Last year’s ROG Ally was an “almost” device. It almost ticked every box I wanted from a portable gaming device. Various micro-annoyances held it back from being an essential purchase. And believe me, I had one in my virtual shopping cart throughout much of 2023. Now with a refreshed ROG Ally X model, Asus has edged closer to making its handheld a must-buy.
Valve’s much-lauded Steam Deck remains conspicuously absent from Australian shelves. Barring grey imports from overseas, Asus, Lenovo, and MSI have popped up to fill the void. Asus’ first foray into the handheld gaming PC market was a valiant attempt, only hamstrung by its paltry battery life and Windows 11 clunkiness.
Then came Lenovo with the Legion Go, a bulky behemoth that sacrificed portability. Rounding out the trio, MSI’s big point of difference is its Intel chipset. In a field of AMD contenders, the upcoming MSI Claw sports the latest Lunar Lake processor, which will reportedly drive increased gaming performance.
Back to the ROG Ally X though, how much has actually changed? While it’s not tangibly greater in power than its predecessor, there’s a veritable laundry list of improvements that add up to make a substantial difference in usability. It’s more comfortable to hold, it lasts longer, and even the software is less clunky to use.
Every change is a welcome one. However, it comes at a cost. In Australia, the ROG Ally X costs $1,599, a sizable $300 more than the 2023 iteration. That’s getting precariously close to entry-level gaming laptop pricing. Regardless, it’s the best example of this form factor available in Australia right now.
Asus ROG Ally X review
First impressions
As a card-carrying member of the sweaty-handed gamer alliance, I’m grateful Asus moved away to a sleek all-black finish. White-coloured tech is eye-grabbing but attracts sweat stains and discolouration over time.
More than just a superficial makeover, the ROG Ally X is nicer to hold courtesy of more ergonomic controller grips. They’re rounder and curve deeper into your hands, resulting in a more natural fit.
It’s still not an easy device to hold aloft for extended play sessions – the Ally X does weigh 678 grams, after all. I preferred playing games when I could rest my elbows against a surface, like a desk or my lap, to anchor my grip and reduce wrist strain.
Even though the new model is heavier to accommodate a bigger battery, it didn’t feel drastically different to the non-‘X’ variant. Likely down to a combination of improved ergonomics and even weight distribution, you could’ve told me the Ally X weighed the same as last year’s Ally, and I would’ve believed you.
A new coat of paint and comfort tweaks aside, much of the exterior is the same. Asus’ refreshed handheld gaming machine sticks with the same 7-inch 1080p LCD screen that caps out at 120Hz. It may not be OLED, but it’s plenty bright and colourful enough no matter what you play.
Last year, I expressed frustration at the clunkiness of the Windows 11 experience. Although the ROG Ally X still uses Windows 11 alongside its Armoury Crate SE overlay, it’s less cumbersome to use this time around. Whatever Asus has done with ongoing software updates seems to have worked; it’s not quite the streamlined experience of a bespoke gaming operating system, but it’s a lot better than what it once was.
Asus ROG Ally X specifications
| Processor | AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme |
| Memory | 24GB LPDDR5 |
| Display | 7-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) 120Hz touch-enabled IPS display |
| Storage | 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD |
| Battery | 80WHrs Type-C 65W AC adapter |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) Bluetooth 5.2 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C DisplayPort / power delivery USB 4 Type-C (Thunderbolt 4, DisplayPort 1.4, Power Delivery 3.0) UHS-II microSD card reader |
| Price (RRP) | $1,599 |
| Warranty | One year |
| Official website | Asus Australia |
Design and user experience
Asus didn’t just tweak the controller grips when designing the ROG Ally X. The control sticks, triggers, and face buttons all feel better and more responsive. One of the original model’s annoyances was muddy-feeling buttons, so the improvement here is pleasing.
I’m not as fond of the condensed rear bumpers, though. Yes, they take up less space to help avoid accidental presses, but I found I kept adjusting my grip just to find them in the first place.
If you want a handheld gaming PC in Australia, Windows 11 is something of a necessary evil. While we look longingly at the Steam Deck’s streamlined SteamOS platform overseas, Microsoft’s OS side-eyes us as if to say “Well, you don’t have a choice”.
At launch last year, the ROG Ally’s user interface was fiddly, to put it mildly. It used what is essentially a desktop operating system, smoothed over with Asus’ gaming-themed Armoury Crate software wrapper. While Armoury Crate worked fine, direct interactions with Windows 11 often resulted in frustration.
Thankfully, there’s less friction between the ROG Ally X and its software this time around. It still uses Windows 11, but I encountered far fewer weird glitches with the new device. Since launching the OG, Asus has worked on updates to Armoury Crate to help it play nicer with Windows, which anecdotally seems to have improved the overall user experience.
