8.9 Score
There is no perfect product for everyone but there is the right product for every single one of us. In the sea of handheld gaming devices made by various manufacturers, I was torn between SteamDeck and ROG Ally and was hesitant to make the jump. That was until the ROG Ally X was announced – and after getting it in my hands, comparing it with the SteamDeck OLED (which is a great contender by the way), 6 months of using the Ally X, I am happy to report – it made me fall in love with Gaming all over again and it’s here to stay with me.
ROG Ally X Review 6 Months Later
I have not enjoyed a Game in a long time
It’s been a while since I have enjoyed a game, let alone play a game to begin with. In my case, it was a bit of a challenge – spending a lot of time on the move and when I am back at my place, I spend more time working. And the time I do get for myself to relax, I no longer have the energy to play a game. Not to forget, having a gaming laptop which practically dies in 30 minutes, especially when I use the same laptop for work is a tough one as work takes precedence.
The PC I once built for both work and games has become a place mostly for work than gaming. The PlayStation 5 I got for myself as a graduation present back in 2022 has not seen any game time either. While I am on the move or when I do get the time to play, I wanted gaming not to affect my workflow and it would have been awesome for it to exist on a different device entirely that makes sense in every way possible in the usability department. That’s where the ROG Ally X came in…
And the ROG Ally X Changed that for me
It sure is high praise to say that the ROG Ally X changed a lot of things for the better, but it is true because I finally fell in love with gaming and escaping into the virtual world living as a different character. With the laptop now left purely for work and I don’t have to go through the battery life scare, I now have a device where the primary intention is to play games on it and by games, I mean any games – on the move, when I am stationary or when I just want to lie down on my couch and play games.
I still do play games on my PC once in a while but the ROG Ally X has bridged the space and time where I can play games when I can. So far, I have had a great time with the Ally X on my trip to Singapore for work, while taking public transport to a destination that’s 30-40 minutes away or after I am done with work at a press conference, I could get some game time and now I can play almost anywhere: at the waiting lounge, while having food and the list goes on.
That’s how good Ally X has rekindled my love for gaming for the better. Since it runs on Windows, the versatility of the OS lets you do more things easily without worrying about things so much. I would say it is the Achilles heel of the device but honestly, the Ally X experience is miles better than the OG ROG Ally.
The ROG Ally X is what the Ally should have been
When the ROG Ally made its debut, I still remember vividly playing with it on the floor of Computex 2023 at the booth and I immediately went – this doesn’t feel quite right. The shallow grips on the sides and slim profile didn’t instil the confidence in getting one. This was after I had played with a SteamDeck which felt so much better in the hands because the grips were practically the love handles of the console and everything felt right.
After the ROG Ally made its debut in Malaysia, I was still sceptical – although having a gaming device like that made so much sense. But I told myself, I’ll wait for a successor that rights the wrongs. And lo and behold, in 2024, ASUS announced the new and improved ROG Ally X with so many thoughtful improvements which made me fall in love with it almost immediately.
The now bigger sized ROG Ally X made so much sense because the build of it felt nicer in the hands, the sides of the Ally X were comfy to hold without the need to rest on a surface to play, and the joystick and triggers had some improvements but most importantly, the D-Pad got an 8-directional control which I appreciated the most. Under the hood, the Ally X saw more improvements in the right direction.
- The Ally had an inferior battery and the Ally X is packed with a higher 80Wh battery that gives double (sometimes triple) the battery life of the Ally on a single charge. It also depends on what type of game you are playing and the performance mode you use.
- Now that the Ally X has more space internally, the SSD size has gone back to the more mainstream 2280 M.2 dimensions. This means, upgrading the 1TB it comes with to a higher capacity drive available off the shelf is going to be super easy. (which I intend to do very soon because with Game sizes coming at over 100GB+, the included 1TB just doesn’t cut it).
- Finally, the speakers on this – for a handheld device sound magnificent, to be honest.
Things I loved
Now, of course, those are the improvements they have gone for with the Ally X but there are things I love about the ROG Ally X aside from that. And let’s start with the gaming experience. In a smaller scale device with a display that comes in at 7”, you don’t need to drive a higher resolution or higher pixel count and ASUS opting in for a 1080p display is pretty genius.
