Soooo yeah, I sold my Steam Deck (which I love) in preparation to get an OLED but I was very curious about the ROG Ally, mostly for the performance and VRR, so I bought one.
Here’s a quick rundown of my experience:
- Took 2h or 3h just to get set up. Between Windows setup, windows updates, etc. it was very frustrating not being able to use the machine right away.
- After I thought I was mostly ready to install games, the machine was incredibly slow. Like, opening Explorer or Steam would take 30s+. Activity Monitor didn’t really show any high cpu processes. Just intermittent blips of 20% or 30% on some tasks but would go back down. Machine was unusable though.
- Googled for a bit and found there were lots of updates on MyASUS and Armory Crate. Two distinct pieces of software I had never used. Why two???
- After I updated everything and did a firmware update everything was speedy again, so I installed a few games.
- Started Sekiro as my first game since I had trouble hitting decent FPS on the Deck. The game would not respond to button inputs. And yes, I was in “game controller mode”. Quit out of the game and start it again: same thing.
- Decided to reboot Windows and voila, now it received button inputs. (sigh)
- The performance is indeed incredible. I was very impressed with VRR in particular.
- I then tried Guardians of the Galaxy. Crashed on the first run with no error.
- When I was finally in the game I was playing around with the power profiles / game modes / keyboard shortcuts using the Armory overlay or whatever it’s called. After changing a few settings the overlay froze. I was able to toggle it on/off but tapping the buttons did nothing.
- Force quitting Armory crate didn’t seem to work. Had to reboot. Maybe I had to force quit some other dependent service?
Anyway, I could go on but it was just frustration after frustration. I never thought I’d see the day Linux would be simpler and friendlier than Windows but here we are.
I returned it even though I liked the form factor, performance, screen, VRR, the quiet fans, etc. The hardware is great. Windows is a non-starter for a handheld console.
Let’s go OLED STEAM DECK!!!
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As someone who owns both and now has an OLED as well I will agree asus quality has fallen but some of this is…nit picky/trying to convince yourself to return it and ignores how cumbersome Steam Deck was for the first year of its iteration. Guardians runs like ass on the SD unless you cap everything on low…my ally chugs through Hogwarts and Red Dead at higher settings than SD does…as it should given the specs.
As for your software gripes…meh, Windows and Linux both have a set of pros and cons. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to go into Konsole to bend Linux to my will when I can just hit install on windows. Having to do bs like play with winetricks and proton to get games that run OOTB on Windows can be frustrating (looking at you Max Payne 1 and 2).
I think you’re just used to SD/current state of the handheld and couldn’t overcome your biases or perhaps you couldn’t recognize the value add of your specific preferences until you had both in your hand. That said. SD is the superior handheld especially on the go.
What I enjoy the most about Linux and SteamOS is that even if you have to finesse some things for finicky workarounds once you’re good the thing just works and SteamOS is fluid and intuitive (Valve is just awesome). The OLED is a beast and I love it. The Ally is great if I’m sitting down plugged in.
However, I’m selling my Z1E because I didn’t know the microSD reader is faulty on these devices which is a deal breaker for me. Got a legion go coming. If I like it my plan is to main my SD and rock the go for its specific use cases and keep the two to game with my son when he’s around.
Ditch the ally and gift the OG deck to my daughter. But the ally is just fine for those who want the freedom of Windows and I’d say the superior choice (if you value VRR because the OLED screen is so good it’s hard to discern image quality now imo making the case for 1080p harder to champion given price points) if they plan to play tethered for 90% of its use cases.
Armoury Crate is one of the worst pieces of software ive ever used
For me it was the opposite I sold my Steam Deck got an Ally and never looked back. Part of the reason I was satisfied was I expected the worse after reading similar posts to yours. So let me break down my experience.
I am familiar with Windows, I’ve used Windows computers all my life, I even own a Gaming Laptop. I’m also IT literate but not some expert who knows how to code.
When I got the Ally I went through the initial Windows set up it was very smooth and easy to do. The next thing I did was follow a video from Retro Game Corps. This is a step by step guide and only took me half hour to do a set up and very basic and easy to do. Yes it’s cumbersome but not rocket science, you do updates between 3 different apps. There are additional optional optimisation that Retro Game Corps video also does such as disabling CPU boost and Core Isolation. I then moved on to create custom fan control and wattage settings. After some basic research I determined 18w was the sweet spot for battery, and 21w was the sweet spot for being plugged in.
