Steam Deck OLED vs Legion Go？

[Dweller Beyond the Threshold]

some context
- I would only play this handheld when I'm at airport & on the flight, so don't care about docking, playing at home etc.
- I will almost always have access to power outlet so battery life isn't a big issue for me.

I bought a ROG ally last week but had to return it (as some people here predicted I would LMAO). There were several issues:
- the software really isn't good. Had lots of unresponsiveness and freezing just tinkering and tweaking things around in desktop mode;
- the volume buttons and crate menu controls stopped working entirely until reboot;
- game performance honestly wasn't great despite better specs than SD; Pretty much all the games I've tried (whether recent or few years old) all seem to perform about the same with 15w performance mode. Like a 5 years old game was running ~30 FPS on lowest settings but same with Horizon Forbidden West which is much more demanding. 30w turbo mode sounds like a leaf blower so I would never use it which is a shame.

Originally, I wanted to mod my games like I do on my PC, but given how it's kinda a hassle to navigate windows on the small handheld screen, I think that would be too much of a pain. So the console-like experience of the SD might not be too bad after all, and having a dedicated Steam OS just sounds very smooth and easy to use;
- I fear that the Legion Go would have similar issues as the Ally, plus it's even newer so the software got even less time to be refined and improved, etc.
- But I'm still a bit hesitant about the weaker specs. The Legion Go is actually $100 cheaper than the Steam OLED as there is an ongoing sale. And it just feels weird paying for weaker specs and smaller screen, etc.

Would really love to hear people's thoughts on this especially if you used both of them! Thanks!

[Dweller Beyond the Threshold]

?legit a écrit :

UnhappyLawbro a écrit :

Thanks a lot for this! Weirdly, both games run better on SD than Legion Go lol. Still not great given these games shouldn't be that demanding given their graphics, but yeah, it is likely the dev's fault for their awful optimization.

They don't run better. Do a side by side comparison with identical in game settings and in game resolution and you'll see how the legion go has at least 30% better performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF99Og0kYqQ

You can play in 1200p while getting stable 30fps, while the steam deck is laggy as hell struggling to maintain a stable framerate in the 20s in 800p.

Oops, I meant to say they run better on SD than what I got on ROG Ally, not Legion Go as I never tried one. Still weird because specs wise, Ally is very similar to Go.

[Boblin the Goblin]

UnhappyLawbro a écrit :

?legit a écrit :

They don't run better. Do a side by side comparison with identical in game settings and in game resolution and you'll see how the legion go has at least 30% better performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF99Og0kYqQ

You can play in 1200p while getting stable 30fps, while the steam deck is laggy as hell struggling to maintain a stable framerate in the 20s in 800p.

Oops, I meant to say they run better on SD than what I got on ROG Ally, not Legion Go as I never tried one. Still weird because specs wise, Ally is very similar to Go.

It's due to Windows 11 and the proprietary software needed to compensate for Windows 11 on a handheld.

The problem with the Ally and Legion Go is they tried to brute force over optimization. That's why the specs are so high yet the performance at the same wattage isn't a huge jump. It's just pumping power into it and hoping it fixes other issues.

SteamOS on the Deck was literally made around the components of the Deck. It wasn't just an OS that they slapped on, they optimized it and Proton around the hardware in the Deck.

Valve is aware of the shortcomings of the Deck's hardware, so they worked on optimization to get the most they could squeeze out of it. The Ally and Legion Go did not and tried to brute force it.

That may work for a little while but without optimization, it will fall short very fast.

[TheKrapfcat]

UnhappyLawbro a écrit :

?legit a écrit :

They don't run better. Do a side by side comparison with identical in game settings and in game resolution and you'll see how the legion go has at least 30% better performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF99Og0kYqQ

You can play in 1200p while getting stable 30fps, while the steam deck is laggy as hell struggling to maintain a stable framerate in the 20s in 800p.

Oops, I meant to say they run better on SD than what I got on ROG Ally, not Legion Go as I never tried one. Still weird because specs wise, Ally is very similar to Go.

I doubt you are going to see big performance changes between the GO and Ally they both run the Z1 Extreme and I doubt either of them use custom GPU drivers, so the biggest difference is TDP and their power plans, but if the OP thought the Ally was too loud, afaik most reviewers that tested the acoustics of the GO comparing it to Ally, it's louder when under load, and the Ally should be even one of the most quiet handhelds on the market thanks to having such a big Heatsink and 2 fans, while both the GO and Deck have a single Fan so expect a lot of noise from the GO trying to cool 30W

so the OP should pick the Deck since once you limit the TDP on the Z1 at 15W or lower the performance scales really badly, with the Deck being on par on average FPS with way weaker specs and when looking at 1% and 0.1% lows and frametimes the Z1 really struggles

[Drak3]

TheKrapfcat a écrit :

UnhappyLawbro a écrit :

Oops, I meant to say they run better on SD than what I got on ROG Ally, not Legion Go as I never tried one. Still weird because specs wise, Ally is very similar to Go.

