Steam Deck vs ROG Ally

FXGalvatron

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.
 
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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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knightmare said:
What is on the go for you? Being able to play where you have powersource and wifi or literally anywhere like bus or train.
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The latter actually.
agentmilo said:
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.
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It's usually older games, like PS3/X360 era. Or indie games, like The PRecinct, Deliver at All Costs. I am not expecting it to get 60fps high, I am more than content playing 30fps low-medium.
Simar said:
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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I do have a Steam library with a significant backlog and I would game on the go. I often travel by train, 3 hours at a time, sometimes by flight with long layovers. Minimum travel time would be 45 minutes so I think it would be nice. It's usually for commuting tbh. I do take joy in modifying and customizing things. I was about to consider the PS Portal but it's quite expensive for something so basic and very very dependent on internet. I thought I might get a Deck or Ally for doing that and some gaming on the go, much like a PSP (albeit bulkier). I would also use it to emulate some Pokemon games (3DS, DS era) for on the go.

All that said, I am leaning towards the Deck mostly because Valve is treating it as a generational console rather than iterating it year over year, so I am hoping it is well optimized for most games, especially older titles. Someone I know is offering a Deck LCD 64GB + 128GB microSD for about 150 EUR. Sounds too good to be true but he's offering it to see and test it in person. Might check it out and if all are well, might see a post in the show-off section. :P (never posted anything) I can imagine the Steam Deck 2 would be a significant upgrade over this in the distant future anyway. So, lemme know your thoughts folks and I really thank you all for taking the time to comment on this. :) Have a lovely day!
 
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On the emulation side, a current mid-range Android phone with a telescopic controller or one with a holder is generally a better option, mainly because of the battery life, and the other things you can do with it. The recently launched PS3 emulator also works well enough on something like the 8s Gen 4.

I could never get myself to play PC games on the handheld, as I simply prefer my laptop for the same and those sessions are usually more immersive lasting a few hours that these handhelds are not capable of playing on the go and even when they are, you have to do so at mostly low details.
Having said so, if you really want to go for a PC handheld, the Steam Deck OLED would be the best option as you really need quick sleep and resume for a device on the go.
 
Rog Ally or Legion Go
Both have official Steam OS available now and that effectively makes either of them an objectively better choice over the steam deck

As for gen 2 units, expect them to be priced at an easy 2X of the current discounted prices on the Ally/LeGo
PS: The only minor advantage with Steam deck Is on very low demanding games eg simple 2d scrollers.
For low intensity CPU usage, the the lower powered CPU on steam deck can run longer hours on a single charge.

other than this one scenario, I don't see any other advantage with steam deck now
 
superczar said:
Rog Ally or Legion Go
Both have official Steam OS available now and that effectively makes either of them an objectively better choice over the steam deck

As for gen 2 units, expect them to be priced at an easy 2X of the current discounted prices on the Ally/LeGo
PS: The only minor advantage with Steam deck Is on very low demanding games eg simple 2d scrollers.
For low intensity CPU usage, the the lower powered CPU on steam deck can run longer hours on a single charge.

other than this one scenario, I don't see any other advantage with steam deck now
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SteamOS is still quite buggy on the ROG Ally and is not an officially supported device. It kind of defeats the purpose if you want to use a handheld like a console and then have to get things to work again, which is the reason people go for the Steam Deck in the first place. Not to say, the battery life on the OG Ally is going to be horrible and it costs a lot to get a larger replacement battery over and above the handheld cost.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ROGAlly/comments/1lg6k1x/is_steamos_ready_for_rog_ally
 
t3chg33k said:
SteamOS is still quite buggy on the ROG Ally and is not an officially supported device. It kind of defeats the purpose if you want to use a handheld like a console and then have to get things to work again, which is the reason people go for the Steam Deck in the first place. Not to say, the battery life on the OG Ally is going to be horrible and it costs a lot to get a larger replacement battery over and above the handheld cost.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ROGAlly/comments/1lg6k1x/is_steamos_ready_for_rog_ally
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Except that It's isn't ... Neither does it require any additional work

Bazzite was my daily driver on Rog ally. I installed bazzite on legion go on day 1 after getting it.
Was Slightly buggy but still better than windows.


Switched to steam os 2 days after release. It's close to a month now and haven't practically faced any bugs at all ....
Its actually quite impressive to see a beta release as so well done
Performance is slightly better than bazzite and definitely better than windows.

Absolutely no complaints.
Granted this is on a legion go but the rog ally is pretty much the same hardware
PS: If the steam deck cost 30-50% lower than ally/lego, there was still a case for it ..let alone that, Its not even officially available here which makes it a completely pointless purchase
 
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