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When it comes to announcing anything on April Fools' Day, it's usually a silly prank reveal of a fake product, since nearly everyone expects such on that day. However, on very rare occasions, those almost unbelievable reveals turn out to be real. That was the case with Asus's new handheld device, which was initially believed to be an April Fools' joke, but turned out to be something that will actually be launching in the near future. Called the ROG Ally, it's designed to be a Steam Deck competitor, running Windows 11 with the ability to play Game Pass titles, and will utilize an AMD Ryzen APU. In the initial trailer, uploaded on April 1st, Asus shows the Ally using a home screen that collects games across multiple launchers--specifically Game Pass and Steam, and can apparently natively run titles like Resident Evil: Village, High on Life, Ghostrunner, Dying Light 2, and more. Notably, it also appears to support docking to Asus' ROG XG eGPU. for better performance on your TV when docked.

A Best Buy store page is available, where you can register for notifications as to when the ROG Ally can be pre-ordered. Asus also offered an early production unit of the Ally to YouTuber Dave2D, who got hands-on time with the handheld. It is claimed that the Ally will have "two times the performance of the Steam Deck", with a 1080p screen that can output 120hz. Asus has not announced the price of the ROG Ally at this time.

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[Veho]

.....it's a PC handheld you dingus of course it's going to have an Xbox layout.

What's that got to do with anything? PCs use the PC layout

 

[Kurt91]

Honestly, the only complaint I have with my Steam Deck is that Proton doesn't have 100% compatibility with all of my games. Yakuza 5 has cutscene issues; from what I've heard, Yakuza 6 has a couple issues that require downloading an edited version of Proton to run it; Hyperdimension Neptunia VII doesn't run on it and you wind up stuck with a black screen.

For the games that Proton can run, the only issues I've had for the most part were battery life, and I don't think that this is going to fix the problem. I admit, there were a couple minor performance issues I've noticed with a couple games I play. .Hack//GU remaster has some minor slowdown when using a Warp Gate, but those animations are so short that you wouldn't notice unless you'd played the original on PS2. Yakuza 4 works really well, except for some audio desync issues during cutscenes. Not a major issue until you get to the longer cutscenes. I only really noticed it during Revelations.

Other than that, I haven't had any complaints with it. It's played everything else I've thrown at it. It's an amazing emulation device, and can even manage dual-screen emulation. I've gotten to try StarFox Zero by connecting it to my TV. Not my favorite game, but it was neat getting to see exactly how it was supposed to work. It's a lot of fun to crank up the internal resolution and play 3DS games that way. Been playing Persona Q, and it's nice to play it as though it were a console game. Hell, I've even gotten PS3 emulation working on it. Admittedly, it's just Disgaea D2, so I doubt I'm pushing the hardware much, but it works and it's portable.

But I digress. What I'm getting at is that this new handheld seems to be going in the wrong direction. If it can run Windows 11, then it should have better compatibility than the Steam Deck by default. (Note, you can dual-boot into Windows on a Steam Deck, and it's actually free to install! Microsoft allows free full installation on devices with screens smaller than 11 inches or so.) But honestly, we don't necessarily need *better* performance at the moment. The real killer on the Steam Deck is battery life. Using Yakuza 4 as an example again, even after cranking the battery and CPU settings as low as possible without hurting gameplay, I still only got 2.5 hours before the battery would give out. (I had to ride the bus to my college courses, and the bus there and back was long enough to kill the battery by the time I returned home.)

Forget improving the specs, the screen's going to be small enough that it's not a big deal. Stick with Windows if you want, it'll only help compatibility. What you need to focus on is getting the best battery life possible out of the box. If you can somehow manage to get 4 to 5 hours battery life, then you've got a Steam Deck killer on your hands.

 

[SilverLobster]

Wait this ISN'T an in-season April Fool's joke?...

 

[subcon959]

It might as well be 1989. Nintendo was the only company then that understood what made handheld gaming desirable, and 34 years later almost nothing has changed.

All Asus had to do was concentrate on battery life and a nicer screen, and instead they made it more powerful with worse battery life..

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Note, that is 2 times the performance at 35W. Most people probably are not going to want to run it at 35W for extended gaming sessions because it will really eat up the battery life, and increase fan noise. At 15W it's a 50% increase in performance (allegedly), which is still a reasonable bump, but you might need to drop the ingame resolution down to 720p for good performance in some games then. At 7", this is not a huge deal, having the option to run lighter games at 1080p is nice, but 1080p is not really needed for a screen this size.

I'm sure this thing won't be cheap, but we are finally getting to the point where a handheld can feasibly run modern, demanding games at high settings at 720p (with decent battery life, which you can trade for high frame rate or 1080p if you prefer), which on a handheld screen is going to look pretty incredible and be able to rival current home consoles in graphics fidelity.

I'm sure this has already been posted, but just in case it hasn't:

 

[Mark McDonut]

No touchpads

Nope, too valuable with the games I play, I'll stick with my steamdeck.

 

[tpax]

ThePhawx has an interesting take on the "double performance" gibberish.

 

[Ducolamia]

On one hand, I really do like the amount of competition coming out for handhelds in recently due to the popularity of the Steam Deck. I really don't have an issue with other options being available. I love my GPD Win 4 and Ayaneo Geek dearly next to my Steam Deck and Switch. Contrary to popular belief, I do think there is a potential for a Windows handheld. Yes the OS is jank for gaming. However, nothing is going to beat a game just working after a launch/update.

My major gripe with the Steam Deck (other than the weight) is how compatibility can be hit or miss. I play a lot of older RPGs so compatibility usually isn't an issue in terms of emulation, but some modern games they definitely are a problem. Some companies that make RPGs seem to favor the Steam Deck (e.g. Square) and consider it when releasing newer titles, thankfully. However, more often than not, some games just aren't compatible like they are on Windows. I've tinkered with my Steam Deck quite a bit for the record, but I find that the effort I put in to get Windows games to work was simply not worth it and I'd rather just have a dedicated handheld for that.

On the other hand, what I think a lot of these companies are missing is that portable handhelds still need to be...well...portable!
Power is good for when you need docked support (something stuff like the competition is genuinely lacking), but not for on-the-go support unless it's for maintaining battery life. The Steam Deck is already criticized for it's meh battery life, but ASUS wants to propose a console that has twice the performance and competitive pricing....okay? But what's the battery like on a device like this? Who cares if it's more powerful if it's just going to die in an hour? I feel like a proper portable device should have 4+ hrs of batttery life minimum. Or at the very least, give me the option to adjust the TDP so I can save more time and play longer!

Regardless, I'm just glad we live in a time in which emulation is possible on most modern handhelds/phones at reasonably higher settings for under $1000 USD (for the most part).

Good luck to Asus, let's see how this pans out.

 

[k0walski]

Well, I'll put my 50 cents here. Since people are talking here about reasonable battery life... I guess the size of such battery will be quite big to allow to play longer. Which will likely to have a few (at least, I suppose) side effects: the weight of the device and usability. The heavier the device will be the less time one will be able to hold the device - I suppose just because it might be a bit uncomfortable to use it due to its wight. So no matter how powerful ROG will be, its weight might kill all the portability.

 

[YoureALoser]

Something tells me they are avoiding listing the price for a reason. Steam Deck is already a lot cheaper due to not having to put $150 towards the Windows license.

$150? Not real world numbers. You're delusional.

 

[Bladexdsl]

hoi boy guess who is entering the filed?
https://insider-gaming.com/playstation-handheld/

 

[k0walski]

hoi boy guess who is entering the filed?
https://insider-gaming.com/playstation-handheld/

With constant internet connectivity requirement? I very much doubt about it being really portable...

 

[eternal]

I actually own one of these and its great for emulation at the ps2 and down level, and if you have a good local desktop/laptop on wifi you can use the software like moonlight for streaming. But as all things once youve had a small taste of something like this, then you might want something with more power.

I know they are coming out with the Ayn Loki eventually, but now i'm trying to figure out if i want to waste money on a gpd win 4 since its about the same formfactor, but with a small keyboard. But it can play ps3 emulators and down.

edit: and also since it (the gpd win 4) would be windows, a lot more extra stuff can be done too.

 

[64bitmodels]

I know they are coming out with the Ayn Loki eventually, but now i'm trying to figure out if i want to waste money on a gpd win 4 since its about the same formfactor, but with a small keyboard. But it can play ps3 emulators and down.

GPD win 4 looks less comfortable and costs far more than a Loki. the most expensive model of the Loki is 770 dollars. the least expensive model of the Win4 is 800 dollars.
Save your cash and wait for the Loki to come out. It'll be a revolution when it does

 

[Sl4sh]

This just makes me more excited for a future version of the Steam Deck even if it is a few years away.

 

[linuxares]

hoi boy guess who is entering the filed?
https://insider-gaming.com/playstation-handheld/

Well, well, well... crawling out from the dust huh

 

[Ryab]

$150? Not real world numbers. You're delusional.

I apologize I was going off of the home price from Microsoft's website. Which is still wrong due to OEM pricing.

 

[eternal]

GPD win 4 looks less comfortable and costs far more than a Loki. the most expensive model of the Loki is 770 dollars. the least expensive model of the Win4 is 800 dollars.
Save your cash and wait for the Loki to come out. It'll be a revolution when it does

but muh keyboard!! and little mouse nub!
Honestly, I dont mind the bulkiness of it. I'm more concerned in the possible longetivity of a full emulation device, with a small formfactor, and windows on it. I think i need to check out the highest priced ayn loki specs to see if they are comparable to the gpd win 4...
but in all honesty the main thing holding me back besides the price on the gpd, is their crappy quality control.

the odin i have has been rock solid so far, and great build quality. just its android, and its pretty weak hardware wise. hmm

 

[donaldgx]

it's great that they can get "2x" the performance of a steam deck, but if the price is not competitive then it's doa.
the group of potential customers that want max performance regardless of cost on a portable handheld is a niche within a niche within a niche.

 

[Ducolamia]

GPD win 4 looks less comfortable and costs far more than a Loki. the most expensive model of the Loki is 770 dollars. the least expensive model of the Win4 is 800 dollars.
Save your cash and wait for the Loki to come out. It'll be a revolution when it does

I have a GPD Win 4. After owning a Ayaneo Geek, Ayn Odin, Switch, and Steam Deck, I'd say it's one of the more comfortable handhelds I've owned.
You really need to feel it to get the idea. It's THICC, but it's not super heavy and the keyboard and mouse nub actually are rather responsive rather than feeling like a gimmick. It actually seems like GPD thought this handheld through. The ergonomics really aren't bad, but if you don't like THICC devices, obviously don't get it. LOL

That being said, the problem with Ayn is that their shipping times and delays are terrible. I would not trust that they are releasing the Loki any time soon as they are notorious for delays. If they go their act together it would be an easy recommendation from me, but I'd only trust it when the device is actually on their store.

it's great that they can get "2x" the performance of a steam deck, but if the price is not competitive then it's doa.
the group of potential customers that want max performance regardless of cost on a portable handheld is a niche within a niche within a niche.

^This. Unless they're pricing is around that of the Steam Deck, it'll be hard to compete. It also doesn't help that people really adore the trackpads and back buttons with the Steam Deck. Android devices don't typically have too much of a problem with touch navigation, but Windows definitely does.