Asus ROG Ally X overview: my ideas after 48 hours

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Asus ROG Ally X overview: my ideas after 48 hours

Asus ROG Ally X

MSRP $800.00

“The Asus ROG Ally X improves on practically each facet of the authentic.”

Execs

  • Small efficiency boosts in some video games
  • Redesigned Armoury Crate software program
  • Way more comfy
  • Longer battery life

Cons

  • MicroSD card considerations
  • Home windows quirks stay

The ROG Ally has been a staple amongst the very best handheld gaming PCs because it launched. Even amongst a string of competitors, Asus’ handheld has been the one accurate competitor to the house that’s been dominated by the Steam Deck. The ROG Ally X is Asus making an attempt to rob the crown. I’ve had the up to date handheld — which Asus says sits someplace between a refresh and a recent technology — for just a few days, and the enhancements are already clear.


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It might glance the identical, however the ROG Ally X is sort of the replace. It has higher specs, higher ergonomics, higher battery life, and higher controls. Asus is aware of it, too. It’s asking $800 for the ROG Ally X versus the $700 it requested for the authentic mannequin, regardless of each units sporting the identical chip. Fortunately, there’s sufficient right here to justify the premium.

About this overview

It is a review-in-progress. I’ve had the ROG Ally X for a complete of two days on the time of writing, and though I’ve barely save the hand held down in that point, I haven’t been in a position to absolutely save it by means of its paces but. I’ve scored this overview primarily based on my time with the gadget, and though I don’t anticipate that rating to alter, it’s attainable.

For that cause, I’m withholding any kind of award that Digital Traits offers to merchandise we advocate, however the ROG Ally X could score one as soon as I revisit this overview in just a few days.

As well as, the authentic ROG Ally had a defective microSD card slot that Asus says was mounted with a software program replace. You may learn extra about that in our Asus ROG Ally Z1 Excessive overview. I haven’t been in a position to take a look at the microSD card slot on the ROG Ally X but.

Acquainted however completely different

Button settings on the Asus ROG Ally X.Jacob Roach / Digital Traits

The ROG Ally X seems to be the identical because the authentic mannequin, in need of its recent black colorway, and I’d forgive you for considering it’s equivalent. The outer shell hasn’t been touched a lot, however nearly the whole lot else has.

It’s surprising how rather more comfy the gadget is to carry, and I discovered myself getting carried away for hours-long gaming periods. Every part is upgraded.

The rear buttons on the Asus ROG Ally X.Jacob Roach / Digital Traits

In your palms, Asus ditched the sharp, angular corners on the authentic Ally for a rounded design that’s a bit extra comfy within the palms. By far the largest increase for consolation are the recent rear buttons, nonetheless. Asus massively gash them down.

They’re in all probability a fourth of the dimensions of the authentic, they usually’re pushed extra towards the middle. You may nonetheless simply attain the rear buttons together with your fingers, however I used to be delighted to disregard them whereas holding the hand held. They by no means a lot as grazed my knuckle.

Though the surface of the Ally X seems to be the identical, it isn’t. There’s a minor 4.5mm bump, which makes the grips on the aspect only a shrimp bit bigger. They’re nonetheless not as massive because the Steam Deck, but it surely’s an enchancment over the authentic design. Slightly than clamping the gadget between my palms, as I needed to conclude on the authentic Ally, I can maintain onto it with my fingers.

The D-pad on the Asus ROG Ally X.Jacob Roach / Digital Traits

There’s a astronomical improve to consolation, however an excellent extra important improve whenever you glance on the buttons. The face buttons haven’t been touched, however the whole lot else has. The joysticks are rated for twice as a lot sturdiness because the authentic, they usually’re a contact stiffer.

The authentic joysticks felt too free. The D-pad is considerably higher, with a matte end and higher management over diagonal inputs. The very best improve listed below are undoubtedly the set off and shoulder buttons, although.

On the authentic design, the set off and shoulder buttons had been in a straight line — you’ll usually press one whenever you meant to press the opposite. Now, the triggers are a bit deeper than the shoulder buttons, they usually gain a extra important curve.

