ASUS ROG Ally releases in June priced competitively to the Steam Deck

In my case, battery autonomy is make or break. If all this raw power is wasted because you need to cap everything to gain minutes of playtime... What are you getting? A little more powerful Steam Deck with less input options, unreadable 3rd party apps, crapy os interactions and still worse battery autonomy (the Steam Deck's autonomy is already to the limit)?

It occurs to me that this bad feature of the Ally would compound with a bad feature of the OS they're using--with little battery time it seems to me you'd really want to be able to easily suspend a game and stop using battery, but someone was saying with Windows it won't do that.

Have you looked at the comments section of the video posted by @Slaapliedje?

https://youtube.com/watch?v=qLVgr29NMA0

4k thumbs up for the comment about the missing suspend/resume. By far the most liked comment. Didn't think it was such a big deal.

I must admit that without it...

*Low battery warning*
"-Oh! I must find the next save spot real fast..."
*System shutdown!*
"God... CENSORED!!! CENSORED handheld!"


Edit: Sorry, there is a comment with more thumbsup, but it's about the video editing.


Last edited by Mohandevir on 12 May 2023 at 4:53 pm UTC

In my case, battery autonomy is make or break. If all this raw power is wasted because you need to cap everything to gain minutes of playtime... What are you getting? A little more powerful Steam Deck with less input options, unreadable 3rd party apps, crapy os interactions and still worse battery autonomy (the Steam Deck's autonomy is already to the limit)?

It occurs to me that this bad feature of the Ally would compound with a bad feature of the OS they're using--with little battery time it seems to me you'd really want to be able to easily suspend a game and stop using battery, but someone was saying with Windows it won't do that.

Have you looked at the comments section of the video posted by @Slaapliedje?

https://youtube.com/watch?v=qLVgr29NMA0

4k thumbs up for the comment about the missing suspend/resume. By far the most liked comment. Didn't think it was such a big deal.

I must admit that without it...

*Low battery warning*
"-Oh! I must find the next save spot real fast..."
*System shutdown!*
"God... CENSORED!!! CENSORED handheld!"


Edit: Sorry, there is a comment with more thumbsup, but it's about the video editing.

I was surprised how many comments I saw saying the Deck's Linux interface made it better than the Ally's Windows. Note that I'm not surprised about that being true, I'm surprised that quite a few people seem to be saying it.

Just speaking about the value of the Ally... From what I read from different sources, I'm totally unconvinced... Like most of the PCGamers, I already have a more powerful PC... That's why I use my Steam Deck in handheld mode 95% of the time. The other 5% is for couch coop gaming and these games are not usually resource huggers. In my case, battery autonomy is make or break. If all this raw power is wasted because you need to cap everything to gain minutes of playtime... What are you getting? A little more powerful Steam Deck with less input options, unreadable 3rd party apps, crapy os interactions and still worse battery autonomy (the Steam Deck's autonomy is already to the limit)?

If it's a handheld as long as your power cord (who first said that? 😉), It kinds of defeat the purpose and makes it feel like a big marketing smokescreen, to me.

If so, I'll wait for the Steam Deck 2, in this case.

I feel guilty https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/04/asus-rog-ally-gaming-handheld/comment_id=241720

Just speaking about the value of the Ally... From what I read from different sources, I'm totally unconvinced... Like most of the PCGamers, I already have a more powerful PC... That's why I use my Steam Deck in handheld mode 95% of the time. The other 5% is for couch coop gaming and these games are not usually resource huggers. In my case, battery autonomy is make or break. If all this raw power is wasted because you need to cap everything to gain minutes of playtime... What are you getting? A little more powerful Steam Deck with less input options, unreadable 3rd party apps, crapy os interactions and still worse battery autonomy (the Steam Deck's autonomy is already to the limit)?

If it's a handheld as long as your power cord (who first said that? 😉), It kinds of defeat the purpose and makes it feel like a big marketing smokescreen, to me.

If so, I'll wait for the Steam Deck 2, in this case.

