The handheld gaming market is super competitive at the moment with several major PC companies vying for the top position. This is a space that was dominated by Nintendo for years with PlayStation dipping their toe in and eventually the popular Steam Deck managed to bring the power of PC to the people. In recent years we’ve seen ASUS, Lenovo and MSI release very similar and competitive devices each with pros and cons over the other and even a return of PlayStation with their surprisingly good “Portal” device.
ASUS have been a real leader in this area with the dominant ALLY previously coming in two models, the Z1 and Z1 Extreme, but now rather than release an Ally 2 they have instead seemingly released the version of the portable PC they should have originally, the ALLY X. Now there are probably a few reasons why most manufacturers aren’t releasing versions with these specs and cost to them and the consumer would be all of them. However the team have managed to fill this new version with enough RAM and a bigger battery making it the current first choice for handheld players.
Performance in the ASUS ROG ALLY X is a fair improvement. The team are clear that this is not a 2nd generation of the console and more like an upgrade, so with that comes 24GB up from 16GB of RAM. This is paired with a AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip that gives you really solid performance in most titles, even allowing you to play some games the early machine had next to no luck with like Avatar and Alan Wake 2.
I spent several hours playing Far Cry 6 and the frames were always hovering around the 40fps area, the gameplay was smooth and the screen bright and of a decent enough size. The 120Hz display is just really easy on the eye for long term gaming.
There’s more storage as well, a larger SSD (1TB vs the originals 512GB). This extra support is great as Call of Duty Modern Warfare III is a whopping 350GB install, so there’s little room for much else once that bad boy is loaded.
The moment you get your hands on this device you’ll notice the difference in the buttons. The XYBA seem to be ever so slightly elevated and the triggers feel far more accurate and have a more comfortable press. There were some tactile clicking sounds when using it, which I’m sure the lady on the plane trip I went on was really happy about while I was smashing them playing EA FC.
The considerable upgrade is to double the battery life which does add a little extra weight to the device, but not enough that it would be of any concern. If anything I felt that the extra weight added to the overall feel of quality, you know how expensive things have physical weight. It doesn’t feel as plastic as its predecessor.
The redesign has moved some of the ports around and replaced the power input with a USB type C interface. The SD card slot has been moved which should keep it away from the area that was apparently overheating in the first model, although I’ve seen this reported I’ve never actually experienced it.
Also on the design, I know a lot of people love the new black chasis, but I think I prefered the white from the previous model. It would be nice to have a choice in the colour, its not a deal breaker, but I did feel it stood out from it’s opposition.
The ROG ALLY X runs on Windows 11 but is best experienced with ASUS’s Armoury Crate SE that seems to have had a massive makeover since I last reviewed the original ALLY. The software layout is far more intuitive and the game selections screen is prettier with game artwork. They also have done a great job having it integrate the multiple software libraries like Game Pass, Ubisoft Connect and EA Play. It’s not perfect, but its one of the best, especially if you come from console gaming and want less fuss.
If I was someone that already owned an ALLY Z1 Extreme model, I don’t think I’d rush out and upgrade unless you thought you could get a considerable return on your initial investment on marketplace. However the extra RAM, battery and tweaks to the overall design are worth it if you’ve been waiting to jump into handheld PCs and the leap is a wonderful precursor to what the future holds for this very exciting gaming space.
Doccy Darko
