The Asus ROG Ally X is like meeting your crush’s sexy little brother. Your crush is cute and all, but his little brother? He’s more stylish, more mature, and more attractive.
Likewise, the ROG Ally X, which is a slight upgrade from the ROG Ally, is not. ~ too Unlike its siblings, no, the tweaks won’t make you scream “Stop printing!” but they do add a touch of sophistication to the ROG Ally X. It’s intentional and purposeful, and it’s a sign that Asus is listening to user feedback.
First off, the ROG Ally X no longer comes in white. Woohoo!
I know Asus wanted to stand out from the crowd by using a white chassis for the ROG Ally X. After all, most Steam Deck wannabes have a black model. But — and I think many gamers will agree with me — a white handheld gaming console would show off my snacking habits with a smudge. And we don’t want that!
It’s not the ROG Ally 2, but this handheld gaming PC still has its place in a market dominated by Steam Decks.
Asus ROG Ally X Price and Specifications
The ROG Ally X is priced at $799 and features the same CPU and GPU as its predecessor, but with a few minor differences.
Source: Joe Maldonado / Mashable
Before we look at Asus’s minor tweaks, let’s list down the specs.
As mentioned, the processor and graphics on the ROG Ally X remain the same, but the RAM has been upgraded from 16GB to 24GB and the 512GB storage has been doubled to 1TB. Give it to us slight As you can see in the subsequent sections, performance has been improved.
Asus ROG Ally X Design
Woohoo! The ROG Ally X is now available in black. Now you can hide your tendency to gobble up while gaming. Don’t worry about getting Dorito stains on your fingers. The ROG Ally X won’t betray you.
Source: Joe Maldonado / Mashable
On the right side, there are the A, B, X, and Y buttons above the right analog stick. Next to the X are two buttons: a Menu button (represented by three lines) and an Armoury Crate button (which links to Asus’ Control Center).
There are two more buttons on the left side: the View and Command Center buttons. The directional buttons, also known as the D-pad, are located on the bottom right of the left analog stick.
Source: Joe Maldonado / Mashable
My only gripe is with the Menu, Armoury Crate, View, and Command Center buttons. The symbols are too subtle and hard to see. A brighter white would be nice for the icons. I also wish the analog sticks were more symmetrical. However, the buttons and sticks are solid, reliable, and clicky (and feel more solid and durable than the OG ROG Ally).
As a bonus, the stick features an LED lighting ring that adds a flashy design touch to the ROG Ally X.
As expected, there are right and left bumpers and triggers at the top.
On the back are the programmable M1 and M2 buttons that provide satisfying tactile feedback. On the OG ROG Ally, these buttons were previously located annoyingly on the grip, but now Away On the fingers. The underside features vents and a diagonal glossy strip for an eye-catching detail.
Weight and feel
The ROG Ally X is a little It is heavier than the 1.4-pound Steam Deck OLED, which weighs about 1.5 pounds. However, it many It’s lighter than the Lenovo Legion Go, which weighs about 1.9 pounds.
In fact, the OG ROG Ally weighs about the same as the Steam Deck OLED.
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Steam Deck OLED – 1.4 lbs
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Asus ROG Ally – 1.4 lbs
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Asus ROG Ally X – 1.5 pounds
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Lenovo Legion Go – 1.9 pounds
However, I still think the Steam Deck OLED is the most comfortable of the three. The ROG Ally’s grip that wraps around your hand while gaming doesn’t stick out as much as the Steam Deck’s. That’s a downside. The Steam Deck’s sticking out grip gives you more to hold onto while playing games, which makes for a more comfortable experience.
But compared to the OG ROG Ally, the ROG Ally X is do The grip is fuller and feels smoother as it is less bumpy.
Source: Joe Maldonado / Mashable
Switching from Steam Deck to ROG Ally X clearly You may find that the comfort is a bit lacking, but if you’re coming from a Legion Go, the ROG Ally X is a better option. more It’s comfortable and lightweight too.
If you’re new to handheld gaming PCs, you won’t feel uncomfortable at all.
Asus ROG Ally X Display
The ROG Ally X still sports a 7-inch 1080p display with a 120Hz refresh rate, but that’s okay because, as Bruno Mars says, “You’re amazing just the way you are.”
Source: Joe Maldonado / Mashable
What’s more, the ROG Ally X is the only handheld gaming PC that supports variable refresh rates. That means it can either drop to a lower value or spike all the way up to 120Hz, depending on what you’re doing. This way, it doesn’t waste energy by consistently pushing out high frame rates.
However, it would be nice if the ROG Ally X had an OLED panel. It still sports an IPS screen (the Steam Deck OLED has a richer panel, in my opinion).
I played Cyberpunk 2077 On the ROG Ally X, no, the visuals won’t wow you or anything, but only The right amount of clarity, sharpness, and vividness to help you enjoy your favorite games, especially on the go. The ROG Ally X has 500 nits of brightness, which isn’t as bright as the 600 nit display of the Steam Deck OLED, but it can still hold its own while gaming outdoors.
The Steam Deck OLED has a slightly larger display at 7.4 inches. The Lenovo Legion Go’s 500-nit panel is larger at 8.8 inches, but I find it a bit too unwieldy. The 7-inch area is the sweet spot.
