ASUS ROG Ally vs Steam Deck: which is the best 2023?

ASUS ROG Ally vs Steam Deck: The Asus ROG Ally is right here to tackle the Steam Deck. This new Home Windows 11 handheld options higher specs than Valve’s machine, together with a 1080p 120Hz show and the brand new AMD Ryzen Z1 Excessive chip. It could additionally play Home Windows-compatible video games properly out of the field.

We have examined each method and located them adequate to incorporate in our greatest handheld gaming consoles listing. They’re each nice for enjoying the most effective PC video games on the go. However, how do they examine each other? Beneath, we’ll go over what every machine has to supply that can assist you in determining which one to get.

Asus ROG Ally vs Steam Deck: Price

However, the Asus ROG Ally prices are more significant than the Steam Deck, not by an excessive quantity. Asus’ handheld is obtainable now for $699 at Finest Purchase. This configuration packs a 7-inch 120Hz 1080p LCD show, an AMD Ryzen Z1 Excessive APU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. A $599 configuration with an AMD Ryzen Z1 chip can be listed on Finest Purchase and is predicted someday in Q3 2023.

The Steam Deck has three fashions, although the one distinction between them is their respective storage sizes and shows. Storage choices embody 64GB for $399, 256GB for $529, and 512GB for $649. The latter mannequin additionally has an anti-glare etched-glass show. All configurations include a black carrying case that has a Steam Deck emblem on the prime. The $649 unit’s carrying case has a grey lining on the within and likewise comes with a cleansing fabric.

Proper now, the ROG Ally prices $50 more significantly than the Steam Deck with 512GB of storage. If you wish to maintain the Ally protected, you’ll additionally spend one other $39 for the Asus ROG Ally journey case. In the long run, the Steam Deck is the extra reasonably priced choice, even should you get the high-end mannequin.

Asus ROG Ally vs Steam Deck: Specifications

Asus ROG Ally vs Steam Deck: Design

The ROG Ally and Steam Deck share related options; however, there are necessary variations between the 2.
The ROG Ally has an all-white design that distinguishes it from the all-black Steam Deck. RGB lighting beneath the two analog sticks is another function the Steam Deck lacks.

ASUS ROG Ally vs Steam Deck: With that stated, the Ally lacks the Steam Deck’s touchpads, which is undoubtedly one of the handheld’s most outstanding options. Each method has four face buttons, two analog sticks, a d-pad, and four small buttons for navigating by their respective Person Interfaces. The Ally has two buttons again, whereas the Steam Deck has 4.
Asus’ handheld measures 11.0 x 4.4 x 0.5 inches and weighs 1.3 kilos.

Conversely, the Steam Deck measures 11.73 x 4.60 x 1.93 inches and weighs 1.5 kilos. General, the Ally is smaller and weighs lower than the Steam Deck. As a result of it being so gentle, it’s straightforward to carry and use Asus gadgets for hours at a time. Whereas the Steam Deck is bigger and heavier, it’s simply as comfy for lengthy stretches.

You’ll discover the entire ROG Ally’s ports alongside its prime. This features a USB-C port, a PCIe port, a mini SD card reader, and a headphone jack. The Steam Deck has a USB-C port and a headphone jack-up prime, with an SD card reader on its backside. Each handheld has its respective quantity and energy buttons on the highest. Their air vents are additionally located up prime.

It’s troublesome figuring out a winner in this class since fashion and luxury are subjective. Plus, there are trade-offs. The ROG Ally has an extra placing look due to its white chassis and RGB lighting. Nevertheless, it additionally feels considerably plasticky. On the flip facet, the Steam Deck appears large and ponderous; nonetheless, it feels sturdier.

Asus ROG Ally vs Steam Deck: Screen

Show high quality is, without doubt, one of the significant variations between the two handhelds. That is the realm the place Asus’ system has a transparent benefit.

The ROG Ally has a 7-inch 120Hz 16:9 show with a decision of 1920 x 1080. Valve’s gadget additionally has a 7-inch display screen. Nevertheless, it tops out at 1280 x 800 with a refresh charge of 60Hz. Steam Deck has an extra display screen actual property due to its 16:10 side ratio. However, video games with a 16:9 side ratio cannot benefit from the additional pixels.

ASUS ROG Ally vs Steam Deck: display test

Header Cell – Column 0	Asus ROG Ally	Steam Deck
Nits (brightness)	465	169.7
sRGB	108.6%	68.5%
DCI-P3	76.9%	48%
Delta-E	0.17	0.25

ASUS ROG Ally vs Steam Deck: How did the handhelds fare in our lab exams? Once we pointed our trusty Klein-10A colorimeter on the ROG Ally, we discovered that its show achieved a mean of 465 nits of brightness. That’s much brighter than the comparatively dim 169.7 nits the Steam Deck completed in the identical check.

When it comes to coloration replica, the ROG Ally delivered 108.6% of the sRGB coloration gamut and 76.9% of the DCI-P3 coloration gamut (nearer to 100% is most extraordinary) with a Delta-E rating of 0.17 (more comparable to 0 is greatest). As compared, the Steam Deck’s show achieved 68.5% of the sRGB coloration gamut and registered 48% of the DCI-P3 coloration gamut, with a Delta-E of 0.25.

