For nearly six years, I have been a Nintendo Switch user. The Switch is the most used device after my iPhone and MacBook Pro. It’s the Switch that made me a Nintendo fan for life and introduced me to classic Nintendo franchises. For someone like me who has invested so much time and money in the Nintendo platform, it’s emotionally hard to accept a device that’s built on the same formula as the Switch. But last week, I set my ego aside and tried the Asus ROG Ally without any preconceived notions.
It’s a portable gaming machine like the Switch but is designed to play demanding PC games in this small form factor. Everyone is, understandably, talking about the ROG Ally and for obvious reasons. Can the ROG Ally tempt people away from entry-level gaming laptops? Is it a viable alternative to the Nintendo Switch? Can I take the ROG Ally on my next trip? However, now that I’ve spent considerable time with it, I can attempt to answer all those burning questions you have had about the ROG Ally. Here’s my review.
Portable and extremely lightweight
The first time I saw the ROG Ally, I couldn’t believe I was holding a PC in my hand. It seemed like Asus took internals from a gaming PC and put them all into one compact device. Coming in at 608 grams, the ROG Ally feels lightweight and extremely comfortable. I can easily hold the device and comfortably play a game over a longer session.
The biggest selling point of the Ally is its size and weight, which makes it ideal for gaming on the go. In the past few days, I have spent quality time with Ally as I used to take the device everywhere. It’s so much better to have your Steam and Xbox Game Pass library in this portable machine. In fact, I took the ROG Ally to a launch event last week and played it until I waited my turn for the interview. That to me makes a device like the Ally stand out because I have always been cautious about taking a gaming PC to an airport or food court because of its lack of portability.
My Nintendo Switch still beats the ROG Ally both in size and comfort. I don’t know if the comparison between the two is even fair, partially because the ROG Ally is a full-fledged gaming computer that fits in your hands. The device that does come close to Ally’s size and power is the popular Steam Deck. Although I have high regard for the Steam Deck, that device is also monstrous compared to the Ally. The Ally feels lighter, quieter, and smaller than the Steam Deck. I liked the white colour scheme of the ROG Ally. The device has a textured diamond shape running across the back of each side making it secure and fit. It’s a fun device, honestly.
Gamepad-wise, the ROG Ally has an Xbox-style layout and a traditional ABXY face button array. It’s a familiar control system if you have used an Xbox controller or Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons in the past. The left side has an analogue stick, D-Pad, View button, and a button to bring up the Armoury Crate visual overlay. The right one features a dedicated button for the full Armoury launcher system, Menu button, ABXY face buttons, and the second thumbstick. There are no touchpads on the ROG Ally (Steam Deck have two touchpads). Some may troll me for mentioning this, but I never liked the Steam Deck’s touchpads. I find them awkward-looking and barely useful.
The thing is I have grown up using handheld consoles without touchpads. My only real quibble with the system is the A/B/X/Y buttons got stuck a few times during gameplay. The bumpers and triggers (just like one on Xbox) feel great to use with a nice tactile response. There are two configurable back buttons, which are easier to press than the ones on the Steam Deck. The D-Pad is disk-shaped, which is similar to the Xbox 360’s directional pad. You will also find two programmable back buttons, which I found easier to press compared to the Steam Deck. There are RGB light rings around each of the joysticks, which can react to in-game effects.
There’s a 3.5 mm headphone jack, a microSD card reader, and then a large port for Asus’s XG Mobile graphics docking station (this additional external GPU accessory needs to be purchased). At the top, you will also find a volume rocker and power button which double as a fingerprint sensor for Windows Hello.
There’s no kickstand or included dock for playing on a TV where I think the Nintendo Switch still has an edge over anything available on the market, though using USB Type-C you can use a keyboard and mouse to play games.
Terrific display and audio
It’s hard to argue that ROG Ally’s 7-inch display is much superior to both the Steam Deck and the non-OLED Switch. It’s a sharp 1080p, 16:9 display with a 120Hz refresh rate. Games such as Personal 4 Golden and Hi-Fi Rush looked great on Ally’s screen. There are plenty of details, while games such as Death Stranding look cinematic on the ROG Ally. The Ally’s dual front-facing speakers were decently loud and clear for a handheld console.
