Steam Deck, Asus Rog Ally, Lenovo Legion Go... What now? [EDIT: Rog Xbox Ally and Rog Xbox Ally X!]
Let's discuss these devices that are very popular according to statistics revealing how many Steam users play on Steam Deck, 10% of a massive user base. In my opinion, the most interesting things to discuss are user reviews and anything that you can't find on the official websites, but you can discuss anything. Just don't forget to say what model you are talking about, I had a hard time following NEStalgia after we decided to post all this on a thread. 😅
I installed Bazzite (SteamOS) on my Asus Rog Ally. I’m not hating on Windows as it does have its advantages (better compatibility, native Game Pass and MS Store integration). That said, I don’t like more things about Windows that Bazzite alleviates: frequent updates, which may break as many things as they fix and can take ages to be installed (on Bazzite you just see an icon that tells you there’s an update and it waits for you to decide the best time for it). Armoury Crate is sluggish and its content store (or whatever it’s called) is pathetic in comparison with Decky loader and plugins (I made my Ally a portable PS4, with a custom background, PS4 sounds and home theme). Tdp control and fancurves are way more intuitive on Bazzite IMO. Handheld daemon lets you swich from Xbox gamepad to DualSense in 2 seconds. Emudeck implementation is way better on Bazzite than on Windows (Retrobat is okayish, but has its flaws). In my tests I found Bazzite to give me better fps and battery life than Windows (tested on Baldur’s Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077). These are just off the top of my head. I sincerely hope MS is working on a handheld-friendly Windows 11 version because that would even the odds.
Lenovo Legion Go or Asus Rog Ally? I’ve had my Ally since March and while I really like it, I keep thinking about getting the Legion Go. I held it in my hands at a local CEX and was surprised how light it was (people say it’s heavy lol) and the build quality seems up a notch from the Ally. The screen is the obvious focal point for me, but I do have a portable 15 inch monitor so it’s not a must for me. Just wondering if I should switch (sic!) or buy the Legion to accompany my Ally.
I gave it a lot of thought and decided to ride this gen out with my Asus Rog Ally Z1 Extreme (which I’m really happy with). I have to say that quite a few folks online report the LeGo cooling fan to be very noisy and I hate that in a gaming machine (had a PS4 Pro and you may remember my failed gaming PC attempt I mentioned a while ago). Either way, with Z2 chips from AMD on the horizon I think I’ll wait and buy an Ally 2 or LeGo 2, whichever impresses me more (unless Valve announces a Steam Deck 2 with beefy specs- doubtful knowing Valve).
Lenovo Legion Go feels like The Duke in your hand, only bigger, lol. Too big tbh, those bumpers are massive and I have to shift my hand to the dpad. Asus Rog Ally is more Xbox XS controller proportions (and Xbox assisted in the development.) You can dock these things to the big screen, just BYO HDMI adapter like any PC. FWIW, while it's no 4070, the Z1 Extreme chip sports the same integrated GPU that the Ryzen 7 7800x3D comes with. It's no slouch. Starfield doesn't even function without mods, but it's kind (of) broken. But games like Armored Core 5 run 40-60fps with RSR doing the heavy upscaling from 720p up. Elden Ring runs similarly. That's on the NON-EXTREME Z1 Ally I have. Runs even better on the Extreme Z1 legion. These ain't Nintendo.
What didn't you find user friendly about the default Windows OS (with or without Crate or Big Picture?) Personally, I never find gets in the way, especially with the hardware button to get to those important shortcut buttons, and I like being able to swipe up while in-game to get the taskbar up for anything else. Nothing wrong with the Steam OS of Steam Deck, I just haven't found Windows to get in the way, and of course value having the Play Anywhere games I already own and GOG available. The only thing I really miss is a working suspend state. The suspend/resume is a big deal for me, so I can definitely appreciate the appeal of that. For me it depends on game of course. MOST of the ones I've tried suspend fails horribly on (Elden, Armored Core 5, FF13, Live a Live, a few others fail horribly.) Windows suspend does seem to work fine on Little Kitty big City, P3R, Octopath 2, Rune Factory 5. So it's not a total fail. But yeah, suspend is actually important to me, so I don't like how bad it is on Windows. Maybe that'll improve with the Xbox handheld sounding windows based, Win11 may get some boosts from that (like it got AutoHDR from Xbox etc.) I think I still prefer the Windows interface (after all that's the reason I bought it instead of a Deck to begin with), but it definitely sounds like there's some nice benefits without it.
