I've had mine since launch and agree that the 6850 xg mobile experience has improved considerably. I sold my Steam Deck and don't regret it. It did, however, take a lot of willpower to not get the OLED model.
Same re: the steam deck OLED. I think I'll pick one up on the first sale they have or if they introduce more colours! 6850 is in a much better space right now like you said. But I still can wholeheartedly recommend one to anyone, unless I hated them haha
I've had LCD, OLED, and Ally. I would say the OLED is a game changer for most lighter games/emulation. The Allly was more powerful but just not quite enough for me to justify owning it still so I sold it. I could see myself picking up another windows handheld whenever someone finally sticks a real gpu in one or igpu tech has another 2x improvement
I had the steam deck OLED for a week. Yes it's nice and a good product but The Ally is still superior. Really the VRR in the Ally gives it an edge imo, that and going from Ratchet and Clank on the Deck to the Ally was jarring...Battery life on it was awesome but that's where it ended for me.
Had the Legion Go - the size/weight and software experience put me off from wanting to use it daily. So I'm just running an OLED Deck + Ally/XG Mobile setup and couldn't be happier.
Nice! I'm glad you are happy with your purchase I agree the software on the LEGO is crap. But they have been pretty quick to note on things or bring in patches/updates. I think it will be a very interesting comparison when the Lenovo hits it's 6 month
It did come from their y700 gaming tablet, I think I mentioned this in the video but if not, it is a great stop gap for people who would like to have a tablet but don't necessarily need one. If you're looking for another screen to watch some content on, this is a great screen to do so.
I mean LeGo is more suitable for tabletop gaming due to the sheer size. However the experience pales in comparison with playing with laptop if you are sitting on a table anyway. The biggest plus is just the screen but the rest and the uncomfortable design of the grip and weird buttons just reduce the experience i think.
I've already had my monies worth with the Ally. With over 300h of gameplay and probably 100 more of productivity/non gaming stuff. I originally got it to play Diablo on the go and now I try any non fps game on it first to see if I could add them to my mobile library.
Nice! I still have PTSD from trying to install Diablo to my SD card. I have never played Diablo on my Ally since, haha. I do agree though that a lot of my gaming time is now spent on these consoles vs a desktop environment
Can someone explain what extra tinkering is required for the Ally that isn't on the Steam Deck? I've owned both and I actually tinker less on the Ally than the Steam Deck, primarily due the Ally being powerful enough to play more games at default settings. Ally users don't have to change proton versions or check ProtonDB for game compatibility. The Ally's VRR means I don't need separate refresh rates settings for each game. Installing 3rd party launchers or Xbox game pass on Steam Deck qualify as tinkering given their non-native status and more involved installation process, but not so for the Ally as, "They just work".
There are certain windows settings that aren't ideal, such as core isolation and vmp. You can become a "hyper-user" and deactivate every little bit of animation from the system and resource hogs or you can just use it as a regular PC. A lot of these "tweaks or tinkers" were and still are often used by the laptop community.
Despite bugs and poor performance at the start I kept cool and now I really think its better than its ever been for sure. I got a mid-range lenovo gaming laptop but I just cannot put down the ally. For work and gaming and all the name of this little console does live up to be an on the go friend. This video is superb as well, thank you.
I agree with all your points. I love my ally. I still use my decks more but the ally is my go to if I was to use no steam owned games. The ally has much better frames I've found but I only use the user mode lol
I think if Microsoft or one of the handheld manufacturers made something as compelling as steamos A LOT of people would likely switch. If I had the deck OLED, I think I'd have a tough time though.
Legion Go is too big for me, plus my right thumb/hand is weak after a major motorcycle accident and multiple hand surgeries last April. I was gung-ho on the SteamDeck OLED because of the screen, but Honkai Star Rail is not compatible and games like Genshin need a bunch of tweaking. I think I will explore getting the Ally once my new gaming PC is built later this month and see where I am at fund-wise.
Love my Ally, it's got the power to play the latest AAA games (some just barely). Plus with Winblows compatibility, it's tough to beat in terms of game choice.
Yeah, if I ONLY had games on Steam, I could see myself living with a Steam Deck (OLED) and be okay with that. But even with gamepass alone, not to mention deals from GOG, EGS and sites. I wish third party launchers were more seamless on the Deck, but understandably.. they want to keep the mass on Steam.
I still on my launch Ally. The SD card reader doesn't work when I tried a random mSD card I found (probably from an old phone I had) months after the purchase but I had planned to just upgrade the SSD anyways so whatever. I can understand all the benchmarks pushing the device on new and demanding games, but I have a 3080Ti so the Ally has been a great little thing to play through my backlog. The smaller, denser screen really helps mitigate the disparities from the improvements in visual fidelity over the years 😂
14:25 I remember the reddit page for Ally used to have this, right? It was a thread that lists multiple features that was still missing or features that fans wish asus added. The thread is very useful to track features, but somehow now it's gone and I dunno why they delete such informative and constructive thread.
They do have one still as well as in the Discord group, it is called "state of the ally" however this is not an official group from ASUS. So we don't get the benefit of ASUS employees actually acting on the list and giving updates as they go. I am certain they have turned to it in the past, such as when adding 900p resolution. But it is nothing they are obligated to do.
Nothing wrong with a great video refreshing us on the journey of the ally since it’s launch… another informative and very well composed video WinDeck Tech! Never forget the bios wars!