Surprisingly, I used to be in a position to comfortably play Halo: The Grasp Chief Assortment, which I solely play on keyboard and mouse. The shoulder buttons are a astronomical improve, too. They’re clicky, just like an Xbox controller, and removed from the mushy shoulder buttons on the authentic Ally.

The texture within the palms right here is precisely what you’d anticipate out of an up to date model of the authentic Ally. Asus trimmed the elements that had been tainted, enhanced the elements that had been excellent, and arrived on a design that feels greater than the sum of its elements. Asus is certainly the closest to the Steam Deck by way of consolation now, even with opponents just like the MSI Claw.

What’s completely different?

Dual USB-C ports on the Asus ROG Ally X.Jacob Roach / Digital Traits

That’s the design handled, however there are a ton of adjustments below the hood of the ROG Ally X. Specs-wise, Asus is packing 24GB of LPDDR5 reminiscence now and a 1TB SSD. That’s additionally an M.2 2280 SSD — the identical measurement as most PC and laptop computer SSDs — so upgrades are a lot simpler and cheaper. You may pack as much as an 8TB SSD on this factor, which is an unpleasant lot of video games you’ll be able to rob on the disappear.

Elsewhere, Asus ditched its proprietary XG Cell connector in favor of a USB4 port that helps exterior GPUs, which lives alongside the USB-C port you exhaust for charging. Asus additionally crammed in a large 80WHr battery — double the battery measurement of the authentic mannequin. The ROG Ally X now has the largest battery out of the mainstream handhelds, surpassing the Lenovo Legion Depart‘s 49.20-watt-hour battery and the Steam Deck OLED’s 50Wh battery by a big margin.

These are the foremost adjustments internally, however Asus saved a number of issues the identical — for higher and worse. For higher, you continue to score the wonderful stereo audio system that confirmed up on the authentic Ally, together with an influence button that doubles as a fingerprint reader for Home windows Good day.

The display screen is identical as nicely, with a 7-inch measurement, 1080p decision, and 120Hz refresh fee. It’s misplaced some luster within the face of the Steam Deck OLED, however the show nonetheless seems to be fantastic.

The power button on the Asus ROG Ally X.Jacob Roach / Digital Traits

There’s one main level of concern, although — the microSD card slot. It’s in the very same place. In the event you recall, the authentic Ally had an situation the place the microSD card might fry itself resulting from extra warmth. Asus apparently mounted the downside with a BIOS replace, but it surely’s surprising that the Ally X didn’t scurry the cardboard’s location.

The internals gain been fully redesigned, so certainly Asus might gain moved the slot to some other place. Hopefully, it doesn’t proceed to be an situation, however I haven’t been in a position to take a look at it totally but.

The chip at the center of the ROG Ally X is identical as nicely. Asus caught with the Ryzen Z1 Excessive chip, and in contrast to the authentic Ally, it gained’t supply the Ally X with the bottom Ryzen Z1 — that’s in all probability for the very best, as you’ll be able to learn in our Asus ROG Ally Ryzen Z1 overview. The ROG Ally X isn’t considerably quicker than the authentic, but it surely has an surprising increase to efficiency.

By the numbers

The ROG Ally X may be very lively resulting from its 24GB of reminiscence. The authentic mannequin included 16GB. Though you don’t usually anticipate a efficiency enhance from extra reminiscence, it’s famous to keep in mind that the ROG Ally X makes use of a system-on-a-chip (SoC). The reminiscence is shared between the graphics and processor. With 24GB, you’ll be able to allocate 8GB to the GPU whereas sustaining a full 16GB for the system, and that impacts efficiency.

Asus ROG Ally X performance at 1080p.Jacob Roach / Digital Traits

At 1080p with the default Efficiency mode, you’ll be able to see what that influence seems to be like. There are some video games, akin to Cyberpunk 2077 and Dying Gentle 2, the place there’s mainly no enhance in efficiency.

