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Asus ROG Ally X review

It’s not a cheap investment, but the Asus ROG Ally X has the power and Windows-based versatility to make a strong case for being the gaming handheld to beat.

ASUS ROG ALLY X
Asus ROG Ally X
4.3 out of 5 stars
4.25
Display
1920x1080 16:9 7-inch IPS touchscreen
Storage
1TB + microSD
Connectivity
Bluetooth 5.2, dual-band WiFi 6E
Nathan Lawrence
Nov 21, 2024
Icon Time To Read7 min read
Quick verdict: Asus ROG Ally X
The Asus ROG Ally X is the best Windows-based gaming handheld PC you can buy today. Sure, it’s expensive, and there are extra costs if you want a case, dock and, well, anything beyond the bare bolts (even a microfibre cloth). But despite having no touchpads, the ROG Ally X has a gorgeous screen with loads of performance and impressive battery life outside of the latest games, some of which you can comfortably play on this Asus refreshed handheld.
pro
Pros
pro Doesn’t need OLED for a great screen
pro Performance to spare
pro Software versatility
con
Cons
con No case, no dock, full versatility costs more
con Windows holds it back
con No touchpads

When I bought my imported Steam Deck 512GB LCD in 2023, I had zero regrets of my Valve-handheld purchase when the original Asus ROG Ally launched. Fast forward to more recent times, where I’ve been testing the top-of-the-line Steam Deck OLED alongside the Asus ROG Ally X, and that competition is a whole lot tighter. While it would’ve been a stronger statement had Asus launched with the Ally X spec originally, there’s no denying that there’s a lot to love about the best Windows-based gaming handheld available today.

Asus ROG Ally X value for money

A none-too-cheap investment in handheld gaming (from $1,599).

Your gaming handheld budget will ultimately determine whether you cringe or consider the Asus ROG Ally X. At $1,599 RRP, this is a laptop-level investment, which looks even steeper in the face of Steam Deck’s official Australian pricing, wherein the top Steam Deck OLED model is $550 cheaper than the Ally X.

That price difference is about the cost of a Nintendo Switch OLED, meaning you could own the two best OLED gaming handhelds on the market for the price of the non-OLED Asus ROG Ally X. You can also grab an MSI Clawfor $1,099, but the Lenovo Legion Go Z1 Extreme is only marginally cheaper (with half the internal storage) at $1,499 RRP.

Asus ROG Ally X design and setup

Evolved design sans touchpads, with setup held back by Windows weirdness.
Asus ROG Ally X - complete

In terms of design, the biggest fault of the Asus ROG Ally X is repeated from its predecessor: namely, the lack of touchpads. While the speakers seemingly take up the logical spot for those hypothetical touchpads on the front of the Ally X, there is plenty of space on the back for at least one. Outside of this gripe, the screen is great, the other controls all work as expected, and I absolutely appreciate the dual USB-C ports, though I would’ve preferred having one of them on the bottom (like the Switch). The ROG Ally X is slightly heavier than the Steam Deck, but I never felt like those extra grams weighed me down during many, many longer play sessions.

The main reason to bemoan the absence of at least a single touchpad, though, ties into the other major flaw of the ROG Ally X: Windows. Admittedly, Windows 11 is in a much better place than it was at launch, but it’s still not optimised for handhelds, which means an unnecessary drain on hardware and battery life. While Windows isn’t Asus’s fault, per se, I would’ve liked to see them ship with a leaner version of Windows 11 for the ROG Ally X. Nowadays, tweaks are more readily available in a world where content creators like Fr33thy have guides on how to tweak Windows to be much friendlier to those looking to eke every bit of performance out of a gaming system. I used Fr33thy’s Windows 11 optimisation guide and got noticeable performance gains out of my ageing backup desktop PC.

Touchpads are a better solution to the slow-moving mouse cursor controlled by the Rog Ally X’s right joystick. For Steam Deck users, not only will your muscle memory have you thumbing over the speaker for a touchpad that’s not there, Asus has also flipped the left/right mouse button inputs on the left/right bumpers. Worse is the reality that the virtual keyboard is seemingly only useable with touch, which is the same story if you want to add a password or PIN to your ROG Ally X login screen.

While navigating Windows is a mostly clunky and frustrating affair, my quick solve was to use Parsec for whenever I needed a lot of keyboard and mouse inputs. The ROG Ally X is, admittedly, fast to start and restart, plus there are two dedicated buttons for bypassing a lot of Windows touch-based inputs. The first button is for Command Center, which is a fast way to get to the desktop, bring up a virtual keyboard or switch performance presets. And the other controls dedicated Armoury Crate SE software that automatically installs with Windows. Armoury Crate is a godsend for faster ways to get to digital platforms and specific games. That is, after you’ve gone through the pain of setting them up for the first time.

Info Box

What is Asus?

Asus is a technology company that’s been around since 1989. Today, Asus creates a range of products, including smartphones, graphics cards, desktops, laptops and handheld gaming consoles.

Asus ROG Ally X gaming and battery life

It handles modern games and has juice to spare on less demanding titles.
Asus ROG Ally X device

I was blown away by the performance of the Asus ROG Ally X. After hundreds of hours of gameplay on my Steam Deck LCD, I was conditioned to accept that I shouldn’t expect to play more demanding modern games, at the very least without some serious consequences. That wasn’t my experience with the ROG Ally X.