I then went on to install all the stores like you would do in any Windows PC, this included Steam and Epic Game store. Finally I uninstall any software I didn’t need as well as disabling any software that auto starts. I also enabled hibernate and removed sleep as I heard hibernate works better.
One thing that really surprised me is how easy the interface on Windows is on a touchscreen. I just couldn’t believe the complaints. The touch is superior to steam deck, and I was satisfied using the touch screen and right analog stick to navigate. Compared to Deck I felt I was free and not chained up, I can install anything as I please, install mods, have games from different stores, no messing about with proton layers, no lutris, bottles it was just much easier and begginer friendly to me. I can also use Steam Big picture mode or Armour Crate and make thos auto start if I wanted to avoid Windows UI.
The 2nd thing that surprised me is the quiet fan. I’m playing at 21w and the fan is considerably more queiter than a Deck at 15w. The performance increase is insane and the flexibility was great and easy to tinker thanks to Armoury Crate. I can play a indie game at 1080p 120fps. I can play a recent AAA game at 720p with RSR enabled. With VRR I don’t have to worry about capping framersre there is no screen tearing or hitching at all. Also the games had less input lag than a Deck thanks to no proton later or V Sync. I also liked having the D Pad at an angle I found it more pleasent for 2D games and fighting games than the Deck. The system also felt way lighter to hold than a Deck. Maybe I was lucky but I have had no issues running any games everything just worked. From controls to performance.
The key negatives for me on Ally are the battery life and SD card issue. But because I got my Ally used and came preinstalled with 1TB I overlooked the SD card issue, the Ally is actually moddable where you can upgrade to a normal sized cheaper SSD, so now I’m tempted to upgrade to 4TB. The battery life issue for AAA games I play plugged in, this doesn’t impact me because I mainly play around the house and have an outlet next to my bed, my office and my couch. Ally isn’t better than a Deck and Deck isn’t better than an Ally. It’s down to personal preference. If you like Windows, something smaller and lighter, more power get an Ally. If you like Steam OS, trackpads, longer battery get a Deck.
This stuck out a bit
The next thing I did was follow a video from Retro Game Corps. This is a step by step guide and only took me half hour to do a set up and very basic and easy to do.
When the consumer has to resort to 3rd party video tutorials to setup your device so they can just simply use the device for its intended purpose, you done fucked up something at some point as the manufacturer.
But yeah, I think the Ally and the Deck are aimed at slightly different corners of the handheld gaming market in the end. Deck tends to be much more of a pick-up-and-play sort of a deal if you are a basic gamer who isn’t interested in delving outside of the Verified ecosystem. Ally seems to require at least some form of interest in tinkering a little bit. Not much, but a little.
You just highlighted why software is where the battle is won, not hardware.
It’s wild that Linux on steam deck feels more like windows than windows 😂
Op discovers bloatware.
I’m surprised so many people tried the Ally at all, putting windows on a handheld is all I need to hear before I write it off.
I’ve had the Ally for about a week and I’m returning it today and buying a Steam Deck. Hopefully an OLED but if I don’t get one I’ll just get the LCD.
The Ally could be great, but as it stands I think it’s terrible. I’ve had the problems that you’ve listed. But my biggest complaint is the whole system locking up at points. Sometimes when opening a game, other times just opening Steam or armory crate…
I think a few months after SteamOS is open for other devices like valve plans, the ally will be killer. Basically it just needs the time for people to optimize drivers & the controller for the os after its out in the open.
Imagine the performance of the ally with the user experience of the deck. Windows isn’t a very good OS for handheld use, it’s not designed with that on mind.
Scrolling through comments, it looks like we got Playstation VS Xbox situation in the handheld market, in the face of SD with Linux Vs Windows handhelds lol.
Yeah, Windows is just a shit experience on these handheld devices. Don’t forget CoD shadowbans you if the APU changes TDP midgame lol.
Sadly Linux/SteamOS is just the way to go and Steam Deck truly provides that seamless OOTB console experience in addition to desktop support etc.
Sekiro played fine for me, got 60fps on my ROG Ally.
I’d be curious if something like ChimeraOS would have been a better experience for you.
Sounds like you had no intention of keeping the ROG Ally and were looking for reasons to not like it and justify your OLED steam deck purchase.
I probably will never accept Windows as a friendly device for portable handheld gaming. Windows has only shown they will get worse with every update to the OS and without any absolute control over the hardware in the OS any handheld will always be worse.