ASUS ROG Ally Handheld Gaming Console (AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme Processor | 7″ Full HD 120Hz IPS 500nits Touchscreen | 16GB RAM | 512GB PCIe SSD|AMD…

I already own 2 Steam Decks and this was available for £399, so I grabbed one. I’d had my eye on it before but couldn’t quite pull the trigger but at that price point, I felt it was rude not to. The first downside is you have to get a case for it, unlike the Steam Deck which already comes with one. It’s not a major issue but I do feel that it should come with one given it’s major competitor does and sometimes the little things matter. Anyway, if feels nice in the hand and obviously has RGB in certain places which is popular with some, but at least you can turn it off should you need to. It will update Windows (it runs under Win 11 if you didn’t know but you probably do) pretty much when you get it, so wise to just get that out the way. I also upgraded the SSD to 2TB which for this model is the biggest currently (the newer one has a standard 2280 NVME so you could go to 8TB if you have the cash) and being honest, 512gb is nothing these days so you’re going to want to upgrade. I also popped in a 512gb Micro SSD for games that speed of loading isn’t such a factor. On the note of upgrading the SSD, both the actual physical install and the install afterwards of the OS is much easier than the Steam Deck – but if you’re going to do an upgrade, I’d do it on arrival rather than later personally (you can clone it if needed but it’s just easier/quicker to just do an over the air re-install IMO). Performance wise, it’s perfectly fine. I’m not playing anything mega complex – Kingdom Hearts, FF VII and FMV games are my thing. The Armory Crate software has most of the normal launchers but Epic is one you’ll have to install more manually at first (it will integrate into Armory Crate once installed though). It’s also not the best front end, it’s not the worst either and ultimately does the job. As the Steam Deck does, you can also install games across your LAN once connected which is useful (obviously you have to have your PC on to do so) and that just makes it quicker to do so than re-downloading it as such. Screen quality is very good, I have nothing negative to say there, even smallish text was fine. Battery life is ok – it’s had a few BIOS updates since launch and I think those are more ironed out (there’s also performance tweaking you can do here, as you can on Steam Deck). Sound from the speakers is very good, I feel a touch louder and cleaner than the Steam Deck but everything is subjective. You also have the ability, like the Steam Deck to play on a monitor but that’s not for me – feels like it defeats the purpose of a portable system. Charging time is reasonable (it comes with the typical ASUS puck charger). I use a screen protector on all my devices so can’t comment if the screen is resistant or not – I just protect that as standard. For the cash (which was discounted) I’m very happy I can play Steam, Epic, EA or whatever games without any fuss. Even games that have anti-cheat like Destiny 2 could run on this (I haven’t done that, I do prefer to play that on my PC) which is one thing that the Steam Deck can’t, or titles like Fifa (apparently – football is NOT my thing whatsoever). I like my Steam Deck, don’t get me wrong, but having this just gives me a bit more flexibility overall. It’s a really nice piece of kit and I’m glad I picked one up while I could.