In video games that may exhaust the further reminiscence, akin to Horizon Zero Daybreak and Returnal, there’s a large uplift. I wouldn’t purchase the ROG Ally X for elevated efficiency — it simply doesn’t apply in each recreation. Within the video games it does, nonetheless, it makes a world of dissimilarity.

Performance of the Asus ROG Ally X at 720p.Jacob Roach / Digital Traits

One in all the criticism of the authentic Ally was the way it in comparison with the Steam Deck down at 720p, and the ROG Ally X doesn’t change that yarn a lot. A recreation like Horizon Zero Daybreak as soon as in opposition to appreciates the further reminiscence on the Ally X, however the Steam Deck remains to be providing related efficiency at its native decision, regardless of sporting a a lot weaker chip.

Performance for the different power modes of the Asus ROG Ally X.Jacob Roach / Digital Traits

Outdoors of the further reminiscence, there’s one unsung change with the ROG Ally X on the subject of efficiency. Asus tweaked the facility modes. You continue to score 25 watts in Turbo mode, which matches as much as 30W in the event you’re plugged right into a wall. The Efficiency profile now attracts 17W as an alternative of 15W, and the Silent mode is at 13W as an alternative of 9W.

The tweaks to energy are sensible right here. Now, Efficiency mode feels a lot nearer to Turbo as an alternative of a very decrease class, and Silent mode is definitely usable. As with the authentic, you’re free to set a guide energy profile and tweak the facility between 9W and 30W, however the default profiles really feel significantly better tuned out of the field.

Battery life is the astronomical query

Face buttons on the Asus ROG Ally X.Jacob Roach / Digital Traits

Asus talked up the battery lifetime of the ROG Ally X, and for excellent cause. That is the largest battery we’ve seen on a gaming handheld. On condition that I’ve solely had just a few days with the ROG Ally X, battery life is one space I haven’t had a probability to take a look at extensively. I’m gathering numbers now, however for this review-in-progress, I want to depend on some private anecdotes.

First, benchmarking. For each handheld I’ve examined besides the Steam Deck OLED, I haven’t been in a position to full a full suite of benchmarks on a single cost. I used to be in a position to with the ROG Ally X, and whereas nonetheless having 35% battery remaining. That’s much more spectacular than the Steam Deck OLED contemplating I used to be swapping by means of energy modes and working video games in essentially the most demanding type attainable. From that alone, I can inform there’s an enchancment in battery life.

For actual gameplay, I used to be in a position to play Halo: The Grasp Chief Assortment — Halo 2 Anniversary with the up to date graphics, specifically — within the default efficiency mode for an hour whereas solely dropping to 70% battery. That’s distinguished. Equally, I performed the System Shock remake for about an hour and a half of at 1080p with an uncapped body fee, and I solely dropped to 65% battery. The authentic ROG Ally could be on its final leg in that time-frame.

Power settings on the Asus ROG Ally X.Jacob Roach / Digital Traits

The ROG Ally X clearly lasts longer than the authentic, and it lasts lengthy sufficient that I’m comfy taking it on a aircraft with me. There are two issues I procedure to glance at in the approaching days. First, I would like to see the way it lengthy it will probably final below the smallest load attainable. I procedure on enjoying Gravity Circuit — my present 2D platformer of selection — within the Silent mode to see how a lot Home windows itself is taking on. Then, I would like to push the gadget as arduous as attainable, going to Turbo mode and enjoying Cyberpunk 2077 for so long as it will probably maintain out.

On the authentic Ally, you had been taking a look at from an hour to an hour and a half of in a demanding recreation, and as much as four hours in a light-weight recreation. Right here, I anticipate six hours at most, and round two and a half of to 3 hours below an intense load. Don’t maintain me to these numbers fairly but, although.

A recent software program system

Armoury Crate SE on the Asus ROG Ally X.Jacob Roach / Digital Traits

The ROG Ally X introduces a recent face to Armoury Crate SE — the software program Asus runs on prime of Home windows 11. It’s a transparent enchancment over the earlier model of Armoury Crate, and an replace that may roll out to the authentic ROG Ally as nicely. This feels extra like a correct handheld than ever, however Asus nonetheless has some bugs to work by means of.

