A couple weeks ago this question would be a no brainer and I would go with the steam deck but as of recent the price diff makes it hard to choose. So in Canada the 512gb steam deck is $559 and $689 for the OLED. While the Ally is down from 900 to 600 for Black Friday. This price difference makes me want to go with the Ally but I also know the steam deck is better in many scenarios. The problem I have is my gaming pc stopped working a couple weeks ago (it’s about 9 years old so I knew its time was up). The ally can technically replace my pc in terms of everyday pc tasks if I hook it up to a monitor but I can’t get that from the deck. I’m wondering if the deck is worth it alongside a brand new pc build or if I should just stick with the ally.
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You definitely can connect the SD to the monitor.
I would get the Ally since you’re planning to replace your desktop with this device. Windows is a lot better for desktop applications and while steam deck has a desktop mode it being Linux can make it difficult for people to use. Also if you have non steam games or use gamepass the Ally would be better since it runs windows natively. I personally am not a big fan of the ROG Ally build quality, but it does perform better in higher TDPs and will play any game natively.
Own rog and ordered a steam deck oled. The rog is great and windows on a handheld is not as bad as people online say it is. The reason I’m getting rid of it is even though I can play demanding games on it I find myself playing indies more on the go so the screen plus battery life made me want the deck. If you play demanding games and stay plugged in a lot the rog is vey nice though.
Ally if you prefer performance over battery life, ability to run Windows out of the box (with better support than Valve supports Windows on Deck) and the ability to attach an eGPU.
Steam Deck OLED if you like SteamOS, want better battery, larger community and like Steam Input.
Personally even though the Ally is cheaper right now than the 512GB OLED, I still went with the OLED because I know Valve would support the Deck, it has a larger community, and I prefer Linux over Windows and I prefer better battery as the heavy lifting stuff can just be streamed from my PC.
Key note about the Ally’s eGPU - it’s a proprietary connection. You need ASUS special $1200 eGPU, normal ones won’t work.
The 600 price is for the weaker ally model, no? If so the deck oled is the clear choice
If you plan to connect and use as a PC I would get the ally. It has windows which I’m assuming you used. The ally was awesome while I had it (returned it because I had some life events coming up) and that was at launch.
I however am pretty comfortable with windows and none of the reasonable complaints on windows didn’t bother me as much. The screen is gorgeous even for an lcd panel and it runs things amazingly if you don’t mind being tethered (I would mainly play at home in bed or on the couch where I can be semi present with my wife lmao).
I purchased the oled deck and it comes today which I’m very excited about . I returned it when I initially got it because I didn’t check my expectations and it was rough at launch with an OS I was completely foreign to .
Kinda 2 different use cases it seems for you it seems (pc replacement or gaming primarily). Whatever you decide I don’t think you’ll go wrong. I would just next look at if you are playing does the performance while tethered bother you? Do you want more battery life? What kind of games do you plan on playing and go from there.
Getting a single device route will definitely be cheaper I would imagine for you
A. As a gaming platform you’re comparing LCD to OLED. There is no competition there OLED will always have a better visual appearance due to how the panels function, oled has infinite blacks, etc.
B. You can sideload and dual boot a SD into windows fwiw.
Although I enjoy the Deck, Ally is definitely an amazing option. So I’d say the Ally