ASUS - ROG Ally 7" 120Hz FHD 1080p Gaming Handheld - AMD Ryzen Z1 Processor - 512GB - White

First off, yes this is a device I recommend if you're a gamer who isn't obsessed with high end graphics and wants to play with games across a lot of platforms. For new AAA titles, you will most likely be playing each game at 720p and using AMD's upscaling feature to bring the resolution up to 900p or 1080p. The "Super Resolution" effect as they call it actually does really well, and a game like Cyberpunk can be ran on this little device at 720p upscaled to 900p with motion blur enabled and run at about 47fps, keeping in mind most of the other in-game graphic settings are set to "low" but it doesn't matter too much because it still looks good. Another game I like to play - Overwatch 2 - is rendered at 900p upscaled to 1080p and I'm able to average 97fps with most of the in-game graphic settings on low. Keep in mind once again the Super Resolution feature makes this game look crisp! In addition, I play this particular game while the ROG Ally is docked to my dual monitors and I use a mouse and keyboard. What makes this device so versatile is it runs Windows, so I have Steam installed, Epic Games installed, and Xbox cloud gaming which I don't use. I also have a PS3 and Xbox 360 emulator as well BUT good luck trying to get a PS3 game to run well on here. I've tried Gran Turismo 5 and it probably pushes 25fps yet struggles to render cars quicker so you'll see the suspension of a car rendered before you actually see the body rendered a few seconds later. It just doesn't have enough power and this is with Vulkan even. Xbox 360 games don't have that much of an issue. What holds this device back from being better is also Windows. I say this because I can't really see this device as something I can bring out in public without bringing the extension cord. The battery life is trash. There's three power modes: a 10 watt silent mode, a 15 watt performance mode, and then a 25 watt or 30 watt turbo mode depending on if the ROG Ally is plugged in or not. 10 watt silent mode really is for using this device for multimedia like watching Netflix (which the screen is amazing by the way) and not any gaming unless it's as basic as solitaire. 15 watt performance mode can run low quality games like the Sims 2 or Bioshock remastered, and 25-30 watt turbo is reserved for Cyberpunk and Overwatch 2. You'll pretty much have to be in turbo mode to play any new AAA game, and guess how great the battery life is? Probably 45 minutes. Your mileage may vary but this is with the screen brightness at 75%, so. Compare this handheld to something like the Steam Deck that runs Linux which has better battery life HOWEVER you're not getting the same vast array of games to play like the Ally. Windows is also really buggy and I've already ran into system updates being halted by BitLocker, endless "restarting" issues, no actual sleep/wake feature, and apps like Steam freaking out and not launching games if you don't have an internet connection. With all that being said, I love this product. I have the time and knowledge to tinker with it to get everything right and I don't care that the battery life is abysmal because I almost always have it plugged in and I'm usually playing games that aren't meant to be played casually, like games that need your focus which is something I can't do in public.

Absolutely loving this little handheld. I was in the market for a device that could play ARPGs and what not along with some AAA titles on the go. This fit the bill perfectly. Bonus that it was on sale. I have a gaming PC at home so I opted for the lower power Z1 model over the extreme model. Not one regret. I have used this daily and have connected my Xbox Pc Game Pass, Battle.net, Steam and Ubisoft accounts. If you’re on the fence about it, just pull the trigger. Yeah, the battery life is not great but that’s the trade off for a handheld with gaming PC capabilities.

I've always wanted a way to play my favorite games on the go. I'm sort of a PC gamer in that I own a PC and have a few games, but nothing too processor heavy since everything I have is many years behind. When the steam deck was announced, I thought that would have been the perfect solution to my ongoing need for portable gaming. Then came along the Asus ROG Ally. Even the lower end model (which I purchased), it was on par with the highest end steam deck model AND it runs Windows 11. This allowed me to access my games through not only Steam, but Origin, Epic, and the Xbox marketplace. I was able to search around for the best deals on games I wanted to take with me me without the constraints of one gaming ecosystem to stick to. Pros: Ultra portable gaming. Windows 11 if I want to run any mundane applications other than games. Functions like a touchscreen computer. Carry around portable bluetooth keyboard and you've got a perfect on the go writing solution. Cons: The battery life isn't great while unplugged, but most places for travel should have an outlet nearby. Accessories are minimal and a little more expensive. Frame rate on higher end games a little choppy, but if you wanted a high end gaming machine you would have put way more money into it than what this costs. All and all, this is basically all I've ever wanted and I am very happy with this purchase.

I bought this for $150 below the MSRP by purchasing an excellent condition used device from Best Buy during a $100 off sale. It is far and away the best value to performance ratio for a Windows gaming handheld on the market right now, just be advised that the lower spec Z1 processor pales compared to the Z1 Extreme in the more expensive model and games are not always optimized for it the way they are for the Steam Deck's processor. I am not trying to play huge AAA games on the go, so I am totally satisfied with its performance in 2D games, smaller 3D games, and so on. I exclusively play in the 10w TDP silent mode or the 15w TDP balanced mode, never the maximum TDP performance mode because the games I play don't require it. I previously owned a base spec AYANEO Air Plus that was too weak to play 3D games above 30 FPS, and before that I paid a ton for a ONEXPLAYER Mini Pro (Ryzen 6800U) that was pretty powerful but a couple hundred dollars more expensive than this device. Both of those devices had really buggy software and broken features, whereas ASUS' Armoury Crate software has been reliable for me. It's hard to overstate how nice it is to have reliable software on one of these handhelds. If you're on the fence, the only real competition is the Steam Deck at this price point, and I prefer the size and weight of this device over the Steam Deck; it's far more comfortable, even though the weird geometrically shaped grips don't seem like they would be. Also, I have a lot of Amazon Prime, Epic Games, and Xbox Game Pass games I like to play, so having Windows is a must for me compared to a Steam Deck. (The screenshots show the Armoury Crate game launcher interface, Various Daylife published by Square Enix, and Deep Rock Galactic Survivors. Various Daylife runs at 60 fps capped with max graphics settings, DRG Survivors runs at 60 fps capped with 2X anti-aliasing. Both are rendering at the display's native 1080p resolution.)