It's totally a big marketing smokescreen. Asus and Microsoft have a ton of money, and they partnered together to release what is unquestionably a monster in terms of performance. They know it'll look good on all the bar graphs and that enthusiasts with money to burn will run out and buy it just to say they have the fastest handheld. A year from now, Asus will have moved on, and the promise of a Microsoft Windows that's handheld friendly will have taken a back seat to whatever new Xbox announcement pops up. Neither is committed to this the way Valve is.

Essentially this.

Microsoft history is littered with such one shot projects, either with aim to test waters, or try to nab competition just because they can.

I wanted to throw my two cents in though - official SteamOS compatible label still would be welcome and wouldn't cost vendors that much. It could be modified approach to Steam Machine program.

Still not sure I need Steam Deck 2, but I understand people wanting more powerful device.

If so, I'll wait for the Steam Deck 2, in this case.

smokescreen or not that might kill the momentum that the deck have.
microsoft is famous for doing (among other stuff) vaporwares, promisse something, never deliver, but manage to kill the interest on the competition product, kinect was an good example, i was one of the ones fooled by the milo demo and one who thought "purchasing 4 wii motes to play with 4 persons is worse than purchasing one single kinect to play with a lot of people) not to mention xbox360 had better graphics than the wii.
luckly for me i was too poor to purchase any, otherwise i would regreat.

Neither is committed to this the way Valve is.

they did this with netbooks and where an sucess.

part of me want then to fail, the other part want everyone else to leave the market+they fail, to show consumers that they were never serious about it, then, when valve launch steam deck 2, the revenge of the siths people will know who to trust.

another option would be, they sell a lot but most people simply install steamOS on it, but im not sure what shienigans they will try with drivers.


Last edited by elmapul on 13 May 2023 at 12:11 pm UTC

If so, I'll wait for the Steam Deck 2, in this case.

smokescreen or not that might kill the momentum that the deck have.
microsoft is famous for doing (among other stuff) vaporwares, promisse something, never deliver, but manage to kill the interest on the competition product, kinect was an good example, i was one of the ones fooled by the milo demo and one who thought "purchasing 4 wii motes to play with 4 persons is worse than purchasing one single kinect to play with a lot of people) not to mention xbox360 had better graphics than the wii.
luckly for me i was too poor to purchase any, otherwise i would regreat.

Thing is, the Steam Deck is already a success. The Steam Deck 2 will come, no matter what happens with the Ally, better, stronger and more feature stacked. Time will tell if Asus will still be in the handheld market, at that time.


Last edited by Mohandevir on 13 May 2023 at 1:31 pm UTC

Thing is, the Steam Deck is already a success. The Steam Deck 2 will come, no matter what happens with the Ally, better, stronger and more feature stacked. Time will tell if Asus will still be in the handheld market, at that time.

the issue is, valve said they wont be relasing steam deck 2 any time soon, people were expecting an console life cycle of ~5 years, maybe a bit less maybe much more.
if valve relase an steam deck 2 any time soon, people would feel betreayed so they are in an complicated situation.
i think the only solution would be to drop the price, its definitelly possible, but then people who purchased an deck recently will want something as it happened with the people who purchased a few time prior to the sale where they gave it an discount.

i dont know how much they will have to drop the prices and if the new price should be permanent or not.
hopefully its not even nescessary, but asus being able to do an world wide launch before the deck , and the deck having to drop the prices sooner than valve expected can be a major blow.

What usually sells a console system to me is one main game I gotta have, and any others I want are bonuses. I wonder what that would be for the Ally? What game is the system seller? Fortnite?

What usually sells a console system to me is one main game I gotta have, and any others I want are bonuses. I wonder what that would be for the Ally? What game is the system seller? Fortnite?

Well, what game was it for millions of Steam Deck customers? In these cases it's more the form factor and that you already got many games before even owning the new "console". I guess.