I doubt you are going to see big performance changes between the GO and Ally they both run the Z1 Extreme and I doubt either of them use custom GPU drivers, so the biggest difference is TDP and their power plans, but if the OP thought the Ally was too loud, afaik most reviewers that tested the acoustics of the GO comparing it to Ally, it's louder when under load, and the Ally should be even one of the most quiet handhelds on the market thanks to having such a big Heatsink and 2 fans, while both the GO and Deck have a single Fan so expect a lot of noise from the GO trying to cool 30W

Z1E drivers are kinda custom. There’s vendor specific versions of the drivers that ASUS and Lenovo validate and maybe tweak.
7840U drivers usually work, but things can break in weird ways, despite the only difference between the chips being the NPU and validated TDP range.

[TheKrapfcat]

also just double checked legit claim with Wo long and as always he is lying, the GO is running with volumetric set on lowest and the framerate on the Go is always dipping in the mid 20s while the Deck is running on standard volumetric settings
if I was going to play Wo long on the Deck i would lower it, since shadows tax the CPU more than GPU and you could probably can achive a stable 30FPS

[@R+5]

research why the steam deck oled is more efficient with energy use, and cooler (has better air flow) than similar gadgets.
similar devices are trying to outshine the deck with the "traditional gimmicks" (ie "more resolution", but that means more energy spent in a small screen without a significant improvement of quality or gaming experience; also means asking more from the gpu without actually optimising the image); it means usually less efficient configs and lesser quality in engineering and hardware design.

the deck, without hacks, is superior to all alternatives. but, recent alternatives may be better if hacked and modified enough to have a similar performance of the deck without them.

[invision2212]

@R+5 a écrit :

research why the steam deck oled is more efficient with energy use, and cooler (has better air flow) than similar gadgets.
similar devices are trying to outshine the deck with the "traditional gimmicks" (ie "more resolution", but that means more energy spent in a small screen without a significant improvement of quality or gaming experience; also means asking more from the gpu without actually optimising the image); it means usually less efficient configs and lesser quality in engineering and hardware design.

the deck, without hacks, is superior to all alternatives. but, recent alternatives may be better if hacked and modified enough to have a similar performance of the deck without them.

Yeah, no that’s false.

Legion go has superior cooling over the steam deck. I can link you any of my videos and you will never see the legion go exceed 60c using the same exact settings as the steam deck while pushing higher frame rates under the same wattage.

[[?]legit]

@R+5 a écrit :

research why the steam deck oled is more efficient with energy use, and cooler (has better air flow) than similar gadgets.
similar devices are trying to outshine the deck with the "traditional gimmicks" (ie "more resolution", but that means more energy spent in a small screen without a significant improvement of quality or gaming experience; also means asking more from the gpu without actually optimising the image); it means usually less efficient configs and lesser quality in engineering and hardware design.

the deck, without hacks, is superior to all alternatives. but, recent alternatives may be better if hacked and modified enough to have a similar performance of the deck without them.

This is false.

The deck is inferior in each and every regard, resolution isn't a "gimmick" but a key factor, as well as the refresh rate. Your logic with the "small screen" also makes no sense at all, smartphones have a tiny screen compared to the deck, and yet more than twice the resolution.

FYI you can adjust the resolution on the fly and play in 800p as well.

Using better hardware has nothing to do with "less efficient configs and lesser quality in engineering and hardware design".

Furthermore PC games are never optimized. The steam deck isn't an exception to that. You are just running badly optimized windows games on a linux machine, with not so powerful hardware.

[Drak3]

?legit a écrit :

@R+5 a écrit :

research why the steam deck oled is more efficient with energy use, and cooler (has better air flow) than similar gadgets.
similar devices are trying to outshine the deck with the "traditional gimmicks" (ie "more resolution", but that means more energy spent in a small screen without a significant improvement of quality or gaming experience; also means asking more from the gpu without actually optimising the image); it means usually less efficient configs and lesser quality in engineering and hardware design.

the deck, without hacks, is superior to all alternatives. but, recent alternatives may be better if hacked and modified enough to have a similar performance of the deck without them.

This is false.

The deck is inferior in each and every regard, resolution isn't a "gimmick" but a key factor, as well as the refresh rate. Your logic with the "small screen" also makes no sense at all, smartphones have a tiny screen compared to the deck, and yet more than twice the resolution.

Sub pixel layout (typically RGBG) on most phones is different than on the displays used in handhelds and bigger devices, and is regarded as cheating resolution specs.

Which, by the way, is done for marketting purposes, because manufacturers like Samsung, LG, Google, etc. know that the average consumer is a chump in this regard and falls for the bigger number better sales tactic, even when the bigger number is beyond relevancy.

