ROG Ally Review – Rise Of A New Gaming Era

Ever reached that peculiar crossroad in life where an ultra-powerful gaming PC sits idle in your room, gathering dust, untouched for months? Your mind craves the thrilling challenge of an epic virtual battle, but your body seems trapped in a state of lethargy, unable to muster the energy to even power up the beastly machine? Isn’t it a universal truth, known to every gamer, that the mythical ‘one last game’ is merely the beginning of a marathon until dawn breaks? As we sink into the comforts of our gaming sanctuaries, our deepest desire is to embark on an immersive journey that truly satisfies our gaming thirst. However, the harsh reality rears its head: gaming, in these moments, transmutes into a lavish indulgence rather than a readily accessible pastime. Believe me, the solution isn’t as simple as lugging around a hefty gaming laptop. The moment it powers up, the sight of work files strewn across your desktop transforms what was supposed to be a ‘gaming’ escape into an unwelcome extension of your workday. Instead of slashing through enemies, you find yourself slashing through spreadsheets. Here, we have a device that solves this misery for us old gaming folks – the ROG Ally.

It’s always a delight when April Fool’s jokes stir our imaginations, especially when it comes to the tech world. Hardware companies often use the occasion to present us with fantastic and seemingly outlandish device concepts. And sometimes, these playful pranks turn out to be prophetic. This was the case with ASUS and the ROG Ally. Originally presented as an April Fool’s gag, it stirred up such excitement that ASUS actually went ahead and brought the device to life. Whether this trend will continue in the future is uncertain, but one thing is clear: this kind of approach makes April Fool’s Day even more of a thrilling event for tech enthusiasts.

Unboxing the ROG Ally

Embracing the global call for sustainability, ASUS has opted for eco-friendly packaging for the ROG Ally. While maintaining a simplistic design, the packaging is compact and efficient. Inside this neatly designed package, you will discover the ROG Ally, a power adapter, user guides, and a handy portable stand.

Join me as we journey around the ROG Ally, an ingeniously designed piece of gaming technology. The front facade embraces the XBOX-controller-inspired layout, featuring a pair of joysticks, a D-pad (directional keys), and the ABXY trigger buttons. Moreover, it includes dedicated buttons for multi-tasking, the Command Center shortcut, the Armoury Crate shortcut, and the menu. Further enhancing the gaming experience, the device also flaunts a pair of front-facing speakers. These components all seamlessly orbit a sizable 7” touchscreen display, a feature so unique and striking, it deserves its own detailed exploration below to truly capture its brilliance.

Turning to the rear of the ROG Ally, you’ll find expansive air vents nestling comfortably between two highly customizable macro buttons – a feature that you can tailor to your needs within the Armoury Crate. Being a proud member of the ROG family, the device naturally showcases the signature gaming-oriented ROG design scheme, which adds a unique aesthetic touch to its robust facade.

While the back of the ROG Ally maintains an understated elegance, the top side of the device is where the action really ramps up. Crowning the corners are the left and right trigger and bumper buttons. Between these, you’ll find a host of features including a 3.5mm auxiliary socket, a Micro SD slot (which I personally believe could be better situated elsewhere), and the ROG XG-Mobile interface coupled with a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C. This multifunctional port serves as a DisplayPort 1.4 and DC power input combo. Also present on the top side are a volume rocker, a dual-tone battery notification LED, a power LED, and a power button ingeniously designed to also function as a fingerprint reader for Windows Hello.

ROG Ally Specifications

ROG Ally Display

As I mentioned earlier, the ROG Ally’s display is an extraordinary feature deserving of individual attention. After all, it’s the stage on which all the gaming drama unfolds. Technically speaking, we’re looking at a 7” 1080p 120Hz Touch Display with Adaptive Sync, a name that alone conveys its formidable capabilities.

What it offers is a 7ms IPS with a 100% sRGB wide color gamut, accompanied by a stunning 1000:1 contrast ratio that meticulously showcases every frame using Free Sync Technology. The Full HD screen recognizes up to 10 touch points, facilitating precise inputs and multi-gestures. With a brightness of 500 nits, it ensures you can game in the great outdoors without compromising visibility.

This state-of-the-art display is meticulously encased in Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, heightening its durability and resistance to scratches and impacts – an ideal companion for the roving gamer. But the protective measures don’t end there. It’s further safeguarded by a Corning Gorilla Glass DXC coating, a feature that layers multiple benefits onto this high-tech canvas. This coating diminishes surface reflections while boosting hardness by 40%, thus improving scratch resistance and ensuring optimum visibility under all outdoor conditions. Placing a screen protector on this technological masterpiece would seem to challenge the very justice of its inherent capabilities.

