@Thetechchap Ally X is what I bought. I love it so much. 60 FPS on fortnite on high settings, 30 FPS for BG3 ultra settings 900 P. My only complaint is the right stick is slightly too close to the vrr screen. When you go all the way to the left with the right stick, your thumb sometimes hits the edge of the touch screen causing your aim in a game to suddenly be looking at something else. Other than that. It's awesome.
Ally X for me. Had all of em , still have my original steam deck. Pre-ordered my Ally X and I've been waiting to open it for over a week now- no time....
I went with the Steam Deck OLED. I already have a gaming PC when I want to play games the Steam Deck can't play. Everything else I play on the Deck. Ease of use or just turn on and play is what's most important to me when I go away from my desk.
This is the way to do it. I was a bit disappointed with the Steam Deck because the PS3 emulation was jittery. I forgot I still have a gaming laptop. LMAO.
@@solomungrandy9941this exactly. I run sunshine on a dedicated virtual monitor with gamescope-session, and stream to my modded switch lite. It almost feels like steam deck mini. And oled mod coming soon!
You can get that experience with the ROG Ally X. I have a Steam Deck OLED, and my son wanted one for his birthday. I decided to use the Best Buy 14 day return policy to try out an Ally X with Bazzite, and once you’ve got Bazzite installed it makes a better Steam Deck than the Steam Deck. The only area the SD OLED wins is in presentation of colors/super deep blacks, otherwise the 1080 and better performance all while coming pretty close to 8 hour battery life put the Ally X on top. If you’re not running them side by side the screen differences in both ends disappear within minutes.
You can't throw your PC in your back pack...rog ally X , and then you install bazzite..or dual boot bazzite...you don't need a big ass PC....and if you do, just plug your rog ally X into a monitor...it probably better then the PC you got..
I ended up getting the Legion Go. But my use case is very different from most people. I mainly use it to play in bed. Not when out of the house. So I always play connected to power and most of the time at 25W. So to me the size of the screen is the main thing. Also the weight means less when it's resting on top of me instead of me actually holding it up. I got a few tips to make it suck a bit less if you choose to go with the Go 🙂 1. Install some software to improve the sound. I use FxSound which is free and helps with what I think is the biggest problem with the top firing speakers: A lack of loudness without distortion. 2. Get a bigger SSD. I definitely agree with the Tech Chap about the storage size being too small with 512GB. And swapping it is not really that difficult. Here in Denmark you can't even get the 1TB version. So swapping it yourself is really the only option. 3. A nice bluetooth keyboard is definitely a plus. The Windows screen keyboard sucks big time. So a hardware keyboard does help a lot. I've gone with a quite cheap (around €30) mechanical 60% keyboard. But there are definitely more compact options if you can live with scissor switches instead.
Have the og SD. It is my main emulation device. Love it for that. Got an Ally and really liked it but ended up returning it as the screen felt too small. Got the Go and use it exactly as you described. Love the larger screen. Go is a much rougher setup than the Ally as it is less refined out of the box. But after various tweaks, it is pretty great for my use case. If you need reading glasses, the Go is for you!
@@JDabz96sadly bazzite isn't fully comparable to steamos yet, also not as stable. Chose steam deck for the much lower price and accept that I maybe not play a hand full of games that I normally would have chosen.
For an older folk like me, screen size matters the most so i had an Ally, steam deck LCD and bought the Legion go. For me Legion go is the best albeit its bugs. It just looks and feels much better for me as a handheld. When i play Fifa i can see the ball clearly, and things like that. But thats just me.
Same, I went through the same cycle. After having three Allys fry my SD cards, I finally gave up on the device and returned it to preorder the Legion Go. Almost a year later I can still say I don't regret it and the Legion Go is by far my favorite.
I have the oled deck, I'm a casual gamer and value the pick up and play utilty. Good to see plenty of competition in this field, the steam deck 2 should be something else.
Best time to be a handheld gamer. Cant wait to see the leap on the next Steam Deck, Ally, and Legion. Im pretty sure the Switch 2 will be great as well but now they have some competition in the handheld market. Also talks of Sony and Xbox getting in as well, yeah great times.
@@supremethelegend9699 It is good for people who don't have Playstation or Xbox and want a portable gaming device. I'm pretty disappointed how playstation abandoned the vita as I am one of the 1st to own one on its release date I bought it in 2012 and I was disappointed that only few games was released on the vita and only few exclusives which is why I sold it on 2015. Hopefully if they release a ps vita 2 they will support it and release more games on it.
The other handhelds I've used just feel like modified laptops, but the Steam Deck feels bespoke and lovely. It gives me the same feelin that my PSP did back in the day.
The legion go has the best hardware and best screen. Anything else can be adjusted by anyone who is even moderately tech savvy and can follow a guide. You can literally put steam OS into a legion go if you please.
@@SnaabbeamSneebers you can, but it doesn't have the same feeling, steam deck powers on to the best handheld Operating system, and best pc operating system (Linux.) if you care about performance sure its a good option. steam deck is just the best all rounder.
@@Astrocite1 Dude you do know that there is bazzite and soon steam OS will be available in any PC handheld right? I don't see any advantage deck has to any of the handhelds like Ally, legion go, heck even aya neo and one x.
@@Astrocite1 I understand you wantto feel better for buying a steamdeck, but it's just not worth it anymore. You got bazzite for rog ally/legion go now, and the rog ally x has way more battery than the steamdeck (and also better performance). The argument used to be that Steamdeck has a better OS. But then Bazzite came along. Then the argument was that Steamdeck has a better battery, then the rog ally came along. Steamdeck is outdated, it has worse performance, worse screen (even if its oled, just 90hz and 1280x800p ain't it). Rog Ally X has it all for now. Best battery, best screen (120hz+VRR), best performance. THAT is the best all rounder. Even lenovo legion go is better than the steamdeck, just install Bazzit and you just got a more performant steamdeck. Can you guys stop pretending that the competition has nothing more than better performance? The steamdeck is still good, but I wouldn't recommend anyone buying it over the Rog Ally, unless they only play very old games so they can play at 7w or something. You can easily slap a case on the handheld and improve its ergonomics, since that's what you may refer to. But you can't make the steamdeck run better, or for longer, or have better screen. Add windows compatibility on top of all of that, and being able to play way more games than on the Steamdeck, and well, you got a winner. Your failure to acknowledge better products will only make companies settle for less, do you want the next steamdeck to be mediocre just because you guys are so eager to suck Valve's d and say its the best there is, when reality says otherwise?
I pre-ordered the Ally X since steam deck doesn't have official support here in Indonesia, so no warranty. It supposed to come in mid August, can't wait to try my first PC handheld.
Bought the SteamDeck LCD and then sold it to upgrade to OLED version, was worth it for sure. The gorgeous screen with the battery improvements made such a difference. For me SteamOS was the biggest reason to get it. I don't want to use Windows on a handheld and Valve did an amazing job with the OS and Proton. I do have a Windows gaming PC for my First Person Shooters and Age of Empires 2 DE night with the guys but found so many platform games to play on the Deck. Emulating WII and WII U is a lot of fun too. For quick gaming sessions the Deck has been great as a parent.
Went from deck to legion go. Can just put it in big picture mode when nostalgic for steam os. Just got sick of needing to Google how to get 3rd party games running, have a sizable gog EA epic library and was always a 50 50 on whether or not heroic or whatever extra 3rd party launcher I needed would install it properly, plus mods are waaaay easier to install now! If it works on my desktop it works with my legion. All that and the screen size/resolution/refresh rate make it real hard to play on the deck again when I do pick it up again
Man, the oled steam deck just feels as a complete gaming handheld. Just feels so perfect. I can’t justify getting a pc handheld for gaming, just get a gaming laptop or set up. Unless they bring forth a oled handheld gaming pc with hdr, trust me, you won’t regret getting the steam deck oled for now
Deck is the weakest and has the most limitations of all handhelds in the market even the 1st ally is better than the deck. Like seriously I have a lot of games in gamepass and epic as well not just steam at the same time I have games in Garena as well and sometimes use bluestacks the limitations deck has and the fact that it has the weakest processor and only have 800p and no VRR it will just collect dust. The reason you go for a PC handheld is to not tie down on one platform and to play all I mean all PC games because it is a PC after all.
@@Stalonage Well it is. Based on a lot of test it is the weakest and add the fact that it has a lot of limitations. The reason you go for a PC handheld is to not tie down on one platform and to play all I mean all PC games which the deck cannot do due to its weak processor and due to it being linux. Deck struggles running modern AAA games and the fact that it has no VRR to compensate for its weak processor is what makes it inferior.
@@nathanjuan6042You are everywhere writing the same BS. The Steam has the BEST OS and so the best experience. The best Support and reparability so again the best user experience. You can literally download and play ANY non steam game you want with Linux there is always a way.
I almost bought the steam deck oled last month, until the salesman told me that Legion Go is running windows 11. Getting the Legion Go is the best decision I've ever made because I found out that Legion Go is more of an iPad Pro Killer. I literally have not used my iPad Pro 12' and iPad Air 5 (both running M1 chips), because Legion Go transforms into a full windows 11 tablet (i usually leave the joysticks at home, since i dont really play games outside the house). Setting the Legion Go to power saving mode, paired with a Microsoft folding Keyboard and Microsoft Arc Mouse, I get about 5 to 7 hours of productive work with it. For gaming experience (and better battery life), yeah Steam Deck OLED is the best, but if you want to do other things other than gaming (in my case, I do office work, projects, programming, video editing, audio mixing, and all sorts of stuff that i do with my laptop), Legion Go is the BEST handheld PC right now.