I picked up the Ally (Z1 Extreme) on sale and I'm happy with it so far. Once I updated everything, it works great, with only some minor issues that I've learned how to fix. I'm glad I bought the Ally instead of the Steam Deck, which I think is too weak of a machine compared to the Ally, and not as versatile. Having Windows on a gaming handheld that can also double as a desktop replacement is really a huge step that came sooner than I thought it would. I'm really excited for the next generation of handheld PC's, because they just need to get these things to last 4+ hours in high performance mode and they'll basically be perfect. More efficient APU's, better thermal designs, bigger batteries, and more upgradeability options (either at purchase or after market) will take handheld PC gaming to the next level. The Ally is already such a good device, and the market is about to be pushed further by competitors, so I'm really excited about what's to come.
kinda sucks. i love this device but windows security is now botched on it. reads as though the device isnt supported. also armory crates overlay no longer picks up gpu info. always reads as 0%. cant find a way to fix either issue. adrenaline still correctly shows gpu usage though. seems my only option is to factory reset but ive invested to much time getting things how i like them. anyone know a lmk.
I completely forgot to mention the speakers in this but yes I fully agree that they are the best vs deck and go Edit: also the gyro I think a lot of people missed or just had forgotten about. Then boom, suprise
There have been times where I've legitimately thought the sound was coming from further away than it actually was. They have excellent spatial audio. Diablo 4 for some reason always demonstrated this the most.
Hi there and thanks for the update! May I ask if there's still a problem with an Armoury Crate manual fan curve minimum RPM values? Or maybe there's a way how to overcome this? I'd like to try Armoury Crate again but this forced fan noise is a big problem for me (I'm currently using Handheld Companion + G-Helper). Thank you again and take care!
Unfortunately the forced minimums are still in place for the fan curve. You can play with them slightly and bring them down to their default values and work from there. I believe the last 4 dots for the fan curve are the ones that can't be set below a certain temp.
Had mine about a month. Got an open box deal that was a bust as a gift. So glad i exhanged and paid difference for a new. Dont have a big steam library, switch and xbox library. Serial number r 6 so im waiting for sd slot to fry but hasnt yet snd im kind of obnoxious with that. My only complaint is i think my first couple games i tried to install one got installed incorrectly and i cant find it for the life of me and is eating up some of my ssd. I'd do a reset but no need now as my slot still works. Not a pc guy but its been an easy experience. If this device holds up my other stuff will continue to not be used as much. Asus has some crap quality control issues but being able to go into best buy these days and have some handheld options backed under legitimate warranties under 1000. Loving the times.
Yeah sometimes the Xbox install stuff can mess up. The game folder will actually be listed as a string of numbers and letters typically. Iirc the Xbox games install by default to your program files/windowsapps they may be hidden as well, I think last time I checked. You could try poking in there for the mysterious waste of space on your SSD. I do agree with it being an easy experience in the ally as well. Quick to pick up, easy to master.
if this was OLED it would be the best device without a doubt but i bought this a day before the steam deck OLED came out and bought that to compare with it. for the $600 price now i might just keep both. its a lot easier to travel with than a gaming laptop as long as you have a big powerbank over 65 watts to use the turbo
Yes, I had to resist every urge to not buy the SD OLED, at launch at least. I already have 3 lol. If, it had a more powerful chip, over just being a die shrink. It would have been an instant buy and replacement. Proper HDR is awesome, something my ayaneo air 1s (OLED) can't do. But it is still my best handheld screen.
I've shared this on other Ally related videos, but I got an Ally at launch. I've been a bit of an Asus fanboy and have a bunch of Asus products that are still working, including an old gaming laptop, and a transformer tablet. Figured... "Surely there aren't THAT many SD reader failures, they'd have to do a recall if it was that bad". My SD reader failed. I took it into Best Buy and exchanged, decided I wouldn't use the micro SD card reader this time. Decided one day to check what I had on a card, just out of curiosity. Hadn't been using it. Second one also failed. It's gone in for RMA, and I still haven't heard anything from Best Buy or Asus on it. I really liked the device, but losing 2 within weeks of each other really soured me on it. I'm not even sure if I want to get another one back at this point. I don't know, mixed feelings. I have a Steam Deck, I just wasn't as happy with it as I was with the Ally.
I totally get that. Mine was dead within 2 weeks iirc. But yeah I would absolutely be turned off as well in your situation. From what I've heard though, for what it's worth, the recent RMA process is a lasting fix to the SD reader. But only time will tell on that.
I'm surprised people aren't just told to avoid the SD card reader altogether. Now that you can buy a 2Tb 2280 Drive and right angle M.2 adapter for less than $100, there isn't much reason to buy an SD card.
@@Cakebattered if I get another, I was considering doing exactly that. Though I heard that the 2280s reach higher temperatures, I've been wondering how that might affect the long term use of the Ally.
I personally don't have the SD OLED. However, I do have an Ayaneo Air 1s(7840u with OLED) and have proper OLED screens with HDR. Having said that. I would say the SD OLED is a very compelling buy, especially with the increased battery life and "sometimes" better performance than SD LCD. If you have a main gaming rig it would be an amazing compliment to your rig, with it likely being one of the best screens you'll have in the house. Not to mention the extended time away from the wall However, if you have games across a lot of launchers, want more power and don't necessarily need much stamina past 2 hours. The ally is a great buy. I personally find the ally more versatile. In the sense that if I need or want to save battery life, I can. But, if there's a game I want to turn the settings up in and I'm near an outlet or have it docked, I have the option to. You just don't have that on the deck. The Ally's screen I would say is in the upper echelon of LCD screens though and you would not be disappointed in it.
Also not worrying about if the anti cheat is supported or not for steamos is a huge plus. Just set up a buddy’s ally and was sold. Got to play games like The Finals and MW3 with no issues. Posted my Steamdeck for sale.
You're the one giving it meaning, and presumably passing it on to your children... Guess we are going to have to tell the weather to stop producing rainbows! Think of the children!? Oh the humanity. Knob-end