5 reasons I'll be buying the Asus ROG Ally over the Steam Deck

29 April 2023 , 06:00

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In the battle between the Asus ROG Ally vs Steam Deck, Asus is winning out (Image: Asus)

As an avid PC gamer, I feel like I'm constantly wishing for the ability to play games away from my computer but so far, the handheld devices on the market just haven't done it for me. I'll admit I don't actually have a Steam Deck of my own but when testing and using one, it really just didn't fulfil me the way I was hoping for.

But now an alternative has come wading into the fray – the Asus ROG Ally, which promises to do everything I've ever been searching for and is set to be a real game changer in the handheld market. Asus has shared the specs and on paper the ROG Ally is impressive but we've yet have a full breakdown of the chipset.

Despite that, from the information we've got so far, when it comes to the Asus ROG Ally vs Steam Deck, Asus is getting my money – and here's why.

1. Windows 11 babyyyyy

The biggest determining factor for me between the Asus ROG Ally vs Steam Deck is the fact that the ROG Ally will run Windows 11. That means you can access a bunch of different gaming clients instead of just being limited to Steam. After a decade of PC gaming, I've amassed an extensive game library across different clients so this is a huge selling point.

The prospect of being confined to just my Steam games has really been holding me back from buying the Steam Deck. Never being able to play my favourite game on earth – League of Legends – on the go? Deal breaker. But on a serious note, as someone who plays a lot of Epic Games exclusives, my ears perked up when I heard that I'd be able to access these titles on the Asus ROG Ally.

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2. Better performance for the price

The Asus ROG Ally is promising an impressive level of performance and if it delivers, I can't wait to play AAA titles portably without worrying about the kit chugging along. Asus is set to offer two models – an entry level device and one that's more powerful. They'll houses the new AMD Ryzen Z1 / AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processors respectively and although we don't have a full teardown of the chips yet, they look extremely promising.

The Asus ROG Ally boasts a 512 GB PCIe Gen4 SSD, with a MicroSD slot for expanding your memory. The Steam Deck also contains a PCIe SSD – which is actually Gen3 rather than Gen4 – but this is only an option available in the highest tier model. Having an SSD built-in no matter what edition of the device you go for ensures that you don't have to consider your loading times and game speeds coming down if you opt for the budget version.

3. Crispy gameplay

I love FPS games and that means that every frame counts. The Asus ROG Ally's 120Hz display is double the refresh rate of the Steam Deck's paltry 60Hz, making it the clear winner for me. That's not to say that the Steam Deck's screen is bad by any means, but it isn't 120Hz now, is it?

This somewhat ties into the performance aspect too – I mean, Asus wouldn't stick a 120Hz panel onto a device it's expecting 60fps from, right? Right?

You also get 1080p resolution on the Asus ROG Ally which is a nice bump up from the 720p of the Steam Deck. You can connect both devices to a monitor or TV but let's face it – while the Steam Deck's horrible 720p quality may look fine on a small screen, it's doesn't translate all too nicely on a larger display. The Asus ROG Ally takes another dub.

4. The price is right

Although it's not been officially confirmed yet, an Asus ROG Ally price leak suggest that the handheld will come in at $699 for the premium model featuring the AMD Z1 Extreme chip; that's around £560 / AU$1,058. Regional pricing is rarely a straight conversion but this still puts the device in an excellent spot pricing-wise if the performance really lives up to what we've been presented on paper.

Comparing this with the £569 / $649 / AU$975 premium model Steam Deck price, it seems like a no-brainer to chuck in the extra $50 and get yourself some pretty significant upgrades in terms of specs.

5. Love me some ergonomics

Despite the Steam Deck also being designed with ergonomics in mind, it's something which still just doesn't feel comfortable to use for extended periods of time. Asus has made many claims about the Asus ROG Ally being designed in such a way as to allow for comfortable usage including curved edges, buttons on the top half of the device and macro keys on the back.

Of course, we haven't had the chance to test the device just yet there's no way to know whether or not all of these aspects will actually live up to the promise of comfortable gaming. But if they do, I'm sold.

Honourable mention: I'm an RGB fiend

Although this isn't a real reason to pick one device over another, when I sees flashing rainbow lights, I'm drawn right in. Based on the press shots we've seen so far of the Asus ROG Ally, it'll feature some pretty cool RGB additions; something that's woefully absent from relatively plain and simple Steam Deck