Steam Deck vs Windows Handhelds: Does ROG Ally X Change Anything?
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- Опубликовано: 13 июл 2024
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Rich going "RAAWG, sorry, R-O-G Ally" will never not be funny
youre gay
I saw rawg too. Just feels more natural than spelling it out
I'm a R.O.G pronounced crowd, but it doesn't bother me how others pronounce it
@@knowingbadgerRawr XD
@@jullicent it’s hard for him to say.
I like that the automated captions call this the 'frog ally'.
The steam deck just checked all my boxes. I haven’t even imagined needing to upgrade.
I'm sorry I can't agree with DF on these. I own several handhelds including Steam Deck, Ally, etc. While Valve did an amazing job on making games compatible and as long as they are all in Steam all you have to do is install. Amazing. However, It's more difficult to install games outside of steam. Using Windows isn't that difficult.
Ya but you end up losing all the tailored os to hardware functionality that the deck has over a windows handheld. Honestly in my experience, not worth the trade off, just so I can get at my gog games a little easier. You may have a different experience, but in my travels this year, can't say leaving my deck oled behind is for something else is a particularly good idea.
Just keep in mind if you have issues with the ally you have to deal with Asus support and repair center. AKA hell on earth.
Depends... only if you live in the US / CA. And the horror stories have since stopped, they are getting a grip on that RMA center.
@@jorismakIf you buy from a retailer in the US such as Best Buy why would you have to deal with Asus. I have never bought from or delt with a manufacturer when returning a product.
A Steam Deck OLED with the chipset of the RAAAWG Ally X would be the ideal I think. While the Deck has the better OS, controls and battery life, it’s undeniable that in more recent games it does struggle with framerate. I won’t be replacing my OLED Steam Deck with the Ally X, but I will be buying the Deck 2 the moment it gets announced.
I agree for an OLED X or OLED Max, but the current OLED is also an excellent option considering the Z1E devices can't go as low in TDP as the Deck (I think it's like 3W vs 9W), and the bigger chip would probably increase the price as well.
Also steamdeck essentially has more durable and reliable hardware, since Valve is leagues ahead in honoring warranties, and even ocassionally honors people's warranties if it's a couple weeks past the warranty period. Ifixit also gave the steamdeck high marks for its repairability. That proconsumer stance is also in their software refund policy, they are leagues ahead of Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft.
I will be buying the rog ally x. I will sell my white rog ally for the black one
No. The chipset would be a big problem, because it's the custom APU of the deck which gives it its super powers. The off the shelf APU (Z1E) the others use may have a higher power ceiling, but they are leagues behind the Custom APU of the Deck in terms of power efficiency at low TDP. I could play Quake I Ironwail and other low power games for over 8h straight from one charge ... NOTHING can rival this insane battery performance (not even classic handheld consoles) ... and a Deck Pro with just a Z1E slapped on would be a worse product than the original models.
That's exactly why Valve takes its time until AMD comes up with a reasonable performance and/or efficiency plus, which they then probably again will design another Custom APU with ... that's what will give them the edge again.
Install a Linux handheld distro on the ally. Yes they exist. No, not perfect. But still impressive how far they are.
I really do want a Steam Deck but not for new games but for my huge backlog of older games.
As an owner of both its quite a tough choice, the deck OLED made that choice easier because it whipped the ally in so many important ways for a handheld, that being mainly efficiency and battery life. It still blows me away what the deck can do with 3w much more so than what the ally can do with 30w because AAA games still run like dogshit if were honest no matter how much power you throw at it with handhelds, you will always be at toilet settings or 30-40fps, often with reduced resolution, so its really not a win win situation for handhelds. The Ally X does right many of the wrongs of the Ally though, the battery improvement being number 1 so its still quite an attractive option, particularly because windows isn't all that bad and does offer benefits, easy game modding for example as well as multiple launcher access, no anticheat issues, gamepass etc. The Ally X is probably the best out of the two with those main issues essentially sorted but the steam deck's price makes it a no brainer for anybody.
30-40 fpps on triple a games on a handled is not even close to dog shit. You're just a PC master race snob.