Pressing the dedicated Armoury Crate button brings up a quick menu to easily make changes on the fly. From brightness, to volume, power settings and more, it’s super helpful and more intuitive than interfacing with Windows directly.
While this doesn’t completely evade the need to tweak and tinker to get the most out of each gaming session, it at least streamlines the process. Welcome to PC gaming, baby.
Performance
Compared to the first Ally, the ROG Ally X is best viewed as a version upgrade as opposed to a comprehensive successor. Both devices run on AMD’s Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip, so there’s not much difference in graphical processing power between them.
Instead, Asus doubled the battery capacity, equipping the Ally X with an 80Wh module. It also has double the internal storage (1TB), and 24GB of RAM (up from 16GB). So, while you won’t see a 30-frame difference while playing the latest big-budget games, you can at least play for longer.
In my case, this meant playing three hours of Hades 2 on the 17W “Performance” power setting without needing to sprint for a power outlet midway through. And that was at a rock-solid 120Hz. Not too shabby at all.
Like gaming laptops, the more intensive the game, the faster the battery will drain. Still, getting more than a couple hours of Cyberpunk 2077 running on 25W “Turbo” mode is an impressive feat for a handheld device.
To give you an idea of how it holds up in-game, here’s how the ROG Ally X performed across a handful of benchmarks:
Forza Horizon 5 benchmark
| Device | Power mode | Graphics preset | Average frame rate (fps) |
| Asus ROG Ally X | 30W | Extreme | 33 |
| Asus ROG Ally | 30W | Extreme | 31 |
| Asus ROG Ally | 30W | Low | 82 |
| Asus ROG Ally X | 30W | Low | 80 |
Hitman 3 Dartmoor benchmark
| Device | Power mode | Graphics preset | Average frame rate (fps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asus ROG Ally X | 30W | Ultra | 43.89 |
| Asus ROG Ally | 30W | Ultra | 40.2 |
| Asus ROG Ally | 15W | Ultra | 33.79 |
| Asus ROG Ally X | 17W | Ultra | 32.82 |
Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark (ROG Ally X only)
| Power mode | Graphics preset | Average frame rate |
|---|---|---|
| 30W | Ultra | 50.28 |
| 17W | Ultra | 47.26 |
| 30W | Steam Deck | 58.33 |
As you can see across the Forza Horizon 5 and Hitman 3 benchmarks, the difference in performance between the Ally models is negligible. Again, most of the benefits here are suited to longer play sessions, whether that be enhanced comfort or better airflow.
It’s also worth mentioning that, like the OG model, the ROG Ally X supports AMD’s upscaling technologies. Across many games, you can run them at a lower resolution and then upscale them to get better frame rates without further taxing the hardware. It’s a nice way to get even more battery life out of your sessions, getting you closer to 60fps gaming on lower power modes.
Generic benchmarks
Moving on to some of the broader benchmarks designed for PCs, the ROG Ally X clearly has a decent chipset at its disposal. Predictably, when it comes to raw graphical processing power, it can’t reach the same heights as gaming laptops equipped with discrete graphics cards.
It’s on par with recent laptops reliant on integrated graphics. Which, these days, is more than enough to run most games.
Geekbench 6
| Device | CPU (single-core) | CPU (multi-core) | GPU (Open CL) |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (Gen 8) | 2,870 | 17,089 | 158,787 |
| Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 | 2,903 | 17,385 | 119,970 |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024) | 2,581 | 12,160 | 96,452 |
| Asus TUF A16 | 1,986 | 9,632 | 69,434 |
| Asus ROG Ally X (30W) | 2,480 | 11,810 | 33,096 |
| Asus ROG Ally (30W) | 2,543 | 12,181 | 31,924 |
3DMark Time Spy
| Device | Time Spy score |
| Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (Gen 8) | 13,796 |
| Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 | 12,881 |
| Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024) | 9,620 |
| Asus TUF A16 | 9,196 |
| ASUS ROG Ally X (30W) | 3,497 |
| Asus ROG Ally (30W) | 3,198 |
Who is the Asus ROG Ally X for?
A holistically better version of the 2023 model, the ROG Ally X is still a niche device at heart. If you want as much control over your portable gaming experience as possible, this is the best there is in Australia.
Directly addressing the original’s pain points, the Ally X is easier to use and better equipped to handle the demands of modern gaming. In exchange for a higher price tag, you get more internal storage, a longer-lasting battery, and a better-quality design.
If you already have the 2023 ROG Ally, however, these incremental yet meaningful improvements aren’t necessarily reason enough to immediately upgrade. Yes, longer play sessions and more space for games are nice, but there’s little difference in actual in-game performance.
But, if a lack of battery life and onboard storage held you back in the first place, consider this your sign to pull the trigger.
The post Asus ROG Ally X review: much improved in every way appeared first on GadgetGuy.
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