Thing is, the Steam Deck is already a success. The Steam Deck 2 will come, no matter what happens with the Ally, better, stronger and more feature stacked. Time will tell if Asus will still be in the handheld market, at that time.

the issue is, valve said they wont be relasing steam deck 2 any time soon, people were expecting an console life cycle of ~5 years, maybe a bit less maybe much more.
if valve relase an steam deck 2 any time soon, people would feel betreayed so they are in an complicated situation.
i think the only solution would be to drop the price, its definitelly possible, but then people who purchased an deck recently will want something as it happened with the people who purchased a few time prior to the sale where they gave it an discount.

i dont know how much they will have to drop the prices and if the new price should be permanent or not.
hopefully its not even nescessary, but asus being able to do an world wide launch before the deck , and the deck having to drop the prices sooner than valve expected can be a major blow.

Maybe... Or an actual Steam Deck refresh with better battery and 1tb nvme at the top tier. Maybe put a 128gb nvme in the low tier and the 512gb in the mid tier?

Just throwing ideas...

Maybe... Or an actual Steam Deck refresh with better battery and 1tb nvme at the top tier. Maybe put a 128gb nvme in the low tier and the 512gb in the mid tier?

Just throwing ideas...

the things i want to see the most on the deck:

1)sell on Brasil
2)Hall Effect Joysticks (so the sticks last "forever")
3)better battery
4)oled screen.

i was going to say that: if i was valve, i would relase those features in the revisions and only after got all those features and maybe an slim model (especially for japan wich have small houses) think about an steam deck 2.
but now with this competition, droping the price should be an priority.
the original planing (if i was valve) would be something like:
drop the 64GB model to 350, 300, 250 and up to 200.
the others would have an smilimiar price cut.

but that was counting with switch as an competition or small companies like GPD, ayaneo and forgot the last one.
this thing is different the price cuts will have to speed up.

Maybe... Or an actual Steam Deck refresh with better battery and 1tb nvme at the top tier. Maybe put a 128gb nvme in the low tier and the 512gb in the mid tier?

Just throwing ideas...

the things i want to see the most on the deck:

1)sell on Brasil
2)Hall Effect Joysticks (so the sticks last "forever")
3)better battery
4)oled screen.

i was going to say that: if i was valve, i would relase those features in the revisions and only after got all those features and maybe an slim model (especially for japan wich have small houses) think about an steam deck 2.
but now with this competition, droping the price should be an priority.
the original planing (if i was valve) would be something like:
drop the 64GB model to 350, 300, 250 and up to 200.
the others would have an smilimiar price cut.

but that was counting with switch as an competition or small companies like GPD, ayaneo and forgot the last one.
this thing is different the price cuts will have to speed up.

On the bright side you can already install different joysticks yourself. The Oled screen is what I would want. Battery life all depends on what games you play on it.

On the bright side you can already install different joysticks yourself. The Oled screen is what I would want. Battery life all depends on what games you play on it.

they have an special sensor on the stick that detect your finger presece, i doubt we can find one on the market with that feature + the hall sensor.
im not sure if i gonna use that feature though.

If so, I'll wait for the Steam Deck 2, in this case.

smokescreen or not that might kill the momentum that the deck have.
microsoft is famous for doing (among other stuff) vaporwares, promisse something, never deliver, but manage to kill the interest on the competition product, kinect was an good example, i was one of the ones fooled by the milo demo and one who thought "purchasing 4 wii motes to play with 4 persons is worse than purchasing one single kinect to play with a lot of people) not to mention xbox360 had better graphics than the wii.
luckly for me i was too poor to purchase any, otherwise i would regreat.

Ohh yeah, Microsoft does that, and I can surely detect something of that here - although to be fair there have been quite a few people wanting Windows handheld they could latch on to.

However, this is Valve we talk about. They have no shareholder responsibility. They have Steam as platform. Despite everything, Microsoft does not have that kind of pull.

Also thing is Microsoft is really well known for their BS these days. Their XBOX lineup is very problematic right now and they are not exactly swimming in good will.

