Don't buy a Steam Deck, if you want a gaming handheld buy an ROG Ally — here's why

[Windows Central]

If you're considering getting a gaming handheld, you should get an ROG Ally rather than the Steam Deck. Here's why.

Don't buy a Steam Deck, if you want a gaming handheld buy an ROG Ally — here's why : Read more

 

[Willpower]

Don't wanna be rude but this is a pretty misleading take. This article makes up the Steam Deck to be this ultra limited device with a locked down OS with only a small selection of games being playable. Neither is true. It's a PC, it runs Linux. There's no imposed limitations and the only gaming related service you're locked out of is Xbox Game Pass, literally everything else is accessible. Same applies to the games, you can attempt to install and run every single game be it on Steam, Epic, GOG, whatever. The Verified program is just a certification done by Valve per game that guarantees compatibility, that's it. Doesn't mean non verified games aren't compatible. The vast majority of games I personally play on my Deck are unverified and even all out unsupported, and every single one works flawlessly. Not a single game has been unplayable (nor in anyway worse than Windows) in my experience, only issues you may come across is a very few specific selection of games with certain unique anti cheat implementations. Let's be honest too: Windows is just not a good handheld experience. SteamOS is.

But wait, there's more. The argument made here to choose the Ally is freedom and performance. If we humor my perspective here, then we've established that freedom in this case is literally only having access to Game Pass, so that can be disregarded by most people (and if it's valuable to you, you can install Windows on the Deck). Imo then the only relevant and true point left here then throughout the entire article is perf. Yes, Ally is considerably faster than the Deck... When running at double the TDP with sub hour battery life. So yeah, if you're looking for a desktop PC the Ally isn't too bad

These devices are handheld, they're meant to be portable. You need significant battery life and efficiency for that. Steam Deck is pretty much the only PC handheld that does this while still providing significant performance per watt with a sizeable battery. Since the Ally can't compete with this even at identical TDP, then the performance point becomes fairly meaningless since it negates the entire handheld capability of the device. So in my eyes, all combined I can't see an argument here that really holds up for why the Ally would be the best handheld device.

And this is despite it actively ignoring all the pros of the Deck such as the software experience, ergonomics, efficiency, perf per watt, accessibility, customizability, value, display, audio, QC, customer support, community, mods, repairability etc. which are all miles ahead of the competition including the Ally. The Ally isn't a bad device and it's a good fit for some people, and if someone thinks it's better than anything else then that's great for them. The Deck also has its own flaws of course that are equally important to highlight. But this article to me just felt kinda biased and imo misleading. For some, the Ally is best. Meanwhile for some (I'd argue most but whatever) the Deck is best. But please try to cover both as completely, equally and accurately as possible before making purchasing suggestions.

 

[Snack_Packed]

I laughed out loud as I read this (what should be labeled as satiical) joke of an article. Perfect example of people writing/talking about something they have no idea about. Read the above post for an ACTUAL review.

 

[JACrazy]

This article doesnt make much of a good argument why the ROG Ally is better than the Legion Go which has an OLED screen, detachable controllers, a touchpad, etc. Especially because it mentions that the performance is about equal to the Ally.

 

[john clove]

No Don't buy a steamdeck its a big clunky horrible machine and a lot of them were beseeched with faults... The Rog ally has its own problems too overheating and sdcard problems.. the best models to buy are those from Gpd, Oneplayer(onexplayer) and Ayaneo.. i've had and still own models from all these brands and they have behaved flawlessly and most are smaller, lighter and as poweful or more poweful thanthe

 

[wojtek]

omg... this 'article' is beyond dumb... and I noticed there was a series of "don't buy" articles from same aemuthor/author, ahta/that sports same abysmal quality...

 

[Guillermo Power]

The article that compares the Steam Deck and the ASUS ROG Ally is a misleading and biased piece of journalism that fails to capture the true essence and purpose of the Steam Deck. The author either does not understand what the Steam Deck is, or deliberately tries to deceive the readers by presenting the ROG Ally as a superior gaming handheld.

The author ignores the fact that the Steam Deck is not just a handheld device, but a portable PC that can run almost any game from the Steam library, as well as other applications and software. