Asus ROG Ally: A powerful, imperfect handheld gaming PC

The Asus ROG Ally's supreme power and versatility are impressive, but the console is buggy and has bad battery life.

-  ANYRON COPEMAN

Handheld consoles have been around since the late 1980s, but it recently feels like we've entered a new era with home console gaming coming to portable devices.

From the Nintendo Switch (fave.co/ 43r3MWO) being the only realistic option for such handheld quality a few years ago, we now have credible competitors from the likes of Valve (fave.co/3Dc7FEk), Logitech (fave.co/3pSqOrT), and Onex (fave.co/3Dawfp7). These are consoles that don't play traditional physical game cartridges, cards, or discs, but instead stream or download games from services such as Steam or Xbox Game Pass.

But with the ROG Ally, Asus wants to take things to the next level. Unlike rivals, it runs a full version of Windows 11 (fave.co/ 3XQmVAA), meaning you can play the same range of games as on any PC. Alongside dedicated AMD flagship processors and a 120Hz display, Asus means business.

But does it live up to the hype and, more importantly, that high price? I believe so, but only if you're willing to fully embrace the handheld form factor and its compromises.

DESIGN AND BUILD

The ROG Ally is a real statement of intent from Asus, and that starts with design. It's a bulky, imposing device with a distinctive gaming aesthetic, yet still feels slick enough to have mainstream appeal. I'm not hugely into modern gamer aesthetics, but I have no issue using this in public.

A reasonably light weight of 608g and a thickness of 21.2mm are big selling points of the Ally, as they mean you can take it almost anywhere with you. For context, that's thinner and lighter than the Valve Steam Deck, even though both devices have a 7in display.