I like how you're willing to just state the answers to your questions in the first like 90 seconds of the video, but then go into depth about it. Leaving the option to the viewer of whether or not they want to view the reasoning or are just satisfied with the answer.
that's how it should be done. I hate videos with clickbait question in the thumbnail or in the title that is never answered in the video itself. it makes me unsubscribe directly from the channel
Watched about 6 of these reviews today, this is by far the best. Thank you for all the effort. You covered all the actual important aspects that people that use these need.
Lol, you guys are both legends. I am excited for this device. How is it with Baldur's Gate 3 on medium and Fortnite? Also I ordered a WD 850 Black 4 TB SSD. It doesn't have heat sync, will it work well still?
I think that's going to be a while unfortunately. For instance, AMD's latest release is literally the same as last generation except for they added npu units. They also unfortunately still focus on the cpu performance on the chips versus the GPU performance. We might get new handhelds, mini PCs, etc. they'll be using the latest chips, but they won't be much better.
Yeah but I wish the both of them would adopt a smaller chassis like the onexfly. None of these pc handhelds are portable. Except the onexfly and GPD Win 4
@rockothetaco95 the deck is already better. 60 with vrr is basically 40fps friendly 60fps container. Steam deck already let's you lock refresh rate to 80 or 90 for games that stay on 40-45 fps.
Dude, this is THE most in-depth analysis of the Ally X I have seen so far. You make the dense info so approachable. Thank you so much for all the hard work. The clarity of this video is chef's kiss!
Playing my old 360 and ps3 games on a handheld is like a dream. That's definitely too expensive for me right now, but I did get inspired to finally build a new pc to make a nice emulation setup. You're the man Russ, thanks for the video
@@wow22815Emulation is way to go now,i started using Emulation(mainly PS1 2 3,X360,GBA,PSP) back in late 2000s because most game getting expensive,plus i wanted play lot of older untranslated japanese game from PC88 and 98 era I think the last time i had a console is X360 in 2008 because i wanted to play some exclusive game like Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon back then,considering that times the emulation for X360 was still in its infancy days(lot of problems like crashing,so it come as surprises to me when i heard newer gen gamer that born in 2000s period talked to me they was able to play it back then without any trouble,talking like they were longtime gamer on using Emulation
That's how I felt with this! Having Xbox 360 games and ps4 games on this would be a dream!! But, it is also too expensive for me right now lol but I am in the same situation :D I been trying to pinpoint a build and budget I like, I want it on the medium to small side and if I could play like Xbox one titles in 1440p I'll be a happy man 😄 I just want it to not stick out too much on top of the media cabinet you know and little to no visible wires would be nice. I just want to sit on the couch and grab the controller turn the tv and go about my day lol
That insane in-depth detailed extended review ! I very much appreciate the effort and time you take on these videos. It feels like days of work, speaking about passion.
When youtube asks if I want to watch another RetroGameCorps video about a handheld I will likely never buy, you know I just gotta say "yeah man I wanna do it" Thanks for spending so much time ranting about handhelds, Russ :D
How odd. I just enjoyed playing Arcade Paradise which is free on Epic at the moment and it works wonderfully on Deck. And so do other games on GOG, Prime and Epic. I think four store fronts are enough for me.
@@lukex1337 File based modding as in editing files or copying from one path to the next works as it works with Windows. NexusMods is working on a Linux Mod Manager by the way, which will be a great addition and make things easier. I don't install standalone games as in downloaded them somewhere and then trying to install. On Steam, Epic, GOG and Prime I have way over 1000 games and it's just hitting the install button and once download is finished, play button. And that's it. Majority of games simply work without lifting a finger.
I just use Lutris and it works about the same. Sometimes older games don't want to launch on Windows easily, but they work fine there, so not that big of a deal in my experience and needs, but i play mostly older games. Easyanticheat is one of those that actually kinda works. Areweanticheatyet shows 40% games are fully supported with more than 50% working, so there's still way to go on that front. Not great, not terrible
Probably because you are not familiar with using linux. I use both and installing mods is the same experience in both. But installing other launchers is harder then its on windows.
I am not crazy for tuning for 44:50. I just grabbed a snack and drink and enjoyed listening to your review. Your videos are really awesome, it's like sitting down with a friend and having a great in-depth conversation about a hobby we all love. I look forward to the next video of emulation testing and the real battle betwen the Ally X and the StemDeck OLED. Thanks again for your videos, Russ!
