More than a year after launching the ROG Ally, Asus is releasing a refined version of its flagship device, the ROG Ally X. This Windows-based machine starts shipping on July 22 for $800. I played with the portable console for a few days, and there are already a lot of things I like – especially on the hardware front.
Released in 2022, Valve’s Steam Deck helped bring PC gaming to the handheld. It wasn’t the first company to test the brand, but Valve met the specs, affordability and price.
When it became an instant hit, PC developers took notice. Lenovo released the Legion Go and Asus had it’s take on the handheld PC game with the ROG Ally. There are other niche manufacturers, such as Ayaneo, as well.
The device has a bright seven-inch display with a resolution of 1080p and a refresh rate of 120Hz. Like the Nintendo Switch, the display is surrounded by your usual array of gaming buttons and joysticks.
Unlike the Switch, the controls aren’t frustratingly small. ROG Ally X feels like a full-sized controller in your hands. The joysticks look and feel like the joysticks on a modern Microsoft Xbox controller. The A/B/X/Y buttons are large and clicky. Analog devices have a lot of travel, too.
However, I’m not completely sold on the D-pad. It feels moshy, almost like the D-pad you’d find in a third-party budget controller. Similarly, the View and Menu buttons are difficult to access. They are close to the display, requiring me to stretch my fingers to stop the game.
There are two more macro keys on the back of the device. I arranged them as View and Menu buttons, and it worked. On each side of the screen, you’ll also find a command center button to change settings on the fly and an Armory Crate button to bring up the Asus gaming speaker.
The ROG Ally X’s flagship software, Armory Crate SE, is the best. It works like a game console, posting everything you’ve uploaded from Steam, Epic Games Store, Ubisoft Connect, etc. It can also change your device’s settings, from LED joysticks to gamepad profiles.
If you spend as little time as possible on it, it gets the job done. But there are bugs (a game I installed using GOG Galaxy mysteriously disappeared from my list), it can be frustratingly slow to open and I had a few crashes.
The same goes for the command center. It’s a useful tool for adjusting settings on the fly, like going from Silent to Performance or Turbo mode, but it’s sometimes slow to respond to your interactions.
The device is comfortable to hold – for short periods, at least. The main issue with these types of PC gaming handhelds is that they are heavy. They also get warm, especially when you play a game.
Before testing the ROG Ally X, I spent hours playing with the Logitech G Cloud, an Android handheld designed for cloud gaming and remote gaming. It’s a very satisfying experience because the G Cloud is always silent (it’s a fanless device), you don’t have to worry about battery life and it’s easy to hold in your hands.
We’re still at the beginning of this huge shift in PC gaming from full PC towers to capable handhelds. Over time, the hand players will become smaller, lighter and quieter. They will look like an Android based handset. However, for now, experiences like G Cloud are still limited.
The ROG Ally X, on the other hand, feels like the pinnacle of gaming handhelds. When Nintendo released the Game Boy 35 years ago, it felt like you could play NES games on the go.
Likewise, the ROG Ally X feels like a good gaming companion for long days of travel or daily commutes to the metro. Despite its weight, I didn’t have a problem getting immersed in games for several hours at a time.
An indie game engine
When it comes to performance, Asus has kept the same APU for the ROG Ally X, the AMD Z1 Extreme. However, the RAM has been increased from 16GB to 24GB. This makes a difference in game performance as memory is shared between VRAM and system RAM.
The handheld comes with a replaceable 1TB NVMe storage card (format 2280). The battery is twice as big (80Wh) than its predecessor, and the eGPU port has been replaced by a standard USB type C with USB 4 support.
This tool works very well with games that do not require a high-end PC, such as Justant, Cocoon or Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. ROG Ally X can deliver 60 to 120 frames per second for those games at 1080p without using 30W boost mode.
For AAA games, you have to compromise. I was able to get about 45 frames per second with high resolution graphics in Marvel’s: Spider Man by enabling RSR, AMD’s resolution upscaling feature. As for games that really struggled on previous handhelds, there’s no magic here. For example, you must use low settings and aggressive resolution scaling in The Last of Us: Part I to reach 30FPS.
If you’re really into strategy games or simulation games, the ROG Ally X might not be the best thing for those games. At least you can connect it to a compass and use a mouse and keyboard if that’s the only PC you have.
As for battery life, it really depends on the type of games you play and the power mode you choose. You can play “Baba ke Uena” in “silent mode” for a long time. But using boost mode for The Last of Us will affect your battery life significantly. Unfortunately, I haven’t had enough time with the device to do full tests, but I’m sure more testers will release benchmarks this week.
As a gaming console, the amazing thing about the ROG Ally X is that it’s a PC running Windows – at least on paper. Of course, you can install anything you want and use it instead of the desktop. But Windows without a mouse and keyboard is a confusing experience. It’s good if you want to install a game speaker and a few games. But the right laptop (or even smartphone) is worth more than anything else.
Likewise, since it’s a PC you can install it all of them games available on Windows. But some will run better than others so you have to adjust your expectations. You can also change the settings to get more battery life or better looking games.
ROG Ally X has a console-like interface. But don’t expect a polished, console-like experience – this is no competition for the Nintendo Switch. In many ways, the ROG Ally X, or at least this handheld, can be considered a preview of the future of PC gaming. The future is shaped like a console that works like a PC.
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