I hadn't considered the potential to consolidate gaming and productivity devices into one. Was just going to get the oled deck but your comment has swayed me
Another plus for the steamdeck is that Valve is actually a respectable company that stands behind their products. I feel for the sorry folks who bought the og ROG Ally and had any RMA issues with it
I have 3 of the handhelds, the Ally X, Legion Go and Steam Deck OLED. My preference is the Ally X thanks to its battery life and I don’t find windows that bad. I did put Bazzite on it and the Legion Go though because I had never used it and it is just like Steam OS. Sleep and resume works perfectly and it runs just like SteamOS. My second favorite is the Deck OLED as the trackpads are quite useful
That seems to be the running trend, only people that like the Steamdeck are the broke boys that haven’t had the luxury of using the Ally. Anyone that’s used both always leans towards the Ally x
Legion Go. When I’m home I plug it into my 3070ti and get 70-100fps and the second usbc for the dock. The screen on the Go is unreal even in person. The detachable controllers are amazing along with the kickstand Only con is on the go battery with AAA you’ll get an hour, hollow night 5 hours. Just bring a 100W power bank 👍
Yup same, though every now and then I dust off the steam deck and remember how much lighter and how much nicer the controller ergonomics are but the bottom line are the indi games look alot better on the legion and since the steam deck can't handle monster hunter world it definitely won't handle wilds when it comes out and after enjoying the hell out of rise on the deck I need a portable that will handle wilds without running at 20fps on potato graphics
Buddy of mine owns a steam deck oled and told me straight out not to buy it. He didn’t get the wow factor and was very disappointed that the deck could not play some games he has on his steam library. I heard asus was a much better machine. So far, based on some comments, it appears so. Glad I stumbled into this. Great feed back fam.
I moved from the Rog Ally to the the Legion Go and love it. Bigger screen, better battery life, and I can prop it up and use it as a mini pc on the go. Steam Deck is appealing but I wanted the extra power plus those third party launchers and better mod support.
This is probably the best review of these devices. I have a few myself and you hit all the pros and cons perfectly. However, I wouldn’t suggest anyone buy any of these right now. Chances are each of these companies (especially Lenovo and Asus, will likely drop a new device around the holidays. If you want the best, I’d wait a bit before pulling the trigger on one of these. If you’re more of a on a budget type person… then chances are the devices you saw in this video will get major discounts near the release of their new variants. The only real issue as far as of handhelds is battery life. I much rather them focus on that vs better hardware. Some of you can likely get a whole days worth out of these. But most of us will likely see the battery drain to less to nothing within less than an hour. I bought one of these purposely for a flight. I drained half the battery before the plane got off the ground haha. In my opinion any of these options are great. I have a gaming pc at home with a 4090. So I’m not a graphic snub when I’m on the go. You can enjoy any game at 720p medium setting with AA off. If you keep in mind you playing pc games on the go and on such a small screen… you’ll be more than happy with sliding some of those high settings down a bit. And because the displays are rather small, you don’t really notice smaller texture sizes and over things you may nitpick over on a bigger display. If I have to recommend any… it would be the original rog ally. It’s cheaper at the moment and it’ll hold ya over if you plan on invested in the next batch around the corner. The only downside is the SD slot gets hot.
Legion Go is what I purchased a month ago and I've got no regrets. Granted my last gaming handheld I've owned was a PSP so this is a huge upgrade for me. I find myself playing my legion more than my 5k dollar pc setup. 😂 but when I do play my pc it blows me away🥵 Ryzen 9 7950X3D 4090 64gb ram 4tb ssd crucial
Very nice PC. I have a 4080 and an i5 12600 kf. Same thing happened to me, I literally never use it and it's shame I had just bought that sweet alienware OLED monitor that is like a thousand bucks and it looks amazing. The legion go is just so damn comfy
I have a the Legion Go since launch and there were a few tweaks I did to maximize my experience exponentially - I used Integer Scaling to play titles at 1280x800 for super sharp and smooth gameplay (can play CoD & BF2042 in 100FPS+) - I got rid of Legion Space entirely and instead used Handheld Companion, as it allows everything Legion Space does, without the crappy UI, resource bloat, and more options. - Upgraded to Windows Pro and used Group Policy Editor to remove standard windows bloat. I can safely use this in desktop mode (6W) and lasts me a whole work day for sheets / browser use. It’s pretty much replaced my desktop. To the point i just use the Legion Go and my PS5.
Yeah I think it's actually criminal that they don't release it with some kind of stripped down windows. I know Windows CE, wouldn't work for this but they could strip down windows 11 like crazy. Like it needs a one teraby option partially because it has unoptimized windows on it
Would love a vid or written guide on this as Im looking at purchasing a Go pretty soon. If you know a website that could provide that Id greatly appreciate it, thanks!
I had the OG Steamdeck and have the OG Ally. I'm really happy with the Ally. I usually play plugged in sitting in my big comfy office chair so battery isn't as much of a concern and I have a bunch of really large 65w battery banks, but I really appreciate the higher TDP on the processor for some games. The Steamdeck felt like it had some compromises when it first came out and it didn't gel with me. I know people complain about windows, but I don't really have that much of a problem with it. With the Armory Crate Launcher, I almost never interact with it and it means all my games just work without fiddling about or doing some mod or install script.
Here is my ranking for all of these handhelds 1. ROG Ally X (Because of 80w battery, 24gb ram, and upgradable m.2-2280 storage slot) 2. Lenovo Legion Go (because of big screen, built-in kickstand, and detachable controller) 3. Steam Deck OLED (because of the OLED screen) 4. OG ROG Ally (because it's more powerful than Steam Deck and windows OS allowed games outside of steam) 5. OG Steam Deck (because it revolutionized portable gaming but eventually got surpassed by other handhelds) 6. MSI Claw (because it is an ROG Ally knockoff with worse performance)
Any of them will do so long as don't go in expecting to get blood out of a stone in terms of running new Triple A games at high settings, 60fps....which bizarrely, some people do. These things are for playing old(er) games from your libraries at high settings & framerates. Playing stuff like Bio Shock, Mass Effect and other Xbox 360, PS3 era games on the go ,is where it's at.
Yes and no a lot of ps4 era games run extremely well on some of these. I can run Spider-Man Remastered on my Ally X at very high at 720p at a locked 60.
Much appreciated for such an in depth review. I had my heart set on the Steam deck, and you sealed the deal for me ! My new 1tb OLED should arrive tomorrow. Simply cannot wait. Cheers
Legion go requires some software optimization and hardware mods to install larger storage and 3d printed backplate for cooling but once setup up properly its screen puts it in a different league. Add AMD fluid motion frames 2 and you get some serious performance at 1600p. That is something the others just cant do and even if they could the screens are too small to notice.
Yup and lossless scaling x2 , x3 ,x4 is crazy so stable dude i was able to play hell blade 2 on it but you have to make the screen 144hz to avoid lagging it's so smooth i cant believe that a handheld device can play something like this
I have the Ally Z1E, Ally X and the Legion Go. Ally X blows them all out of the water. LeGo just gives bigger screen, id rather play on the PC. Ally X gives the best handheld experience. runs smoother than the old Ally and LeGo. Also cooler and quieter, not to mention the large battery that gives double the playtime.
Same. Definitely the best deal of the all. The minor improvements of the Ally X most definitely doesn’t justify not getting an Og Ally for less 400 and saving $400. People forget these RUclipsrs get paid by these brands to brainwash us into buying the latest and greatest so of course they won’t tell us what’s the best deal for us consumer.
There's some great handheld PC's out there, but I ended up buying the Odin 2... An Android tablet. Ultimately, I wanted to play PC games around the house, so I just stream from my PC to the Odin. There's no noticeable latency, and I can run the games at Ultra settings. I play emulated Switch games when I'm out.
How hard is it setting up the odin 2, I got an Odin 2 Pro but there are just so many things to set up. I tried following Ross's guide from Retro Game Corps but there seems like a lot of steps.
@@darth_dunedain106 I set up only the emulators I wanted. They were very easy and most of them worked "straight out of the box". Yuzu is an amazing Switch emulator which just works on the Odin, and you can stream your PC by downloading sunshine on the PC and Moonlight on the Odin 2. It's quite simple, honest. 😂 I'd just download what you want, rather than scrapers, a front end etc... start with something free and simple like PPSSPP
@Thetechchap I got an ally x a week and a half ago and I absolutely love it. Can play Fortnite on high settings getting 60 FPS on 900 P and 30 - 50 FPS ULTRA settings on bg3. Want an odin 2 pro more for emulating and ally more for pc games but maybe a little emulating. Honestly love the ally x. Great video btw.
I was very close to buying an Odin 2, but then I thought to myself. “Why not just spend the extra $200 and just get the steam deck oled” I can emulate games and play pc games natively. That’s how I ended up with the SD oled, which was a great choice for myself.