Playing games at Medium settings at 1080p on a 7” display is beautiful. Think of it as getting a better experience than Nintendo Switch while you perhaps play Doom on it. The trick to making the Ally X give you good endurance and performance is to scale the resolution down and crack the performance higher, and even then, the experience on the 1080p display is so great.
I played Ghostwire Tokyo, Venba, Little Misfortune, Doom Eternal (which required a bit more tinkering to get it to work), Carrion, Nier: Automata and even tried the new Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (experience with the Ally X content on that is coming soon, so stay tuned) – and it was amazing. I could just get a nice waffle and ice cream at my nearest dessert parlour and get some game time in. This experience is exactly what I have been yearning for since my last PSP 3000 Series went out of commission.
The ROG Ally X made so much sense for me even to play my PlayStation 5 games via PS Remote – although I had to pair a DualSense with it because the built-in controllers didn’t work after I launched games. This is what I wanted all this while. And don’t underestimate the Ryzen Z1 Extreme as it is a more than capable processor to handle things.
SteamDeck uses a slightly older AMD processor Zen 2 + RDNA 2 Architecture (which is the reason that made me refrain from getting the Steamdeck but despite that, it performed okay but not as great as the Ally X Z1 Extreme) and knowing how AMD has put up a great show for a while now, I am happy that the Ally X get the Ryzen processor experience out of the box. Oh, not to forget, the 24GB LPDDR5X RAM makes a world of a difference as compared to the 16GB configuration on the Ally.
Accessories I ended up Purchasing
ROG made a bunch of accessories for the ROG Ally X – like the premium case for you to carry the Ally X with you and the Tech Pouch. As much as I loved carrying it with me and I know that the Ally X is safe, it was a tad clunky for me to bring around. So, I went out of my way and picked up the DBrand Killswitch case for Ally X during Black Friday and now I have a well-protected case for Ally X to go with me almost everywhere.
The other accessory I genuinely appreciated is the ROG Charging Dock which is a must-have – not only does the adapter work as a 65W charger but also houses HDMI Port and USB 2.0 for you to dock it to a much bigger display. Back in September, when we had a gathering at our friend’s place – I quickly hooked it up to their TV and we played Jackbox Party Pack all together. It’s that easy to set up.
The Ally X Joins the World of Modding
Just like how the ROG Ally is now a modder’s heaven – the Ally X now joins the world of mods, we already see Hall Effect joystick mods, a slightly bigger battery pack, translucent casing on the back and the list goes on. As appealing as they are, I will wait for my warranty to end and I’ll embark on that journey – which means our Ally X content is not over with just this review.
The Joystick ASUS used on the Ally X works all right, but it does lack the range to do finer controls in games – like in Ghostwire Tokyo, when you have to perform gestures, it’s a hit-and-miss experience. So, I will be swapping it for a better Hall Effect joystick once the warranty is up.
What I’d love to see in the future
Like I said earlier, the ROG Ally X isn’t all perfect but it is what the ROG Ally should have been. But coming from a brand that takes so much pride in making quality gaming experiences, there are a few things I hope to see in the future. For starters, ROG switching the normal 1080p display for their Nebula or Lumina OLED display would be awesome as OLED has a significantly better impact on battery life – which is what we saw with the SteamDeck OLED.
Secondly, an eGPU enclosure for the Ally X would be nice. It’s a shame that the XG Mobile will not work on the Ally X as it ditches that proprietary port entirely for 2 USB-4 Thunderbolt 4 Capable ports. But this is also good as bringing back the eGPU accessory for the Ally X could enhance the experience.
Finally, a good case made by ROG so that I don’t have to go out of my way to purchase a DBrand Case, despite how nice the Killswitch is. But otherwise, the ROG Ally X is a magnificent handheld gaming console.
Should you Buy one now?
Honestly, the ROG Ally X at RM 4,299 which is RM 1000 higher than the Ally is justified. If you can spend more time gaming, less time connected to the charger, a Windows system for gaming and not to forget, using off-the-shelf parts to upgrade, the ROG Ally X is a perfect handheld gaming device and it’s here to stay in my bags wherever I go. But for those who want to get the OG Ally, it isn’t a bad idea either as it does open the gateway into handheld gaming and if you want something for light gaming, it makes so much sense.
With how things are going like Valve announcing SteamOS-certified devices and ROG Ally being on the list, this handheld device is going to be liked by many for its versatility. I can’t wait to see where this goes and be a part of it.
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