Does the ROG Ally shape up as your anytime, anywhere gaming friend?
Amy Flower
STACK Senior Editor
If you want to take your PC gaming on the go then it’s a good time to be alive, with the arrival of the ROG Ally handheld gaming console. We’ve been playing with one and managed to drag ourselves away long enough to let you in on some of what to expect.
First screening
What initially strikes you about the ROG Ally is just how good it looks. White, with sleek, angled lines and reflective highlights, it looks like a gaming device without screaming it. Turn it on and the really impressive stuff begins, as the seven-inch Gorilla Glass touchscreen bursts to colourful life in all of its 1080p glory. Not only does the ROG Ally’s screen bring the resolution, it can also run at up to 120Mhz, for that ever-so-smooth action. It also delivers 500 nits of brightness, as well as Dolby Vision HDR where supported, and boasts a perky 7ms response time.
In control…
The controls, including two thumbsticks (with programmable RGB lighting) and a D-pad, are formatted in asynchronous Xbox style, with full control over settings such as dead zones. As well as the classic A-B-X-Y and four shoulder buttons, there are two programmable paddles on the Ally’s rear. A pair of further buttons flank each side of the screen, variously controlling view changes, Command Centre settings, Armoury Crate settings, and menu toggle. If you’re jumping from a controller to the Ally, it really doesn’t take long to feel at home at all.
Power!
Booting the system is a speedy process that lands at the typical Windows 11 login screen, but once you’re in the ROG Ally brings up the Armoury Crate games menu. Here you can access and sort your games arsenal in various ways, with the ability to combine favourites from all the usual suspects such as Xbox Game Pass, Epic Games, and Steam. Basically, your ROG Ally can play pretty much any PC game that’s out there.
A look inside
Peeking inside the ROG Ally, at its heart beats an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU (that’s a CPU and GPU hybrid). Three operating modes are supported: Silent (9W), Performance (15W), and Turbo (25W, or 30W when AC connected). Unsurprisingly, battery usage depends upon which mode is set. We were playing several premium titles quite fine in Performance Mode, although bumping up to Turbo does often offer higher game specs and a smoother experience.
Memory-wise, there’s 16GB of DDR5 RAM alongside a 512GB SSD drive and if that’s not enough storage, you can insert a MicroSD card as expansion.
As far as connectivity goes, the latest Wi-Fi 6E is supported alongside Bluetooth 5.2.
Weight?!
If the impressive specs aren’t enough, the ROG Ally also weighs in at just 608 grams. As a comparison, the smaller Nintendo Switch with Joy-Cons attached weighs around 400 grams.
In use
The really impressive stuff starts when you get playing. This is one seriously powerful portable gaming unit, and when we were flinging a Hoonigan special around Mexico in Forza Horizon 5 or going stealthy in The Last of Us: Part I, we had to sometimes stop and acknowledge how good we have things with the ROG Ally. When pausing from the heat of battle, it’s also a good time to note the lack of heat from the unit, with ROG’s dual fan intelligent cooling keeping things chilled and whisper quiet. Unlike the inbuilt speakers, which support Dolby Atmos and pump out impressively oomphy sound for a handheld.
It’s not just about the games…
As the ROG Ally is a full-powered Windows 11 behemoth, you have the ability to do your general everyday tasks on the go, ranging from email and word processing to web browsing and watching media. ASUS is also releasing accessories that allow connection to a monitor or TV, so just hook in a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse combo, and you’ll have a complete computing setup.
Wow!
We’ve barely scratched the surface of how impressive the ROG Ally is. With specs more akin to a new-gen home console than other handhelds, customisation options aplenty, expandability, and the power of AMD’s latest chipset inside, it really is a game changer for those who wish to take their PC gaming on the road or into bed, or out in the backyard, or…
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