Coming from someone in Australia the original Ally is definitely the best option here regardless of its battery life due to the fact you can get it in store from a couple of retailers and is constantly on sale for $1099, meanwhile the Ally X costs $1599 and has never been on sale. Adding to that, there is tons of original Ally's for sale on the local used market due to it being so readily available, I got mine for $850 and it was only a couple months old, I now see them for as low as $650.
Steam deck oled hands down is best but only steam games (I know with enough technical know how you can get other launchers to run but I’m talking about a non technical experience). If you need windows the the Rog Ally but know you will have to know how to deal with pc gaming challenges. I have both and I almost always use steam deck. My opinion may change if they make a pc handheld with more power.
I have both the Ally z1 extreme (2023) and the Oled steam deck. I had the OG steam deck too and sold it when getting the Oled. Also had a legion go which I ended up returning (just too big). Overall I use the steam deck Oled the most. I still use the ally every now and then but the number one feature of steam OS is the suspend resume. As a father this is priceless. On the ally I have it set to hibernate but it is still only really successful 75% of the time. I know with the SD it works almost all the time. That is what keeps me playing on there. Windows needs better suspend resume!
@@Thetechchap it has been really good. I don’t see any real issues. I mean I wish windows would make a gaming orientated OS version but even with that, I was playing Mario kart 8, using AFMF 2 so I’m getting a locked 120fps with minimal latency, 1080p. And my total TDP is around 13-16w, so that’s well over 4 hours of battery while playing Mario kart Was playing Pokemon Infinite fusion. That game runs as low as 5w on the Ally, 8w total TDP. Getting 9-10 hours of battery on that game.
Steamdeck OLED for me. Reasons... 1. Lower price 2. Amazing customer service and long term support 3. Ease of use 4. Better repairability 5. Much better OS for gaming 6. OLED 7. Good battery life
@@Unicornpirate hahaha!!!! Your right your right, dead space, evil within and horizon is that better lol? Naw but im a complete noob to this obviously not just zombies but if u have any recommendations lmk.
@@JaypK213 You can play whatever you want on it but if you are playing a primarily multiplayer based FPS on a handheld, you are gonna have a bad time. Although CoD could work since it has aim assist. I use mine for indies, 2d side scrollers, emulation, and non demanding games up to the PS3/360 era on mine. If I wanna play something like HZD, I play that on my PC either on my ultrawide or TV. But if you are talking about zombie games specifically then yea games like the original Dead Space 1-2 and Resident Evil are great on the Deck.
not a massive difference at all. more like a new UI skin not to mention has bugs such as the touchpad vibration toggle not working and certain performance presets not activating first time
If you're mainly using it for streaming games, GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud, would the Legion Go be the best bet? Bigger screen and you don't have to worry about performance.
You mentioned the Legion Go needs a 1TB version. It has this option... it had it at launch lol. Great review! Love all these new handhelds and the options to choose from
What would you recommend for a first time hand held device out of these? I like the legion go and the ally x but this video now has me considering the steam deck
Or you might as well wait for the the new gen of handhelds that will surely be released next year that will blow all of these out of the water anyway. Or who knows even the elusive Xbox handheld.
I had a Steam Deck. I got the original. I loved it. I sold it as I'm planning on upgrading to the OLED but it's still a great piece of tech. I may wait a while and wait on another Legion but for me either the Deck or the Legion is the way to go. The Ally X seems alright as well.
Legion go UI is still not great. Its the most jaw dropping 'Wow' out of the box, but after a while its problems show up and it becomes a poor 'Handheld'.
@Thetechchap just my experiences of course! It was only when i went back to my Ally I realised how far behind the Go had fallen, running off old drivers that meant I couldn't even boot some newer titles! Legion Space is so slow and clunky even following its update. Between the Ally and my SD OLED they were much what I believe handheld and couch gaming is all about! The weight of the Legion has me about ready to tap out within half an hour! That big 1600p screen is a winner though, just so much else falls short in comparison to the others, again that's of course my experience for anyone else reading! Fighting the urge to buy the X but I think I'll hold off for now!
One thing I haven’t really seen in reviews for these products has been how well they play with others, whether on desktop or handheld. How do these devices do and are there any differences in online performance between them?
I was in the same boat as you but ultimately caved recently and purchased the Steam Deck OLED. I couldn't be happier and to my surprise has gotten me back into casual gaming. I bet the next generation of handhelds will be amazing as more competitors enter the industry.
Rightfully so. I mean Asus is just about to launch a new tablet with strix halo apus and it's definitely a very nice upgrade in performance. That said, you might want to reconsider, because the wattages are kinda out there, so you might wait only to find you will be better off with the older hardware.
2 месяца назад+2
You can do this forever. When the next generation is here you can also wait for the next generation.
Amazing all in one video! Thanks TTC! For the price, the usability, and the support, Steam OLED for me all the way. But I do have a high end gaming PC, PS5, and an Xbox Series X as well that's why maybe I don't long for 'performance' of other competitors. If I want performance, I'll most definitely would want to experience that on a 4k 50 inch OLED TV I got for those gaming consoles and PC as well.
Deck is the weakest and has the most limitations of all handhelds in the market even the 1st ally is better than the deck. Like seriously I have a lot of games in gamepass and epic as well not just steam at the same time I have games in Garena as well and sometimes use bluestacks the limitations deck has and the fact that it has the weakest processor and only have 800p and no VRR it will just collect dust. The reason you go for a PC handheld is to not tie down on one platform and to play all I mean all PC games because it is a PC after all.
Did you change the ram speed on the legion go to 7500, as that seems pretty low next to the OG Ally which I find in my experience performs worse unless the Ally is doing 720p v the Go 800p. Annoyingly I had to go into the bios to change it. I know its a synthetic test, but the highest scores I have gotten in 3DMark were all on my Legion Go, with my Ally X slightly behind and in games at the exact same res its like for like but less stutter and the like on the Ally X likely due to that extra ram. Mind you I also use the latest AMD 780M drivers, not the older ones Lenovo and Asus release. Its easy to add the latest official drivers from the AMD website (I usually select Processor yzen\800 series\ 8700G, I doubt it makes any difference but I know that get me the same GPU driver as in my 8700G), you first install them which will fail, but then you go to device manager, select the display adaptors and then the amd gpu, right click and select update drivers, then choose browse for drivers on my computer, then let me pick form a list of available drivers on my computer. From here click have disk and go to C\AMD\AMD-SOFTWARE-INSTALLER\PACKAGES\DISPLAY\WT6A_INF. From here click the inf file and them scroll to AMD Radeon 780M Graphics and accept, letting it install, agreeing to any prompts. That location should be saved for quicker process for subsequent drivers. If you want AMD control centre if it doesn't work after a reboot, go manually to the same folder but in explorer, and instead of the inf file go into a folder named something like B407987 (no idea if that changes with updates) and run the ccc2_install.exe and then reboot. Now you have the latest drivers each update without having to wait on the handheld manufacturer.
I had an steam deck couldnt get along with it too many buttons 😢 and when i was playing games the amount off times i caught the over touch pad under the buttons and got my self killed 😂 plus most off the games id play wouldnt work on my deck .. has been an while thou but im unsure if thats changed
Interesting. Didn't notice the touchpad thing myself but great insight from experience. You can get more launchers and games to run now via linux, but it's much simpler on Windows.
@@KhaMAkibAlavi you didn’t say nothing about a laptop. You said and I quote “… but I need SD OLED. I think my steam deck lcd will not be able to run BO6” Which means you would like to play COD on your steam deck. Which is why I said it won’t work anyway. If you want to play cod on a handheld, you would have to the Ally or something else.
When I deployed I took my steam deck with me. I have to say, I’ve spent a lot of time in my rack playing Star field and baldurs gate 3. Great device. I sold it though after deployment and I regret it!
Started on the steamdeck oled, gave it to a friend to upgrade to the rog ally. I really really miss the track pads, but the windows system allows me to mod Bethesda games so much easier and was worth the tradeoff for me. I didn't know the first thing about Linux, otherwise I might have had a better modding experience. We are both truck drivers so it makes the waiting while getting loaded or waiting on DOT breaks all the better. I used to have an alienware laptop but it was hard to use while laying prone (just how I prefer gaming in my truck) and the handhelds are definitely the way to go
Ok, how much is Valve giving you guys??.. I loved my Steamdeck but found the compatibility of non Steam games on the whole a deal killer! Sold it for the Ally and just sold that for the Ally X Yes Windows UI ain’t great on a small screen but everything work!
@@baysidejr you can use your virtual machines gen z guy all you want. I like my OS running directly booted from the getgo. what a pathetic man child response you gave
The SD fanboyism needs to stop, it definitely has a place but its not the best by any stretch I refunded mine very quickly because the performance is poor at best in most games i actually wanted to use it for, alot of other handhelds pack way more punch in terms of performance. In before the "just buy a laptop then" crew arrive, No I already have a gaming pc and a laptop is not really a handheld portable gaming device is it? exactly.
@@hk6926 But it literally isnt better... if you like it and it serves the purpose you want that's great I am happy for you. But the fact is its one of the worst handhelds for performance. Just because lots of people buy something doesn't denote value, Millions of people buy Taylor Swift music... does that mean Taylor Swifts music is better than Beethoven's because more people buy her album?
