I don’t have either yet, but I am interested in getting a handheld gaming device and have been doing a lot of research lately.
Steam Deck is the “safer” investment, Asus doesn’t have the best reputation for ongoing support from what I’ve read. Aside from that, Steam Deck fits the handheld niche more comfortably than the Rog Ally. The impressions I’ve gotten is that the SD is more convenient, it has a much better battery life, has much more community support, has the much MUCH nicer screen and so on.
While the ROG Ally is pretty much worse in all regards EXCEPT for performance. It can push those heavier games to considerably (~15 frames) higher frame rates at higher qualities.
Personally though, as a HANDHELD device, the entire reason I’d be purchasing one in the first place is for convenience, and that’s where the Steam Deck beats everything else. The SD OLED runs quieter, cooler, longer, has a more seamless software experience, has the much nicer screen (which is more important for making 90% of the games look MUCH nicer than they will on any other device).
So really… SD OLED will be clearly better for 90% of games, which are the games you want to play on a handheld in the first place. The latest, heaviest games aren’t something well suited to handheld play anyway. Sure the ROG Ally CAN run them, but it’s still going to be at the sacrifice of everything else that the SD OLED has over it.
Personally, that equation falls clearly in the favor of the SD OLED. It’s the better handheld experience for the vast majority of games.
I don’t have either yet, but I am interested in getting a handheld gaming device and have been doing a lot of research lately.
Steam Deck is the “safer” investment, Asus doesn’t have the best reputation for ongoing support from what I’ve read. Aside from that, Steam Deck fits the handheld niche more comfortably than the Rog Ally. The impressions I’ve gotten is that the SD is more convenient, it has a much better battery life, has much more community support, has the much MUCH nicer screen and so on.
While the ROG Ally is pretty much worse in all regards EXCEPT for performance. It can push those heavier games to considerably (~15 frames) higher frame rates at higher qualities.
Personally though, as a HANDHELD device, the entire reason I’d be purchasing one in the first place is for convenience, and that’s where the Steam Deck beats everything else. The SD OLED runs quieter, cooler, longer, has a more seamless software experience, has the much nicer screen (which is more important for making 90% of the games look MUCH nicer than they will on any other device).
So really… SD OLED will be clearly better for 90% of games, which are the games you want to play on a handheld in the first place. The latest, heaviest games aren’t something well suited to handheld play anyway. Sure the ROG Ally CAN run them, but it’s still going to be at the sacrifice of everything else that the SD OLED has over it.
Personally, that equation falls clearly in the favor of the SD OLED. It’s the better handheld experience for the vast majority of games.