Priced at $399. The z1 version is definitely worth it imo! But it being a handheld please hold you expectations in check! as NO handheld will many games at maxed settings at 120fps!! Games that ran really well that i’ve tested and played: - Baldurs Gate 3 - Assassins Creed Mirage - Assassins Creed ezio collection - Elder Scrolls online - Skyrim - Batman Arkham Asylum - Sea of Stars - Far Cry 6 **Starfield i could not get it to a playable state, even at low settings it was mid teens rendering it unplayable! Maybe future updates may fix this As i stated at $399 for this z1 version is definitely worth it and with future updates i see performance increasing. Again hold your expectations in check as it still is a handheld and not a high end PC!

This thing is like the steamdeck OLED on steroids, 1080p looks great on the screen and it plays almost all 4k games with no issue, I have about 60 hours of BG3 on it and I love it. Only reason its not 5 stars is the battery life - running on max settings it has about a 4 hour life. By that time I'm just getting into the swing of things and I have to go find a charger. For those of you that know what an emulator is I got them all, each of the major ones are on my console and doesn't even throw an error (other than Yuzu's init set up which is a pain)

First let me say I didn't have any SD Card issues, and I believe that's overblown because the Hard Drive is so easily upgradeable. Another thing people will tell you is that the 4 CUs vs the 12 CUs make this Z1 model pointless, that's simply not true but it does have limitations. ASUS and AMD Implemented Radeon Super Resolution in this device and that allows you to use custom upscaling and sharping on every game you set to 720P (that's a similar resolution to the Steam Deck if you're wondering). This is honestly the perfect device for this technology as I get anywhere from 45 to 90 FPS in pretty much all my higher end titles because of this. Then if you factor in VRR it makes the whole gaming experience pretty smooth. So where does this excel vs the Steam Deck? Repairability, compatibility, and flexibility... This device is so well thought out that repairing it is something almost anyone could do with minimal instructions. As for compatibility, you don't have to jump through hoops to get games from other app stores (like Battle Net, Microsoft Store, and Epic's game store). Also, the games were largely created for the Windows platform exclusively so there are no Translation layers required (unlike the Steam Deck). Flexibility is a big win for the Ally, as it has the ability to run office apps, can be docked with an external dock that houses an external GPU, and allows for very high end desktop gaming experiences or Productivity work. From this perspective this is a fairly portable laptop that you could easily connect to a hotel room screen and do work or school tasks from. Now the one place this device beats all other challengers is in how well it integrates to control the operating system (as you can see from my screenshot), as there are shortcuts built in to the controls for things like Task Manager, Task View, Armoury crate, Command Center, Desktop View, Right Click, and Left Click. You can even bring up the keyboard and minimize it with just the press of two buttons. To say this is intuitive is an understatement. Now the places this loses to the Steam Deck are. Interface, Efficiency, Optimized Gaming Experience. The interface is pretty much straight forward on the steam deck and everything is there without the complexity of a Windows OS on a touch screen device. This is like saying your iPhone OS works well with the phone (really it should if you pretty much built both experiences like Valve did). Another area is battery efficiency, as the Steam Deck and OLED Models are easily much more energy efficient than the Ally. There's no two ways about this, the OLED screen and the lower resolution screens are just more energy efficient and the Steam Deck has 2 fewer CPU Cores, so that helps as well. When a game is optimized for the Steam Deck, it is the only hardware configuration they have, so it just works and works in a way that balances quality with performance. With the Ally Z1 you pretty much have to make a compromise on one or the other, as not all games will run perfectly on first install. Overall, if you're only looking for a handheld PC Gaming experience that you can pickup and play most games with, then the Ally is a solid choice. If you want it to more of a pick up and play experience with the best compatibility, then you are better off opting for the Z1 Extreme version as it is much more capable with default presets in games. If you want a smooth optimized experience with limited game compatibility then I would say grab the Steam Deck. Yes you might have noticed I didn't include the Legion Go in this list... That's because the Go has poor optimization, janky controls, and really needs some work. Now consider the Ally started out the same way but it is a much more respectable machine after about a years worth of updates. Oh and one caveat before you buy this device. I purchased this open box excellent for about $350, but at full price I would have just paid the extra money for the Z1 Extreme version as it really is that much better when the price is that close. Also, note that the Frame Rates you see in the game screenshots (not the best thanks to the clipping tool saving them with lower quality), are on battery and plugged in you could boost the settings for even better graphics at the same performance. Another note, I really hadn't found a game the device couldn't play well once the Graphics were set to Auto for the memory allocation.

Hands get a little sore after long use, but fun to pick up and play in bed. I love the performance, and I use this more than my actual gaming PC now. The screen is beautiful. The Wi-Fi is great too for using Moonlight, feels just like playing on the native PC. The console itself feels very high quality, honestly would not imagine I'd be able to play these titles on a handheld. It feels like a dream.