I feel like there's a fundamental difference between older gamers that grew up with gameboys and modern gamers whose first handheld gaming consoles literally might be one of these systems.
We grew up with a learned understanding that playing games on the go was just a different beast, and games that you play on the gameboy, or even the psp, were just going to be inferior from a fidelity perspective. The reason we played them tho was because they were good to just kinda whip out for an hour or so, and they were lean and convenient. I honestly do not give a shit if I have the capability to do something like use excel on the ally or if its specs are technically better. Give me a more streamlined and convenient way to play a select few games from my steam library(where all my pc games are) for a bit while I'm in bed or on the plane. That's all I need.
Is it in 720p instead of 1080p? I'll let you know if I ever care, cuz I am not gonna be playing hi fidelity games on a handheld, the same way I wouldn't watch an 8k giga chad blu ray with 5mil.1 Dolby Turbo Max Xtreme Hardcore surround sound on my phone. I'm playing junk like hollow knight, anno mutationem, persona, shantae, disco elysium, or even a visual novel, so just give me the fastest path from point A to point B and I'm good.
You make a good point and I agree. This is exactly how I used to feel. I will say that for me personally, my perspective changed when I went from playing on the original Steamdeck to the Legion Go. The Go screen is big and the clarity along with color accuracy is amazing. It's really nice to choose games from multiple platforms while having the extra power to push framerates in AAA games.
Handhelds have always had a great pick up and play feel to them, and I feel Sream Deck is very close to that, considering it's a pc.
Well adding to this, the gap between whats possible on an handheld vs an stationary much bigger system always plugged into an outlet got way smaller.
Open world games with beatiful graphics work on both system now (red dead 2 for example).
In the past, games on the gameboy (advance) were usually just 2D games, so there was a pretty big gap in capabilities. Not the case anymore.
lol is your smartphone a 720p screen too? oh wait... it's prob 1440p like 90% of phones are these days which people use for social media and internet... your rhetoric doesn't work when they do all that on this high tech 1440p display does it.
the Steam Deck has a larger display than even my S23 Ultra, btw, meaning anything graphically important (such as GAMES 🤪) would be a huge eye sore with a PPI that abysmally low
@@horrorjunkie96disagree, 720p upscaled or with decent AA on a handheld is perfectly fine.
A Smartphone might have 1440p or 4k screen but it can't in any way game at such resolutions for AAA gaming. Even the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 can't even compare to the Steam Deck APU let alone the Rog Ally or X or Legion Go.
I've played on the original Steamdeck, OLED Steamdeck, Lenovo Legion Go and ROG Ally. The Steamdeck OLED screen is absolutely gorgeous but to be honest, the Legion Go screen is beautiful as well. Playing my games on a 8.8" QHD Puresight display with amazing clarity was fantastic. The detachable screen is great for SHMUPS because it can be positioned vertically. The performance of the GO is great since the updates. Then there is the ROG Ally X. This handheld is just may be the premier device because everything is fixed with this device. 120HZ plus VRR, 24gb of RAM, longer battery life and other refinements that makes this thing a complete battalion! If I had to make a choice, it would be between the Legion Go or Ally X.
I chose to preorder the Ally X over the Steam Deck after much research. Game pass (along with the other launchers) plus the VRR screen and superior performance does it for me .
Enjoy your 1 hour battery life and CPU/GPU consumption from apps outside of your games because Windows is awful.
@@RSgaming1337I swear, Steam Deck fanboys are saltiest and most insufferable people in the world😂😂😂
@@RSgaming1337bro the ally x has a lot better battery life it is 2 hours at worst like the steam deck.
The battery life has much improved and all previews I've watched are positive so far. I'm using it as a laptop with external screen aswell essentially so it really is a no brainer
@@ClipperFanWDude seriously, they spend more time upset at you not wanting one, then actually playing them 😂 so salty it's crazy
"Valve has everything sorted, the games just work". UHM? Many games DO NOT work on Steam Deck. It does not even support alternative launchers. That's the whole reason I returned the Steam Deck and got a Rog Ally.
