pretty well so I hope ASUS stays in the market and provides updated hardware on regularly basis. I feel like the Deck 2 is pretty far off. 

[stepee]

40 minutes ago, Brian said:

For me, this is an easy replacement for the Deck. While I appreciate all the work Valve has done, Linux is too much for a foreign language for me. I enjoy this is windows based. I had no issues with setup outside it takes a while. The touch screen is responsive so I don’t miss the track pads too much. I got all my launchers loaded. Game Pass games downloaded. Chiaki and emu deck up and running. 
 

It’s smaller and lighter with a better screen and speakers. Performance is pretty good. The battery life isn’t great but I rarely use handhelds for long periods of time. 

I was tempted to get the XG Mobile (6850M XT) for $800 and seeing if it’s a better setup for me than the laptop.  Unfortunately it is sold out. 
 

It seems to be selling pretty well so I hope ASUS stays in the market and provides updated hardware on regularly basis. I feel like the Deck 2 is pretty far off. 

 

Yeah I could see maybe Asus coming out with a new model with a display I like sooner than Valve, and I trust them more than the other companies so I’d like to see it succeed. I could give up trackpads pretty easily.

 

And I feel like there will be one of these that dual boots well with SteamOS before the deck will dual boot well with Windows at this point lol

[Brian]

11 hours ago, stepee said:

 

Yeah I could see maybe Asus coming out with a new model with a display I like sooner than Valve, and I trust them more than the other companies so I’d like to see it succeed. I could give up trackpads pretty easily.

 

And I feel like there will be one of these that dual boots well with SteamOS before the deck will dual boot well with Windows at this point lol

Depends on the sales, I can see Asus doing a refresh every 18-24 months. For its first handheld, Asus did a good job. 

[HardAct]

So.............................

   Been putting Diablo IV to the test quite a bit on the ROG Ally and I have to say I'm quite impressed over all in the Performance. On battery set to performance It runs a pretty constant 50-60fps with FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 enabled set to balanced. On battery you'll get just 90 minutes though with medium settings. It still looks quite good though and I'm pretty picky with settings this low. The smaller screen makes it easier as we all know. Plugged in though and it really does a pretty damned good job. Same settings plugged in it will default to Turbo TDP/30 watts and even in crowded areas, shit flying all over the place you'll get 65-80fps {and even mid 90's!!} so easily can be locked to 60. Now of course this is still at 60htz not the 120 it's capable of. I have seen very few drops under 60fps on power. Sometimes in town for what ever reason it'll show 30-80 but doesn't stutter, kinda weird but not a game breaker. I'm having a good time with it even though I have the game on PC though just an aging 2080Ti / I7 6700k and Series X.

 

   I just wanted to give another quick update on a NEW AAA title though really this isn't earth shattering graphics with DIV anyways. Still going to really push this thing the next 3 weeks before I make the Return / Keep decision. The wife keeps saying that she knows I'm keeping it as I've really surprised myself and played the better part of 25hours with this already and that's a shit ton of gaming for me these days. New tech and all aside I rarely put multiple hours sessions in daily let alone day after day like I used too.......

 

   New 512 Gig Samsung Evo Plus comes tomorrow and I'll be comparing load times and maybe give an impression on that though that sort of thing rarely matters to much to. The difference between the 1 TB Micro I have installed in the SD over the internal 512 really isn't that much of a difference game over game. Maybe for some but that's never going to be a deal breaker unless it was horridly slow and I doubt that seriously. There you guys have it for this week second impression of my ROG Ally............

[stepee]

After spending another day trying to find a decent deck replacement for moonlight and trying my phone again to confirm that the device isn’t the razer edge for me, and reading all the gushing over the screen despite it not being oled, I finally successfully purchased this! 

[stepee]

Honestly also another handheld pc got announced today and another one without an oled also just made me feel like the wait will be lonnnnng. Hell, the one oled, the 5:5” oled ayo neo air, is moving from oled in the new model.

 

Also I didn’t realize this had vrr and was like four times brighter.
 

I wonder with asus making these and also popular 14” laptops maybe if they move those to oled they can just make the same display on the same assembly line? Basically cutting it in half for 7” handheld ones?

[HardAct]

17 minutes ago, stepee said:

After spending another day trying to find a decent deck replacement for moonlight and trying my phone again to confirm that the device isn’t the razer edge for me, and reading all the gushing over the screen despite it not being oled, I finally successfully purchased this! 

     Like I said is not a Steamdeck killer at least for me, but it really does have a bit more horsepower especially if near an outlet. Battery sucks there no sugarcoating it, but it really really does a lot right and it's growing on me. Having fun with it and that is all that matters really in the end. I'm positive that there will something out in the next 2 years that is 25-50% more powerful, full windows 11 experience but in a handheld with an oled screen 1080p w/ hall effect joysticks but with 50% more battery!! There are things like that out there now but there really heavy and bulky like the OneXPlayer 2. If they can pack what I just said into something like this in weight I'll jump on it! Even at $1000-1200 {800-1000 would be the sweet spot though!}, but the Player2 is just to big, I LOVE THE WEIGHT OF THIS THING it's really a great feeling handheld when playing....