Thanks for the review! I've just finished watching a bunch of reviews. I'll wait for the Ally 2. Although the X's battery is very impressive. I'm glad Asus is taking this device seriously because I love my Ally.
Thank you for going into great detail on this. Appreciated all the battery life results for all the games shown, as well as all the tips for tweaking regarding how we can improve the battery life further.
It's kinda funny that Americans complain about it being expensive at $800 while in Europe costs €900 (which is like $1000)... it's way too expensive for now... considering the original one had almost the same price at launch in EU and I got it at a sale recently for $350 😅
@borky1987 Americans are weird they complain about things being expensive yet are buying new gadgets every time they are released and this is coming from an American 😅
I'm getting one but it's on backorder, they reckon mid august :( gonna be great though. Only downside is they're almost US$1100 here in New Zealand. That and no trackpads but overall I'm really looking forward to it
@@TheDark0rb Yeah but pbtech are bastards when it comes to returns and with the issues people had with the original ally I wasn't going to risk it. I shop there for cheaper stuff though
If you want to test the battery life with framerate limiters do not use the in-game ones, use Radeon Chill instead, it not only reduces power consumption but you can target almost any FPS limit you want, it works great even on desktop GPUs. Also something seems to be wrong with the audio of your Ally X sample, from other reviews the sound was not only louder but also more detailed and is said to be the best audio on any handheld.
something very strange was going on with that audio... the vast majority of reviews are suggesting the Ally X is louder than the original Ally and offers better sound (although better is subjective, louder isn't) amazing review as always, the most reliable source and the one i trust the most knowing you use the handheld solidly in the real world. That sound test through me off though, it does not seem right, perhaps query that with Asus, may be a fault.
Such a dang great video, man. Crazy detailed with all the topics anyone would want to know about. I always start with your videos whenever there’s a new Steam Deck/Ally/Legion Go/Claw *thing to be talked about and that was a very well spent 45 minutes. Cheers.
If you aren't in a rush, Strix Point Apu is being released now on laptops, and can't imagine it will be more than a few months before we see it in handhelds. It should be in things like the Legion Go 2 and the Ally X 2 or whatever its called, and it should be a much better Apu with Zen 5 and up to 16 CU of Rnda 3.5.
@slickrounder6045 yeah, I've decided to wait for the ally 2 or steam deck 2. I can stream my pc games via moonlight which works perfectly. Just not the best screen on the LCD, but it will do for now.
Yep. I went with the Go due to the amazing screen and the Asus warranty drama. Had to return the first one because of a speaker issue, but my replacement unit has been great.
I really appreciate the honest review even though ROG ally X is all over youtube today. This detailed perspective really helps. Thanks Russ! As always another awesome video😊👍
The ROG Ally X beats the Steam Deck OLED hands down in every single type of test, with the added benefit of VRR icing on top, but Russ is still hesitant to give his opinion on which is better... been hanging out with the wrong crowd in the wrong nest for too long haha.
Deck fanboyism is strong and very committed to the handheld - akin to a console gamer sticking hard to Xbox / Sony. I don’t seem to find that same regard for Win handheld owners which more often come from a background of PC gaming, and are more in tune to upgrade components and parts yearly for more performance - not pledging allegiance to Asus / AMD / MSI / Gigabyte etc, parts come from all vendors to construct a PC with max performance in mind.
The Steam Deck is more comfortable and I appreciate its more console-like OS experience. My plan is to dual-boot with Bazzite so I can have the best of both worlds in the Ally X, and make my decision at that point.
@@RetroGameCorps I feel that setting Steam to run in 'big picture mode' on Windows startup solves most if not all software nitpicks, but Steam Deck fanboys have to pretend they are computer illiterate and don't even have the knowlege to use a basic android phone to try to manufacture some sort of advantage for SteamOS, when in reality, SteamOS is at a huge disadvantage VS Windows when it comes to gaming on a whole. Not even the mighty Android can compete with Windows, due to a sheer lack of games and emulators. Heck, the Steam Deck is trying to emulate the Windows OS itself to run the games it runs, via Proton. Most everything in the entire world runs in the foreground on some form of PC, with Windows running in the background. As for your 2 excuses of 1. ergonomics and 2. mindless on-off gaming, well, we both know that ergonomics is subjective, people even say that the right stick and the dpad on the Steam Deck become uncomfortable to reach after a time, and as for the mindless gaming, we both know that you are not a mindless gamer. Or maybe I know you better than you know yourself. Lol!