@@duppy9012 well I just got the ally x and I still stand by my word . Steam deck is the most overall balanced device . Trackpads are awesome , back buttons are so much better . The screen on the oled is bigger and ofcourse oled . In my opinion hardware might be more powerful on the ally x but I am still going towards oled since it's easier to handle . Also way cheaper than ally x . I think I will give two more days and let's see. For now I am inclining towards returning the ally x . On performance on a handheld I really don't mind playing on 40 fps as compared to 60 on ally x. I just wish ally x screen was a bit bigger that's the only one thing ticking me off .
The Legion Go is hard to beat though. Especially when you bring an extra power bank to use it with. The customization and ease of use combined with the Bigger screen and unique removable controllers are just the best. Can't wait to see what their next one is like.
Bought a Legion Go at launch. Yeah it had it's niggly complications with updates and drivers at start but over time they eventually polished off and seems a lot more stable. I've set mine to be more console like booting straight into Playnite without Windows login. Loaded all artwork and metadata and it looks really nice. All my favourite PS1, PS2 & PS3 are also displayed in Playnite along with my new PC games. It's all set up and performs just the way I like it 👌
I am interested in the ROG Ally and the ROG Claw. Specifically, I am curious about the fan noise levels when performing light tasks such as watching RUclips or handling office work. Could you provide details on how loud the fan noise is under these conditions?
I have the LCD Steam Deck. I use it for my older/retro games. For the more graphic intensive newer games, that's what my Kegion Go is for. There's no arguing with that incredible screen
I've considered getting an Ally x but I'm caught up on the controller layout. I hate that so many of these company's default to the offset stick layout.
I bought the Lenovo legion go and actually replaced my laptop 😅 the performance as a computer isn't bad at all, is why I recommend the legion go, offers great connectivity I am a graphic designer and works perfectly with my cintiq, smart TV and everything I connect, works perfectly with any pc keyboard mouse or external devices and can connect without any issue with my NAS, is just a mini computer not just a console, like you mention with a deck you can connect multiple devices to it, then I believe offers more for your buck than the other ones, is very portable in comparison with my laptop and us why I use it more.
Hi would you recommend the rog ally for me as the ally x is 2x the price here in my market and also sometimes steamdeck gets higher by a few bucks to as well. I don't have most of the games i play on my steam so i cannot go with steam deck. Should I buy it? Its like including taxes and my currency $580 for ally and $1100 for the ally x
💥Help please💥 Tying to research on these...Do they have the ability to use the games from xbox and ps5? Does the xbox and ps5 need to be turned on in order to connect? Which handheld do you recommend overall?
I have the Legion Go, and love it, but one thing really annoys me about it - the US get a 1TB drive, whereas we in the UK (and possibly EU?) only get half that, for basically the same price. It's the sort of thing that drives you mad sometimes. Playing from an SD card is really solid though - I get a solid 70FPS on Forza Horizon 4 at pretty decent settings playing from a microSD, which genuinely surprised me. Lossless Scaling is your friend too. The best £5/$7 you'll ever spend if you have one of these devices.
Since battery was never an issue for me I am happy with my ROG ally. I tried the steam deck OLED for a week but it is not for me. I did ger launchbox/big box on my ally and after the first setup it feels like a real handheld now.
as a console gamer, the deal-breaker for me usually is the Joysticks, i have no idea how many times i had to change controllers due to drifts on analog sticks. Hall Effect Joysticks is probably a must have for me to choose, so among this selection, Which ones have Hall Effect Joysticks?
I got the top end model of the Claw for under $400 on Jawa with a case, controller, spare charger, TG screen protector, and some decent cheapo headphones. Performance is still mixed but driver updates have made it solid for me
which of these devices are the strongest in handling graphics? that can most probably go 60 fps of any AAA game like Silent Hill 2, Red Dead 2 or Elden Ring etc?
Started with Steamdeck 512gb model, used it for 8 months, but was hampered by the lack of non-steam games. Sometimes, I want to play Stalker Anamoly, or Vintage Story, but the biggest issue was the lack of ability to install Vortex for mod support. Upgraded to the Ally z1e, and loved it. Just upgraded to the X due to the improvements of everything, including double the battery life. (Selling my z1e after owning it for a year). I know people dont like Windows much, but I love it. I also use AR glasses as an external monitor and have a 60% bluetooth keyboard and mouse, so i have a portable gaming setup that can be used even on a plane.
when talking about the Steamdeck OLED you said, "You do get a carrying case if you buy the 1tb version." You actually get case when buying any version.
you can still install windows onto steamdeck, and you can dual boot if you dont want to lose steamos. the oled screen on the sd gives it a big edge since all of them are more than enough to run indie games.
Hey Chaps! Which one would you go for??
@Thetechchap Ally X is what I bought. I love it so much. 60 FPS on fortnite on high settings, 30 FPS for BG3 ultra settings 900 P. My only complaint is the right stick is slightly too close to the vrr screen. When you go all the way to the left with the right stick, your thumb sometimes hits the edge of the touch screen causing your aim in a game to suddenly be looking at something else. Other than that. It's awesome.
Ordered Ally Z1, x still not available in my region
@djpagz still a great device and you don't have the right stick problem, but you do have bad battery unfortunately.
Steam Deck OLED hands down!
Ally X for me. Had all of em , still have my original steam deck. Pre-ordered my Ally X and I've been waiting to open it for over a week now- no time....
I went with the Steam Deck OLED. I already have a gaming PC when I want to play games the Steam Deck can't play. Everything else I play on the Deck. Ease of use or just turn on and play is what's most important to me when I go away from my desk.
This is the way to do it. I was a bit disappointed with the Steam Deck because the PS3 emulation was jittery. I forgot I still have a gaming laptop. LMAO.
Streaming is the king when you have decent pc/laptop
@@solomungrandy9941this exactly. I run sunshine on a dedicated virtual monitor with gamescope-session, and stream to my modded switch lite. It almost feels like steam deck mini. And oled mod coming soon!
You can get that experience with the ROG Ally X. I have a Steam Deck OLED, and my son wanted one for his birthday. I decided to use the Best Buy 14 day return policy to try out an Ally X with Bazzite, and once you’ve got Bazzite installed it makes a better Steam Deck than the Steam Deck. The only area the SD OLED wins is in presentation of colors/super deep blacks, otherwise the 1080 and better performance all while coming pretty close to 8 hour battery life put the Ally X on top. If you’re not running them side by side the screen differences in both ends disappear within minutes.
You can't throw your PC in your back pack...rog ally X , and then you install bazzite..or dual boot bazzite...you don't need a big ass PC....and if you do, just plug your rog ally X into a monitor...it probably better then the PC you got..
One thing that other handhelds don’t have that I like in my steam deck is the instant on off function.
You basically get that on the legion go just set the power button to hibernate it works the same
@@Strugglin OK that’s good. My steam deck does everything I need, so I don’t find the need to get another handhelds.
@@Strugglin its really not the same thing. it is in theory but in practice it is not seamless whatsoever
I ended up getting the Legion Go. But my use case is very different from most people. I mainly use it to play in bed. Not when out of the house. So I always play connected to power and most of the time at 25W. So to me the size of the screen is the main thing. Also the weight means less when it's resting on top of me instead of me actually holding it up. I got a few tips to make it suck a bit less if you choose to go with the Go 🙂
1. Install some software to improve the sound. I use FxSound which is free and helps with what I think is the biggest problem with the top firing speakers: A lack of loudness without distortion.
2. Get a bigger SSD. I definitely agree with the Tech Chap about the storage size being too small with 512GB. And swapping it is not really that difficult. Here in Denmark you can't even get the 1TB version. So swapping it yourself is really the only option.
3. A nice bluetooth keyboard is definitely a plus. The Windows screen keyboard sucks big time. So a hardware keyboard does help a lot. I've gone with a quite cheap (around €30) mechanical 60% keyboard. But there are definitely more compact options if you can live with scissor switches instead.
I got the legion go as well 2 days ago, I am in love with this thing
Have the og SD. It is my main emulation device. Love it for that. Got an Ally and really liked it but ended up returning it as the screen felt too small. Got the Go and use it exactly as you described. Love the larger screen. Go is a much rougher setup than the Ally as it is less refined out of the box. But after various tweaks, it is pretty great for my use case. If you need reading glasses, the Go is for you!
I play mines in the bed and also at work 😁
@@MarkLangdahl a laptop with Xbox controller sounds easier and much faster to me.
I normally played it hooked up to a monitor swivel that's mounted on my bed lol
Sold my steam deck oled bought a rog ally x, upgraded the hard drive and currently about to install Bazzite and dual boot windows. Best of everything
Best device indeed
Ingenious, best specs combined with best OS 👌
@@JDabz96sadly bazzite isn't fully comparable to steamos yet, also not as stable.
Chose steam deck for the much lower price and accept that I maybe not play a hand full of games that I normally would have chosen.
@@2greenify I'm more than happy with my steam deck
Doesnt it come with Windows by default?
For an older folk like me, screen size matters the most so i had an Ally, steam deck LCD and bought the Legion go. For me Legion go is the best albeit its bugs. It just looks and feels much better for me as a handheld. When i play Fifa i can see the ball clearly, and things like that. But thats just me.
Nintendo switch mate
@@HuuTonyTranGayyyyeeerr
Same, I went through the same cycle. After having three Allys fry my SD cards, I finally gave up on the device and returned it to preorder the Legion Go. Almost a year later I can still say I don't regret it and the Legion Go is by far my favorite.