ROG Ally Performance

Let’s dive directly into the heart of the matter, the core reason you’re here today. I’ve spent an extensive period with the ROG Ally, and I have a wealth of insights to share. Nestled within its compact body, the ROG Ally harnesses the power of an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU, which accommodates 8 cores and 16 threads. This sophisticated powerhouse, crafted using a 4nm process, incorporates both the Zen 4 architecture for the CPU and the groundbreaking RDNA 3 graphics.

Boasting a claimed capability of 8.6 Teraflops, it’s also equipped with both RSR (Resizable BAR) and FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) technologies, ready to quench your high-performance thirst. If you’re unfamiliar with these terms, let me break them down for you. Resizable BAR (Base Address Register) allows the CPU to access the entirety of the GPU memory all at once, rather than in small fragments. By doing so, the CPU can process large amounts of data from the GPU with greater efficiency – a feature you undoubtedly want in a device like this. On the other hand, FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) is an upscaling technology familiar to many PC gamers. It enhances lower-resolution images to higher resolutions in real time, improving visual fidelity. Given the size of the display on the ROG Ally, one might argue that upscaling technology isn’t necessary, particularly as the display already boasts Full HD.

Yet, as the adage wisely suggests, ‘with great power comes great responsibility.’ We’ve arrived at an age where the challenge isn’t merely about packing potent technology into a compact device. It’s about accomplishing that feat without compromising performance. The ROG Ally’s bold specifications indeed look promising on paper, particularly considering the hurdles we saw the SteamDeck face. However, we must ensure this isn’t a case of empty promises with no real substance. There’s only one way to determine the truth – let’s put this powerhouse to the test. To make our exploration even more intriguing, we’ll pit the ROG Ally directly against the current crop of gaming laptops. After all, these are likely to be your first point of comparison when considering this portable gaming marvel.

ROG Ally Storage

First up, we turn our focus to the device’s storage capacity. The ROG Ally comes equipped with a 512GB Micron 2400 M.2 2230 NVMe SSD, which is upgradeable. This is based on a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface, a common feature in many of today’s laptops. When compared directly with other laptops, the speeds offered by this SSD might seem slightly below average, even amongst its similar counterparts. However, when viewing the ROG Ally through the lens of a portable gaming handheld, most games are not read/write intensive, making these specifications more than adequate for the intended purpose.

Furthermore, the ROG Ally is fitted with a dedicated UHS-II microSD slot, a feature ASUS added to enable users to integrate high-speed microSD cards and host a broader array of games. Although this sounds convenient, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. While using a microSD card for general storage might be perfectly fine, hosting games, especially PC-based ones, isn’t an optimal solution. Instead, I would advise upgrading the built-in storage.

There’s also the issue of the microSD card slot’s close proximity to the device’s heatsinks. In multiple online reports, we’ve seen instances of microSD cards apparently overheating. Upon reaching out to ASUS for clarification, we were informed that it was the slots overheating, not the cards. ASUS has since released a patch to address this by adjusting the fan speed curve, but I still consider this a design flaw. Hopefully, the next generation of the ROG Ally will resolve this issue.

Is this a dealbreaker? Well, in my case, not really. I haven’t even used the microSD slot and I’ve already ordered a 2TB WD SN740, which will undoubtedly alleviate my storage concerns.

Synthetic Benchmarks

I was initially hesitant to put the ROG Ally in direct competition with other laptops, but given its extensive array of laptop-like features, I decided to go for it. And the results are truly surprising. The AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme CPU housed within the ROG Ally truly packs a punch. In fact, I ran the benchmark tests twice just to confirm my findings. Afterall, it outperformed the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX in both single and multi-core tests! We’re off to a great beginning here.

In case you’re wondering, this is the Superposition benchmark run at 4K Optimized settings. This test is crucial as it pushes the device to its gaming limits by rendering highly detailed 3D graphics, mimicking the demands of modern video games or graphically intensive applications. Essentially, what we’re seeing here is the power of our average 2-4 year old laptops, now compacted into a much smaller, portable package, ready to deliver an exceptional gaming experience.

Next, we move on to the 3DMark TimeSpy test. One of the unique features of TimeSpy is its ability to predict frame rates for common games based on the benchmarks it runs. Astoundingly, it projected Battlefield V to run at an average of 35 fps on 1440p at Ultra settings. Yes, you heard that right! Given that the ROG Ally has a FullHD display, this is fantastic news. When the settings are dialed back to FullHD, the ROG Ally should easily push near 60 fps on Ultra.

