A little over a year after the launch of the ROG Ally, Asus is now releasing an improved version of the portable device, the ROG Ally X. The Windows-based machine will start shipping on July 22nd for $800. I’ve been playing with the portable console for a few days now, and there’s already a lot to like about it, especially on the hardware side of things.
Valve’s 2022 release Steam Deck It helped bring handheld PC gaming to the mainstream, and while it wasn’t the first company to explore the form factor, Valve hit the right combination of specs, portability, and price.
It was an instant hit, and PC manufacturers took notice. Lenovo Legion Go And ASUS is taking a unique approach to portable PC gaming with its ROG Ally. Other niche manufacturers include Ayaneosame way.
The device features a bright 7-inch display with 1080p resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. Nintendo SwitchOn either side of the display are the standard gaming buttons and joysticks.
Unlike the Switch, the controls aren’t frustratingly small. ROG Ally X feels like a full-sized controller in your hand. The joystick looks and feels like the joystick on the latest Microsoft Xbox controller. The A/B/X/Y buttons are large and clicky, and the analog triggers have plenty of travel.
But I was never completely satisfied with the D-pad; it feels a bit like those on budget third-party controllers, and is too soft. Similarly, the view and menu buttons are hard to reach; they’re right next to the display, so you have to stretch your thumb to pause the game.
There are two more macro keys on the back of the device. I set them as a view button and a menu button, which was useful. On either side of the screen are a command center button for instantly adjusting performance and Armory Button Display the Asus Game Launcher.
ROG Ally X’s main software interface, Armoury Crate SE, is pretty decent. It acts as a game launcher, centralising everything you’ve installed from Steam, Epic Games Store, Ubisoft Connect and more, and also lets you tweak device settings, from joystick LEDs to gamepad profiles.
It’s perfectly serviceable if you spend as little time as possible using it, but it does have some bugs (games I’d installed using GOG Galaxy inexplicably disappeared from the list), menus could take a frustratingly long time to open, and we experienced a few crashes.
Same goes for the Command Center, which is an essential tool for quickly tweaking settings, like switching from Silent to Performance to Turbo mode, but can be slow to respond to your commands.
The device is comfortable to hold, at least for short periods of time. The main problem with these types of PC gaming handhelds is that they are heavy, and they get hot, especially when you’re playing games.
I spent hours playing around with the ROG Ally X before putting it to the test. Logitech G Cloudis an Android handheld specially designed for cloud gaming and remote play. The G Cloud is quiet (it’s a fanless device), you don’t have to worry about battery life, and it’s comfortable to hold in your hand, making for a very satisfying experience.
The PC gaming world is just beginning to make the big shift from full-blown PC towers to agile, high-performance handhelds. Over time, gaming handhelds will become smaller, lighter, quieter, and more similar in appearance to Android-based handhelds. For now, though, experiences like the G Cloud are still limited.
The ROG Ally X, on the other hand, feels like the culmination of gaming handhelds, in the same way that when Nintendo released the Game Boy 35 years ago, you could play NES games on the go.
Likewise, the ROG Ally X feels like the perfect gaming companion for long journeys or your daily subway commute: despite its weight, I had no issues immersing myself in games for hours at a time.
Indie game console
In terms of performance, Asus has used the same APU, the AMD Z1 Extreme, in the ROG Ally X. However, the RAM has been increased from 16GB to 24GB, which makes a difference in gaming performance as the memory is now shared between the VRAM and system RAM.
The handheld comes with a user-replaceable 1TB NVMe storage card (2280 format), the battery is now twice as big as the previous model (80Wh), and the proprietary eGPU port has been replaced with a more standard USB Type-C that supports USB 4.
The device especially shines in games that don’t require a top-of-the-line PC, such as Jusant, Cocoon, and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, with the ROG Ally X easily rendering these games at 60-120 frames per second at 1080p without using the 30W boost mode.
For AAA games, some compromises are necessary: with AMD’s resolution upscaling feature, RSR, enabled, I was able to achieve around 45 frames per second on Marvel’s: Spider Man at the high graphics preset. When it comes to games that struggled so much on previous handhelds, there’s no magic. For example, you need to use low settings and aggressive resolution scaling to reach 30FPS in The Last of Us: Part I.
If you’re into strategy or simulation games, the ROG Ally X might not be the best form factor for those, but at least you can connect a monitor and use a mouse and keyboard if it’s your only PC.
As for battery life, it depends on the type of games you play and the power mode you choose. Baba is You can play for a long time in “Silent Mode”. But using “Boost Mode” in The Last of Us will have a big impact on battery life. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough time to thoroughly test this device, but we’re sure many reviewers will be publishing benchmarks this week.
As a game console, the most amazing thing about the ROG Ally X is that, at least in theory, it’s a PC that runs Windows. You can, of course, install and use whatever you like in your desktop environment. But Windows without a mouse and keyboard is a frustrating experience. It’s fine if you want to install a game launcher and some games. But otherwise, a proper laptop (or smartphone) is more convenient.
Similarly, since it is a PC, you can install all Games available for Windows. Some games run faster than others, so you’ll need to adjust your expectations. You can also tweak settings to improve battery life or make your games look better.
ROG Ally X has a console-like form factor. But don’t expect a slick, console-like experience — this is not a Nintendo Switch competitor. In many ways, ROG Ally X, or at least this handheld form factor, can be seen as an early preview of the future of PC gaming: a console-like future that works like a PC.
