DO NOT BUY the ASUS ROG Ally - VERY disappointing...

So as you may know already, the ROG Ally

has been making some big splashes and

waves in the handheld gaming world. And as

someone who's a big fan of handheld gaming

devices, I knew I just wanted to share my

opinion on this topic and why I won't be

buying the ROG Ally. So first of all, I

personally use the Switch OLED as my main

handheld gaming device, and that's mostly

because it has the best games. It has

games like Zelda and Mario and Pokémon

that you can't really get on other gaming

devices. And I used to have a Steam Deck

in the past before, and I thought

obviously the Steam Deck's way more

powerful than the Switch OLED, so I'd buy

that. But I ended up refunding it and

taking it back to the shop, and I got

myself a Switch OLED instead, which I'm

actually a lot happier with, even though,

okay, it's not as powerful as a Steam Deck

or the ROG Ally. But I still think that

this is the superior handheld gaming

device for most people and myself. So

there's been quite a few new high-end

gaming devices that are handheld coming

out recently, including the AYANEO 2,

which I was quite interested in. It

boasted to 60% faster and more powerful

than the Steam Deck, but it was pretty

expensive coming in at nearly $1,000,

actually over $1,000. So I decided to give

the Aya Neo 2 a skip. So you might be

thinking that I would have been interested

in buying the ROG Ally since it's a lot

cheaper than the Aya Neo 2, and it's

actually cheaper, or maybe the same price,

as the expensive version of the Steam

Deck. I think it's about $599 for the base

model of the Ally and $699 for the

Extreme, more high-end, high-performance

version of it. So it's more expensive than

the cheapest Steam Deck, but around the

same price point as the most expensive

Steam Deck. I also found it very

interesting, and I was tempted to buy the

ROG Ally because it has an RTX 4090

graphics card. Okay, it's the mobile

version of the RTX 4090, which means it's

not going to be obviously as powerful as

the desktop version, but still it's going

to be pretty powerful and probably way

more powerful obviously than the Steam

Deck and the Switch OLED combined. But I

just can't justify buying one because

coming in at $600 for the base entry

model, that's double the price of a Switch

OLED, and it's also a couple hundred

dollars more expensive than the entry

model of the Steam Deck. And I just don't

really know why you would want to buy the

ROG Ally over the Steam Deck or the Switch

OLED. It kind of sits in a strange place.

It's just kind of like it doesn't have the

attractive price point of the Switch or

the Steam Deck and doesn't have the

versatility or the functionality of the

Steam Deck either. I'd rather get the

Steam Deck because the Steam Deck has

things like the trackpads, the extra

buttons, it has more space for your hands

to grip the device, whereas the ROG Ally,

it— okay, it's more compact, which some

people might prefer if it's going to save

you space in your backpack. But as someone

who doesn't really care too much about the

size of the handheld, if it's just like a

couple extra inches, I would prefer the

extra hand real estate that the Steam Deck

provides and offers. As some of you may

know, the ROG Ally runs Windows 11, which

initially I thought would be great because

I thought the Steam Deck wasn't so great

because it was only running this SteamOS

and had Linux, which is kind of limited.

And to be able to get Windows on the Steam

Deck, it's not impossible, but it's kind

of fiddly. You have to look up tutorials

if you're not technologically capable or

gifted. You really start to realize that

the SteamOS and the Switch OLED OS is so

much better than trying to use Windows 11

on a handheld gaming device because it's

just so much more streamlined and it just

works a lot better. The ROG Ally seems to

have problems with its software. It just

feels kind of fiddly and cumbersome to

use, and there's a lot of glitches with

the software. And trying to use Windows 11

on a tiny handheld touchscreen without a

keyboard and mouse is also really

frustrating. So I just couldn't really see

how the ROG Ally would fit in with my

gaming needs because number one, for

handheld gaming, I prefer the Switch OLED.

It's much lighter, it's got more enjoyable

games to play in your hand, like more

simplified games such as Mario Kart or

Zelda just feel better as a handheld game.