@@d0minant24same could be said for you. The fact that you refuse to accept the simple fact that most people prefer comfort, ease of use and battery life over fps shows your levels of fanboyism. There is a reason switch and even steamdeck will always be far more popular than ally or legion. These ally and legion fanboys being so detached from reality is so insane.
totally agree with all points made in the conclusion regarding the Ally X being worth it, or if you are upgrading or choosing between the Steam Deck OLED and this device. I already own an Ally Z1 Extreme and been very happy with it despite the battery and micro SD card flaws. I mostly played plugged in and have an external battery pack and I got around the SD card issue by putting in a 2TB nvme drive. It's an emulation powerhouse and since I play Genshin Impact on PC, it made sense over a Steam Deck for my own use case. In most cases, the Steam Deck should be great for most people if you mostly play Steam games. But if you have specific requirements or cases like playing your Epic games library you accumulated from free games, Xbox game pass games, or custom emulation that only run on Windows, then the Ally X is a great choice of a handheld. I am personally going to wait for an Ally 2 but I have to say, Asus has made a great refined product while listening to their consumer base in regards to flaws in the device and improving them. Software support is great. The only thing not great would be Asus not doing something about the MicroSD card slot being an engineering defect and Asus does not admitting it. At least they've been humiliated in regards to warranty service and are doing something about that.
Big Rog Ally fan here. I bought mine maybe 3 months before the x came out, I do have the extreme model that was sold to me for the price of the cheaper version so that's a win. Now I have no reason to upgrade to the x I just don't think the small upgrades are worth me losing money on. If I sell mine I just won't get that much back for it and Best buy will give me like $150 or something. If I was buying one right now I for sure we get the eggs but I think the regular Ally is going to be good for just as long as the x is. I digress and I am procrastinating eaving for work. The ally blows the decks back out. I also use it as a mini music production workstation right now, I use it as the centerpiece for a few of my samplers because my main PC rig has died out on me and I'm actually having a lot of fun using the rog ally in ways it wasn't intended for. I haven't running the Akai mpc software with my mpc one. I even brought it to the studio to meet with a client and they got a kick out of seeing my setup
Reminder that the Ally X exists to ameliorate high RMA rates of the Ally. It's meant to solve a problem on Asus' side, not solve a problem on the customer's side.
Still one of the best review channels out there, in a healthy space between super technical reviews like from The Phawx and clueless reviewers who get paid to talk about some company's products.
I'm looking at potential successors to my 1st gen Steam Deck, but really want to see how ASUS goes forth with customer support for this device. The one downside to my SD (even though I love the device) is the limitations on what games I can play. I'm perfectly content on just waiting to see what the followup to the OLED SD is capable of.
Don't buy the device directly from Asus if you're worried about their customer support. Buy it from a good quality retailer and if you have any problems return it to the shop you bought it from.
@paulsegrue5133 great advice. I've heard people were able to return a faulty Ally back to Best Buy even after ASUS support had serviced them and failed to remediate the problem.
I love that Russ is on the same level as me as a Metal Gear Solid player, seeing him stumble on the soldier and getting his cover blown is so relatable
I watched 3 videos on the new Ally X. Your video was by far my favorite Russ. Thanks for all the information, variables to consider and opinions on the device and the handheld space in general. I find your video much easier of a watch, compared to the graphics and benchmark/spec heavy ones.
Appreciate your approach. I think highlighting the game experience means more to me than whether I'm getting a few more FPS if it doesn't change gameplay that much. Will have to watch your other video on emulation.
Torn on this one. I love my Ally X but the Micro SD issue kicked my butt hard. I may wait a couple of months to make sure no hardware issues pop up. But having a bigger battery? Ughhh. That sounds nice.
Still too expensive but may be worth it in the coming months of a used/refurbished units comes down in price a bit. Either way, an alternative option for some that don't care too much about price.
I guess it comes down to - if you want better performance and better battery but an inferior screen, then get the Ally X. If you want a better OS experience and a better screen then get the Steam Deck OLED.
It isn't that simple, oled is the better panel, vrr gives the cleaner experience. If the SD offered VRR, it would be without question. But for me, oled and screen tearing is worse than an IPS panel with vrr.
I have the OG model that I use when I'm at work and really love the changes made to the X, but will most likely wait for the next big iteration. I'm always by an outlet so battery isn't huge for me but would be nice. It's dumb that on battery I can only get like 3ish hours on 7 watts when reading visual novels -_-
dude . the best handheld review ever .the way is is ecmxplained with changing the wattage is spot on . that's what I needed in all them months watching reviews . best review with best explanation 👌
I just found your chan and you tailor your videos for people well versed in handhelds and emulation. I am sure I am not alone in the fact that my AllyX is the first handheld I have ever had, and I have no experience with setting it up or emulation on it. I think people, and I mean me, but I am sure many others, would love a full beginner guide taking a stock standard allyx and setting it up to be a neat gaming system. Thanks for your consideration.