Why can't you recommend ROG Ally X at least for people who have Game Pass? It doesn't "just work" on Steam Deck, like most of other launchers don't. I won't consider Steam Deck even if they release a new one twice as powerful but for the cost of a current one. I'll have to buy the same games on Steam which I already have on Game Pass - it will make Steam Deck much more expensive in the long run.
He seems completely biased. He says "Steam Deck just works". Really now? Blizzzard, Ubisoft, GOG, EA, none of these launchers work on Steam Deck. And many games do not work on Steam Deck, especially not if they have multiplayer functionality or require DOSBOX.
@@sophieedel6324you can install both epic and gog games quite easily on the deck using junkstore or heroic. and ubisoft and Ea launcher themselves can be installed using nonsteamlaunchers. only games with anitcheat give issues.
GOG works with Heroic Gaming launcher. The other ones I don't know. @@sophieedel6324
There are apps that make gamepass run great on Steam deck like xbplay being one of them. While streaming from the cloud or remote from my Xbox I usually get around 8hr per charge and of course it just faster than if I were to play it native
I understand why from a consumer stand point any competition for these PC handhelds is good, but literally none of them are really a great option in comparison to the Steam Deck
I can see an argument for the Lenovo Legion Go with the bigger screen and detachable controllers on top of the better specs, but every other alternative is pretty much a worse Steam Deck.
They are good alternative options though. Just because it’s not YOUR choice does not mean other people will not enjoy them more than the SD.
SD is great but I like my Ally better. They wouldn’t be making more Windows hanhelds if lots of people weren’t buying them and enjoying them over SD.
@TNTahir What do you mean you are locked into the Steam store with the Steam Deck? You can absolutely run games from other storefronts on it.
@TNTahir I’m leaning towards Steam as a storefront because the vast majority of the pc gaming market is on Steam.
It dwarfs literally everything else
@@WhiteInk47 "Most PC games are on Steam" unless you already have an Xbox and Game Pass and don't want to buy the same games again. I hoped Microsoft would actually announce a handheld Xbox, instead they've announced Series X without an optical drive. I'll watch a Windows handheld marked till next summer, maybe someone will be able to make a Windows handheld with the battery life of Nintendo Switch (or I'll just buy a Switch 2 if nothing catches my eye).
Nah, I refuse to buy from a company that uses subterfuges to refuse warranties RMA. Steam deck for me.
Valve's return policy is horrid, some people having to wait months before they get back their steam deck. But no one seems to want to talk about it in fear of fanboy backlash.
@@sophieedel6324 Again, rog is worse.
@@sophieedel6324sorry still no Asus
I had my steam deck oled which I like a lot going on 3 weeks, I’m going to keep it of course and still pick up the Rog ally X.
As an Xbox guy it only makes sense for me to pick up the X, because it’ll compliment my Xbox series X with game pass and everything else.
Eh, I mean a usable frontend is nice, but then again, is it really that important when you only see it for a little bit before launching a game? I find the Deck's performance really lacking, and the lack of VRR forces the user into finding the lowest common denominator for each game individually, instead of the screen just doing its thing. Also with more and more UE5 games coming in, it really is becoming unplayable on the Deck, despite the green marks on Steam pages.
I feel you too. But in my case, I just go for console gaming again. It has better UI than steam deck and play all my games flawlessly.
In my experience Windows is neither usable nor a fronted. By the time my windows machine has loaded (if Explorer doesn't then decide to lockup) Steam on Linux has booted and launched a game. If Windows got its act together instead of "preparing" for 5 minutes I would reconsider.
@@dom1310df Thats not my experience at all owning an ally and steam deck. The deck is absolutely the more polished and sorted experience but there is seconds not minutes between both systems launching and both systems them launching a game. On something like the ally you will wait around 10-15 seconds longer to get into a game and that will often be thanks to armory crate launching. If you dont flood the ally with crap and do you're due diligence to reduce the initial clutter windows comes with then its really an easy seamless process, start it up, choose a game in armory and launch it and 9.5 times out of 10 you're in no issues - no drama. Its massively overblown how much of an issue windows is on handheld, for the most part you never have to mess with windows itself unless you actively want to besides the usual updates and the off keyboard sizing issues.