Bear in mind, Battlefield V is no ordinary game. Back in the era of the 16XX series GPUs, most systems struggled to run it smoothly. So, this isn’t merely about squeezing some outdated specifications into a smaller device. AMD has crafted an exceptional CPU, a perfect fit for the ROG Ally’s needs!

At this juncture, the results seemed almost too good to be true. Novabench, our newest benchmarking tool for cross-OS comparisons, was up next. Initially, I found the results hard to believe. I reran the test several times, each with similar outcomes. It was so surprising that I’ve included the actual screenshot of the benchmark scores here for your reference.

Now, you may be wondering why someone would purchase a portable gaming device for productivity tasks, and I wouldn’t blame you. But who am I to judge? Indeed, having a lightweight, Windows 11-based device in your backpack can certainly come in handy. For those to whom this scenario applies, let these results speak for themselves. At first glance, it’s not immediately clear where the ROG Ally fits into the comparison chart – you might even expect to see its bars quite a bit shorter. But take a moment to appreciate the range of hardware it’s being compared with, and you’ll see it standing tall and proud.

Gaming on ROG Ally

Now, let’s get down to serious business: gaming. All the praise for synthetic benchmarks is meaningless if the gaming experience itself doesn’t deliver. On my gaming PC, I typically max out all settings and dive straight into the gameplay. With the ROG Ally, a different approach is required. I tested various common games but tweaked the settings to identify what’s optimal. Given that you can also adjust the power settings of the ROG Ally to conserve energy with just a single click, finding the sweet spot for your games that works well across all settings becomes essential.

And to keep my tests consistent, I will publish actual screenshots of the games in sequence of 10W (battery), 15W (battery), 25W (battery) and 30W (plugged-in).

F1 2022

F1 2022 @ 10W

F1 2022 @ 15W

F1 2022 @ 25W

F1 2022 @ 30W

F1 2022, with its remarkable graphics, is a vital part of our benchmark testing suite. I configured the game to run one notch below maximum settings and then tweaked some of the anti-aliasing (AA) settings, which don’t matter much at Full HD. Even at a 10W power setting, the ROG Ally managed an average of 25 fps. When I cranked up the power to 15W with the same settings, it was already delivering an average of 65 fps, peaking at 83 fps. At 25W, I achieved 73 fps, and with the device plugged in, the average was 74 fps. Impressive? And that’s just the beginning.

Red Dead Redemption 2

RDR2 @ 10W

RDR2 @ 15W

RDR2 @ 25W

RDR2 @ 30W

RDR2 Settings

Let’s up the ante with a more demanding title: Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2). This game has considerably higher requirements. Within its benchmark settings, I selected ‘Balanced,’ which sets most settings to low. But don’t let the term ‘low’ scare you away – on the smaller display, the finer details are less noticeable, and the game remains immersive. And the performance? At a 10W power setting, it averaged 13 fps – playable, but not ideal. However, as soon as I upped the power to 15W, the ROG Ally managed a more respectable average of 25 fps. At 25W, it hit an average of 37 fps, and once plugged in and running at 30W, the device managed an average of 39 fps. Remember, we’re talking about RDR2 here, a game that even average laptops struggle to run smoothly!

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Shadow of the Tomb Raider @ 10W

Shadow of the Tomb Raider @ 15W

Shadow of the Tomb Raider @ 25W

Shadow of the Tomb Raider @ 30W

Let’s push the ROG Ally to its limit with Shadow of the Tomb Raider, a favorite test title for many due to its ability to utilize advanced features like ray tracing. I started with the game’s ‘High’ settings, and the ROG Ally managed an average of 13 fps at 10W. However, when I increased the power to 15W, the frame rate jumped to 33 fps. At 25W, it further increased to an average of 37 fps. Surprisingly, at 30W the average was 36 fps. Now, remember, these are ‘High’ settings for a game known to demand a lot from hardware, especially without an external GPU. You could play the game at ‘Medium’ settings instead and likely wouldn’t notice much of a visual difference, but you’d certainly appreciate the improved frame rates.

