Steam Deck or ASUS ROG Ally?

[therealjoz]

What gaming handheld is better?
For me, i think its the ROG Ally, as i can play Roblox and Minecraft on it.

[Mahjik]

The better one is the one that plays the games "you" want to play.

[[?]legit]

Asus ROG Ally without a doubt.

[Haruspex]

I'm biased in that I absolutely love my Steam Deck OLED, but your reasoning for preferring a ROG Ally is a very good one!

The Steam Deck is excellent, but you should still get the system that plays the games you want to play. Just like you shouldn't buy a Playstation if you want to play Halo; You shouldn't buy a Steam Deck if you want to play games like Fortnite or Destiny 2.

You're not really limited to just games on Steam with the Deck though. It's a PC, and not restricted at all. For example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRwJ8c4bTpA

There are people who got Roblox up and running, but the Roblox guys don't seem to want their game running on the Deck, as they seem to have blocked it.

[BOBTOMAS]

Steam Deck OLED

[Zef]

Steam Deck OLED.

[Ki11s0n3]

ROG Ally I believe has the better hardware, but the Steam Deck is optimized better. Meaning even though it has a little worse on the hardware side that because it's so well optimized that games run just as well if not better than ROG Ally.

For now the Steam Deck is the best handheld computer gaming machine on the market even though some have better hardware because it is just optimized better.

[Major Depression]

ASUS Ally. Do not buy a steam deck for any reason whatsoever. Stupid thing wont even charge

[Haruspex]

Originally posted by Ki11s0n3:

ROG Ally I believe has the better hardware, but the Steam Deck is optimized better. Meaning even though it has a little worse on the hardware side that because it's so well optimized that games run just as well if not better than ROG Ally.

For now the Steam Deck is the best handheld computer gaming machine on the market even though some have better hardware because it is just optimized better.

Close. At 15 watts, the Deck and Ally perform roughly the same. Lower than 15 watts and the Deck performs better while also getting better battery life. The Deck can't go above 15 watts, but the Ally can go all the way up to 30 watts, which will perform better due to sheer brute force. Of course this will obliterate the battery. Expect a maximum of 30-40 minutes of battery life when trying to run a game at 30 watt turbo mode.

Originally posted by MennoKnightz:

ASUS Ally. Do not buy a steam deck for any reason whatsoever. Stupid thing wont even charge

To anyone considering which device to buy; Keep in mind the Deck has sold multiple millions, and like any piece of consumer hardware the failure rate will never be 0%. There are also some issues that can be attributed to pure user error. Regardless, out of the millions of happy Deck owners, a few feel a bit burned by whatever issue they experienced and people who feel burned are much more likely to express that on the Internet than people who are happy with their purchase. Even at less than 1% failure rate, that's still thousands of failed Decks, and that's more than enough to fill forums with tales of problems and issues.

I personally have purchased three Decks now. The first one the wife decided was hers after I made the mistake of letting her try it out. The second one replaced the first, and I gave it to my son when the OLED was announced. The third one is my OLED, upgraded to 2 TB. All three Decks are working beautifully and gets lots of play time.

Of course none of this matters to OP, because he wants to play Roblox. That makes the Ally a better buy in his particular use case. I only suggest he not wander too far from a power outlet.

[invision2212]

Originally posted by Ki11s0n3:

ROG Ally I believe has the better hardware, but the Steam Deck is optimized better. Meaning even though it has a little worse on the hardware side that because it's so well optimized that games run just as well if not better than ROG Ally.

For now the Steam Deck is the best handheld computer gaming machine on the market even though some have better hardware because it is just optimized better.

You obviously have not used Z1 extreme APU next to steam decks. I have a steam deck and a Lenovo legion go and the legion go will have upwards of double the frame rate at higher settings vs the steam deck.

Sure the deck has great software and is a well rounded machine, it will not even come close to the performance of the ROG ally or the legion go.

The only steam deck worth the money is the 64gb version with an upgraded SSD. If you are to spend 650.00 on a handheld get an ROG ally or legion go.

[Major Depression]

Originally posted by Haruspex:

Originally posted by MennoKnightz:

ASUS Ally. Do not buy a steam deck for any reason whatsoever. Stupid thing wont even charge

To anyone considering which device to buy; Keep in mind the Deck has sold multiple millions, and like any piece of consumer hardware the failure rate will never be 0%. There are also some issues that can be attributed to pure user error. Regardless, out of the millions of happy Deck owners, a few feel a bit burned by whatever issue they experienced and people who feel burned are much more likely to express that on the Internet than people who are happy with their purchase. Even at less than 1% failure rate, that's still thousands of failed Decks, and that's more than enough to fill forums with tales of problems and issues.

