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The original was posted on /r/handhelds by /u/ThucydidesJones on 2023-07-13 02:19:18.
Didn’t realize there was a dedicated handheld sub! r/gaming didn’t really care about this; I guess that’s too broad of an audience. I’m interested in seeing thoughts here from people who aren’t owners yet, and/or people who have owned multiple handheld PCs.
General/intro:
I wasn’t sure what to expect going into the Ally – the performance capability combined with the Windows OS was really appealing, but I’d never used handheld PC before and my own experiences with handheld gaming devices has been mixed. I owned a Nintendo Switch Lite, which I really did not like. And I had Gameboys back in the day, but those are comparatively much cheaper devices intended for low fidelity gaming.
I have about 40 to 50 hours on the Ally so far, and I’m overall pretty pleased and impressed.
Performance:
Atomic Heart and Battlefront II ended up being the two high fidelity games I explored most on the device. At 1080p, I got around 35 - 55 fps on a mix of Med/High/Ultra settings in the former (unplugged), and about 40 – 80fps on High settings in the latter (unplugged) - reason for the large range is the space fighting mode is much less intensive. I did plug in for a bit and the performance certainly improved even further, but I do like not being tethered to a charger/cable, so I was fine with the 25w Turbo mode. I’ve also got Ryujinx running Diamond at 60 fps, but more on emulation below.
Loading times felt reasonable. I didn’t time any, but I never felt I was staring at loading/black screens for an intrusive amount of time.
I also installed the Ninja Gaiden remaster trilogy, which expectedly runs maxed even on Silent mode.
Aesthetics/Physical Build:
The RGB lighting, while often a bit of a meme in gaming discussions, really does look cool and presents a nice visual flair - the level of control/customization over them that you have veers on excessive. However, I’m not a huge fan of the color white for tech/entertainment items, so I may get a wrap of some sort (or a form-fitting case) – white is so basic, the Ally has a crazy design on its back, why not go crazy with the color? Orange, bright green, navy, crimson, etc. would be sweet. I’d probably take pink over white if offered.
Anyway, the Ally feels pretty comfortable to my hands – my gaming sessions generally last 30 to 60 minutes, and I’ve not at any point felt uncomfortable or like my hands needed a rest. The last time I habitually used a gaming controller was well over a decade ago, and to my hands the buttons/joysticks on the Ally feel fine. I know there is discussion of a software-based deadzone issue, but I haven’t noticed anything intrusive to my experience.
While the unit itself feels quality, the small stand that comes with it does look and feel sort of cheap. But it will keep the Ally rigid, even on uneven surfaces like a bed or couch.
Regarding the SD card slot, I have not used it. I am fine with the internal storage, but if this is an issue that concerns you, the good news at least is that Best Buy has been doing direct exchanges/replacements with new units if yours has the SD card slot issue. ASUS might direct you to RMA if you contact them, but you don’t have to do that.
Malleability and Emulation:
This and performance are probably the two most appealing selling points. The Ally really is a handheld PC and not just a gaming machine. If your game/program of choice works on your PC, it should work on the Ally with little-to-no fumbling. That said, despite the very open-ended nature of what the Ally can do, I can imagine it being cumbersome to conduct anything other than entertainment activities or very basic web browsing or file navigation, given the screen size and lack of physical keyboard. Though, I’m sure you can use attachments/accessories to make the experience more conducive to productivity tasks or more intensive non-entertainment activities.
A few days ago, I saw a comment on a Yuzu update thread asking, “How do I do this on the SteamDeck?” Someone replied that EmuDeck should take care of everything, but then there was a long chain about how EmuDeck can be unreliable and fraught with problems. As an Ally owner, none of that is a concern. The Ally runs Windows, and Yuzu runs natively on Windows. And that goes for any Windows-based emulator. I am running Ryujinx to play Luminescent Platinum, and on Performance mode I get a pretty stable 60. Some areas of the game are more intensive and don’t fare well on Silent mode for me, but YMMV.
Value:
I see a lot of comparisons and reviews noting the Steam Deck being cheaper, but if you compare the top Steam Deck model to the Ally, the price difference is about $50 retail. And if you compare the Ally with its other cohorts in the handheld PC landscape, I think the Ally strikes a sweet spot balance between performance/utility and price. There are more powerful handheld PCs out there… and you can expect to pay anywhere from $300 to $700 more for them than you would for the Ally – which, honestly at that point ($1,000 - $1,500), you’re starting to be in the territory of “may as well build your own desktop/get a gaming laptop” money.
It’s also worth noting that the Ally comes with 3 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
QoL/Accessibility:
The Ally being a proper handheld PC and not only a gaming device does mean there is more to consider when making decisions. Keeping track of the multiple launchers and pieces of software that see routine updates can be easy to overlook. But being able to access the Command Center literally whenever (in-game? no problem!) is really nice, though it would be better if it displayed detailed battery information (not just a %, but also an estimated time remaining given the current activity/power output).
The Ally offers a number of different audio profiles, and the speakers can get pretty loud depending on your selection. I have it running on the handheld-specific mode, and I rarely bring the volume above 30%.
The battery life varies – if you’re unplugged and playing high fidelity games on the Turbo mode with high screen brightness, it’s likely going to last around 60 minutes (game-dependent). That number can be increased quite a bit by going down to 15w and/or decreasing brightness.
Random Notes/Tips:
Make sure when you’re switching the power modes, you don’t accidentally go one too far. I had thought I put it on Turbo one night, but I actually had it on Silent. I loaded up Battlefront II and got horrible stutters (to the point the audio was stuttering too) – figured it was a BF bug and tried Atomic Heart… same problem. Then I realized, “Wait. Why is it so quiet?” The Ally’s fans are noticeably audible in the higher power modes (though game audio often drowns them out), so if your Ally is sounding “silent” and you’re trying to play high fidelity games, you’re likely in the wrong mode!
I turned off VMP and Core Isolation, as advised in this reddit thread. Worth considering if you will only use the device for gaming, but not 100% necessary if you have reservations about messing with settings. I did not see any of the side-effects some users in the thread noted regarding PINs/setup, but YMMV.
Conclusion:
I think ASUS has confidently brought a formidable contender to the handheld landscape. In addition to fixing the software issues and hardware design issues, there are things I’d like to see enhanced for a second revision or follow-up model (colors other than white, better unplugged battery life/usage, quieter fans/fan design, and maybe another USB-C port), but overall, the Ally is immensely fun to game on and it has been nothing but reliable and easy to use across my 40ish hours on it so far. I expect to get a lot more use out of it and I am eager to see what ASUS and AMD may be able to do with software updates to continue optimizing and enhancing the Ally’s performance and usability.
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