Since I in the beginning wrote myAsus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme review , the machine has changed drastically . It ’s still a compelling equipment that easily beat the Steam Deck in raw performance , but a slew of strange updates has give the ROG Ally in a weird spot compared to the Steam Deck .

For those who do n’t already have a handheld gaming microcomputer , the ROG Ally still wins over the Steam Deck . However , as you’re able to read in ourSteam Deck review , Valve ’s handheld still continues to be a force in the develop world of gambling handhelds despite its aging computer hardware .

It’s all a matter of price

toll was the independent point in question for the ROG Ally , especially against the aggressively - priced Steam Deck . But it ’s clear Asus was ready to provoke back at Valve ’s handheld with every bit aggressive pricing .

The ROG Ally with the Z1 Extreme cost $ 700 . It ’s presently available from Best Buy exclusively , and although I was disquieted it would deal out immediately , it ’s still in stock . A cheaper model frisk the Ryzen Z1 is available now , too , priced at $ 600 . You ’ll ordinarily find both version on sale , with the Z1 Extreme model commonly dipping to $ 550 .

The Steam Deck is as cheesy as $ 349 , but that ’s only with 64 GB of tedious storage . To get 512 GB , which is what the ROG Ally with the Z1 Extreme has , you ’ll postulate to spend $ 449 . A point in the Steam Deck ’s favor , however , is that Valve is nowoffering refurbished Steam Decksthat cut the price as low as $ 279 .

Valve is phasing out the 64 GB and 512 GB models of the Steam Deck with the comer of theSteam Deck OLED . Instead , you ’ll just have the 256 GB poser , now at $ 399 . The Steam Deck OLED come in at these cost points : with 512 GB of computer storage for $ 549 and 1 TB of memory for $ 649 . The ROG Ally is faster than the Steam Deck , but now , it ’s also significantly more expensive .

Asus update the ROG Ally as well . TheROG Ally Xis available at $ 800 , pack the same Ryzen Z1 Extreme as the root word modelling . Outside of the chip , Asus doubled the battery capability , knock up the RAM to 24 GB , and added support for full - sized M.2 2280 SSDs . It ’s a significant acclivity over the original mannikin , but it widens the already turgid interruption between the ROG Ally and the Steam Deck .

Some curious specs

The ROG Ally look pretty , that ’s for sure , but it ’s really the underlying ironware that pull in Asus ’ handheld exciting . The ROG Ally is power by AMD ’s Z1 Series processors , custom APUs leveraging Zen 4 CPU cores and RDNA 3 GPU essence . AMD has two of these Z1 processors uncommitted , though , and they ’re very different .

The Ryzen Z1 come with six Zen 4 cores and four RDNA 3 cores for a total of up to 2.8 TFLOPS of theoretical performance . The Ryzen Z1 Extreme , by contrast , occur with eight Zen 4 cores and a monolithic 12 RDNA 3 cores . That enables much higher functioning — up to 8.6 TFLOPs , according to AMD .

The ROG Ally was the first gadget to debut the Z1 Extreme , but there are rival now . Lenovo ’s Legion Gopacks a Z1 Extreme , and theAyaneo 2Suses a Ryzen 7 7840U , which is a rebranded version of the Z1 Extreme .

By comparison , the Steam Deck is pack much watery hardware . Regardless of the poser you opt , you ’re getting four Zen 2 cores and eight RDNA 2 cores , which offer up to 1.6 TFLOPs of theoretic functioning . The Steam Deck ’s APU also tops out at 15 Isaac Watts , while the ROG Ally can go up to 30W in its Turbo mode .

There ’s a big difference of opinion between the APUs , but the Steam Deck and ROG Ally have some glasses in coarse as well . Both machine come with 16 GB of LPDDR5 retention , and they both admit a Micro SD scorecard slot for storage expansion . They also both support USB - C for institutionalise and amount with a 3.5 millimetre headphone jack . The ROG Ally X is a snatch of an outlier , tamp down in 24 GB of LPDDR5 memory .

The Micro SD card is a point of controversy . Asus has affirm that the ROG Ally cancause the Micro SD card to failunder sealed thermal conditions . We ’ve run one for months without issue , but stay a problem that people are experiencing .