Really appreciate the work that goes into this content, In addition to the battery I want to upgrade to the X for the updated I/O. Would also love to see comparison videos with other handhelds later on keep up the awesome work 🙌🏾
With the RGC mention on the last WAN Show, looking forward to the inevitable [hopefully!] collab between RGC and LTT. XD Congrats and welcome to the BIG TIME Russ... Well-deserved!
@@RetroGameCorpsWait, Russ....I may have that WAN show thing wrong. I may have confused that with the mention of your channel on one of their normal vids.... MY BAD, maybe!
Great review but the section of ally x vs steam deck oled is a bit wrong. God of war, spiderman and hades, have more battery life from my side on sd oled, with some tweaks on gamescope
Honestly, this makes me a lot more excited for whatever the next model holds. A minimum of 24GB RAM and a much larger battery will make models that feature a better chipset sooooooooo tempting, especially considering how VRAM-hungry games have been lately. 16GB combined RAM just isn’t enough anymore, and going forward, it’s just gonna get worse.
We are not likely to get a larger battery.The TSA (the US agency that says who, what and how can get on a commercial flight) does not allow for devices with more than 100 wh to be taken on board, unless there are special circumstances (I beleve that this would usually be medical apparatute).
@@user-qy2wf2lt6v I’m not asking for a larger battery than this; I’m saying that assuming this-a much larger battery than what we usually get in these handhelds-is more or less the bar going forward, alongside more RAM than most of these handhelds get, it’s gonna be an exciting future for the concept of handheld gaming PCs.
@@mss490 Problem is, more processing power and more RAM means worse battery life. I think current handhelds have found a nice sweet spot and unless we see some real improvements in CPU efficiency I don't think we can get much better than this in this form factor.
Think you could do a top 5 handheld for retro gaming tier list. I am looking at getting a handheld. I have a few switch mario and zelda games. Other then that it would be from Gamecube, Dreamcast, SNES, N64. Thank you for all of your great videos. You are my handheld guy, lol. For me, Odin 2 is on the top of the list.
For me important is the standby battery drain and how it works if i set my device in standby while Game is running. As i remember with my asus rog ally battery was empty everytime i picked it up and it wasnt a good idea holding Games in standby. On steam deck its more like a Nintendo Switch experience. I sold my asus rog ally and bought a steam deck oled instead and im happy with my choice.
Hey Russ, liking your review thus far, my only feedback to add is it would very helpful to include the TDP value for each game showing that has battery life. Is it easy to tag it above post video launch?
Great video! Very indepth and can't wait for the emulation video. I have an Ally Extreme and your videos have helped me understand the power management so much you should do a power management explanation video. Anyway I agree that it's a precursor. There's great things on the way!
Between yours and Joey's videos I'm unbelievably hyped to receive mine this week. Decided to go this route over getting an emu handheld like the Odin 2 cause I really wanted a new PC as well haha. Portability + performance kinda similar to the Xbox Series S is just so perfect for me. Getting giddy just thinking about the device, so excited!!
@@nunosousa7698 Joey from Joey's Retro Handheld, another RU-vidr that reviews and makes guides for emu devices. Also gave a pretty positive review on this device.
25:49 wouldn't it have been better to run mouse/keyboard and accessories off the dock, and then connect the egpu separate on its own usb to avoid having peripherals and graphics compete for bandwidth? it may give a better performance based off my experience with my oculink egpu dock for my rog ally!
For me the killer feature of the steamdeck is the suspended sleep state and quick resume. Being able to turn it on and it's immediately where I left off in the game is what completes that console feel. Windows sleep states have always had issues in my experience, especially with randomly waking the device to do an update or something.
First thank you Russ for your in-depth review as always. On your eGPU testing, I'm pretty sure the performance is limited by your particular mobile GPU instead of the USB4 40Gbps bandwidth. I have a eGPU solution using a M.2 interface with PCIe 3.0 x4 (32Gbps, even less than USB4) and a regular mid-range GPU (6600XT), the performance loss compare to running the GPU on a full rig is not that much. A windows x86 base handheld PC with decent gaming performance and USB4 eGPU support is a game changer, I'm very excited for this device.