With all that said... steam deck's UI/UX is a nicer experience overall, no doubt.
@@dom1310df "if Explorer doesn't then decide to lockup" - I hear a lot of stories like this that make it look like Windows is unusable. I had no such experience with Windows, or it won't be an OS of my own choice for my work laptop. I haven't played games on Windows for 4 years since I bought an Xbox. But you are saying it like Windows can't even boot properly.
I also don't know what he is talking about when he says "Steam Deck just works". Really? Because Ubisoft's launcher doesn't work on Steam Deck. GOG's launcher doesn't work on Steam Deck. Blizzard/Activision launcher doesn't work on Steam Deck. EA's launcher doesn't work on Steam Deck. Hundreds of multiplayer games don't work on Steam Deck. Has he even used a Steam Deck? It is very compromised in what it can do compared to default Windows.
I feel like this channel should just be called DF Bait
😂
I had a deck and loved it for a year. I play exclusively plugged in so the Ally is a no brainier for me.. More performance.
Wtf. Why would you buy a handleheld just to play it only plugged in.
@@TheScrubmuffin69they could get an entire pc setup for half the price with better performance, better ergonomics, basically everything better.
@@TheScrubmuffin69 because I don’t have any room for a pc. I sit on the couch with it. That ok?
@matthewkingsmill7372 I deployed with mine and travel with it. I have a small thin and light laptop for work and the Ally for games.
@@TheScrubmuffin69 You could just as easily ask why you would buy such big 7+ inch "handhelds" when they're not exactly very portable.
If you use as is, agreed Steam Deck OLED. But don’t forget they’re handheld PCs… which means you can setup an operating system like Bazzite/ChimeraOS on the ROG Ally X making it more a contest between hardware. With this in mind the ROG Ally X is quite appealing.
Listen, I get a lot of people like to drink from the Steam pipe but please stop acting like the Steam Deck is a console. Everything doesn’t JUST work, there are games that are not available on or simply incompatible with the Deck due to it using Linux and its portrait orientation screen. ALL of the PC handhelds have their strengths and weaknesses, watching some of these reviewers pretend like the Deck is perfect is getting really annoying. I’m trying to decide between the Deck OLED and the Ally X right now and I’ve been trying to get as many non bias objective views as possible, but it’s crazy how many people refuse to get of the Steam train just for a minute to be objective.
The Ally X has a bigger battery, higher refresh rate VVR screen, better speakers, higher resolution screen, more RAM, faster RAM, can install and use ANY launcher, a much more powerful APU and is made by an actual hardware company. I’ve been building PCs for over a decade and ASUS makes some of, if not THE best high end PC hardware components on the market as well as excellent firmware.
The advantage the Deck OLED has is its ease of use and the screen brightness and contrast, BUT it’s NOT a console, the Switch is a handheld console, let’s stop the BS. If you want certain things to work on the Deck, YOU still have go find them and install them as well as find work arounds for the issues it has. The Steam Deck is a Linux PC running Steam OS, there are advantages to that but there are also massive disadvantages, especially when it comes to compatibility and versatility in the PC gaming space.
Simply put, there is no game that will run better on the Steam Deck OLED than on the Ally X, none, not one, and going forward that’s not going to get better but worse. However, outside of playing the game your user experience will be simpler and more convenient most of the time. The question is, which is more important to you?
a perfect comment. every time i look up a game i'm interested in on the Steam Deck subreddit, I see posts like "I just had to fiddle with this setting, then that setting, then set it to this mode, and used this plugin. then it runs perfectly. at a consistent 30. on low." Bro i'd rather use windows than do all that.
This has been my major grievance with the Deck as well. There are a ton of games in my Steam library that simply will not run well or at all on it due to the OS.
Well said. It seems that Steam Deck (and Valve) became techtuber's darling with polished UI, but when you read experiences from actual users who use these devices every day for variatey of games, it's not so clear cut. Like one of the biggest "advantages" for Steam Deck is that it doesn't use Windows. Oh yeah? How so? I don't see it as advantage whatsoever. For me it's a disadvantage. I'll gladly deal with occasional driver update or having to connect a wireless keyboard, knowing that all my games, all my launchers, everything will work natively. I'll never have to check compatibility lists or deal with some weird translation layers. To me this is far more valuable than Valve's polished UI. And seems like market has spoken and these Windows devices are highly popular, despite Valve trying to disrupt the market.