A clear performance champ

There ’s no question — the ROG Ally with the Z1 Extreme is firm than the Steam Deck . In an apples - to - apples compare with the same resolution and APU wattage , the ROG Ally is upwards of 50 % faster than the Steam Deck . It ’s of import to note that the ROG Ally can scale higher , too . The Steam Deck top out at 15W , but the ROG Ally can go up to 30W in its Turbo mode with the charger plug in .

It was clear from the start that the ROG Ally would be quicker , but it come with a higher - resolution concealment , as well . At 1080p , the ROG Ally get down to mistake . It ’s still a great performer , though , especially when it can start the most demanding game available today at Medium preferences while wield close to 30 frame per 2d ( fps ) .

Since liberation , Asus has released a number of update for the ROG Ally , and they have n’t improved performance . In fact , carrying out has regressed . As you may see in our retesting of the machine in July 2024 , it sneak a bit in the comparison to the Steam Deck .

It ’s still faster , for sure , but it ’s disconcerting to see the ROG Ally slip in performance at the whim of a BIOS update . This update was , apparently , meant to meliorate carrying out as well . The previous one was even slower .

Bringing the ROG Ally X and competitor like theMSI Clawinto the equation , you could see that Asus conserve a lead in most games . As the Steam Deck and ROG Ally have both see updates , however , their public presentation has gotten secretive at 720p .

gratefully , there ’s some elbow room to ameliorate your performance with different performance style and upscaling . That ’s dependable for both the ROG Ally and the Steam Deck ; the ROG Ally can just go higher . you could run its APU between 7W and 30W , while the Steam Deck only go between 5W and 15W.

I would n’t recommend be given the ROG Ally at a full 30W , but it ’s nice to have the option if you ’re close to a charger and desire a bang in performance . Turbo modality is n’t pragmatic on the go , though . It will kill your battery quickly .

The Steam Deck and ROG Ally are pretty stuffy in overall shelling life . At the default operation manner on the ROG Ally and the Steam Deck at full tilt , you’re able to get about two hours of a demand AAA biz . Turbo mode on the ROG Ally is much bad — in my examination , the twist died in under an 60 minutes . The ROG Ally X with its 80WHr battery changes that active , often doubling the battery life the original model can attain .

Overall , though , the ROG Ally feels like aqualityupgrade over the Steam Deck , not a public presentation upgrade . It ’s quicker and more efficient , but you ’ll primarily be running biz with better visual quality at a higher solution while getting similar carrying into action and shelling life .

There ’s also a point to be made here about how you would use a hand-held gaming machine . Assuming it ’s not your only gambling platform , the Steam Deck can make more sense , even if it ’s less potent . That ’s a big reason why I switchedback to using my Steam Deckafter several month with the ROG Ally .

How about the version with the Ryzen Z1 , though ? As you could read in ourAsus ROG Ally Z1 review , it ’s not a dandy option . Above , you could see that the model with the Ryzen Z1 ca n’t keep pace with the Steam Deck at 720p with the nonremittal Performance mode .

In our testing , the equipment does n’t do good much from higher electrical power , either . If you ’re considering the Asus ROG Ally with the Ryzen Z1 , you should adhere with the Steam Deck or spend a short extra on the Z1 Extreme model .

Windows 11 or SteamOS?

One of the most of import differences between the ROG Ally and Steam Deck is the operating system . The Steam Deck uses Valve ’s custom SteamOS , while the ROG Ally will leverageWindows 11 .

There are pro and cons no matter which way you look . For the Steam Deck , SteamOS provides an promiscuous - to - use , sleek interface for hand-held gaming . It certainly helps that it ’s tied into the largest distribution web for microcomputer games , as well , grant you to easily denounce for new form of address .

It has innumerable job , though . For starters , SteamOS is still signally bonkers . For my own Steam Deck , I have to leave Wi - Fi turned off when I ’m away from the charger because the handheld will now and again get confused and suppose it ’s out of battery , even with a full commission . These types of idiosyncrasies are rearing in SteamOS .

For most people , the biggest remainder is that SteamOS is build on Linux . That mean you ’re engage out of toy quite a few games , including those with anti - cheat computer software and games on other market ( such as the Xbox app ) . Windows 11 solves that trouble for the ROG Ally , allow you to play game in other storefront and title that use anti - cheat software likeDestiny 2 .

There are some downsides to Windows 11 , though . The first is that it ’s a desktop operating system , not a hand-held gaming one . Instead , Asus ’ Armoury Crate runs on top of Windows . It allows you to do thing like launching games — it glom into the EA app , Xbox app , Ubisoft Connect , GOG Galaxy , Epic Games Store , and Steam — and configure setting on the machine . But it ’s not a one - occlusive shop .

