The Asus ROG Ally was considered the best gaming handheld device on the market – until the ROG Ally X showed up. This next-generation variant of Asus’ Windows 11 gaming handheld was released in July 2024, which means gamers worldwide have had more than half a year to fully get to grips (no pun intended) with the device.
I’m the proud owner of both the ROG Ally and the ROG Ally X, and I figured it was about time I settled the comparison beef once and for all. Is the ROG Ally X worth the massive price increase over the ROG Ally, or are you better off sticking with the original and saving a few hundred dollars?
Let’s find it – it’s time for ROG Ally v ROG Ally X – the battle between the best.
Is The ROG Ally X Worth It?
The ROG Ally can be bought brand new for around $450 – $600, depending on where you look. By comparison, the ROG Ally X costs up to $800, which is a considerable increase.
But is the extra power under the hood of the Asus ROG Ally X worth the jump?
I went straight from an Ally to an Ally X, and the difference was noticeable both in and outside the device. Internally, the ROG Ally X has 8 GB more RAM and a 1 TB SSD as standard, which beats the Ally’s 512 GB SSD into the ground. The biggest selling point of the Ally X is the battery – while the Ally has a 40Wh battery, the Ally X boasts a beasty 80Wh battery.
Bizarrely, the Ally X isn’t all that much bigger to account for the boosted hardware and capabilities – it’s just 65 grams heavier than the Ally, which was released in 2023.
Both devices utilise the same screen and speakers, but the Ally X has an extra USB-C port and the micro SD card slot was relocated to counter an overheating issue that was present in the Ally – and still is. That extra port means that you can run a USB-C headset on the device while charging it, which is a nice bonus.
Asus also reported that the Ally X has a better internal cooling solution, with fans that boast more blades.
On the surface, the ROG Ally X is quite different. The overall shape of the device has been rounded off in place, the default colour is black as opposed to white, the rear ‘extra’ buttons have been shrunken down, and the thumbsticks feel much more durable and tactile.
But is all that worth the price increase, or should you stick with the ROG Ally? I put both of these handheld gaming devices to the test.
Does The ROG Ally Still Hold Up?
Until recently, the ROG Ally was my flagship handheld, and it was a trusty one at that. However, I did have a few issues
- On the ‘turbo’ mode (25W or 30W plugged in), the heat generated by the ROG Ally would be extreme after too long
- Also on turbo, the battery life was laughably short, with a AAA game killing the battery in around 30 minutes
- I was never a fan of the stark white colour for a handheld, as it’s bound to get dirty or discoloured
It was fine for plane rides and commutes, but beyond that, I couldn’t sing its praises too much. It’s a Windows 11 device, just like the Ally X, but it’s not like I was using it for multitasking and web browsing – the Windows interface just doesn’t translate well to a handheld device like this.
Once I switched to the ROG Ally X, the benefits were plain as day.
For example, I played Diablo 4 off-charge and on turbo mode, and I was able to coax around an hour and a half out of the battery before it collapsed in on itself. That’s more than enough to please me, but I was able to notice a performance boost too, thanks to the enhanced RAM in the Ally X.
The face buttons, shell, multi-directional d-pad, and even the shoulder buttons (which are more ‘mouse-clicky’ on the Ally X) all look and feel superb, and overall, the device is much more attractive in a black-on-black aesthetic. Also, the front-mounted speakers sound much more powerful. Having the volume on just ’20’ is more than enough for me.
I have no gripes with the Ally X – yet.
Is the Ally X worth the money, though? I’d say so – but $800 is a severe price point for any gaming device, least of all a handheld with a relatively limited battery life and a UI that just isn’t comfortable when it comes to gaming.
I can see the improvement over the Ally, and that’s what I was going for. I would have liked an upgraded screen or a switch-up in the RGB on the device, but I’ll take what I’ve been given, I suppose. It’s still a nice 7-inch IPS display running at 120Hz.
While you can still get the Asus ROG Ally, I just don’t think it’s worth investing the cash if you’re not getting the best and most up-to-date available model on the market. Ultimately, it’s your decision.
For more Insider Gaming tech, check out our guide on how to preorder the RTX 5090 GPU
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