I want to see the Legion Go 2 - with more RAM, OLED panel and 2280 support. Maybe a bigger battery too.
@@Patrick-y4d1z you will see not much different than 800 dollars price tag.
I will skip next gen since my notebook is carrying me rn
I have the oled deck, I'm a casual gamer and value the pick up and play utilty. Good to see plenty of competition in this field, the steam deck 2 should be something else.
Best time to be a handheld gamer. Cant wait to see the leap on the next Steam Deck, Ally, and Legion. Im pretty sure the Switch 2 will be great as well but now they have some competition in the handheld market. Also talks of Sony and Xbox getting in as well, yeah great times.
It’s honestly not worth Sony or Xbox to get into hand helds they have cloud streaming that can be played on every one of these devices
The switch 2 will be the benchmark the successors will go off of
@@supremethelegend9699 It is good for people who don't have Playstation or Xbox and want a portable gaming device. I'm pretty disappointed how playstation abandoned the vita as I am one of the 1st to own one on its release date I bought it in 2012 and I was disappointed that only few games was released on the vita and only few exclusives which is why I sold it on 2015. Hopefully if they release a ps vita 2 they will support it and release more games on it.
@@eliasakkerman4597the switch 2 is already outdated the moment it comes out. Nintendo never gives good hardware.
@@Mitchell999 apart from when Nintendo and Sega completely changed the gaming industry 🤣
The other handhelds I've used just feel like modified laptops, but the Steam Deck feels bespoke and lovely. It gives me the same feelin that my PSP did back in the day.
The legion go has the best hardware and best screen. Anything else can be adjusted by anyone who is even moderately tech savvy and can follow a guide.
You can literally put steam OS into a legion go if you please.
@@SnaabbeamSneebers💯
@@SnaabbeamSneebers you can, but it doesn't have the same feeling, steam deck powers on to the best handheld Operating system, and best pc operating system (Linux.) if you care about performance sure its a good option. steam deck is just the best all rounder.
@@Astrocite1 Dude you do know that there is bazzite and soon steam OS will be available in any PC handheld right? I don't see any advantage deck has to any of the handhelds like Ally, legion go, heck even aya neo and one x.
@@Astrocite1 I understand you wantto feel better for buying a steamdeck, but it's just not worth it anymore. You got bazzite for rog ally/legion go now, and the rog ally x has way more battery than the steamdeck (and also better performance). The argument used to be that Steamdeck has a better OS. But then Bazzite came along. Then the argument was that Steamdeck has a better battery, then the rog ally came along. Steamdeck is outdated, it has worse performance, worse screen (even if its oled, just 90hz and 1280x800p ain't it). Rog Ally X has it all for now. Best battery, best screen (120hz+VRR), best performance. THAT is the best all rounder. Even lenovo legion go is better than the steamdeck, just install Bazzit and you just got a more performant steamdeck.
Can you guys stop pretending that the competition has nothing more than better performance? The steamdeck is still good, but I wouldn't recommend anyone buying it over the Rog Ally, unless they only play very old games so they can play at 7w or something. You can easily slap a case on the handheld and improve its ergonomics, since that's what you may refer to. But you can't make the steamdeck run better, or for longer, or have better screen. Add windows compatibility on top of all of that, and being able to play way more games than on the Steamdeck, and well, you got a winner. Your failure to acknowledge better products will only make companies settle for less, do you want the next steamdeck to be mediocre just because you guys are so eager to suck Valve's d and say its the best there is, when reality says otherwise?
Great coverage man!
The Ally X is the one for me because ASUS sponsor me 😂 Jk, love the battery life, changes the game!
Haha thank you brother!
I pre-ordered the Ally X since steam deck doesn't have official support here in Indonesia, so no warranty.
It supposed to come in mid August, can't wait to try my first PC handheld.
Did you get the ally X? How was the experience
enak gak bang?
I went with rog ally x and loving it since release day
Bought the SteamDeck LCD and then sold it to upgrade to OLED version, was worth it for sure. The gorgeous screen with the battery improvements made such a difference. For me SteamOS was the biggest reason to get it. I don't want to use Windows on a handheld and Valve did an amazing job with the OS and Proton. I do have a Windows gaming PC for my First Person Shooters and Age of Empires 2 DE night with the guys but found so many platform games to play on the Deck. Emulating WII and WII U is a lot of fun too. For quick gaming sessions the Deck has been great as a parent.
AoE II on the Steam Deck OLED sounds amazing!
😂 We need a 4th player for the team if you are keen 😊
Went from deck to legion go. Can just put it in big picture mode when nostalgic for steam os. Just got sick of needing to Google how to get 3rd party games running, have a sizable gog EA epic library and was always a 50 50 on whether or not heroic or whatever extra 3rd party launcher I needed would install it properly, plus mods are waaaay easier to install now! If it works on my desktop it works with my legion. All that and the screen size/resolution/refresh rate make it real hard to play on the deck again when I do pick it up again
Not worth it for me until there is more power
Deck is too weak for 2024. If you're all into emulation or casual Steam games then yeah it's great, but beyond that it's just lacking.
Man, the oled steam deck just feels as a complete gaming handheld. Just feels so perfect. I can’t justify getting a pc handheld for gaming, just get a gaming laptop or set up. Unless they bring forth a oled handheld gaming pc with hdr, trust me, you won’t regret getting the steam deck oled for now
Deck is the weakest and has the most limitations of all handhelds in the market even the 1st ally is better than the deck. Like seriously I have a lot of games in gamepass and epic as well not just steam at the same time I have games in Garena as well and sometimes use bluestacks the limitations deck has and the fact that it has the weakest processor and only have 800p and no VRR it will just collect dust. The reason you go for a PC handheld is to not tie down on one platform and to play all I mean all PC games because it is a PC after all.
@@nathanjuan6042 then buy a deck 🤷♂️
@@nathanjuan6042 better hardware does not always mean a better device.l o l
@@Stalonage Well it is. Based on a lot of test it is the weakest and add the fact that it has a lot of limitations. The reason you go for a PC handheld is to not tie down on one platform and to play all I mean all PC games which the deck cannot do due to its weak processor and due to it being linux. Deck struggles running modern AAA games and the fact that it has no VRR to compensate for its weak processor is what makes it inferior.
@@nathanjuan6042You are everywhere writing the same BS. The Steam has the BEST OS and so the best experience. The best Support and reparability so again the best user experience. You can literally download and play ANY non steam game you want with Linux there is always a way.
1:52 All Steam Deck models, including the cheapest LCD one, come with a case. It's just the 1TB model's case has a two-layered design.
Yep - that's correct - my bad
I almost bought the steam deck oled last month, until the salesman told me that Legion Go is running windows 11. Getting the Legion Go is the best decision I've ever made because I found out that Legion Go is more of an iPad Pro Killer. I literally have not used my iPad Pro 12' and iPad Air 5 (both running M1 chips), because Legion Go transforms into a full windows 11 tablet (i usually leave the joysticks at home, since i dont really play games outside the house). Setting the Legion Go to power saving mode, paired with a Microsoft folding Keyboard and Microsoft Arc Mouse, I get about 5 to 7 hours of productive work with it. For gaming experience (and better battery life), yeah Steam Deck OLED is the best, but if you want to do other things other than gaming (in my case, I do office work, projects, programming, video editing, audio mixing, and all sorts of stuff that i do with my laptop), Legion Go is the BEST handheld PC right now.
Comparing legion go and iPad together 🤦🏻♂️😂.
@@captainrogers2542 you dont know what youre missing bud incase you havent figured it out. unless youre still a student, then i would understand.
I just cannot justify the price
I hadn't considered the potential to consolidate gaming and productivity devices into one. Was just going to get the oled deck but your comment has swayed me
@ZacharyAshton you can Duel boot steam decks. I have windows on my steam deck it works great. Plenty of tutorials on RUclips.
Another plus for the steamdeck is that Valve is actually a respectable company that stands behind their products. I feel for the sorry folks who bought the og ROG Ally and had any RMA issues with it
Yeah I feel bad for them, too. Guess it's more likely with 1st gen products
I have 3 of the handhelds, the Ally X, Legion Go and Steam Deck OLED. My preference is the Ally X thanks to its battery life and I don’t find windows that bad. I did put Bazzite on it and the Legion Go though because I had never used it and it is just like Steam OS. Sleep and resume works perfectly and it runs just like SteamOS. My second favorite is the Deck OLED as the trackpads are quite useful
That seems to be the running trend, only people that like the Steamdeck are the broke boys that haven’t had the luxury of using the Ally. Anyone that’s used both always leans towards the Ally x
Hey do you want to seel any of your device ? I am looking for a handhel device but everything is just so costly
Sell*
Which is the quietest of them=
@@mikkelkirketerp4884 Ally X
I just bought a Steam Deck OLED myself, waiting for it to be delivered.
Which web site u bought?
I love the steam deck
Me to!! I’m losing my mind waiting for it 😩
@@MamaHayati-nm3ip the steam website only
You’ll love it. Mine took 5 days to arrive
Legion Go. When I’m home I plug it into my 3070ti and get 70-100fps and the second usbc for the dock.
The screen on the Go is unreal even in person.