I personally have purchased three Decks now. The first one the wife decided was hers after I made the mistake of letting her try it out. The second one replaced the first, and I gave it to my son when the OLED was announced. The third one is my OLED, upgraded to 2 TB. All three Decks are working beautifully and gets lots of play time.

Of course none of this matters to OP, because he wants to play Roblox. That makes the Ally a better buy in his particular use case. I only suggest he not wander too far from a power outlet.

Yes. Getting a nearly $1,000 brick is perfectly acceptable. Having 0 support for that ~$1,000 brick is also perfectly acceptable.

"Keep in mind the Deck has sold multiple millions"

Also keep in mind that there are so many complaints about the Steam Deck being a broken hunk of junk that while the lemon rate is much higher than is acceptable in a "professionally" made device.

"There are also some issues that can be attributed to pure user error"

Yes. Because issues like:
1. Steam deck wont even turn on
2. Steam deck, brand new, out of the box, wont charge above 0%
3. Steam deck refusing to update or say why beyond "I'm a stupid device that gives error messages that don't allow troubleshooting"

are user error

" I only suggest he not wander too far from a power outlet."
Whys that a dig at the Asus Ally? You can't even unplug the steam deck without it shutting off instantly because it either has a perpetual 0% battery or a "NaN%" battery

[WGM]

I tried Ally first, and now SD. Sadly SD has chemical fumes which makes it a no-go for me. Going back to the Ally, because honestly it's not as bad as everyone says.

NTLite custom Win 11. Fully updated with a grip case. Honestly, it feels as good as the SD at that point. Works with all launchers, easy to mod games, and has great performance. And the winning factor for me; VRR. The screen and it's VRR is what makes any game feel smooth as long as it's above 38 fps, which is easy. Plus I don't play more than an hour at a time max. Meaning the low battery life is a nonplus for me.

Had I been traveling I'd probably got an external bank or gotten SD.

[Haruspex]

Originally posted by MennoKnightz:

Yes. Getting a nearly $1,000 brick is perfectly acceptable. Having 0 support for that ~$1,000 brick is also perfectly acceptable.

Certainly not. I was merely saying that your experience, and ones like yours are atypical. I do understand that you can only really speak from your own experience, which seems to have been negative. My sympathies.

Also $1000? Did you buy yours from a scalper? Maybe you're in an unsupported region?

I can only speak from my own experience, and all three Decks I've purchased have been nothing short of incredible, particularly my OLED.

[Boblin the Goblin]

Originally posted by MennoKnightz:

Originally posted by Haruspex:

To anyone considering which device to buy; Keep in mind the Deck has sold multiple millions, and like any piece of consumer hardware the failure rate will never be 0%. There are also some issues that can be attributed to pure user error. Regardless, out of the millions of happy Deck owners, a few feel a bit burned by whatever issue they experienced and people who feel burned are much more likely to express that on the Internet than people who are happy with their purchase. Even at less than 1% failure rate, that's still thousands of failed Decks, and that's more than enough to fill forums with tales of problems and issues.

I personally have purchased three Decks now. The first one the wife decided was hers after I made the mistake of letting her try it out. The second one replaced the first, and I gave it to my son when the OLED was announced. The third one is my OLED, upgraded to 2 TB. All three Decks are working beautifully and gets lots of play time.

Of course none of this matters to OP, because he wants to play Roblox. That makes the Ally a better buy in his particular use case. I only suggest he not wander too far from a power outlet.

Yes. Getting a nearly $1,000 brick is perfectly acceptable. Having 0 support for that ~$1,000 brick is also perfectly acceptable.

"Keep in mind the Deck has sold multiple millions"

Also keep in mind that there are so many complaints about the Steam Deck being a broken hunk of junk that while the lemon rate is much higher than is acceptable in a "professionally" made device.

"There are also some issues that can be attributed to pure user error"

Yes. Because issues like:
1. Steam deck wont even turn on
2. Steam deck, brand new, out of the box, wont charge above 0%
3. Steam deck refusing to update or say why beyond "I'm a stupid device that gives error messages that don't allow troubleshooting"

are user error :lunar2019laughingpig:

" I only suggest he not wander too far from a power outlet."
Whys that a dig at the Asus Ally? You can't even unplug the steam deck without it shutting off instantly because it either has a perpetual 0% battery or a "NaN%" battery

You're conflating the issue you're having with being a common issue.

[deaddoof]

Originally posted by SlowMango:

You're conflating the issue you're having with being a common issue.

I am still annoyed at Valve keep changing how the power button works. You now have to hold it instead of a light press.

[Boblin the Goblin]

Originally posted by deaddoof:

Originally posted by SlowMango:

You're conflating the issue you're having with being a common issue.

I am still annoyed at Valve keep changing how the power button works. You now have to hold it instead of a light press.

I still just press mine to put it in standby. Don't have to hold it.