Asus ROG Ally X Review: More Battery and Storage, Same Windows Problems

I was harsh connected the archetypal Asus ROG Ally. Maybe a small excessively harsh, since galore of the problems I had with it are inherent to the precise conception of a Windows-based handheld gaming console. So, erstwhile I got my hands connected the caller ROG Ally X, I tried to beryllium a spot much open-minded. It wasn’t hard, due to the fact that the newer exemplary is simply a important improvement. But immoderate hurdles conscionable can’t beryllium overcome.

The ROG Ally X looks astir identical to its predecessor, prevention for a caller overgarment of achromatic paint. There are subtle differences, similar rounded-out grips that are much comfy to hold, somewhat elevated ABXY buttons, and an eight-direction D-pad that handles diagonal movements a spot better. If you didn’t look excessively intimately though, you’d beryllium forgiven for reasoning small has changed.

But nether the hood, Asus has made immoderate monolithic improvements. Most notably, the artillery size has doubled. The archetypal ROG Ally had a 40-Wh battery, astir comparable to the archetypal Steam Deck. The ROG Ally X, connected the different hand, someway packs a monolithic 80-Wh battery. That’s larger than the artillery successful Asus’s Zephyrus G14 gaming laptop, which I loved for its lengthy artillery life. Despite this monolithic increase, the Ally X is lone astir 70 grams heavier.

Asus besides beefed up the retention capacity—it present comes with a 1-terabyte SSD alternatively of 512 GB—and 8 much gigabytes of DDR5 RAM. The institution besides swapped retired the XG Mobile larboard that’s lone truly utile for Asus’ outer GPUs for a USB4 port that tin scope speeds up to 40 Gbps, making it perfect for connecting to external docking stations. But specs can’t archer the full story.

The Insurmountable Wall of Windows

Windows isn’t designed to beryllium tally connected a handheld. That’s conscionable a simple, unavoidable truth. Microsoft expects you to travel to its operating strategy with a rodent and keyboard, oregon astatine slightest a ample interaction screen. Trying to navigate the OS with a controller is ever going to beryllium an workout successful frustration. No substance however hard I try, I can’t look to flight the basal occupation of trying to interact with things connected the screen.

One salient illustration of this is the Xbox app. Asus has made immoderate coagulated strides with its Armoury Crate SE app that’s meant to beryllium the span betwixt each the different crippled libraries connected your system. Armoury Crate launches astatine startup, there’s a dedicated fastener adjacent to the close power instrumentality to unfastened it erstwhile you request it, and it has shortcuts to apps similar Steam (which launches successful the controller-friendly Big Picture mode) oregon Xbox truthful you tin entree immoderate crippled you own.