The detachable controllers are amazing along with the kickstand
Only con is on the go battery with AAA you’ll get an hour, hollow night 5 hours. Just bring a 100W power bank 👍
Bingo!
I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the fans of my Legion Go
After using Legion Go, I can't go back to smaller screen size.
Likewise, after using it for couple of monts, when I took ally in the store in my hands it felt like a toy
Yup same, though every now and then I dust off the steam deck and remember how much lighter and how much nicer the controller ergonomics are but the bottom line are the indi games look alot better on the legion and since the steam deck can't handle monster hunter world it definitely won't handle wilds when it comes out and after enjoying the hell out of rise on the deck I need a portable that will handle wilds without running at 20fps on potato graphics
@@maroonstarsface u using legion go z1 xteme?
It is very nice! I'd hope given the size they could have incorporated a bigger battery. A Legion Go 1.5 with an 80whr battery would be amazing
Yep, the immersion on another level compared to small screen devices
Buddy of mine owns a steam deck oled and told me straight out not to buy it. He didn’t get the wow factor and was very disappointed that the deck could not play some games he has on his steam library. I heard asus was a much better machine. So far, based on some comments, it appears so. Glad I stumbled into this. Great feed back fam.
I have the OG Steam Deck. Love it.
I moved from the Rog Ally to the the Legion Go and love it. Bigger screen, better battery life, and I can prop it up and use it as a mini pc on the go. Steam Deck is appealing but I wanted the extra power plus those third party launchers and better mod support.
This is probably the best review of these devices. I have a few myself and you hit all the pros and cons perfectly. However, I wouldn’t suggest anyone buy any of these right now. Chances are each of these companies (especially Lenovo and Asus, will likely drop a new device around the holidays. If you want the best, I’d wait a bit before pulling the trigger on one of these. If you’re more of a on a budget type person… then chances are the devices you saw in this video will get major discounts near the release of their new variants.
The only real issue as far as of handhelds is battery life. I much rather them focus on that vs better hardware. Some of you can likely get a whole days worth out of these. But most of us will likely see the battery drain to less to nothing within less than an hour. I bought one of these purposely for a flight. I drained half the battery before the plane got off the ground haha.
In my opinion any of these options are great. I have a gaming pc at home with a 4090. So I’m not a graphic snub when I’m on the go. You can enjoy any game at 720p medium setting with AA off. If you keep in mind you playing pc games on the go and on such a small screen… you’ll be more than happy with sliding some of those high settings down a bit. And because the displays are rather small, you don’t really notice smaller texture sizes and over things you may nitpick over on a bigger display.
If I have to recommend any… it would be the original rog ally. It’s cheaper at the moment and it’ll hold ya over if you plan on invested in the next batch around the corner. The only downside is the SD slot gets hot.
Thank you, needed this advice so I'll hold on. Might even get one on sale maybe by then
Legion Go is what I purchased a month ago and I've got no regrets. Granted my last gaming handheld I've owned was a PSP so this is a huge upgrade for me. I find myself playing my legion more than my 5k dollar pc setup. 😂 but when I do play my pc it blows me away🥵
Ryzen 9 7950X3D
4090
64gb ram
4tb ssd crucial
Who asked bout your pc ?😢
Very nice PC. I have a 4080 and an i5 12600 kf.
Same thing happened to me, I literally never use it and it's shame I had just bought that sweet alienware OLED monitor that is like a thousand bucks and it looks amazing.
The legion go is just so damn comfy
I have a the Legion Go since launch and there were a few tweaks I did to maximize my experience exponentially
- I used Integer Scaling to play titles at 1280x800 for super sharp and smooth gameplay (can play CoD & BF2042 in 100FPS+)
- I got rid of Legion Space entirely and instead used Handheld Companion, as it allows everything Legion Space does, without the crappy UI, resource bloat, and more options.
- Upgraded to Windows Pro and used Group Policy Editor to remove standard windows bloat.
I can safely use this in desktop mode (6W) and lasts me a whole work day for sheets / browser use. It’s pretty much replaced my desktop. To the point i just use the Legion Go and my PS5.
Yeah I think it's actually criminal that they don't release it with some kind of stripped down windows. I know Windows CE, wouldn't work for this but they could strip down windows 11 like crazy.
Like it needs a one teraby option partially because it has unoptimized windows on it
Would love a vid or written guide on this as Im looking at purchasing a Go pretty soon. If you know a website that could provide that Id greatly appreciate it, thanks!
This video is awesome, it really helped me decide which handheld to get, Thank you Tech Chap!
I would get the Ally X
And
Then Duel Boot
With Bazzite 🙂👍🏻
No frame gen isn't worth the trade off
@@VisceralMonkey504there are plenty of benefits but maybe not for you personally
That & Valve wants to get Steam OS on other PC handhelds.
I had the OG Steamdeck and have the OG Ally. I'm really happy with the Ally. I usually play plugged in sitting in my big comfy office chair so battery isn't as much of a concern and I have a bunch of really large 65w battery banks, but I really appreciate the higher TDP on the processor for some games. The Steamdeck felt like it had some compromises when it first came out and it didn't gel with me.
I know people complain about windows, but I don't really have that much of a problem with it. With the Armory Crate Launcher, I almost never interact with it and it means all my games just work without fiddling about or doing some mod or install script.
Here is my ranking for all of these handhelds
1. ROG Ally X (Because of 80w battery, 24gb ram, and upgradable m.2-2280 storage slot)
2. Lenovo Legion Go (because of big screen, built-in kickstand, and detachable controller)
3. Steam Deck OLED (because of the OLED screen)
4. OG ROG Ally (because it's more powerful than Steam Deck and windows OS allowed games outside of steam)
5. OG Steam Deck (because it revolutionized portable gaming but eventually got surpassed by other handhelds)
6. MSI Claw (because it is an ROG Ally knockoff with worse performance)
The timing! I'm actually looking for a handheld console right now!
Thanks fort the video !
The msi claw does actually support vrr like the rog ally, they have the same screen it can go from 48hz to 120.
Just the video i was looking for. Appreciate you taking the time.
Think ima go with the Legion Go, or just wait for 2nd version to come out.
Any of them will do so long as don't go in expecting to get blood out of a stone in terms of running new Triple A games at high settings, 60fps....which bizarrely, some people do.
These things are for playing old(er) games from your libraries at high settings & framerates. Playing stuff like Bio Shock, Mass Effect and other Xbox 360, PS3 era games on the go ,is where it's at.
I play OW2 on high settings at 130fps on my steam deck LCD. It runs other AAA games at 60 fps on med/ high settings regularly.
Yes and no a lot of ps4 era games run extremely well on some of these. I can run Spider-Man Remastered on my Ally X at very high at 720p at a locked 60.
Yep that's a good point - definitely go in with the right expectations of performance
I don't mind playing AAA games with 40-50 fps games as long as I can game its all good
Much appreciated for such an in depth review. I had my heart set on the Steam deck, and you sealed the deal for me ! My new 1tb OLED should arrive tomorrow. Simply cannot wait. Cheers
Legion go requires some software optimization and hardware mods to install larger storage and 3d printed backplate for cooling but once setup up properly its screen puts it in a different league. Add AMD fluid motion frames 2 and you get some serious performance at 1600p. That is something the others just cant do and even if they could the screens are too small to notice.
Yup and lossless scaling x2 , x3 ,x4 is crazy so stable dude i was able to play hell blade 2 on it but you have to make the screen 144hz to avoid lagging it's so smooth i cant believe that a handheld device can play something like this
exactly the video I needed, thanks Tech Chap!
I have the Ally Z1E, Ally X and the Legion Go.
Ally X blows them all out of the water.
LeGo just gives bigger screen, id rather play on the PC.
Ally X gives the best handheld experience.
runs smoother than the old Ally and LeGo.
Also cooler and quieter, not to mention the large battery that gives double the playtime.
Thank you 🙏
Legion go is the best
Fantastic review! Gave me the clarity I needed. Just ordered the ally x. Can’t wait. Keep up the great work 🔥🔥🔥
Glad it helped!
Got the OG Ally Rog, refurb for £325. pretty much brand new :D
Same. Definitely the best deal of the all.
The minor improvements of the Ally X most definitely doesn’t justify not getting an Og Ally for less 400 and saving $400.
People forget these RUclipsrs get paid by these brands to brainwash us into buying the latest and greatest so of course they won’t tell us what’s the best deal for us consumer.
For real. I got an open box OG Ally Z1E for $330. Meanwhile the Ally X costs $800 😅
What would you recommend for 1st time handheld purchase? I’m really liking the size of the legion go
There's some great handheld PC's out there, but I ended up buying the Odin 2... An Android tablet. Ultimately, I wanted to play PC games around the house, so I just stream from my PC to the Odin. There's no noticeable latency, and I can run the games at Ultra settings. I play emulated Switch games when I'm out.
How hard is it setting up the odin 2, I got an Odin 2 Pro but there are just so many things to set up. I tried following Ross's guide from Retro Game Corps but there seems like a lot of steps.
@@darth_dunedain106 I set up only the emulators I wanted. They were very easy and most of them worked "straight out of the box". Yuzu is an amazing Switch emulator which just works on the Odin, and you can stream your PC by downloading sunshine on the PC and Moonlight on the Odin 2. It's quite simple, honest. 😂 I'd just download what you want, rather than scrapers, a front end etc... start with something free and simple like PPSSPP
Oh interesting choice!