The ROG Ally supplies higher viewing expertise in each lab testing and hands-on knowledge due to its extraordinary decision and superior coloration replica. The Steam Deck can’t match the ROG Ally right here.

Asus ROG Ally vs Steam Deck: Performance

The Asus ROG Ally packs an AMD Ryzen Z1 Excessive processor. The brand new chip options eight cores and 16 threads and has the effectivity of Zen 4 structure, based on AMD. This processor is constructed on an x86 structure and is suitable with Home Windows 11.

The Ryzen Z1 Excessive is a customized Zen 4 RDNA3 4nm APU. The Steam Deck additionally makes use of an AMD APU. However, its CPU is predicated on the Zen 2 structure, whereas the GPU uses RDNA 2. This chip has 4 Zen 2 cores and eight RDNA 2 compute models. Compared, the AMD Ryzen Z1 Excessive has eight Zen 4 cores and 12 RDNA 3 add models.

The ROG Ally is twice as highly influential on paper because of the Steam Deck. That is one thing Asus has immediately acknowledged. Nevertheless, primarily based on our testing, we discovered that Ally’s efficiency stayed less than promised.

Our lab exams revealed some fascinating outcomes. Utilizing their respective in-game benchmarks, Cyberpunk 2077 and Filth 5 ran at 24 and 45 fps (respectively) at 1080p. These values are close to the Steam Decks. There’s a good wider gulf between Grand Theft Auto V and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, as seen in the desk above.
Regardless of its beefier {hardware}, the Ally doesn’t match the Steam Deck regarding framerates. But it indeed’s necessary to remember that we’re evaluating video games operating at 1080p on the Ally towards 720p on the Steam Deck.

ASUS ROG Ally vs Steam Deck: Frame rate test results

Header Cell – Column 0	Asus ROG Ally (1080p)	Steam Deck (720p)
Borderlands 3	23	N/A
Cyberpunk 2077	24	29
Dirt 5	45	40
Grand Theft Auto V	28	53
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	26	42

ASUS ROG Ally vs Steam Deck: We additionally ran the ROG Ally by Geekbench 5, which measures CPU efficiency. The handheld notched a single-core rating of 1,933 and a multi-core rating of 10,614. This obliterates the Steam Deck’s Geekbench scores of 834 and 579, respectively. Ally’s Geekbench outcomes are similar to the MSI Cyborg 15 gaming laptop computer (1,851 / 10,674, respectively).

As for my testing, I discovered the Ally carried out higher at 720p decision at medium settings with the refresh charge locked to 60Hz. Doom Everlasting was the massive winner, with body charges remaining within the excessive 50s and low 70s, relying on how much motion was taking place on the display screen.

Body charges tumbled at 1080p, ranging between 35 to 45 fps. That’s near what I noticed on Steam Deck, which tops out at 720p. Switching between 120Hz and 60Hz didn’t affect efficiency, although 120Hz made the sport feel smoother.

ASUS ROG Ally vs Steam Deck: Geekbench 5

Header Cell – Column 0	Single-core	Multi-core
Asus ROG Ally	1,933	10,614
Steam Deck	834	3,579

Spider-Man and Cyberpunk 2077 are each open-world video game, so it wasn’t stunning that neither achieved related efficiency to Doom Everlasting. Spider-Man fared greatest out of the 2, with framerates gliding between 35 to 55 fps at 720p and the excessive 20s and low 30s at 1080p. Cyberpunk 2077 largely stayed throughout the 35 to 45 fps vary at 720p; however, it barely hit 30 fps at 1080p. The body charges I skilled at 1080p on the Ally resemble the Steam Deck.

Regardless of its energy, the ROG Ally generally struggles to realize clean, playable framerates at its native 1080p decision. Optimization performs a significant function in a sport’s efficiency. Steam Deck-verified video games sometimes run nicely on the system since they’ve been optimized for SteamOS and the Deck’s {hardware}.

Whereas the Ally can run Home Windows-compatible video games, no similar optimization initiative is in place. If builders optimize their video games for this gadget, it will ship higher efficiency.

Asus ROG Ally vs Steam Deck: Battery Life and Warmth

Don’t count on stellar battery life from the ROG Ally and the Steam Deck.

In our battery check, which entails steady internet browsing at 150 nits of display screen brightness, the ROG Ally lasted for five hours and 51 minutes. Once, we ran the extra graphically demanding PCMark 10 benchmark to simulate how lengthy the Ally would final—in contrast, the time dropped to 1 hour and 43 minutes in gaming.

As you may see within the desk above, the Ally outlasted the Steam Deck by three minutes in the identical PCMark 10 check. The real-world outcomes are disappointing when considering how Asus claimed 8 hours of battery life.

ASUS ROG Ally vs Steam Deck: Battery Test

Header Cell – Column 0	Productivity test	Gaming test
Asus ROG Ally	5:51	1:43
Steam Deck	3:50	1:40

What about warmth? In our average warmth check, which entails taking part in an HD video for a quarter-hour, then scanning the gadget with a warmth gun, we discovered Asus’ handheld obtained as heat as 86.5 levels on the underside, peaking at 95 stories on the display screen. These temperatures are safe as we usually take into account temperatures over 95 classes as being uncomfortable.

