ASUS ROG Ally Review - There’s A New Portable Gaming Device In Town And It's Awesome

ASUS ROG Ally – Specifications

Those who believe that the ROG Ally’s biggest ‘ally’ is its GPU, its display or its pristine build quality, cannot be further away from the truth. In my opinion, the biggest advantage the Ally gaming console has is nostalgia. A majority of Gen Y or Millennials, as they are popularly called, have either owned a portable gaming console once in their lifetime or have always wanted to own one. Fast forward to present times, the same crowd now not only has fond memories of the Gameboys, DSs and PSPs but also has the expendable income to allow them to buy one on their own.

The ASUS ROG Ally is a wonderful machine that takes portable console gaming to a new level. The Windows-powered console is capable of running all AAA gaming titles thanks to the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor and RDNA 3 graphics technology. The 6400MHz 16GB LPDDR5 DRAM definitely helps with getting operations underway in a swift manner while the PCIe Gen 4 SSD complements that.

This is the first time ASUS has ventured into the handheld gaming space and the end product is not at all disappointing. The product is simply fabulous as far as design is concerned but then again, that is something that is expected of an ROG product.

Portable gaming devices need to offer a concoction of good battery life, portability, and price if they wish to be a success. Case in point, the Asus ROG Ally is a significant step up for Windows handhelds. It’s not only better looking than its contemporaries like Valve’s Steam Deck, it is also more powerful thanks to AMD’s Z1 chip.

Before you decide to buy the ROG Ally, you need to consider this –

• CPU/GPU

Simply put, the processor and the graphics card are what run the show here. In the case of the ASUS ROG Ally, the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme is a wonderful piece of tech that handles tasks well. The chip can run AAA games at 1080p without any hassle while 720p gameplay is even smoother. 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage works well too. The Radeon Graphics works pretty well in this device.

• Battery life

The ROG Ally has a battery life of 40-watt hours. In optimum settings, this will last you for a little over 6 hours (low settings). This one is a no-brainer. A portable gaming device needs to at least have enough juice to allow you to have a solid gaming session.

• Utility

Portable devices are built the way they are because of a reason. They are meant to be easy-carrying devices that allow you to play games anywhere you want without space or proximity to your system stopping you from gaming.  

• Charging time

The time it takes to charge the device is also a factor that needs to be considered. 

• Ergonomics

This one is critical for a portable gaming device. You simply cannot make a device that has buttons that are hard to reach, put stress on fingers or are not supportive of your hand’s structure. The Ally takes care of it pretty well. Be it easy-to-reach shoulder buttons, adequate-sized toggle sticks or a decent fingerprint sensor that works effortlessly, the ROG’s Ally impresses on all fronts.

Verdict: Is The ASUS ROG Ally Worth It?

Well, honestly, portable gaming devices have always been tricky in the sense that make you wonder why not just invest a bit more and get a compact laptop that can do a lot more. In the case of this device, I have to admit that I’d be tempted to buy it because of its performance and build. The Windows UI is decent and offers a familiar environment to operate. The question, however, that you need to answer before putting down your credit card details is whether this thing will serve your requirements as a gamer in the best manner possible or would a traditional gaming laptop be more suited to your needs.