@Thetechchap I got an ally x a week and a half ago and I absolutely love it. Can play Fortnite on high settings getting 60 FPS on 900 P and 30 - 50 FPS ULTRA settings on bg3. Want an odin 2 pro more for emulating and ally more for pc games but maybe a little emulating. Honestly love the ally x. Great video btw.
I was very close to buying an Odin 2, but then I thought to myself. “Why not just spend the extra $200 and just get the steam deck oled”
I can emulate games and play pc games natively.
That’s how I ended up with the SD oled, which was a great choice for myself.
Coming from someone in Australia the original Ally is definitely the best option here regardless of its battery life due to the fact you can get it in store from a couple of retailers and is constantly on sale for $1099, meanwhile the Ally X costs $1599 and has never been on sale.
Adding to that, there is tons of original Ally's for sale on the local used market due to it being so readily available, I got mine for $850 and it was only a couple months old, I now see them for as low as $650.
Steam deck oled hands down is best but only steam games (I know with enough technical know how you can get other launchers to run but I’m talking about a non technical experience). If you need windows the the Rog Ally but know you will have to know how to deal with pc gaming challenges. I have both and I almost always use steam deck. My opinion may change if they make a pc handheld with more power.
I have both the Ally z1 extreme (2023) and the Oled steam deck. I had the OG steam deck too and sold it when getting the Oled. Also had a legion go which I ended up returning (just too big). Overall I use the steam deck Oled the most. I still use the ally every now and then but the number one feature of steam OS is the suspend resume. As a father this is priceless. On the ally I have it set to hibernate but it is still only really successful 75% of the time. I know with the SD it works almost all the time. That is what keeps me playing on there. Windows needs better suspend resume!
Sold my steam deck oled for the Ally X. I will never look back
Ohh that's interesting! What has been your experience so far??
@@Thetechchap it has been really good. I don’t see any real issues. I mean I wish windows would make a gaming orientated OS version but even with that, I was playing Mario kart 8, using AFMF 2 so I’m getting a locked 120fps with minimal latency, 1080p. And my total TDP is around 13-16w, so that’s well over 4 hours of battery while playing Mario kart
Was playing Pokemon Infinite fusion. That game runs as low as 5w on the Ally, 8w total TDP. Getting 9-10 hours of battery on that game.
@fresco_dinero5155 where can I download fmf2 on my ally?
Great showcase, awesome video.
Thanks a lot 🙏🏻
Steamdeck OLED for me. Reasons...
1. Lower price
2. Amazing customer service and long term support
3. Ease of use
4. Better repairability
5. Much better OS for gaming
6. OLED
7. Good battery life
Can you play cod zombies online or is this just a solo thing, sorry brand new 😊
@@JaypK213 You don't buy a handheld to play some garbage COD on it lmao 🤣🤣🤣🤣😂
@@Unicornpirate hahaha!!!! Your right your right, dead space, evil within and horizon is that better lol? Naw but im a complete noob to this obviously not just zombies but if u have any recommendations lmk.
@@JaypK213 You can play whatever you want on it but if you are playing a primarily multiplayer based FPS on a handheld, you are gonna have a bad time. Although CoD could work since it has aim assist. I use mine for indies, 2d side scrollers, emulation, and non demanding games up to the PS3/360 era on mine. If I wanna play something like HZD, I play that on my PC either on my ultrawide or TV. But if you are talking about zombie games specifically then yea games like the original Dead Space 1-2 and Resident Evil are great on the Deck.
@@Unicornpirate would you say steam deck oled for the win or ally x?
Great video! May I ask what mic you're using in this video? thank you!
Looked like you hadn't upgraded the Legio Go to the latest Legion Space software. A massive difference to the user software experience.
not a massive difference at all. more like a new UI skin not to mention has bugs such as the touchpad vibration toggle not working and certain performance presets not activating first time
@@CAP_LIGHT1995is the legion go arguably the worst? No bias as I have a desktop.
@@svKam Imo is the best, better quality on hardware and it's getting better on software
@@XGARXS its just too heavy sadly
@@trenderplays3473 if you are taking outside yeah, I play mostly in bed. Taking outside on a travel is just once or twice per year
Great video. Very informative. I'm looking at the ROG Ally X for mine but the Steam Deck looks nice too.
If you're mainly using it for streaming games, GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud, would the Legion Go be the best bet? Bigger screen and you don't have to worry about performance.
You mentioned the Legion Go needs a 1TB version. It has this option... it had it at launch lol. Great review! Love all these new handhelds and the options to choose from
Legion Go for me ,,, bigger screen and way better case ,
I just bought a steam deck OLED, while I do love it the ally X is tempting me big time, but I think I’ll hold out and enjoy my steam deck for now
The big strike against Steam Deck is that it wont run Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. Therefor looking elsewhere.
What would you recommend for a first time hand held device out of these? I like the legion go and the ally x but this video now has me considering the steam deck
Or you might as well wait for the the new gen of handhelds that will surely be released next year that will blow all of these out of the water anyway. Or who knows even the elusive Xbox handheld.
Easy answer..Legion Go. I had the Deck, deck OLED and Ally...and all were sold after i tried the Legion Go. There is simply no comparison
Easy answer...Deck oled I had a legion go returned it after 3 weeks there is simply no comparison.
@thetechnosaiyan amen brother, I've tried both the ally and legion go , steam decks ui alone, just makes it's leagues better
Had the legion go, send it back within one week. Bad battery time, no quick resume, etc, etc.
Unusable for me.
I had a Steam Deck. I got the original. I loved it. I sold it as I'm planning on upgrading to the OLED but it's still a great piece of tech. I may wait a while and wait on another Legion but for me either the Deck or the Legion is the way to go. The Ally X seems alright as well.
Legion go UI is still not great.
Its the most jaw dropping 'Wow' out of the box, but after a while its problems show up and it becomes a poor 'Handheld'.
that's fair!
@Thetechchap just my experiences of course!
It was only when i went back to my Ally I realised how far behind the Go had fallen, running off old drivers that meant I couldn't even boot some newer titles! Legion Space is so slow and clunky even following its update.
Between the Ally and my SD OLED they were much what I believe handheld and couch gaming is all about! The weight of the Legion has me about ready to tap out within half an hour!
That big 1600p screen is a winner though, just so much else falls short in comparison to the others, again that's of course my experience for anyone else reading!
Fighting the urge to buy the X but I think I'll hold off for now!
@@Thetechchap agreed I loved the size of the screen but always ran steam big picture mode from startup
One thing I haven’t really seen in reviews for these products has been how well they play with others, whether on desktop or handheld. How do these devices do and are there any differences in online performance between them?
I am waiting for the next gen handhelds.
I was in the same boat as you but ultimately caved recently and purchased the Steam Deck OLED. I couldn't be happier and to my surprise has gotten me back into casual gaming. I bet the next generation of handhelds will be amazing as more competitors enter the industry.
Rightfully so. I mean Asus is just about to launch a new tablet with strix halo apus and it's definitely a very nice upgrade in performance. That said, you might want to reconsider, because the wattages are kinda out there, so you might wait only to find you will be better off with the older hardware.
You can do this forever. When the next generation is here you can also wait for the next generation.
Me too!!
When can we expect next gen releases?
Amazing all in one video! Thanks TTC! For the price, the usability, and the support, Steam OLED for me all the way. But I do have a high end gaming PC, PS5, and an Xbox Series X as well that's why maybe I don't long for 'performance' of other competitors. If I want performance, I'll most definitely would want to experience that on a 4k 50 inch OLED TV I got for those gaming consoles and PC as well.
Even after all these months , the steam deck is still the daddy of all these handhelds .
Deck is the weakest and has the most limitations of all handhelds in the market even the 1st ally is better than the deck. Like seriously I have a lot of games in gamepass and epic as well not just steam at the same time I have games in Garena as well and sometimes use bluestacks the limitations deck has and the fact that it has the weakest processor and only have 800p and no VRR it will just collect dust. The reason you go for a PC handheld is to not tie down on one platform and to play all I mean all PC games because it is a PC after all.
If you're a child, yes
@@mikejames6588 I am your father so hell yes 🤣
@@hk6926 downs is real
Says someone that can’t buy a better handheld at the moment.
Did you change the ram speed on the legion go to 7500, as that seems pretty low next to the OG Ally which I find in my experience performs worse unless the Ally is doing 720p v the Go 800p. Annoyingly I had to go into the bios to change it. I know its a synthetic test, but the highest scores I have gotten in 3DMark were all on my Legion Go, with my Ally X slightly behind and in games at the exact same res its like for like but less stutter and the like on the Ally X likely due to that extra ram. Mind you I also use the latest AMD 780M drivers, not the older ones Lenovo and Asus release.
Its easy to add the latest official drivers from the AMD website (I usually select Processor
yzen\800 series\ 8700G, I doubt it makes any difference but I know that get me the same GPU driver as in my 8700G), you first install them which will fail, but then you go to device manager, select the display adaptors and then the amd gpu, right click and select update drivers, then choose browse for drivers on my computer, then let me pick form a list of available drivers on my computer. From here click have disk and go to C\AMD\AMD-SOFTWARE-INSTALLER\PACKAGES\DISPLAY\WT6A_INF. From here click the inf file and them scroll to AMD Radeon 780M Graphics and accept, letting it install, agreeing to any prompts. That location should be saved for quicker process for subsequent drivers. If you want AMD control centre if it doesn't work after a reboot, go manually to the same folder but in explorer, and instead of the inf file go into a folder named something like B407987 (no idea if that changes with updates) and run the ccc2_install.exe and then reboot. Now you have the latest drivers each update without having to wait on the handheld manufacturer.