And for PC gaming, well, I have my gaming

laptop. I have a 17-inch Razer Blade Pro

gaming laptop with RTX 3060 graphics card,

and that suits all of my needs and the

desires when it comes to PC gaming. It's

got a big nice 17-inch monitor. Keyboard

and mouse gameplay is much better on a

laptop or desktop. It just seems to make

no sense to have a gaming laptop and also

a Windows handheld device, because when

I'm at home I'm obviously going to be

playing on my laptop. When I'm out, I'd

rather play with the Switch OLED because

it's lighter and has more casual type

games. So I don't really know who exactly

they're trying to cater this device to

towards. Obviously us gamers, PC gamers,

have already got a gaming PC or laptop of

some form. Also the battery life of these

handheld powerful PC gaming handheld

devices are kind of pathetic compared to

the Switch OLED. I can play Zelda on my

Switch OLED for like 5 or 6 hours, maybe

even 7 hours, before having to plug it

into the charger. And it's just so nice

not to have it plugged in. I can move

around without getting tangled up in

cables. But with the Steam Deck or the ROG

Ally, the battery lasts not even 2 hours,

maybe an hour or an hour and a half. I

mean, can you imagine gaming for only 1

hour or only 2 hours? I don't know how you

can only play for only a few hours. I

usually play for like 5 or 6 hours. So I

would definitely need to have my ROG Ally

plugged into the cable all the time. And

if you go out, okay, maybe just do under

an hour of gaming if you're going out

sitting on the bus. But I really don't

need a full-blown powerful RTX 4090 doing

some powerful PC gaming if I'm just gonna

game for like 20 minutes. I'd rather just

play something simple like Pac-Man. I

guess I could imagine if you don't have a

lot of money, you've only got under $1,000

and you don't have any kind of laptop,

desktop, anything else, and you need to

use one device, then okay, maybe the ROG

Ally could be a good choice because it

could act as your desktop and laptop when

you're at home. You can buy like an

external monitor and plug it in using a

USB hub, and it can act as like a desktop

PC. And then it could also act as a

handheld gaming device when you want to be

portable and movable. And yeah, maybe it

could be an all-in-one device, but I don't

really have that problem. I have enough

disposable income to be able to afford a

laptop a handheld, a console, multiple

phones. So I don't really feel like I need

to choose one or nothing. The only thing

that tempted me to buy an ROG Ally is the

fact that I could ditch my laptop when I

go traveling and I need extra space in my

backpack. The laptop does take up a lot of

space and it's very heavy. It's like 4 kg

with the power brick included and all of

the cables and the plug. It does take up

quite a lot of space in my backpack, so I

can imagine it'd be quite nice if I just

leave the laptop at home and bring the ROG

Ally with me when I travel and keep my

backpack light. But I don't really have

any plans to travel recently, and I don't

really care too much about the extra

weight because I'm not carrying the

backpack all the time. I just carry it to

the taxi, then I'm sitting in the taxi to

the airport, I'm carrying it for a bit

whilst I wait to check into my plane, and

then whilst I'm waiting to sit on the

plane, I'm sitting down with the backpack

on the floor. And then obviously on the

plane, I'm not carrying the backpack,

it's in the overhead storage compartment.

And I imagine myself needing to do any

kind of serious computer work where I need

to access a web page that I can't access

on my phone, and imagining using the tiny

7-inch display play of the ROG Ally, and I

need to bring a mouse and a keyboard with

me as well. So you wouldn't really be

saving a lot of space because you have to

bring these extra things, and you might

need like an external monitor too if you

want a bigger screen. I just bring my

gaming laptop, and that has everything

built in it. Like, the big 17-inch monitor

is built into the laptop, the trackpad and

keyboard is built into the laptop. It's

all like one nice cohesive device,

whereas ROG Ally, you need to add things

to it to make it perform as well as a

desktop or laptop. So I guess that really

soured my mood against the ROG because

although it's nice to have Windows 11 and

it's nice it has the possibility of being

able to transform into a versatile

machine, I don't really care about that

because I have a laptop that already does

everything that the ROG Ally is pretending

to be able to do. So unfortunately, I

think I'm going to give this ROG Ally a

skip. I think the technology behind these

handheld devices, they— it is getting very

impressive and very cool that we can

basically have like a full-blown laptop

gaming experience in the size and shape of

a handheld device. That is undeniably

cool, but for me personally, I just don't

really see how that's going to improve my

life by much.