Steam Deck vs ROG Ally

FXGalvatron

Galvanizer
Hey all, hope everything is fine with y'all. I've been thinking of getting an ROG Ally or a Steam Deck to play games on the go while traveling, mostly. I already own a PS5 and sometimes, I wanna sit back on my bed or lie down and play some casual games (PS5 is mostly used for games like Marvel Rivals, AAA titles as well). I am thinking of going the Steam Deck way because of Valve and the community but the Asus ROG Ally has these mods apparently and besides, SteamOS is finally here for some really cool stuff and perfromance. Is it really worth investing into a handheld PC for some casual gaming on the go, considering I own a PS5? I'd love to know your thoughts.
 
Really depends on what kinda stuff you play. As long as you're playing indie, AA or older games, either device would be fine, and you don't need to necessarily wait for a potential new device. Initially I tried to play AAAs on my SD, purely driven by the novelty of being able to take these games anywhere. But once that wore off, I automatically went back to games that only run well on it. So much time was spent setting and optimizing games instead of actually playing them, and you have to do this for almost every title.

The Ally first gen is total vfm, and can be had for great prices on sale.
 
oled is so much better than ips, perfect for gaming.
I don't have these handhelds, but if i was going to buy, it would be steam deck oled.
Also dont they have better input by additional touchpads ? Dunno.

One reason to wait is FSR4 enabled chips which makes perfect sense for these low powered devices.
 
I have a Steam Deck and a PC I use for gaming. For me, the deck only gets used if I'm going to stay elsewhere for some time, or if I can't access my PC, like when I had surgery and was in bed for about two months. But under normal circumstances with PC access, it rarely gets used and is currently in mint condition. You should ask yourself if you'd actually game "on the go". Personally, I can't imagine using it for a commute that lasts an hour or so, but something like a long flight makes sense if it's frequent. I don't believe in taking it along on trips either, because that defeats the purpose of a vacation for me, unless I'm alone and know I'll have plenty of free time where I won't venture out.

Enough digressing. If you've made up your mind to get a handheld gaming device, then consider your platform usage as well. If you already have a Steam library or have a few games in mind you're willing to buy, then a Steam Deck OLED (Or even LCD) is great. If you don't, then I'd say a Windows device like an Ally, combined with PC Game Pass, would be a great combination. I know you could sideload Windows on a deck, but that's an unnecessary hassle unless you're someone who feels immense joy in tinkering and configuring things.

Also, if you think you just want to lie down at home and play, what about a PS Portal? Admittedly, I don't know much about it, but considering you have a PS5, you could stick with the same platform, but with a form factor that's convenient for your use case.
 
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