I had an steam deck couldnt get along with it too many buttons 😢 and when i was playing games the amount off times i caught the over touch pad under the buttons and got my self killed 😂 plus most off the games id play wouldnt work on my deck .. has been an while thou but im unsure if thats changed
Interesting. Didn't notice the touchpad thing myself but great insight from experience. You can get more launchers and games to run now via linux, but it's much simpler on Windows.
@@Thetechchap yeah sadly i gave mine away as i couldn’t get along with it :(
I'm thinking of buying one, but I'm also thinking of waiting for next year, do you have any information when the new devices will be due?
Using steam deck lcd from the beginning but I need SD OLED. I think my steam deck lcd will not be able to run Black Ops 6 😢
Steam deck oled won’t run it either. You need Ally or another windows handheld.
@@fresco_dinero5155 I have to buy a gaming laptop. COD is my main game. Handheld can't handle COD properly 😂
@@KhaMAkibAlavi you didn’t say nothing about a laptop. You said and I quote “… but I need SD OLED. I think my steam deck lcd will not be able to run BO6”
Which means you would like to play COD on your steam deck. Which is why I said it won’t work anyway. If you want to play cod on a handheld, you would have to the Ally or something else.
@@fresco_dinero5155 thanks
When I deployed I took my steam deck with me. I have to say, I’ve spent a lot of time in my rack playing Star field and baldurs gate 3. Great device. I sold it though after deployment and I regret it!
Steam Deck.....just get a steam deck
Started on the steamdeck oled, gave it to a friend to upgrade to the rog ally. I really really miss the track pads, but the windows system allows me to mod Bethesda games so much easier and was worth the tradeoff for me. I didn't know the first thing about Linux, otherwise I might have had a better modding experience. We are both truck drivers so it makes the waiting while getting loaded or waiting on DOT breaks all the better. I used to have an alienware laptop but it was hard to use while laying prone (just how I prefer gaming in my truck) and the handhelds are definitely the way to go
Ok, how much is Valve giving you guys??..
I loved my Steamdeck but found the compatibility of non Steam games on the whole a deal killer!
Sold it for the Ally and just sold that for the Ally X
Yes Windows UI ain’t great on a small screen but everything work!
uhm... i just run windows on micro sd card which i boot from when needed on my steamy deck so...
@@baysidejr you can use your virtual machines gen z guy all you want. I like my OS running directly booted from the getgo. what a pathetic man child response you gave
Which is the best to use for a normal PC setup alternative?
The SD fanboyism needs to stop, it definitely has a place but its not the best by any stretch I refunded mine very quickly because the performance is poor at best in most games i actually wanted to use it for, alot of other handhelds pack way more punch in terms of performance. In before the "just buy a laptop then" crew arrive, No I already have a gaming pc and a laptop is not really a handheld portable gaming device is it? exactly.
SD oled is just better . There is a reason why millions of buy the deck and only 100s buy other lol
@@hk6926 But it literally isnt better... if you like it and it serves the purpose you want that's great I am happy for you. But the fact is its one of the worst handhelds for performance. Just because lots of people buy something doesn't denote value, Millions of people buy Taylor Swift music... does that mean Taylor Swifts music is better than Beethoven's because more people buy her album?
@@duppy9012 well I just got the ally x and I still stand by my word . Steam deck is the most overall balanced device . Trackpads are awesome , back buttons are so much better . The screen on the oled is bigger and ofcourse oled . In my opinion hardware might be more powerful on the ally x but I am still going towards oled since it's easier to handle . Also way cheaper than ally x . I think I will give two more days and let's see. For now I am inclining towards returning the ally x . On performance on a handheld I really don't mind playing on 40 fps as compared to 60 on ally x. I just wish ally x screen was a bit bigger that's the only one thing ticking me off .
Can you play steam games on any other handheld device
@@Andy-yl8ku Yes, but you cannot play some games on the steam deck unless you dual boot windows.
The Legion Go is hard to beat though. Especially when you bring an extra power bank to use it with. The customization and ease of use combined with the Bigger screen and unique removable controllers are just the best. Can't wait to see what their next one is like.
Steam deck is outdated 😢
Bought a Legion Go at launch. Yeah it had it's niggly complications with updates and drivers at start but over time they eventually polished off and seems a lot more stable. I've set mine to be more console like booting straight into Playnite without Windows login. Loaded all artwork and metadata and it looks really nice. All my favourite PS1, PS2 & PS3 are also displayed in Playnite along with my new PC games. It's all set up and performs just the way I like it 👌
I am interested in the ROG Ally and the ROG Claw. Specifically, I am curious about the fan noise levels when performing light tasks such as watching RUclips or handling office work. Could you provide details on how loud the fan noise is under these conditions?
If you drop in circa 13W low power (AKA silent) mode then fans are usually barely audible.
I have the LCD Steam Deck. I use it for my older/retro games. For the more graphic intensive newer games, that's what my Kegion Go is for. There's no arguing with that incredible screen
I've considered getting an Ally x but I'm caught up on the controller layout. I hate that so many of these company's default to the offset stick layout.
Yeah I wonder what drives that. Maybe to cater for more Xbox fans? Try and get your hands on one and give it a go first.
This is becoming like a pokemon for handheld - gotta buy them all XD
I bought the Lenovo legion go and actually replaced my laptop 😅 the performance as a computer isn't bad at all, is why I recommend the legion go, offers great connectivity I am a graphic designer and works perfectly with my cintiq, smart TV and everything I connect, works perfectly with any pc keyboard mouse or external devices and can connect without any issue with my NAS, is just a mini computer not just a console, like you mention with a deck you can connect multiple devices to it, then I believe offers more for your buck than the other ones, is very portable in comparison with my laptop and us why I use it more.
Hi would you recommend the rog ally for me as the ally x is 2x the price here in my market and also sometimes steamdeck gets higher by a few bucks to as well. I don't have most of the games i play on my steam so i cannot go with steam deck. Should I buy it? Its like including taxes and my currency $580 for ally and $1100 for the ally x
💥Help please💥
Tying to research on these...Do they have the ability to use the games from xbox and ps5? Does the xbox and ps5 need to be turned on in order to connect? Which handheld do you recommend overall?
Very happy with my Legion Go. I see a case for each of these for different people except maybe the MSI Claw.
Just watching to find out what gaming handhelds there are. I love my steamdeck, got it on preorder and not looking to switch.
I have the Legion Go, and love it, but one thing really annoys me about it - the US get a 1TB drive, whereas we in the UK (and possibly EU?) only get half that, for basically the same price. It's the sort of thing that drives you mad sometimes.
Playing from an SD card is really solid though - I get a solid 70FPS on Forza Horizon 4 at pretty decent settings playing from a microSD, which genuinely surprised me.
Lossless Scaling is your friend too. The best £5/$7 you'll ever spend if you have one of these devices.
Since battery was never an issue for me I am happy with my ROG ally. I tried the steam deck OLED for a week but it is not for me. I did ger launchbox/big box on my ally and after the first setup it feels like a real handheld now.
as a console gamer, the deal-breaker for me usually is the Joysticks, i have no idea how many times i had to change controllers due to drifts on analog sticks. Hall Effect Joysticks is probably a must have for me to choose, so among this selection, Which ones have Hall Effect Joysticks?
Great review
Great vid. Thanks
I got the top end model of the Claw for under $400 on Jawa with a case, controller, spare charger, TG screen protector, and some decent cheapo headphones. Performance is still mixed but driver updates have made it solid for me
which of these devices are the strongest in handling graphics? that can most probably go 60 fps of any AAA game like Silent Hill 2, Red Dead 2 or Elden Ring etc?
I would like to ask a question: do the Steam Deck OLED analog cores still have drift? or solve the problem of not drifting anymore
I bought a steamdeck OLED 512gig in July, no regrets and enjoying it alot...
Started with Steamdeck 512gb model, used it for 8 months, but was hampered by the lack of non-steam games. Sometimes, I want to play Stalker Anamoly, or Vintage Story, but the biggest issue was the lack of ability to install Vortex for mod support. Upgraded to the Ally z1e, and loved it. Just upgraded to the X due to the improvements of everything, including double the battery life. (Selling my z1e after owning it for a year). I know people dont like Windows much, but I love it. I also use AR glasses as an external monitor and have a 60% bluetooth keyboard and mouse, so i have a portable gaming setup that can be used even on a plane.
Wow - AR is a great idea (need to try that)!
Of these which is the lowest cost, runs windows, and capable of VR too?
when talking about the Steamdeck OLED you said, "You do get a carrying case if you buy the 1tb version." You actually get case when buying any version.
what’s the best one for indie games with low graphics but I don’t rlly wanna pick the steam deck because it doesn’t run on windows
you can still install windows onto steamdeck, and you can dual boot if you dont want to lose steamos. the oled screen on the sd gives it a big edge since all of them are more than enough to run indie games.