Amazing performance from a handheld gaming PC
One thing I really liked about the ROG Ally is that it doesn’t try to be anything else other than a gaming PC. To be clear, it’s neither a tablet nor a smartphone but an actual PC in a portable form factor. To get the level of performance one expects from a budget gaming PC, the Ally runs a brand-new AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip inside. It’s a Zen 4 CPU on a 4-nanometer with 8 cores and 16 threads with a clock speed of up to 5.1 GHz. The Z1 Extreme is paired with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and a 512GB SSD.
Being a Windows 11-powered device (more on that later), any games that run on your PC will also run on the Ally. Demanding games like Dirt 5, Forza Horizon 5 and Death Stranding looked crisp and ran smoothly on the Ally. Just don’t expect the Ally to hit graphics and achieve frame rates at par with a high-end gaming PC. But when graphical settings are reduced, the Ally plays AAA games smoothly. The graphics are pretty realistic as if you are playing games on a console with the same superior graphics and fidelity. This is where the ROG Ally turns heads that no other handheld gaming machine has ever gone to. I also love the fact the system’s dual fans kept the device cool and nearly silent even when I was running Far Cry 5.
Windows 11 is a hit and miss
Running on Windows 11, the Ally has the standard Windows interface and that to me is a hit-and-miss. With Windows, the Ally becomes just like any other gaming PC. I can browse the web and access major gaming services I wish to use including Steam, Xbox Gaming Pass, Epic Games and more. The practical challenge with Windows on board is the lack of a proper user interface. I have had the same issue with the Asus foldable laptop, which I reviewed last year. Having a Windows-powered device has its perks, the struggle starts when a device like the Ally gets a lukewarm interface. It deeply saddens me not only as a gamer but also as someone who has always supported handheld gaming.
When you boot up the Ally, you see a Windows icon, a Windows login screen, and then the Armoury Crate. Those who have used Asus’ ROG laptops likely know the utility software. On the Ally, it’s a little modified. On the right side of Ally’s display is the Armoury launcher system, which acts as a launcher and brings up all the games loaded on the device. It also lets you download games preloaded with links to the major gaming libraries: Steam, Game Pass, Epic, etc. Then on the left side of the display is the Armoury Crate visual overlay which brings up the settings menu, game profiles and more.
Armoury Crate needs a lot of optimisation because right now it feels like a half-baked interface. I get the sense that Asus was trying to make a Switch-like interface but got derailed from the original plan. Maybe due to the lack of support from Microsoft itself or because the interface wasn’t ready. There are some good things about the Armory Crate like the ability to turn the Ally both into a computer and a gaming handheld. For that, there is a Gamepad mode and a Desktop mode which can be quickly toggled from the Command Center.
I feel Microsoft has to come forward and showcase how it’s trying to modify Windows for devices like the ROG Ally. Sure, the Ally can run any PC game but it should have a labelling system (like Valve has) which makes it easy to get an idea of how well a game might work on the system.
Battery isn’t great
Where the Switch gets anywhere between five and eight hours of battery life and the Steam Deck manages three to four hours, the ROG Ally hardly lasts two hours on a single charge when playing AAA games like Forza Horizon 5. This type of battery performance is comparable with gaming laptops which have traditionally had to compromise on battery life. It irks me because shorter battery life kills the purpose of a portable gaming machine. For a frequent traveller like myself, I will think twice about taking the Ally on a trip even if it charges much faster.
Can the ROG Ally replace my Nintendo Switch?
For me, the ROG Ally wouldn’t replace my Nintendo Switch. The Nintendo Switch and ROG Ally are very different types of handheld gaming consoles. Both are created for different types of gamers with the Switch aimed at the mainstream users and families and the ROG Ally targeted at the PC gaming market in an effort to take those games on the go. There’s no question that the Switch is a more versatile handheld system. Perhaps the biggest reason for sticking to the Switch is the games that you can only play on the system and that’s a big reason for my loyalty to the Nintendo platform. But if you are a PC gamer who also loves to play games on handheld devices, the ROG Ally is made for you. There’s something surreal about playing Cyberpunk 2077 and Red Fall on a handheld.
The ROG Ally is incredibly powerful and is also more expensive than other handhelds — the Steam Deck with a price starting at $399 is not available in India officially. At Rs 69,990, I see the Asus ROG Ally as more of a viable alternative to budget gaming laptops than a device that competes with the Switch. I liked the Ally but it has several loopholes like clunky integration of Windows and poor battery life. Still, as a first-generation product, the ROG Ally isn’t a bad attempt at widening the handheld gaming PC gaming market.
