ASUS ROG Ally (2023): what the reviews agree on

Reviewers measured clearly higher frame rates than the Steam Deck at matched settings, and Notebookcheck rated the Z1 Extreme as fast for its size. Tom's Guide found the gap small at native 1080p, where several games stayed near 30 to 45 fps.

• At 720p and the highest preset in 15 W Performance mode, IGN measured 38, 57 and 64 fps in Total War: Three Kingdoms, Borderlands 3 and Hitman 3, against 25, 42 and 44 fps on the Steam Deck.
• Reviewed measured Spider-Man: Miles Morales at 40 to 50 fps at 720p and medium settings, against 20 to 30 fps on its Steam Deck. Elden Ring at 1080p and low settings ran close to 50 fps in self-contained areas.
• Tom's Guide saw Doom Eternal at 35 to 45 fps and Cyberpunk 2077 at about 30 fps at 1080p, and called the gain over the Steam Deck arguably negligible once the Ally has to drop to 720p.
• Notebookcheck says only Turbo mode gives full speed and Performance mode is noticeably slower in modern games, but its repeat runs in Performance mode were only 1 to 2 fps behind.
• PCWorld reported smooth play at 1080p across Game Pass, EA Play and Steam, with no noticeable dropped frames.

Every review names battery life as the main weakness. The 40 Wh cell gives roughly one to two hours in demanding games, and about three hours only at the lowest power draw.

• IGN says to expect a maximum of 1 to 2 hours in graphically intensive games and got 1 hour 30 minutes playing FIFA 22 at 1080p.
• Tom's Guide measured 5 hours 51 minutes of web browsing at 150 nits but only 1 hour 43 minutes in the PCMark 10 gaming test, three minutes more than the Steam Deck in the same test.
• Notebookcheck's Witcher 3 test at 150 nits lasted 57 minutes in Turbo mode, with about 1 hour 45 minutes expected in Performance mode.
• Reviewed saw a bit under three hours in Silent mode at 13 to 15 W system draw, and two hours or less on the Performance preset. It found the Steam Deck better at low-power play.
• PCWorld's sessions always hit 0% in under two hours. It measured 54% charge in 30 minutes and 89% in an hour with the 65 W adapter.

The 7-inch 1080p 120 Hz IPS screen is one of the best-reviewed parts. Reviewers measured about 465 to 524 nits and found it sharper and faster than the Steam Deck's LCD, although it is not OLED.

• Measured peak brightness was 524 nits at Reviewed, 502 nits at PCWorld and an average of 465 nits at Tom's Guide, against Asus's 500 nit rating.
• Tom's Guide measured 108.6% of sRGB and 76.9% of DCI-P3. Reviewed measured 97.3% sRGB and a 1190:1 contrast ratio, and said it is not OLED black but deep enough that it sometimes could not tell.
• Notebookcheck measured a raised black level of 0.38 cd/m2 and a blue cast out of the box, and says blacks look dark grey next to OLED screens.
• IGN and PCWorld both criticise the thick bezels.

The 608 g body is lighter than the Steam Deck and reviewers could hold it for hours. Opinions differ on grip depth and button quality, and IGN and Tom's Guide missed the Deck's touchpads and thicker grips.

• IGN and PCWorld give the weight as 608 g, against 669 g for the Steam Deck in IGN's comparison.
• Tom's Guide and Notebookcheck found it comfortable for long sessions, but both say the Steam Deck's thicker grips are better.
• Reviewed rated the buttons about a half-step below the Deck and noted that the volume buttons sit in the middle of the top edge. PCWorld, in contrast, said the buttons and sticks feel more convincing than a dedicated controller.
• IGN lists the missing pressure-sensitive touchpads as a point for the Steam Deck.

Reviewers describe the two-fan cooling as quiet, with grips that stay cool. Measured surface temperatures near the vents do climb under load, but they are away from where the hands sit.

• Notebookcheck measured fan noise of about 27 dB(A) at light load, 31.2 dB(A) in Performance mode and 39.2 dB(A) in Turbo, with hot spots up to 49 °C around the top exhausts and cool grips.
• Tom's Guide recorded 111 °F on the screen and 115 °F at the top while gaming, and said heat is not an issue because hands are away from the vents.
• Reviewed says the dual fans noticeably cut noise and heat compared with the Steam Deck. PCWorld says the Ally only gets warm to the touch and the fans stay fairly quiet.

Windows 11 gives access to every store, including Game Pass, but four of the five reviews found it clumsy on a handheld. They report crashes, controller gaps and an Armoury Crate front end that trails SteamOS.

• IGN had crashes and restarts in the first hours, a sluggish Steam client and no suspend and resume. It still credits the bundled 3-month Game Pass Ultimate and the freedom to use Epic, GOG and Xbox as big plusses.
• Tom's Guide says Armoury Crate is far less intuitive than SteamOS, many launchers ignore the controller, and there are no Ally-verified games like Steam's Deck Verified list.
• PCWorld counted dozens of bugs, including app crashes, stutter, games that would not go fullscreen and a screen that failed to turn on a couple of times.
• Reviewed still had sluggish profile switching, a touchscreen failure after a restart and Steam inputs that needed manual setup, even after updates since launch.
• Notebookcheck was more positive, finding Armoury Crate SE usable with little need to touch Windows, and it also found no issues in its benchmarks.

At $699 for the Z1 Extreme model, reviewers saw a strong spec for the money against the $649 Steam Deck 512 GB. Tom's Guide still favoured the Deck overall, and PCWorld said battery and price could be dealbreakers.

• IGN calls $699 reasonable for what it offers, only $50 above the largest Steam Deck at the time. Reviewed says the Ally is compelling on features alone for anyone looking at the $649 Deck.
• Tom's Guide concludes the Steam Deck is still the better handheld overall because of its simpler software and game optimisation.
• PCWorld says the price could be a dealbreaker on top of the poor battery, noting the Steam Deck starts at $399.