When I reviewed the previous-generation ASUS ROG Ally a little over a year ago, it was my first foray into the world of handheld games consoles. It was rather mind-blowing that I could carry around a device in my backpack that managed to run PC games at a high quality. However, it left me wanting more, with minimal battery life and insufficient storage space to fit more than a few games on the device. It had potential, but it felt a tad undercooked.
Good news! ASUS has refreshed the device to address my two biggest gripes. Now called the ASUS ROG Ally X (AUD$1,599), this device has twice the previous model’s battery life (very small increase in weight) and twice the SSD storage capacity. It might come at a AUD$300 price premium over the previous model and carry the same 7-inch 1080P, 120Hz free-sync premium display, and the same AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor. However, you shouldn’t really care about that because those components are still very good.
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There’ve Been Many Changes to the ROG Ally X
Before I get into the full review, it’s important to understand the changes the brand has made over the previous device. While the battery life and storage increase are most important, several additional improvements are worth mentioning. I’ve listed them below:
- More ergonomic chassis with larger grip handles
- Double the battery, 80WH, only a small increase in weight
- 50 per cent more LPDDR system memory, 24GB RAM vs. 16GB RAM
- 17 per cent faster LPDDR memory 7500 MT/s
- Up to 15 per cent higher performance because of faster memory (CP2077/Forza5 Turbo, 720P)
- 20-30 per cent higher TDP in silent and performance mode, more performance (13W, 17W)
- You can game at 25W for longer than you can game on 15W on the original Ally (25W vs 15W)
- Thicker heat pipe, improved fans, larger air intake vents, airflow channel, third exhaust vent
- 5dB quieter in turbo and performance mode
- Up to 6°C lower panel temperatures, up to 8°C lower SOC temperatures
- Full-size Gen4 2280 SSD slot, support for up to 8TB SSDs
- Double the storage, 1TB PCIe Gen 4 storage by default instead of 512GB
- Second USB-C port, USB4 with 40GB/s (USB 3.2 Gen2 10GB/s), Thunderbolt e-GPUs
- Lower min nit setting for gaming in the dark
- Louder punchier speakers
It’s pretty clear that this is more than a recycled device with more storage and battery-life; it’s closer to a full-life upgrade. You could also argue that this is the device that ROG should have released in the first place, but let’s not give the brand too much stick because it’s produced a great handheld gaming device. It may be AUD$300 more expensive, but I believe this price increase is justified.
What Can the ROG Ally X Do?
If this is your first time seeing a handheld games console, you’re basically looking at a small Windows 11 computer with controllers attached to the side and enough performance to play AAA games.
It’s the software that makes the difference with these devices because as good as the touchscreen is, it’s small and annoying to use. To save you from frustration, the ROG Ally X carries over the brand’s tailor-made Armoury Crate SE software that gives access to every game on the device from one central location. You don’t have to run through multiple launchers—Steam, Xbox Game Pass, Epic, GOG, etc.
You can access the Armoury Crate SE from the quick-access button on the front of the device and change button layouts, tweak the Aura sync lighting, and even set up individual game profiles. This allows you to set individual GPU options like RSR and AFMF on a game-by-game basis. If you need to change things in-game, use the Command Center, which can change performance modes, monitor real-time data, enable an FPS limiter, and more.
Of course, the settings are very customisable, and you can switch between preset performance profiles or create a fully customised manual mode with things like advanced TDP settings and custom fan curves. However, what’s most useful is the overlay that can be moved to any part of the screen, meaning you can keep an eye on the battery level, clock speeds, temperatures and the current power draw.
ROG Ally X Has Better Ergonomics
Contrary to popular belief, I firmly believe comfort in hand is the most important thing about handheld gaming devices. You could sit here and compare the performance figures all day, but the Ally X and all its competitors perform about the same. Ultimately, if you want maximum performance, buy a PC and use that at your desk. You’re buying a handheld gaming game console because it’s portable, and the Ally X does this well.
I never had any particular issue with last year’s model, but this year has further improvements. Thankfully, ASUS lists them because I would not have noticed them if they hadn’t told me. The ergonomic and control differences between the ASUS ROG Ally and the Ally X include:
- Improved AXBY buttons
- Premium ALPS joysticks with a 2.5x longer lifetime rating (5 million cycles, tighter springs)
- Third-party hall effect joystick upgrade kit
- Improved D-pad
- Improved hall effect triggers
- Improved bumper/shoulder buttons
- Improved macro paddles
- Improved haptic feedback
It’s comfortable for extended gaming. It has curved edges, anti-slip handgrips (with tiny ROG lettering, like a PS5), and an overall height increase of 4.5mm to accommodate that large 80 Wh battery. They’ve also changed the position of the joysticks relative to the D-Pad and face buttons, and there are custom-tailored 2° and 14° slants.
The joysticks are a delight to use. They’re nice and tacky, with plenty of feedback thanks to their new springs. They’re potentiometer-based ALPS sticks, the same as those on your PS5 or Xbox controller.