Asus ROG Ally X Port
The Asus ROG Ally X adds an extra USB-C port (a Thunderbolt 4 port).
Source: Joe Maldonado / Mashable
This opens up a world of eGPUs and docks. Personally, I have one port plugged into my charging cable and the other plugged into my Viture Pro XR glasses (for that sweet virtual display experience).
Source: Joe Maldonado / Mashable
Here are all the ports you can find on the ROG Ally X:
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USB Type-C (3.2 Gen 2)
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Thunderbolt 4
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microSD card reader
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3.5mm combo audio jack
This product is definitely a step up from the Steam Deck and Lenovo Legion Go, which only have one USB-C port.
Asus ROG Ally X Audio
The ROG Ally X has dual speakers. This set of up-firing speakers is located on the front, with one underneath the D-pad and the other underneath the right analog stick.
Source: Joe Maldonado / Mashable
I downloaded the Apple Music app on my Asus ROG Ally X (the reason I was able to do so is because the ROG Ally X runs on Windows, as I’ll explain later). And to my surprise, the sound on the ROG Ally X was even better than I expected. I cranked up Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso,” and the vibrant tune sounded loud, explosive, and powerful at max volume.
While playing Cyberpunk 2077While Performance Mode was on, the audio could be overwhelmed by the loud fan noise that could be bothersome to your ears.
Plus, the sound has real depth and a balanced quality, whereas the Steam Deck can sound a bit tinny. The ROG Ally X is definitely louder.
One thing to note is that unlike the OG ROG Ally, the ROG Ally X features a new Smart AMP feature that amplifies audio and delivers clearer sound.
Asus ROG Ally X Benchmarks and Performance
The ROG Ally X has the same internals as the OG ROG Ally, but with a slight performance boost. This can likely be attributed to the Ally X’s additional RAM, which should mean a bit more headroom for triple-A games that demand lots of video memory.
We ran Geekbench 6, which tests processor performance, on the ROG Ally X and found that it scored multi-core. 12,233 (6% performance increase compared to OG Ally X). On the other hand, the Legion Go’s Geekbench scores are 10,414.
I ran too Time Spy in 3DMarkTesting graphics performance on the ROG Ally X, 3,477 Compared to Legion Go 2,982 shame.
Unlike the ROG Ally X and Legion Go, which are handheld PCs that run on Windows, the Steam Deck OLED runs on a Linux-based operating system, which makes benchmarking a little trickier. There are no Geekbench or Time Spy numbers available for the Steam Deck.
But we ran Cyberpunk 2077 We ran the benchmark on the Steam Deck (non-OLED version) and got 30 frames per second (fps). The ROG Ally X pushed out more frames at 47fps. The Legion Go, on the other hand, is also capped at 30fps in the same benchmark.
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Steam Deck – Cyberpunk 2077 – 30fps
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Lenovo Legion Go – Cyberpunk 2077 – 30fps
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Asus ROG Ally X – Cyberpunk 2077 – 47fps
It’s also worth noting that compared to the OG ROG Ally, the ROG Ally X features a full-size SSD, delivering better performance, faster read/write speeds, and quicker load times.
Asus ROG Ally X Battery Life
Asus says it has doubled the battery capacity of the ROG Ally X from 40Whr to 80Whr, increasing battery life from three to eight hours.
We ran PC Mark 10 We ran our gaming battery life tests on the ROG Ally X and it lasted a long time. 2 hours 48 minutes. In the same test, the Lenovo Legion Go 1 hour 46 minutes.
Without the larger battery, the ROG Ally X would still have Legion Go-level battery life.
We weren’t able to run PCMark 10 on the Steam Deck, but Mashable’s Alex Perry said: 3 and a half I invested hours into it.
Asus ROG Ally X Software and Windows
Running Windows, the Asus ROG Ally X is both a blessing and a curse. The upside is that you can download games from anywhere: Steam, Epic Games Store, Ubisoft Connect, Microsoft Store, etc.
The downside is that it’s a hassle to set up. It’s like setting up every Windows PC that’s being pushed left and right by subscriptions from Microsoft 365 to Xbox Game Pass. And that’s about it for the best. You’ll have to do things like set up Wi-Fi, enter your keyboard language, PIN number, and Microsoft account. Then you’ll have to navigate Windows using your fingers on the touchscreen to download all the games, which can be quite a daunting task.
Steam Deck, on the other hand, is much more seamless to set up. You just need to enter your Wi-Fi password before logging in with your Steam credentials. Of course, the downside here is that SteamOS has some limitations (unless you want to go through the trouble of installing Windows on your Steam Deck).
Is the Asus ROG Ally X worth it?
Compared to the OG Ally, the Asus ROG Ally X offers slightly improved performance and longer battery life.
Compared to the Steam Deck, the ROG Ally X outperforms the Steam Deck in three ways: Better frame rates in triple-A titles Cyberpunk 2077Convenient additional USB-C ports (e.g. Thunderbolt 4) and better audio.
However, I would argue that Steam Deck still has the best ergonomics and a better SteamOS operating system.
I’ve enjoyed playing with the ROG Ally X and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone looking for an alternative to a Steam Deck.