@Glotttis it's very telling that Linus from LTT uses an Ally as his mobile gaming PC, not a deck.
"I am trying to decide between the Deck and the Ally and everyone keeps telling me the Deck is the better option, but I wont believe them, they must all be just biased, am I right??"
With great power comes… a dumpster fire OS (Windows) with the only merit being that it is unfortunately compatible with so many things. I hope for a future where Windows is no longer the dominant OS.
That being said while I love the Steam deck, the ROG ally X is pretty cool
let me guess Linux user? I have no hate against Linux but Linux isn’t fully ready like Windows and Nvidia does well with Windows but Linux works very well with AMD Radeon, choose what you want but both operating systems have their pros and cons.
@@rainbowdash3419The problem with Linux is it just doesn’t get the software support it needs. Programs I use for work literally don’t have a Linux port and the companies have no intentions of making one. When it comes to games, very few are native Linux apps so you need a translation layer. I remember back around 2008-2010 you could go buy a Linux machine from Bestbuy, they just failed miserably.
1:15
Issues with windows handhelds is that that performance only get achieved by running those chips at way higher wattage than the steam deck, resulting in very low battery life.
Imo games like avatar are just not viable on a handheld today if they only last 50-70 minutes.
Steam deck oled runs at least ~3 hours on aaa games
That's why we're talking about the Ally X. Because it has the battery to run for 1:30hr and more even when at full 30watt mode. And with the memory setup it can play games that the normal Ally couldn't do, let alone the Steam Deck.
Steam Deck (specially the OLED) is still king when it comes to efficiency at 15watt though. What that machine can do while sipping power is amazing, even after a few years.
Ally now performs better than Steam Deck at 15watts in the majority of games.
@@conchobar what about older games at 5 watts?
For the price of an Ally X, you could have bought 2 Decks during the Summer Sale, 2 Dualsense or Xbox controllers, 2 cases, 2 SD cards (512 GB) and still have money leftover for a few games...
Are the UE5 games so urgent to play considering the size of the Steam library, emulation, etc? Eventually they get optimized plus FSR upscaling and become playable on the Deck anyway.
Also, the Deck can dual boot Windows (the OLED model is only missing audio drivers at this point, but Aux, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, etc work).
I dunno man the oled one everyone tells you to get is 549 dollars to 649 for the 1 terabyte option, the ally is 150 dollars more expensive than the equivalent steam deck. The price is high but eh.
If you are talking about the 64gb one that one is useless sold mine due to shader chache troubles.
@@oo--7714 Not sure who "everyone" is, but obviously each person purchasing should be reasonable enough to make decisions for themselves. The point was about the value of the Deck, where for that amount of money you can have enough hardware to play with a friend, a partner, etc.
Upgrading the 64 GB Deck is stupid easy, and there are effective ways of managing the shader cache until one does. Just don't install a bunch of games and make sure to clear it using plugins. The 64 GB is not useless at all, it's the entry level that can be upgraded easily using accessories and any 2230 SSD. And not only can one turn off shader compilation in settings, a recent update made it a lot less aggressive and more based on games you recently played.
Still the 256 GB is $400 so the point stands even above entry-level.
@@oo--7714 You're supposed to change the ssd on the 64gb model the moment you get it.
false, or at least just in your country.
In my country the rog ally is actually more than 100 euro CHEAPER than a steam deck oled 512 ( which should be the one to get for apples to apples comparison), even the 256 gb is still more expensive.
In my case it's just overall better to just get the ally, since i would install windows anyway on a deck anyway as you get far more compatible games and launchers. Moreover you can still get SteamOS via chimeraOS or bazzite, so none of the "SteamOS is better" bs applies.
The only REAL advantage the deck has is that it has a real SLEEP feature, that doesn't consume anything in terms of battery, a far better screen and decent battery, that's it.