The Good

My journey with handheld gaming devices began with the cherished Gameboy Advance SP. Over time, my collection grew to include the pioneering PSP 1st Gen, the versatile PS Vita, the immersive Nintendo 3DS XL, and the adaptable Nintendo Switch. I also ventured into the domain of Nvidia with their innovative Shield 1st Gen. Mobile gaming also made its mark on me, with the ROG Phone series and its companion accessories offering a compelling gaming experience. It’s an undeniable fact – gaming on-the-go has become an integral part of my life.

The allure of the ROG Ally was no surprise, irresistible to me, a true testament to its appeal. In fact, it brought about a significant change in my gaming habits – it led me to bid farewell to Diablo Immortal, a game that had held my attention for more than a year. Now, I’m captivated by Diablo 4, a game that, thanks to the ROG Ally, I can enjoy in a portable format. The transformation in the gaming experience is profound, and it’s something I greatly appreciate.

The ROG Ally’s compatibility with Windows 11 extends its utility far beyond gaming alone. Essentially, anything you can do on a PC, you can also achieve with this versatile handheld. Its adaptability lends itself to a wide array of applications, whether you choose to pair it with a micro foldable keyboard, an external display, a multi-adapter, or even an external graphics card for tasks demanding greater graphical prowess. This level of modularity sets the ROG Ally apart and underscores why it’s such a standout winner in the portable gaming world.

Playing games on the ROG Ally necessitates a certain degree of adaptation, particularly for those accustomed to traditional PC gaming. Yet, the device cleverly addresses this challenge by dynamically toggling between PC and console modes based on user interaction.

Touch the display, and the system will respond with PC-like commands. Activate any of the physical buttons, and it reverts back to console mode. This intelligent feature offers a hybrid experience that maximizes convenience. In games like Diablo 4, where certain menus may call for intricate navigation, you can effortlessly tap the screen for specific actions, then seamlessly transition back to console-style controls using the triggers. It’s a harmonious integration that offers gamers the best of both worlds, allowing them to enjoy a versatile and intuitive gaming experience.

When it comes to audio, the ROG brand has already earned recognition through its line of ROG Phones, delivering high-quality sound in compact devices. With the ROG Ally being a more substantial piece of hardware, expectations were naturally higher.

However, the sound experience with the ROG Ally presents a conundrum. While there are certainly impressive elements, some quirks with the speakers hold it back from an unqualified endorsement. These inconsistencies lead to a sort of crossroads in evaluating the audio – it’s neither entirely bad nor wholly good. I’ll delve deeper into these specifics in a later section, where the details of the shortcomings of the audio system can be more fully explored.

The ergonomic design of the ROG Ally ensures a comfortable handheld gaming experience, setting it apart from typical smartphones that might heat up uncomfortably on the back. While it’s true that the top vents of the ROG Ally can emit significant heat – enough to be felt quite keenly if the device is resting on your lap – this doesn’t necessarily qualify as a drawback.

What you’re experiencing is the effective dissipation of heat generated from running PC-level games, far more demanding than your average mobile games. The design intentionally channels the heat upwards, the most logical direction when holding the device in a standard gaming position. This ensures that the rest of the device remains impressively cool, even during prolonged gaming sessions.

While the heat might be alarming initially, it’s a testament to the efficient thermal management system. It allows the device to perform at its best without compromising the comfort of the hand-holding areas, a balance that is critical for a portable gaming device. The heat venting is a sign of the device working hard to provide an optimal gaming experience, making it a well-considered aspect of the design rather than a flaw.

Although I initially had high expectations for the 10W power mode on the ROG Ally, I quickly found that most of the games I wanted to play struggled to run smoothly at this power level. Despite numerous attempts to adjust the settings, I finally decided to create a custom profile that operates at 18W. This new setting strikes a better balance between efficiency and performance, allowing for a more enjoyable gaming experience.

The ROG Ally includes a rather efficient sleep mode. I’ve grown accustomed to the convenience offered by MacOS, where simply shutting the lid puts the system to sleep, and lifting it up allows me to continue right where I left off instantly in a jiffy. Windows hasn’t typically matched this ease of use, and I was skeptical about how the ROG Ally would perform in this regard. However, it turned out to be quite satisfactory. Though the wake-up process isn’t my favorite—since it has to navigate through the boot screen before arriving at the Windows Hello screen—I suppose this is as good as it currently gets, and I appreciate the effort.

The Bad

Certainly, diving into the initial shortcomings of a first-generation product like the ROG Ally can help both consumers and the company itself to recognize areas for improvement. As innovative as this device is, it’s not unusual to encounter some growing pains in its debut. Let’s take a closer look at the challenges and potential areas for development that could enhance future iterations.

