I was strict I may have been a bit too harsh on the original Asus ROG Ally, as many of the issues I had were inherent to the very concept of a Windows-based handheld gaming device. So when I got the new ROG Ally X, I tried to be a bit more forgiving. It wasn’t hard, as the new model is vastly improved. But some hurdles are just insurmountable.
Aside from a new black paint job, the ROG Ally X looks nearly identical to its predecessor, with subtle differences like easier-to-grip rounded grips, slightly taller ABXY buttons, and an eight-way D-pad that handles diagonal movements a little better. But unless you look too closely, you’d be forgiven for thinking not much has changed.
But under the hood, ASUS has made some big improvements, most notably in battery size. DoublingThe original ROG Ally had a 40Wh battery, roughly on par with the original Steam Deck, while the ROG Ally X has a whopping 80Wh battery — bigger than the battery in Asus’ Zephyrus G14 gaming laptop. LaptopI like the longer battery life, and despite this significant increase, the Ally X only weighs about 70 grams more.
Asus has also upped the storage capacity, giving it a 1 terabyte SSD instead of 512 GB, and added 8 GB of DDR5 RAM. The company also replaced the XG Mobile port, which was only useful for Asus’ external GPU, with a USB4 port that can reach speeds of up to 40 Gbps, and is optimized for connecting to external docking stations. But specs don’t tell the whole story.
Photo: Eric Ravenscraft
An insurmountable wall of windows
Windows was never designed to run on a handheld. It’s a simple, unavoidable fact. Microsoft expects users to access the operating system with a mouse and keyboard, or at least a large touch screen. Trying to interact with the OS with a controller has always been frustrating. No matter how hard you try, you can’t seem to escape the fundamental problem of trying to interact with things on a screen.
One notable example is the Xbox app. Asus has made great strides with its Armoury Crate SE app, which acts as a bridge between all the other game libraries on the system. Armoury Crate launches on boot, and there’s a dedicated button next to the right control stick to open it when you need it. It also gives you shortcuts to apps like Steam (which launches in controller-friendly Big Picture mode) and Xbox, so you can access any games you own.
Photo: Eric Ravenscraft