Asus Rog Ally Z1 Extreme and Lenovo Legion Go are more or less the same rig with a lot of form factor differences. More, the Asus Rog Ally X definitely has some advantages internally but it's still the same SoC and is a whole other price class. We'll call it the "Ally 5 Pro"... Still a better value than that blue company model though lol
In my case I got the non-extreme cheap Ally to compliment my Lenovo Legion Go as a Super Switch. I definitely tend to like the Legion Go more as my "power" handheld. It's less dense, but it's not really heavier, the screen is just incredible, I like having the option to detach the controllers and play tabletop mode switch style, I don't use it a lot but I like using it sometimes, and also means you can replace the controllers if they fail which seems important on $600+ devices. But you're less likely to need to because it uses hall effect and Ally does not. Also has the little track pad, semi hard case, and the controller has an attachment you can use as a mouse mostly meant for shooters but I haven't used that. The size can be ungainly for some and it's harder to one-hand than the ally with its wide center of mass. And some might not like that it's more hollow and less dense feeling though similar total weight. One thing some don't like is the louder single fan. Hasn't bothered me at all. Ally kind of whines, legion kind of whooshes, doesn't seem that different really but some take issue with it. One perk on the ally is the fingerprint scanner though. Legion you have to enter windows pin every time. Minor things but they can matter.
(AMD's Z2 for next-gen gaming handhelds) should be beastly though I worry about price after Ally X 5 Pro lol. Personally the Legion fan hype seems overblown to me. It produces sound but it's not loud. I've not played in a dead silent room but I don't really notice it over the game, personally. It's no PS4 lol. It's quieter than my laptop.
Streaming handhelds: if you luuuuuuuuuuuuv the Dual Sense and need an 8" screen, Sony's Portal is nearly fine. As long as you also love wired headphones or didn't mind buying Sony proprietary wireless ones because no BT. And don't mind short battery. and also don't mind substandard stream quality. It's ducky. If you're not the Dual Senses BFF, like having a battery you don't need plugged into a 10lb sack of potatoes for more power, and have any wireless headphones on planet Earth other than magic Sony Specials, and like a quality stream I'd recommend the Logitech G Cloud over it. A little more expensive and a bit worse display, but Xbox format controller, battery that runs for days, 3rd party PS Play app (must purchase on app store) streams better and Bluetooth, because standards are so hard. It cost a little more than portal but..... also works for Xbox, PC moonlight, and every other streaming service and is also a full android tablet for video and all too. Then of course Ally and the like are full PCs, can do all the above, play all the PC store games, game pass natively, not streamed, and can even stream PS Plus Premium while Sony's Portal can't.
My Asus Rog Ally is my sole use these days! I haven't put the Xbox on in ages. Having a young daughter, she takes up most of the tv time when we are home, and my wife watches TV in the evenings, so having a handheld is handy for me, and being able to play Game Pass, Steam and more on it, is brilliant. Will be interesting to see which way MS goes with the handheld, whether they go native gameplay or as PS did with the portal and make it a streaming platform.
Interesting topic. Definitely will be here later with a longer reply but if you’re here looking for a recommendation, Steam Deck OLED would absolutely be the safest recommendation out of the ones you’ve listed. For reasons listed below that were highlighted by a different user in a different thread.
It's going to depend on the game, of course. I've seen many use cases for bigger games where the improvement is 60%+ at similar settings. Especially in darker games where more of the OLED screen isn't drawing power. It's generally more power efficient as well.
There's a BUNCH of little improvements across the board that Digital Foundry discusses as well. Like, every aspect of the device is touched up in some way.
Worth a watch.
Reason I’m citing a second opinion is because I have the LCD, not the OLED. So my thoughts on OLED are only second hand, so I thought I’d cite that part. My general steam deck experience is definitely first hand so I’ll be speaking on that and give my opinion on why it’s better to just get the OLED.