Macro keys on the back of the device (M1 & M2) are smaller than last year’s model and allow shortcuts. Defaults include:
- Macro + D-pad up: Show Keyboard
- Macro + D-pad down: Task Manager
- Macro + D-pad left: Show Desktop
- Macro + D-pad right: Task Viewer
- Macro + A: Take Screenshot
- Macro + B: Show Windows Notification Center
- Macro + X: Projection mode
- Macro + Y: Begin Recording
My only real gripe remains the weight, which has increased by 11 per cent to 678 grams. It can get quite heavy depending on where and how you’re playing the Ally X. For example, lying on a bed and holding the device gets uncomfortable after two hours before the battery runs out.
Comparing the weight of the Ally X to other Windows-based devices, it’s less of an issue: Steam Deck weighs 640 grams, MSI Claw weighs 671 grams, and the monstrous Lenovo Legion Go weighs 852 grams. However, if you’re used to playing a Nintendo Switch that weighs 400 grams, the Ally X will be noticeably heavier. It’s also something to consider if you’re travelling because some airlines have strict carry-on weight limits.
Regarding ports and connectivity, there’s one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port and a new USB 4 Type-C port featuring Thunderbolt 4. This is important because it allows users to plug in any accessory, including external GPUs. You’ll also find a 3.5 mm headphone jack and UHS-II MicroSD card slot combo.
Finally, the dual front-firing speakers have slightly larger chambers, which has increased sound quality slightly. This combines with the brand’s Smart Amp technology to reduce volume distortion. If you’re like me, you’ll just chuck on a pair of headphones and call it a day.
Battery, Performance, and Cooling Have Improved in the ROG Ally X
If there was one major issue with the previous-gen ROG Ally, it was the small 40 Wh battery. While you could provide backup power to the device with a powerful (and heavy) portable charger, it made an otherwise great handheld gaming console useless for travel. For reference, I managed more than two hours of gameplay across most indie games but just over one hour on AAA games such as Forza Horizon 5. Thankfully, that’s all changed because the ROG Ally X has twice the battery life, 80 Wh to be precise.
To cut to the chase, I managed 2.5 hours of gameplay on Forza Horizon 5 with 15-25 W of GPU power, consistent 70-80 per cent GPU utilisation, 30 per cent CPU utilisation, and gameplay graphics benchmarked on battery in performance mode at low-to-medium across the board. Of course, you could turn these up and extract the most out of the GPU, but that would require more battery and minimal visual gains.
If we’re talking hardware, you get AMD’s Ryzen Z1 Extreme (8 cores and 16 threads) with 8 Zen4 CPU cores at up to 5.1 GHz and an RDNA 3 Radeon 780M GPU with 12CUs at up to 2.7 GHz. Faster LPDDR5X-7500 memory has increased from 16GB to 24GB on the Ally X, which lets you split memory: 16GB for the CPU, 8GB for the iGPU. The result is smooth frame rates across the board.
It wasn’t easy to heat soak the ROG Ally X unless I started to push the limits of its capability. GPU temps sat around 50-65°C for most of my testing, only creeping up during extended periods. Thank the thinner (0.1mm thick) fan blades for this. They have increased airflow by 10% on their own and combined with thicker heat pipes and a third exhaust vent along the upper edge of the Ally X. The quoted figures are up to 24% more airflow, up to 6°C lower panel temperatures, and up to 8°C lower SOC temperatures.
ROG Ally X Display is the Same, Still a Great Thing
I’m glad ASUS kept the same display on the ROG Ally X because if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. What you’re looking at is a 1080p, 120Hz touchscreen display with AMD FreeSync Premium, 7ms response time, 500 nits of peak brightness, 100% coverage of the sRGB colour space, and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus that helps this display prevent costly cracks and scratches.
Consider what you’re using this device for, and you’ll realise you don’t need more than this in a hand-held gaming console. The only logical step forward is adding OLED technology to compete with the Steam Deck OLED, which would force a higher price.
If I had to point the finger at something, I’d like an even brighter display with more than 500 nits of peak brightness to help with gaming outdoors. However, the brand has added Corning Gorilla Glass DXC coating, which helps reduce reflections and it’s not at all.
ROG could add a larger display to compete with the Lenovo Legion Go’s 8.8-inch QHD+ display, but that device weighs 850 grams, so it’s a massive trade-off for portability. I’d rather have the lighter device.
Man of Many’s Verdict on the ROG Ally X
Simply put, the ROG Ally X takes the best Windows handheld games console and improves it above and beyond anything else. The bigger 80 Whr battery is the headlining act that places it above the competition (Lenovo Legion Go and MSI Claw), with more than 2.5 hours of intense AAA gameplay extracted during my testing. However, it’s the small changes that add up, too.
The improved ergonomics have made it more comfortable to play for longer. The doubling of the default storage means more games without having to upgrade SSDs, and the extra Thunderbolt 4 USB-C port and 24GB RAM make it a better performer, too. This is a device worthy of its AUD$300 price increase.
If ASUS can iron out some of the small issues that come with scaling down a Windows 11 PC, this will be a home-run device. Let’s see if the brand take advantage of that new Thunderbolt 4 USB-C port and give us an external GPU to use in the future. Let’s all assume that the proprietary XG Mobile eGPU port was removed for a reason. We’ll ask for an OLED screen while we’re at it, too!
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