The battery issue is fixed in the X variant so the only gripe is the screen, i actually wouldn't give up 120 hz + VRR for OLED, but that varies on your use case...
@@Edir.X False, as long as we ignore most countries where the Deck is sold and the actual cheaper models? Got it.
And the comparison was between the Deck and the Ally X. Everything I stated is a fact, I wasn't talking about your personal experience or subjective opinion on what is better, at all.
I have not overly bad to say about other handhelds, as steam deck user for my needs steam deck fits what I wanted.
Bought a 1tb Oled. Great for emulation and older games. Pre ordered the Ally X for anti cheat and more demanding games. Along with a decent gaming PC I'm sorted for the next couple of years
You might need to go outside and touch some grass
I have both, but I got the Ally to be a desktop replacement instead of a gaming laptop or NUC. For that purpose, it’s been fantastic. If I ever take it off the dock, I find the experience really clunky unless I’m playing a game.
I'm not understanding why you're suggesting the deck is less equipped to be a desktop replacement
They both replacement only for shiet "gaming" laptop and nowhere near to anything like NUC perfomance wise.
@@derekfurst6233 TDP, for one. No matter what the Steam Deck is limited to 15W, but Z1 Extreme hardware can let its APU rip when plugged in and docked. That's kind of one area they have on lock-down.
I wanna see if asus will keep same battery aize for the next handhelds. Plus their awesome rma service 👌🏾
Having held a steam deck I can understand why folks love it two very important things it does well the ergonomics are fantastic meaning longer play time and the os is much easier to use with that said i still prefer the Legion go its hardware is far superior its probably the most powerful pc tablet made yet and I just love the bigger size
Bought an ally and a steam deck, won't buy another handheld again. They both weren't great.
I'm sticking with my xbox one.
skill issue
The software has come a long way on both, but especially the Deck since it's been out for longer and Valve has more control over the OS.
Not saying to rush out and try again, but in a couple of years it might be worth revisiting.
Not at all, don't be childish. @@Ideasquevalelapenadifundir
I personally hate pc gaming due to complexity of all the settings and controller settings the majority of my pc games are 2d and mouse controlled for this reason hence I love the simplicity of console Xbox gaming disc in and play.
@@riccccccardo 🤣🧑🌾
And Microsoft is making handheld mode for windows in the future? The only factor I care about in a handheld is the battery management...and it seems that the ally has that crown at the moment
Once you have experienced the well integrated experience on a Steam Deck, any Windows handheld feels like a step back. Plus, no lengthy windows updates and no nag screens about installing edge or upgrading to the next windows...
Until you want to play a game that isn't compatible and install windows anyway...
Until you want to launch Ubisoft, GOG, EA, Blizzard, Activision, Game Pass, any multiplayer game, etc. Steam Deck does not "just work" like this video claimed, where they have apparently never used a Steam Deck.
my steam deck is ok, its decent, but I love my legion go.
It’s really the price for me. Steam Deck is great and cheap. Got my for $300 and love it. Sure it could be more powerful but it works like a charm
I got an Ally Z1 Extreme for $350 and it's great (I also owned a Steam Deck and didn't like it that much)
@0:59 "...The games just work..." Protondb says "Stop the Cap".
Kinda weird no one is doing Ally spec + SteamOs. Maybe Valve should make a modular Steam Deck and let oems go crazy!
You can ship with HoloISO (essentially steam OS) but steam has to be installed by the user. Why that's a turn off for manufacturers I don't know as I assume the licensing is the same on windows.
I wonder when valve will finally release steam os to the public.
Why is no one talking about how massive it is to be able to have 8gb of vram while having 16gb of ram? Call of duty will have a MASSIVE performance improvement because of this for example.
Do you think the ROG Ally X would be better running Steam OS?
if the software optimizations are adapted to the hardware of the Ally then yes. The problem here is that windows has too much overhead processing in its background tasks which is what makes it a great OS for multipurpose use but that's not what a console needs. Having said that If you know how to strip down Windows to the upmost bare minimum services, applications and modules without breaking it you should get better performance. But doubtless a system build for the hardware like SteamOS is on the deck is always going to perform better. But make no mistake, any noticeable limitations of the hardware will always be there no matter how good the software is. This an example of the elusive balance every piece of mainstream consumer product tries to achieve.