Beginning with the excellent, Armoury Crate SE 1.5 launches immediately. There’s a startup video now, just like the Steam Deck, and also you barely score a peek of the Home windows desktop after logging into the gadget. With the responsive startup and fingerprint reader, it virtually seems like you’re utilizing the tailor-made expertise the Steam Deck has. Even getting shut is a feat contemplating how troublesome the software program is on a gadget just like the Lenovo Legion Depart.

Inside, there are a number of enhancements to performance. You may activate options like AMD’s Fluid Movement Frames (AFMF) from the overlay, customise how your library seems, and even change your startup film. Like earlier than, you score per-game button assignments, however as an alternative of robotically making a recent profile for each recreation, Asus helps you to choose from the default recreation mode or desktop mode profile. You can even share bindings on-line — although, once I’m penning this overview, there aren’t any bindings obtainable for apparent causes.

The overlay on the Asus ROG Ally X.Jacob Roach / Digital Traits

It’s a large enchancment, however Asus appears to gain launched just a few bugs within the recent replace, largely associated to the overlay. It wants work. Just like the authentic Ally, there’s a devoted button to drag up the overlay whilst you’re in a recreation, which means that you can entry a customizable listing of fast settings. I constantly bumped into an situation the place the overlay wouldn’t acknowledge the controller, although. If I moved too shortly, my inputs would register within the recreation I used to be enjoying as an alternative of within the overlay. And when transitioning again right into a recreation, the controller would generally defocus from the recreation window, resulting in deaths in System Shock and Halo: The Grasp Chief Assortment. 

My workaround up thus far has been twofold. First, I’ve prevented the overlay. I by no means had an situation with my controls defocusing if I by no means messed with the overlay. Second, if I wanted to open the overlay, I’d wait about 5 seconds after opening and shutting to the touch any controls. Asus is performing some work to make sure that your inputs are making use of within the apt spot, however the transition between recreation and overlay is a bit behind.

There’s additionally an situation with AFMF. One in all the updates I used to be most enthusiastic about was the promise of having the ability to activate AMD’s body technology immediately from Armoury Crate — beforehand, you would wish to manually disappear by means of AMD Software program on the desktop. Only one shrimp downside — it doesn’t all the time work. I couldn’t score AFMF to activate by means of Armoury Crate a lot of the time, no matter if I used to be in a recreation or not. It nonetheless works by means of AMD Software program, however I hope Asus addresses this situation in brief order.

After 48 hours

Elden Ring running on the Asus ROG Ally X.Jacob Roach / Digital Traits

I’ve solely had just a few days with the ROG Ally X, and I’m not comfy flat-out recommending it apt now. Right here’s what I can relate you obviously.

It’s a transparent enchancment over the authentic. Battery life is best, some video games see a efficiency uplift, and the ergonomics are massively improved. It’s additionally lots dearer. The Ally X is coming in at $800, whereas on the time of writing, you’ll be able to choose up the authentic ROG Ally with a Z1 Excessive for $550 on sale. The Ally X is best, however I’m unsure that it’s $250 higher.

Then, there’s the Steam Deck OLED to cope with, in fact. Asus wins with compatibility, and the Ally X is far nearer to the accurate handheld expertise than the authentic mannequin was. However the quirks of Home windows nonetheless stay, and the Steam Deck OLED supplies a rather more seamless expertise for $200 much less. And, as you’ll be able to see from my benchmarks, the Steam Deck OLED isn’t far behind at its native decision regardless of sporting a weaker chip on paper.

I’d see the place pricing finally ends up. The ROG Ally X could be a slam dunk if it arrived at $700 and even $750. At $800, it’s fairly a bit dearer than the competitors. That extra cash is shopping for you some clear benefits, together with M.2 2280 assist, a large battery, and a few clear efficiency enhancements in sure video games. This isn’t a next-gen handheld, although, so maintain your expectations in test in the event you procedure on dropping $800.



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