To add to the post by Ralizah, OLED also can turn on remotely, something the LCD can’t do.
That, and the point they made about OLED screens using less power in darker games due to turning off individual pixels is absolutely true and nothing to scoff at.
Furthermore, while I don’t own an OLED, the lacking features in LCD that are in OLED are so tangible that they’re enough to validate my stance.
Cannot unfortunately speak for the Legion GO, but running on windows means you likely run into less compatibility issues.
Some games cannot run on a framework other than .NET 4.6.2, which is not supported by Linux in any way nor is it able to force compatibility via any versions of Proton or Proton GE. But that issue is so rare that it’s honestly not worth ignoring the steam deck for it. Just thought I’d mention it since no reviews do.
Legion GO is also severely more powerful and is likely better at running certain stuff, including RPCS3.
P.S.: apologies for the sudden ping if this is a community you never visit, it was merely as means of giving credit. G’day.
Like it says in the book, we are blessed… and we are cursed.
What ******* book?
@Yousef- I drop by when there's a topic I'm interested in. And, as you can probably guess, I'm an increasingly big proponent of Valve and the Steam Deck.
Despite the power limitations compared to more expensive devices and the issues still involved with gaming on Linux (which has made great strides since the introduction of the Deck, thankfully), it's hard to beat the Deck when it comes to active support and user-friendliness in terms of customization and UI. Between discounted LCD models and the customer-friendly pricing for the OLEDs, it's also definitely the best value when it comes to gaming handhelds.
I'd absolutely agree the OLED model is worth spending a bit more on. It's a brilliant device.
Nice work, @Banjo- , saved me the trouble of repasting it and in a much more organized manner!
I was messing around with trying to get a unified launcher and discovered Playnite. It's really nice for integrating all your storefronts into one interface, but it doesn't play very well with Xbox. It can only import games you've launched before, so if you have a big backlog of games that you have bought but haven't played they don't show up in your list and you have to find them in the Xbox app anyway. Plus Game Pass games you've played do show up in your list, even if you don't still have access to them. Launching games means downloading and installing them (either on console or PC) which is a pain if, say, I'm not playing Infinite Wealth anytime soon but want it to show up in my library. You can add manually but that's a huge pain.
It's kind of interesting, PureXbox will probably end up having to transition into more of a Xbox+PC gaming site if Xbox itself is going to continue promoting actual PCs as part of its Xbox ecosystem. They may stop when they have their own handheld, of course, but when even their showcases show most things on PC and include PC-only games, "Xbox" and "PC" start to become synonymous.
so I had a steam deck and my wife bought me the rog extreme for Xmas. they don't even compare the rog is better in everyway except batter life. I liked it so much I bought the new one and was able to sell the first one for 400. the new black rogs battery is amazing my car adapter still works for it.
The biggest thing it has over the deck is you don't have to run proton for non steam things and you can still use steam out of the box. it has great macro controls like opening the keyboard and taskmanager or getting a second desktop. it works great in the TV. the most demanding game I have played is dying light 2 and no issues. BG3 runs great.
I travel a lot 5 days a week my rog and kindle maybe the best things I own.
Thanks for collating this all @Banjo- that's helpful, here's my 2 cents.
Most of the handheld devices are better at something than others, so deciding what you want to do with the device should help make the decision. Especially ask where is your ecosystem. E.g. if you want to play games from Steam, the Deck is no brainer. If you want to play Game Pass natively etc. the Rog Ally is great.
Personally I've found the Steam Deck OLED to be bloody brilliant. Obviously it plays Steam games natively and the battery life and screen are great. I also use it for streaming from both PS5 and Xbox while at home AND streaming Xcloud when away. It's also perfect for retro gaming. I upgraded from the OG Deck and it does 95% of what I want, and at it's relatively low price of £479 it's a dream.
The only complaint I have is that while you can run windows it's not a great experience and so playing Game Pass, or some other launcher titles natively isn't always possible in Steam OS, this being an Xbox site if that's what you want to do specifically look elsewhere. That is a gap in the market that a rumoured Xbox handheld with a slick interface could potentially slip into.