Just use Bazzite OS.
Legion Go is the king. Can do it all
the steam deck remains vastly lower in its performance, if this was a conversation between PS5 and Series S the recommendation would be clear.... how is this any different. additionally, the deck is very limited in game selection because it runs linux. if a console was limited by games y’all would burry it. lastly the decks "it works like a console" talk is pretty misleading. u play pc games on it... u have to set them up and optimize setting and stuff too
Exactly. No Roblox, Minecraft, Fortnite, Rainbow Six Seige, or Destiny 2, to name a few. Then you lack access to most 3rd party game launchers and Xbox Gamepass. Steam Deck is a severly wall-gardened experience.
@@conchobar yup, they grade steam deck on a curve but don’t do so to other devices
The problem with the ROG ally is that any game I would want to play on the go doesn’t need that much power. I’m more into 2D games like octopath traveler or Blasphemy on a handheld. So that sacrifice in extra jank and battery life doesn’t interest me.
Switch is the answer but as you know pc gamer wouldn't touch the switch cus pc hater always be the case
@@whitefata104All said and done games on the Switch are extremely overpriced compared to PC. Also again you have to pay for online play.
@@paulsegrue5133 good point
I got the Ally because I prefer windows and the screen itself along with VRR is just a game changer. That doesn't include the fact that I can stream from my PC using Sunshine and Moonlight easily.
The Ally overall trumps the Deck except for battery life. Even SteamOS is a letdown since I can't use Game Pass and play games from other launchers like GOG and EGS.
Steam Deck is a disappointing device for my use case. Only reason to get it is if you like indie games. But even that you can do it with the Ally😂😂
you can play indie's on ally ofcourse but its soooo much better on deck for a couple of reasons, you can run them at far less power and thus get far better battery life. The Ally X is looking to brute force this, you will still be stuck with 7w minimum but ofcourse the battery size itself will do the heavy lifting, meanwhile steam deck will play the same games sipping 4w and playing them well, in my experience the ally turns to shit at 7w disappointingly... still, you are right the ally can still do it. I wish this was more of a focus for Asus myself, would love to be able to turn off some cores and drop down below 5w, that 80wh battery would monster the deck then but... no.
Where i think the deck kind of takes the win though is emulation, there is more going on that is tailor made for deck like emudeck itself but the ally has more cpu power which is important for the heavier lifting needed for more modern systems like ps3 so its not bad on ally either overall.
I'd like a Hardware Refresh to the Steam Deck beyond the OLED jump, Valve has this thing where they only make one version of hardware in-house, and them making a upgraded version says possibly that attitude has changed? Maybe once they sell out of the LCD models there will be another refresh.
steam deck has trackpad aiming, end of debate imo
No offense but how does Rich manage to look like a middle-aged man and at the same time a 15 year old nerdy teen?
The only handheld that is better than the Deck is the Deck 2. So by the meantime the Deck is the all around King. (Power is not everything).
Windows Handheld defenders incoming...
Nintendo switch > steam deck >
Rog ally.
@@talison461 oh god...
@@talison461 Me: Looks at my steam deck running Switch games better than the actual switch.
@@vollkerball1I'm sure the Steam Deck runs TOTK at 60fps right? Since you say it's better.
what's the running joke with the pronunciation of ROG? help me understand...
They apparently didn’t know ROG stands for Republic Of Gamers (even though that branding has been around for over 15 years) and someone from Asus told them its R-O-G not Rog and now they’re butt hurt, so they keep saying Rog sorry ROG like little kids; actually I shouldn’t say they as only one person keeps doing it.
@@wtg242424 Oh yes, DF gets very defensive when they get corrected about their mistakes.
I see thanks for clarifying, makes sense
The biggest flaw of all Windows handhelds is Windows itself.
It doesn't matter how good or bad the hardware is, none of them are even worth considering when the experience is awful compared to Steam OS.