Overall while it is interesting development, I see it as a phase of fight rather some kind of decisive blow.

Neither is committed to this the way Valve is.

they did this with netbooks and where an sucess.

Errrr, it clearly was not. They lost to Apple and Google. Microsoft just dropped their mouse and keyboard production. I don't expect them also having follow up to XBOX Series S/X. They are prepping for big fight of "AI supremacy" (whatever marketing nonsense it means).

Edit: I will throw other responses to your posts if you don't mind :)

Brazil (I understand you live there) is special case, it has very expensive tariffs for both hardware and software. That's why no one sells there. Not really Valve's fault not wanting to touch that.

I don't see reason for price drop for SD, because they are not selling it for profit. They might do some reshuffling of versions and having two models instead of three, with corrected price tags.

They are still selling on brand. Steam is much bigger than ASUS is.


Last edited by Pecisk on 13 May 2023 at 5:41 pm UTC

but now with this competition, droping the price should be an priority.

Not saying it's not an idea. I was just saying that there is another solution: offer something that Asus doesn't. Better storage and better battery on the same Steam Deck APU may be easier to do (hardware refresh, not a Steam Deck 2). Keep the same price tags, but offer more per tier. 2230 nvmes are becoming more affordable.

Anyway, I trust Valve in keeping an eye on the situation. Who knows, it might bring more people on Steam and the handheld market without really hurting the Steam Deck sales. Some Windows fanboys decided to pass on the Steam Deck. They might be more interested in the Ally. For Valve, it would be a win/win. Remember the EGS threat? Valve just got out of it stronger and kept on course.


Last edited by Mohandevir on 13 May 2023 at 7:13 pm UTC

On the bright side you can already install different joysticks yourself. The Oled screen is what I would want. Battery life all depends on what games you play on it.

they have an special sensor on the stick that detect your finger presece, i doubt we can find one on the market with that feature + the hall sensor.
im not sure if i gonna use that feature though.

https://a.co/d/fAbjCQJ [External Link]

Sure, you likely lose whatever functionality the touch sensors give you.

Edit: they do support the touch sensor, you just have to use a soldering iron durin install.


Last edited by slaapliedje on 13 May 2023 at 7:50 pm UTC

Delicious!

https://www.theverge.com/23719210/asus-rog-ally-review [External Link]

Errrr, it clearly was not. They lost to Apple and Google. Microsoft just dropped their mouse and keyboard production. I don't expect them also having follow up to XBOX Series S/X. They are prepping for big fight of "AI supremacy" (whatever marketing nonsense it means).

what i mean is that they killed the netbook form facotr, their strategy was to kill linux adoption that were hapening thanks to netbooks, they suceed at it by killing the entire form factor , it was not their original goal but did the job anyway.
fortunatelly the same didnt happened in tablets and phones, but im not completely satisfied with the apple/google duopoly either.
i wished for android the same we have for linux desktop, tons of options, and while oems have their branding and we have custom roms, the brand customization often sacrifice user choice (you cant uninstall those apps) and the custom roms may not work if you dont have all the drivers or if an app rely on google play services.

Edit: I will throw other responses to your posts if you don't mind :)

i do mind i like to talk to wall =P... of course i dont mind, lol.

Brazil (I understand you live there) is special case, it has very expensive tariffs for both hardware and software. That's why no one sells there. Not really Valve's fault not wanting to touch that.

i know the strugle, but as much as i care about the deck, its useless for me if i cant access it.

I don't see reason for price drop for SD, because they are not selling it for profit. They might do some reshuffling of versions and having two models instead of three, with corrected price tags.

maybe they should quit the 64GB model altogheter and make the 256 be de minimum and increase the maximum, but that would have an side effect..
i really wished that AAA developers would make an lightweight version of their games, low res textures etc to target the64GB model... or modders, killing it would kill that possibility. (not that its ever going to happen)

They are still selling on brand. Steam is much bigger than ASUS is.

maybe among pc gamers but not with the general public, especially people who came from consoles and are entering pc gaming now.