The main disclaimer is that FSR—AI upscaling from lower resolutions to higher ones for better frame rates—is digital alchemy for what effectively amounts to free frames in supported games, but it needs games to support the tech. I was able to play Starfield’s Shattered Space DLC at a very playable 40–60fps with around three hours of juice. Spider-Man: Miles Morales got a stable 60fps in my tests, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart was between 50–60fps, and I even got around 40–50fps in Horizon Forbidden West, albeit on low settings.

All of these AAA games were played in 17W Performance mode but there are even better results if you use 25W Turbo, or more if you tweak while connected to power. Ghost of Tsushima was a standout on 17W Performance, managing 50–60fps in the open world on High settings. It looked particularly great on the variable refresh rate (VRR) display at 1080p resolution, too, which helps to manage frame drops more smoothly. The fact the Ally X supports up to 120Hz was something I didn’t think I’d appreciate, then I alternated Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown between 120Hz/fps and 60Hz/fps settings, and immediately missed the higher refresh rate and extra frames. It’s not essential and not always possible depending on how demanding the game is, but it’s great to have a 120Hz/fps option in a handheld.

That 1080p screen, too, is a noticeable upgrade over the 800p I’m used to on the Steam Deck LCD and OLED variants. Text is less blurry and more readable at the higher resolution, plus I was shocked at how good the Rog Ally X’s screen looked in general next to the Steam Deck OLED.

As for the battery life, that’s even trickier to nail down next to the Steam Deck because of the ROG Ally X’s three performance presets, plus the option to tweak those up or down via Armoury Crate. Worst-case, the most demanding games would give just over a couple of hours of battery life, but that could easily be six or more hours on the 13W Silent preset with less demanding older or indie games. I did our usual 1080p overnight YouTube laptop battery drain test on the 13W setting on the ROG Ally X died one second shy of eight hours, which is impressive for the pocket rocket. It took 56 minutes for a full recharge, but the back 5% accounted for more than 30 minutes of that, likely to preserve battery health.

Asus ROG Ally X vs Steam Deck OLED

Valve has the edge, but the gap is closing.
Asus ROG Ally X - open box

There are a few key differences between the Asus ROG Ally X and the Steam Deck OLED, with the first being in the name. The latest revision of the Steam Deck has an OLED screen, which means gorgeous blacks, albeit capped at 800p resolution with a 90Hz refresh rate, whereas the ROG Ally X has a 1080p screen capable of 120Hz (also with VRR, unlike the Deck).

The next big difference is touchpads, which don’t just make navigation easier in a desktop setting, it also means more games are playable on a Steam Deck thanks to the extra input option. That’s not just mouse-favouring genres, either; you can viably use the left or right touchpad as an aiming mechanism for games that use joysticks, all of which is bolstered by easy-to-apply community control layouts.

That last ties into another perk of the Steam Deck: the user base and Linux-based operating system means there are a lot of tweaks to plug the gaps of SteamOS. The biggest gap is that SteamOS is built to run Steam games first and foremost, which means extra steps for non-Steam games. On the ROG Ally X, Windows means you can install those other non-Steam digital platforms like you would on any PC.

Overall, though, SteamOS is like the Nintendo Switch equivalent in terms of its user interface, albeit with an Android-like option to dig deeper and push the system beyond its base with an increasingly easier know-how requirement, too. Ultimately, with the release of SteamOS for Asus ROG Ally just around the corner, all of the Windows-based cons of the Asus handheld could potentially disappear, making it a much tighter contest between Valve and Asus.

Is the Asus ROG Ally X worth buying?

The best Windows gaming handheld to buy today.

If you’ve waited this long for a gaming handheld, well, you should wait a bit longer because 2025 should showcase even more impressive results. But if you want something sooner or are cautious of likely higher 2025 handheld RRPs, the Asus ROG Ally X is a fantastic choice, beaten only by the cheaper and easier-to-use Steam Deck. If you’re not deterred by the comparatively steep asking price and know your way around Windows, though, the extra performance and higher-resolution screen of the ROG Ally X makes a strong case for ascension to the throne of best gaming handheld.

icon-expertise

How we review handheld gaming consoles

Handheld gaming consoles are increasing in popularity, which means there are plenty of options out there. Initial testing starts with basic factors like included controls, layout, weight and comfort considerations. Setup should be a straightforward process and, ideally, a handheld gaming console is easy to use.

Configuration should be as easy as using a new PC or, better yet, closer to the Nintendo Switch in terms of user-friendliness. We spend time with the user interface to see how straightforward and logical everything is. The majority of review time is invested in gaming.

During tests, we pay attention to charging times and battery life. Outside of their main gaming function, handheld gaming consoles that encourage tinkering and offer straightforward versatility pathways are also appreciated.

Asus Rog Ally X frequently asked questions

Yes, at the time of writing, the Asus ROG Ally X was the most powerful gaming handheld on the market.
Compared to the original Asus ROG Ally, the ROG Ally X comes in black instead of white, with more storage, expanded memory, and a bigger battery.
Yes, as a Windows-powered handheld gaming PC, the Asus ROG Ally X can play Steam games as well as games from any other digital platform available on Windows.
Nathan Lawrence
Written by
Nathan Lawrence has been banging out passionate tech and gaming words for more than 11 years. These days, you can find his work on outlets like IGN, STACK, Fandom, Red Bull and AusGamers. Nathan adores PC gaming and the proof of his first-person-shooter prowess is at the top of a Battlefield V scoreboard.

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