The trickiest aspect of reviewing the ROG Ally has been ASUS’s rapid and assertive response to emerging issues, with updates fixing problems almost as soon as they appear. In fact, a major update occurred just a week before this article was published, and I deemed version 323 as the final one for this review. All the benchmarks were re-run with this version. While many of the issues were resolved by the firmware, I’ll include them in a separate section in case you encounter them. If you do, make sure to update the BIOS first.

One of the initial irritations I encountered with the ROG Ally was a crackling sound in the speakers. This issue persisted until the release of BIOS 323, at which point it finally disappeared. I noticed that the crackling was reduced when operating at higher power settings (25W or 30W), but became extremely pronounced at anything lower. It seemed as though the power supplied was insufficient to properly drive the speakers, a unique problem I hadn’t come across before. While Windows typically manages such issues more effectively, on the ROG Ally, this became a consistent and bothersome problem.

When it comes to updates, I must express some growing frustration with the process on the ROG Ally. Between Windows Updates, ASUS applications for BIOS and essential system updates, and Armoury Crate for everything else, it feels like there’s a disjointed and overcomplicated system in place. Come on, ASUS, this doesn’t feel like the streamlined approach we’ve come to expect from you! This additional clutter not only makes the process more cumbersome but also eats into valuable storage space. Something more unified and efficient would be a welcome change.

The power adapter for the ROG Ally was a significant letdown as I unboxed the device, leading to a moment of real disappointment. Given that the concept of the ROG Ally revolves around portability, it’s perplexing that ASUS opted to include a conventional laptop PD power adapter. They’ve bundled 65W micro power adapters with ROG Phones before, so why not here? This decision suddenly made the earlier bundle with the ROG Gaming Charger Dock look far more appealing. Moreover, the cable that came with the ROG Gaming Charger Dock is something to love, and it feels like it should have been a standard inclusion with the ROG Ally. The choice of power adapter feels like a missed opportunity to fully embrace the device’s portable design.

The inclusion of an SD card slot in the ROG Ally is a thoughtful feature, but its implementation leaves room for improvement. Initially, I would never have considered running games from an SD card, knowing that they aren’t designed for such use. But ASUS did promote it as a feature for installing games, leading me to scrutinize this decision more critically. While games don’t typically require intensive read/write processes, we’ve learned from past experiences with Android devices that offloading apps and games to an SD card can lead to long-term issues. Furthermore, the positioning of the SD card slot near the vents seems misguided, potentially causing unnecessary wear and tear on the card. Though these design choices feel like missteps in the first-generation device, ASUS’s history of innovation gives me confidence that they’ll learn from these shortcomings and rectify them in future iterations. The potential is certainly there; it just needs fine-tuning to fully realize the ROG Ally’s capabilities.

The battery life of the ROG Ally presents a mixed bag. While 1.5 hours of continuous AAA gaming might suffice for short commutes or quick sessions, it’s less ideal for more extended periods, such as long flights or full gaming marathons. It’s convenient when the ROG Gaming Charger Dock and a nearby socket are available, but the limitations become apparent when they’re not. Though I’ve relied on my 30W RavPower powerbank for years, appreciating its portability and efficiency, it falls short in meeting the ROG Ally’s needs. This situation nudges me towards an upgrade, with options like the Anker PowerCore 737 catching my eye, but its potential bulkiness gives me pause. The challenge now is to find the right balance between power capacity and portability. A 65W solution may be a suitable middle ground, providing enough juice for the ROG Ally without becoming too cumbersome to carry around. It’s a careful consideration, one that underscores the importance of having versatile charging solutions for gaming on-the-go.

ROG Ally Verdict

The ROG Ally has indeed made an impactful debut. As a first-of-its-kind offering from ROG, it has struck many of the right chords with gamers like me who are constantly on the move. The device has not only reshaped my gaming habits but also reignited a level of excitement that feels both fresh and invigorating.

What makes the ROG Ally particularly appealing is its potential for growth and evolution. There’s room for enhancement in various aspects – more potent configurations, beefier batteries, crisper displays, perhaps a front-facing camera for streaming, and even refinements in size to boost portability further. These possibilities paint a promising picture for the future of portable gaming.

The decision to transform an April Fools’ joke into a tangible product was bold, and it’s one that has paid off handsomely. The ROG Ally isn’t merely an exciting piece of technology; it’s a statement of innovation and ambition. It’s an easy choice to grant it a Gold Pokdeward, and I’m eagerly anticipating what’s next in this exhilarating journey of portable gaming.