Nothing R+5 said was false.

[Boblin the Goblin]

?legit a écrit :

@R+5 a écrit :

research why the steam deck oled is more efficient with energy use, and cooler (has better air flow) than similar gadgets.
similar devices are trying to outshine the deck with the "traditional gimmicks" (ie "more resolution", but that means more energy spent in a small screen without a significant improvement of quality or gaming experience; also means asking more from the gpu without actually optimising the image); it means usually less efficient configs and lesser quality in engineering and hardware design.

the deck, without hacks, is superior to all alternatives. but, recent alternatives may be better if hacked and modified enough to have a similar performance of the deck without them.

This is false.

The deck is inferior in each and every regard, resolution isn't a "gimmick" but a key factor, as well as the refresh rate. Your logic with the "small screen" also makes no sense at all, smartphones have a tiny screen compared to the deck, and yet more than twice the resolution.

FYI you can adjust the resolution on the fly and play in 800p as well.

Using better hardware has nothing to do with "less efficient configs and lesser quality in engineering and hardware design".

Furthermore PC games are never optimized. The steam deck isn't an exception to that. You are just running badly optimized windows games on a linux machine, with not so powerful hardware.

Speaking of false...

[Haruspex]

I feel like I should mention, a new version of the ROG Ally is available for preorder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSr8s-vfTtY

The ROG Ally X. There are notable improvements, including a much bigger battery which was desperately needed due to the power hungry nature of the Ryzen Z1 Extreme. It's more comfortable to hold, and they moved the SD card slot away from the vents, which is a problem on the original Ally that Asus still refuses to acknowledge. There's now 24 GB of DDR5 RAM, and they're using the same screen as before, which isn't bad, especially with VRR capability. There's also room for a full sized, double sided M.2 2280 SSD, allowing for a storage upgrade of up to 8 TB, which is nuts.

Although in light of Asus' recent customer service controversies, people might want to hold off. For those who don't know, you might send your ROG Ally off due to a joystick not working. They'll decline to fix it due to finding a tiny, nearly imperceptible and entirely cosmetic nick in the plastic of the case and demand $400 to replace the screen (which isn't broken.) or they'll threaten to just send you back a box of disassembled parts if you decline.

[minisith]

Haruspex a écrit :

I feel like I should mention, a new version of the ROG Ally is available for preorder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSr8s-vfTtY

The ROG Ally X. There are notable improvements, including a much bigger battery which was desperately needed due to the power hungry nature of the Ryzen Z1 Extreme. It's more comfortable to hold, and they moved the SD card slot away from the vents, which is a problem on the original Ally that Asus still refuses to acknowledge. There's now 24 GB of DDR5 RAM, and they're using the same screen as before, which isn't bad, especially with VRR capability. There's also room for a full sized, double sided M.2 2280 SSD, allowing for a storage upgrade of up to 8 TB, which is nuts.

Although in light of Asus' recent customer service controversies, people might want to hold off. For those who don't know, you might send your ROG Ally off due to a joystick not working. They'll decline to fix it due to finding a tiny, nearly imperceptible and entirely cosmetic nick in the plastic of the case and demand $400 to replace the screen (which isn't broken.) or they'll threaten to just send you back a box of disassembled parts if you decline.

So ASUS is still the same company a decade later... This is why I did not buy the Ally. Now the average consumer knows their tactics.

[davidinct]

Keep in mind, the SteamDeck OLED does not have all the drivers. If you can deal with the quirks of Windows on a handheld and want Windows for a reason (GamePass games, and Modern Call of Duty for example), the Go is the better device for this.

OR get a LCD SteamDeck...if you need both...

[Drak3]

I like how people keep missing that a big issue OP had with the Ally was due to software, including Windows being an absolute PITA on a small touchscreen and the fact that it needs 3rd party (ASUS Armory Crate SE and Legion Space is 3rd party) to even work on these devices in the first place (a major pain point of all Windows handhelds).

[invision2212]

Drak3 a écrit :

I like how people keep missing that a big issue OP had with the Ally was due to software, including Windows being an absolute PITA on a small touchscreen and the fact that it needs 3rd party (ASUS Armory Crate SE and Legion Space is 3rd party) to even work on these devices in the first place (a major pain point of all Windows handhelds).

There is literally nothing wrong with windows. I’ve been using my legion go now for 4 months and don’t have any issues with windows. It’s runs everything smoothly from my games to any apps I need to use.

You don’t need legion space. You would lose some functions but you don’t need it. It runs in the background and uses less than 100mb of ram, so you won’t even notice it running.

It start up faster than my steam deck, it boots games faster, it runs games better,
The audio doesn’t suck, it has proper charge limiter, it has Hall effect sticks, better cooling, doubles as a proper desktop with a cpu that can actually handle tasks. It can use all of my 1gig Wi-Fi internet.