I have tried the ROG Ally X at a friends and while the performance is great I didn't like a few aspects about it by comparison to the Deck (battery life, OS / Windows 11 felt clunky in a handheld, it's heavy and of course the price, at £799 it's pretty expensive) but it depends what you want to use if for. If I wanted it for top end PC games and Game Pass this is what I would go for.
I've also tried the PS Portal, which I was sceptical about but that actually really surprised me. The screen while not OLED is gorgeous, and better than many OLEDs, it's hard to state how good this is. I quickly forgot I was playing on a handheld, I was just playing PlayStation. The large 8 inch screen means all text is just as visible at arms length as it is on a TV, which can be a problem with smaller handhelds and one reason I didn't like using a phone with a backbone or tablet on a table with an Xbox pad for this. There was a bit of occasional macro blocking or a dip in performance, this could be better, but nothing I haven't seen elsewhere while streaming. I borrowed my mates while he went on holiday and almost bought one after. If I didn't have a Deck I'd probably get one for £199.
All in all Steam Deck OLED works well for me and I'm not looking to upgrade, but an Xbox handheld might have my interest if it allowed seamless playing of Game Pass titles natively that I could continue playing as easily as a Switch in handheld mode.
I'm glad that you are finding this thread useful. I realised that some users were posting interesting hands-on impressions under random articles, and elsewhere I read other users asking questions about these handheld PCs, so I asked NEStalgia and we agreed to make an specific thread not for me, but for every owner and potential owner of any of these.
I have been curious about them since Steam Deck and I almost got one, but I didn't. Right now, I'd rather wait and see what Xbox is cooking. I don't own a single PC game except the Xbox Play Anywhere titles. My digital library is 99% Xbox console/Play Anywhere. I bought an Xbox One for Rare Replay and now I own hundreds of Xbox games and 99% of them are digital. I even bought the digital version of the few games that I own physically. The store has great deals. This means that, whatever Microsoft releases, my digital library is enough reason to be interested in it. Moreover, I assume that their handheld or hybrid would be more user-friendly than a third-party one, and that Xbox and Game Pass games would run on it.
Many Switch users have a handheld PC as well and I find that fascinating, many of them willing to get alternatives for non-Nintendo games and for retro gaming. I have tried gaming on my Galaxy S22 Ultra, but smartphone gaming is not for me, even with a controller attached. I have a Switch for (some) Nintendo exclusives. Actually, I had the Switch Lite, but hated the screen and sold it, then bought the regular Switch version 2. I play it most of the time docked and using an Xbox controller and even mapped the buttons in the Switch menu to match Xbox. Some people might think that I hate handhelds because I don't like playing on a phone or on Switch Lite, but I still love my (smaller) New Nintendo 3DS that I pre-ordered back in the day.
I had all the consoles released last generation except Vita, but that was overkill. I spent most of my gaming time playing Xbox and Nintendo games, including old games like Ocarina of Time in 60fps on Wii U. My most-played PS exclusive was Wipeout Omega Collection, but I didn't enjoy any of the other PS exclusives.
Conclusion: I'm curious about all of these devices now that the technology allows them to be very solid gaming experiences. I would get an Xbox handheld/hybrid to enjoy the same experience in terms of library, UI and controls that I enjoy on console. I believe that it would be great for the Xbox business and would make more sense than two new home consoles.
Never liked it, barely touched it for the three years I had it. Swapped for a Switch OLED recently and I've had a great experience with the 20+ hours I've put in so far.
Also agree about the New Nintendo 3DS - one of my favourite consoles of all time, let alone handhelds.
@FraserG Right, my man! 😁 I think that it's the combination of low-res modern graphics, generally blurry visuals and, most of all, the low-quality screen what makes Switch Lite... bad.
Finally, the first gaming handhelds designed by Microsoft and built by Asus are here. They are not compatible with console games, but they are great for current Xbox users because of Play Anywhere and all Game Pass tiers including PC games and Cloud now. They also inaugurate the gaming version of Windows, which not only competes with Steam Proton Windows emulator, but is Microsoft's cornerstone for the future of Xbox Play Anywhere.
So, who has pre-ordered ROG Xbox Ally, more similar to Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch 2, or ROG Xbox Ally X, the high-end model?
