GAMING

Great Hardware, Awful Operating System

For the last couple of years, PC gaming has sought to escape the rigid confines of its electric-outlet bound, RGB-coated monolithic towers with fast framerates at massive resolutions for something a little more modest and portable.

In 2023, PC maker Asus shipped its portable gaming PC, the ROG Ally, to compete with Valve’s popular Steam Deck. Unlike the Steam Deck which runs Linux, Asus went with standard Windows for its operating system, which in theory allows for more games to run natively as well as the option to more easily run a variety of PC gaming storefronts. Now, in 2024, the Ally X provides a much-needed hardware refresh that improves the form factor and functionality of the device. And this time, Asus assures us the Ally X won’t be frying SD cards (more on that later).

The Ally X, notably, is not a full blown “sequel” to 2023’s Ally. At $799, it doesn’t upgrade the processor from the first, higher tier model. The AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme, however, is more than capable of powering a vast majority of modern games, from tiny indie titles that won’t ever trouble it, to more substantial graphical powerhouses like Cyberpunk 2077. The Ally X, however, did add more (and faster) memory, with 24GB of ram and it has a very, very generous 80Wh battery that made me almost never think about battery life during my time with it. And it does have the same 7-inch, 1080p, 16:9 LCD screen that, while obviously not as flashy as an OLED panel, never fails to look splendid (that is, when my fingerprints weren’t all over its glossy surface).

While I have issues with Windows as an operating system for handheld gaming, the Ally X has made it hard for me to go back to my Steam Deck. That said, I still find Valve’s portable PC to be a better gaming experience overall. But oof, it’s gettin’ close ya’ll.

My experience with the Ally X

I’ll spit numbers and stats at you in a moment, and I’ll more thoroughly address my complaints where they exist. But there’s no mistaking it: The Ally X provided me with a wonderful portable gaming experience, and it’s likely to continue doing so. It is a substantial improvement to the experience of the original Ally and is compact enough to make it worth putting up with Windows.

As a New Yorker, I decided to really lean into the Ally X’s portable potential as much as possible. While that motivation was a little cut short by the fact that the Ally X doesn’t include a case (forcing me to use the inner shell of my Steam Deck OLED case in which it…mostly fit), its smaller size compared to the Steam Deck was welcome as I traveled on trains and buses daily.

Once I got past some frustrations with Windows 11, I rarely thought about hardware and software, I just gamed. My time was largely spent with Flintlock, Elden Ring, Destiny 2 (which I had to be home for due to a required internet connection), and No Man’s Sky. All ran with virtually zero flaws at a decent 40-60 frames per second depending on how I fiddled with the graphics settings. The screen has a 120HZ refresh rate too, so you can push to even higher framerates with the right game.

And because I was playing games on my Steam account, I could come home and pick up right where I left off on my much more powerful home computer. Like the Steam Deck, the Ally X flattens the boundary between PC gaming at home and on the go, but with wonderful battery life and a form factor that is more like pulling my Switch out of my bag than it is the mini battle tanks other portable gaming PCs tend to be.

The Ally X provides a fantastic PC gaming experience on the go for a price that’s a touch steep, but fair if you’re up for investing in a great portable experience.

That said, the choice of operating system here, which technically is not Asus’ fault, can make for some rough setup and more than a few frustrating quirks.

Windows %@*&ing sucks for this kind of gaming experience

My first hour or so with the Ally X was spent, well, setting up Windows. I had to sign into my Microsoft account, turn down all the offers for a free trial of OneDrive, Microsoft 365, and other stuff that isn’t a concern to me whatsoever on a gaming machine. Then, for some reason, it wouldn’t recognize my pin to sign into the device. So I had to reset that a number of times.

A Windows error shows on an Ally X screen.

Photo: Asus / Claire Jackson / Kotaku

Given that you shouldn’t leave a portable Windows machine just open for anyone to pick up and sign into your personal account, having a pin to unlock the device is necessary. And because Windows doesn’t recognize controller input on its lock screen, I had to use the touch screen as I attempted and reset my pin two or three times.

By the end of going through Windows setup and constantly entering my pin, I was exhausted and left with a device with fingerprint smudges on it because I can’t use the controller buttons to sign in.

And it didn’t end there. Windows would constantly do its weird Windows things. While playing Elden Ring, I’d get spontaneously taken back to the desktop with no way to get the game back on the screen easily. Remember, there’s no keyboard, so I can’t Alt + Tab to it. I’d swipe up constantly to make the Windows taskbar appear to keep pressing the game’s icon to no luck. That, of course, left more fingerprint smudges on the device.


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