I'd argue it's not as big a problem as people make it out to be, as long as you have a good frontend (i.e. Steam). I'm not a huge fan of going into desktop mode on my Steam Deck, but the only times I go in is to update my flatpaks or mess with some mod or config file that you couldn't do in Steam's Big Picture mode. It's not that different on Windows.
Just snatched a 135h variant of msi claw ,and it was 30$ cheaper than the OLED.
I have high hopes that at its peak, it could surpass even next gen's "Steam deck 2" in performance . Just gotta wait at least 6 months to 2 years for that to happen.😅
Steam deck 2?
2026
Me who has both:
With the current CrowdStrike effecting Windows users I'm happily plodding along on my Steam Deck lol
I would be more worried if you use a CrowdStrike Service on a computer you game on.
The current crowdstrike dilema has nothing to do with windows itself. CrowdStrike is not part of windows. They offer security software that is widely adopted on business pcs. Crowdstrike doesen't affect windows users. It is affecting windows pcs that had it installed.
Yup, I'm away from my main PC at mo which is why i'm using Steam Deck instead. It goes to show how vulnerable tech can be if too many rely on the same services.
Why would you have crowdstrike on your personal devices ? LOL
Basic summary, if you want the machine to feel like a proper handheld console that just works and has ease of use get the Steam Deck. If you don't mind the handheld feeling like a laptop shrunk down into a form factor of a handheld, the Ally is an ok machine.
I never used a Windows handheld except to plug it into a dock / dongle and use it with an external monitor...
... if you let Steam autostart in big picture mode, aren't you there for 95% of the time?
I’ve had minor headaches with my Steam Deck OLED, but I’ll gladly take them over the headaches a Windows based handheld would have.
Nothing beats the Rog ally. Best handheld ever made
Ally X beats it
Pretty strange how Windows, which has EVERY game support, is considered "worse" for handheld PC. Who even started this dumb narrative? It doesn't even make any sense. Do we agree that these handhelds are PCs or do we not? If they are PCs (which they are) then ofcourse Windows OS is far superior for gaming. It doesn't matter that Steam Deck has slightly more polished UI, when you have to jump through hoops to play games that aren't perfectly compatible. Meanwhile, on Windows handheld you may occasionally need to connect wireless keyboard for first time setup or things like that, but you'll know that every single game will work natively. Every launcher will work. This is far more important than Valve's polished UI.
Because of crazy Linux fanboys. And the RUclips videos don't want to admit that a lot of games and launchers don't work on Steam Dec, because their channel would be downvoted by crazy Linux fans.
There is a weird console war mentality following this growing handheld market which is sad.
At the end of the day Steam Deck, ROG Ally and Legion Go are great handhelds that have different strengths and weaknesses that tailor for different types of gamers.
🤦 as a handheld OS Windows os cack🤷. My Ally when it still had Windows on it stayed docked all the time as a secondary PC.....As a portable gaming machine it was a poor experience. That is absolutely down to the OS.
It mostly comes down to how you plan on using your device, not to mention a lot of people that weren’t necessarily interested in pc are now looking at handhelds in a different way. So there will be a lot of console users making that transition. But also if you plan on using it as a true handheld taking it on the go vs using it docked it with access to kb+m is a whole other thing
For 280 pounds an LCD Steam Deck was a no brainer for me. If i went for the 480 pound OLED i would have found it harder to choose between the Deck & ROG.
As for which OS is better for handhelds I'd say for most people Steams solution is better as much lighter on resources and far fewer updates.
For anyone using Gamepass or into AAA gaming then Windows is the obvious choice.
The most important thing on a handheld is a display... fk the Ally for releasing a better device with a smaller screen in comparison to its competition. The ally X is dead on arrival
No touchpads. Dead in the water for me.
Trash bad windows
All go with the ROG Ally X because it uses Windows
@@itstommymate lmao enjoy windows gives me enough issues in my rig I don’t need it messing up a handheld
I personally hate pc gaming due to complexity of all the settings and controller settings the majority of my pc games are 2d and mouse controlled for this reason hence I love the simplicity of console Xbox gaming disc in and play.
if you got the rog ally you are a certified pdf!!!!!
First
Nope