Will you write a review about it when you get your hands on it? You know, ergonomics, screen, buttons, sticks, performance, battery efficiency...
@Banjo- I'll be happy to write a review. Do you want it here? I'm getting mine from best buy hopefully it's here on the 15th. I preordered the rog Xbox ally x really excited for it.
@VisitingComet1 Yeah, write your review here! I'm happy for you, the X is an absolute beast and it seems that it's quite efficient, which is great for a handheld/hybrid.
@Banjo- I'm really looking forward to trying the windows for gaming if the new rog is as big as a leap as the second rog was from the first one I'll be thrilled. .
so I couldn't wait and installed the updated Windows version on my black rog to see how the game in full screen worked. it's amazing boots right into Xbox and I'm able to play any game I had downloaded from steam or the Xbox app. played some hearts of iron and bg3 just to see how it did both ran great. one thing I couldn't figure out is how to download games through steam without booting up windows. I'm going camping so ran out of time but once I figure it out I'll post.
@Banjo- Ill put more in later, got a few more hours tinkering in with it last night.
Having had a steamdeck prior (And currently still owning a switch 2, switch oled, switch, and portal) I am confident in saying the hardware is easily the best of all of them. I was worried about the screen, but its a good screen.
What I am not loving is the software. It was hard to get going. Nothing told me what to do, updates were in multiple places, the audio wouldnt even work without a driver and bios update. A lot of things should have been fixed upfront prior to shipping.
What I expected to be a turn on and go experience took roughly 3 hours before I could even touch the first game. Additionally, I am still getting some random errors for compatible games. For example, a cpu not compatible error for forza motorsport popped up. It ran great when I just closed it out, but the popup was annoying.
The whole experience feels very disjointed unless oddly enough, you turn on steam and put it in big screen mode.
So for now atleast, amazing hardware (Its sooooo comfy to hold and use) and not so good software. Good thing is, software can be fixed without requiring a new purchase. I sold off my steamdeck because it was insufferably uncomfortable to hold and many games were incompatible, even steam games. First game I tried was ironically chronotrigger via the steam app. A game that crashed on boot for me with my steamdeck, but plays brilliantly on the ally xbox x.
@Runex2121 Very fair and sincere, and it's useful to know your comparisons with other gaming handhelds. I have no doubt that these software issues will be ironed out. It's good to know that the hardware, screen included, are all fine. Other users have also said that Steam Deck is cumbersome. The non-Xbox Rog Ally is well liked, but some also complain about the ergonomics. I hate Nintendo's joy-cons, so I use my Switch OLED (I sold the regular one and bought this) with Mobapad M6 HD and can't use it without it since. I'm sure that something I'd like about ROG Xbox Ally X, on top of the Xbox full-screen experience and Play Anywhere, would definitely be the ergonomics. I've heard that the speakers are good, too!
@Banjo- Yeah, the switch is not very comfy either without grips. I buy cheap rubber covers with a base on the back which transform the switch from awful to comfy to hold. I tried a few with the deck but none worked all that well.
Ive put a but more time into the xbox ally x and the interface, once setup and with all updates applied does function. You have to get used to things like installing in multiple locations or figuring out how to close non ms store apps, or shifting between in center and out if center windows, etc... but I feel like Im starting to understand the logic. If they had a simple built in onboarding(getting started) helpcenter that booted before you could do anything it would have allowed a much quicker entry to the good stuff.
Battlefield 6, outside of having to launch it out of app, plays really well. As do the forza games and clair obscur. (Played a bit of visions of mana too). Everything requires a little tweaking, but thankfully not too much.
Ms has a lot of tweaking to do for the os to be as good as steam os, and I wasnt super fond of steam os.
Couple of other bits. Be careful of which screen protectors you get, i got some off amazon as a preorder, they didnt fit. Apparently a lot of makers didnt account for the new button layout on the front.
Second, im about to install a 4tb ssd. Meaning ill have to go through everything again. Im hoping they made the pricess seamless. (1tb is absolutely too small when games are 150-350gb)
@Banjo- will be posting tonight.
the one thing that stands out right away from other handhelds is how comfortable it is in your hands way better then the switch deck and other rogs. I actually thought the controller form factor was stupid man I was wrong.
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