Issues warm up when participating in video games, with the display screen reaching 111 levels and the highest of the handheld peaking at 115 levels. Fortunately, warmth isn’t a problem when taking part since your hand isn’t resting close to any of the vents.

As for the Steam Deck, we discovered that the underside close to the vents reaches 109 levels Fahrenheit, and all the bottom will get as scorching as 90 stories. The display screen additionally comes with 90 levels. As with the Ally, you will feel no more than gentle heat when taking part because the controls are removed from any of the most popular features. The Steam Deck runs nearly as scorching because of the ROG Ally.

Asus ROG Ally vs Steam Deck: Software program

ASUS ROG Ally vs Steam Deck: The ROG Ally can run any Home Windows-compatible sport or utility out of the field. That is each the system’s energy and weak point.

The Steam Deck runs on SteamOS, with a devoted controller-friendly UI that’s straightforward to navigate. Asus’ Armoury Crate app is Ally’s closest equal. Nevertheless, it could be more intuitive to make use of. Armoury Crate permits you to see and choose all video games you’ve downloaded, no matter their launchers. The app itself works as meant. Nevertheless, when you’ve selected a title, you’re compelled to use its related launcher.

For example, deciding on a Steam sport brings up the Steam desktop app. Clicking on an Xbox sport pulls up the Xbox app. Excluding Steam with a controller-friendly Massive Image mode, you’ll be compelled to use the right analog stick as a mouse or contact controls to navigate these launchers since they don’t acknowledge Ally’s controller buttons.

Steam Deck runs on SteamOS 3.0. The OS helps Proton, a compatibility layer that lets Microsoft Home Windows-developed video games run on the Linux-based SteamOS. The Steam Deck can run many video games, though not all titles are suitable or optimized for the handheld.

As a substitute for a UI, much like Steam’s Massive Image mode, Steam Deck, as an alternative, uses a modified model of the Steam desktop consumer that works nicely with controller inputs. Suppose you know Steam’s interface or the UI of any modern-day console, just like the PS5 and Xbox Sequence X. In that case, you need help navigating its menus and sub-menus.

That is one other space the place the Steam Deck has a bonus. SteamOS is mainly designed to work harmoniously with the handheld. The same isn’t true about Armoury Crate on the ROG Ally. Sure, it works nicely while you’re within the utility. Nevertheless, you’re booted out of the app when you choose a sport.

Asus ROG Ally vs Steam Deck: Recreation library

ASUS ROG Ally vs Steam Deck: As a Home Windows 11 gadget, you may set up video games from various launchers on the ROG Ally. This contains (however, isn’t restricted to) Steam, GOG, Ubisoft Join, Xbox Recreation Go, EA Origin, and plenty of others. This provides you entry to thousands of the most influential PC video games — all sorted within the Armoury Crate app.

In brief, the system’s sports library consists of the titles you already personal — which can be one of many Steam Deck’s promoting factors. It’s attainable some video games could not run nicely (or in any respect) on the ROG Ally, so there is likely to be some trial and error concerned, identical to Steam Deck.

As for Valve’s handheld, its library consists of titles obtainable on Steam. There are more than 2,000 “Verified” video games for Steam Deck. This contains video games like Elden Ring and Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered.
Four compatibility classes exist. “Verified” titles, equivalent to Elden Ring, run properly out of the field appropriately.

“Playable” video games, comparable to Group Fortress 2, could require you to pick out a group controller configuration or could require you to make use of contact controls to navigate a launcher. “Unsupported” titles, such because the VR-based Half-Life Alyx at the moment, are not practical on Steam Deck. Lastly, video games equivalent to Day of Defeat are designated “Unknown.”

This class is challenging. Although the Home Windows 11-driven ROG Ally ostensibly has a wider variety of titles it could run, there aren’t any particular titles optimized for the system. And whereas the Steam Deck’s library primarily consists of Steam titles (no less than out of the field), you’re assured a slew of video games optimized for the handheld.

Asus ROG Ally vs Steam Deck: Backside line

The Asus ROG Ally is a sound system by itself. It is the most effective Home Windows 11 handheld available. Its show is beautiful, feels good to play on, and provides entry to your entire PC video games. Regardless of its virtues, nevertheless, the ROG Ally fails to overthrow the Steam Deck.

Proper now, Valve’s handheld has an OS that is simpler to make use of, and that is tailored for gaming. Once more, Armoury Crate is a poor substitute for SteamOS. As well as, there are lots of video games optimized for Steam Deck, which is one thing the ROG Ally currently needs to improve. Lastly, Asus’ gadget prices are more significant than the Steam Deck.

ASUS ROG Ally vs Steam Deck is attainable. We’ll see what the Asus ROG Ally can do as soon as video games are optimized for it. A devoted UI that is as practical as SteamOS would additionally assist. However, as issues stand, the Steam Deck stays the most effective handheld for enjoying your PC video games on the go.