You have to go to the background to install your games , and anything that use a launcher ( such asCyberpunk 2077 ) will overstretch you back to the desktop as well . Thankfully , the ROG Ally hold two controller mode through Armoury Crate , so you could promptly swap between desktop mode and play mode . The app allows you to bandage keyboard and mouse command to button , and even attach shortcut and actions like opening the Task Manager .

The new Armoury Crate SE 1.5 , which arrive alongside the ROG Ally X , comes with some major improvements as well . You have feature likeAMD ’s Fluid Motion Frames ( AFMF)available through the overlay , and you’re able to customise your home screen to display your games how you want . In addition , Asus now supports importation and exporting accountant profiles , closing the gap on a big item in the Steam Deck ’s favor .

The Steam Deck has usability problem , but those principally come down to unknown bugs . The ROG Ally has those issues inherently , and it sense more like a handheld laptop computer than a handheld console . The Steam Deck get ahead here , for sure , but there are usability problems regardless .

Fit and finish

One orbit where the Steam Deck frivol away ahead of the ROG Ally is the tactile property . It ’s big and bulky , but Valve make water skilful use of that space with quality thumbsticks and buttons , as well as trackpads that can be helpful in games that require a lot of preciseness .

The ROG Ally does n’t have trackpads , but the real job is that its buttons do n’t sense as good . The thumbsticks are a trivial crummy , and the D - inking pad feels horrific . It ’s not as bad as a Joy - Con on a Nintendo Switch , but the ROG Ally definitely experience like a $ 30 knock - off control .

However , the ROG Ally is more comfortable to go for . It ’s somewhat lightsome but much small-scale . I ’m much more comfortable take out out the ROG Ally on a planer over the Steam Deck ; it does n’t feel most as unruly .

The difference in feel is much nigh with the ROG Ally X. Asus updated everything but the face button . The D - inking pad is much skillful , the initiation have a comfortable resistance , and the shoulder button are clicky like an Xbox accountant . The original ROG Ally is a clear downgrade in flavor compared to the Steam Deck , but the ROG Ally X can go toe - to - toe with Valve ’s handheld .

The ROG Ally Z1 Extreme beats Steam Deck… just

The ROG Ally comes with its own problems . It does n’t straight off puzzle out all the issues of the Steam Deck . But for a eminent price , Asus is offering satisfactory battery life , safe performance , more game support through Xbox Game Pass , and a much nicer screenland .

That ’s only for the flagship example , though . The humble simulation of the ROG Ally with the Ryzen Z1 is a well-defined step below the Steam Deck , and it does n’t have any of the quality - of - animation features we see in Valve ’s handheld .

However , youshould not repent buy a Steam Deck . The Steam Deck , especially now that the ROG Ally has visit some rough update , still continues to impress with its constancy . The ROG Ally is the machine to nibble if you do n’t already have a handheld play PC , but it ’s not enough to excuse upgrade if you already have a Steam Deck .

That ’s even more true now that the Steam Deck OLED is here . Valve is also offering the Steam Deck OLED at a much lower Leontyne Price than the original manakin , make the Ally look far more expensive by comparison . The ROG Ally X comes in at an even higher price , and although it has some big upgrade , it ’s hard to warrant it over the Steam Deck OLED .

Frequently asked questions

Is ROG Ally worth upgrading from Steam Deck?

We ’ve found that if you own a Steam Deck , it ’s not necessarily worth it at this fourth dimension to “ raise ” to a ROG Ally , and that ’s because the ROG Ally has been given some late updates that we sense has induce its performance to decline a snatch .

How much is the ROG Ally?

At this time the ROG Ally with Z1 Extreme still retails for $ 700 on the Asus website , but you may currently get it on cut-rate sale for $ 600 at Best Buy . The ROG Ally with Ryzen Z1 which normally retail for $ 600 on the Asus website , is currently being offered by Asus for $ 400 . The current sales event price for the ROG Ally Ryzen Z1 at Best Buy is also $ 400 . The promote ROG Ally X is available for $ 800 .

How long does the Asus ROG Ally battery last?

During our testing , we found that the battery life of the Asus ROG Ally with Z1 Extreme was as follows :

Fortunately , ourSteam Deck battery direction tipsalso work on the Asus ROG Ally and other handhelds .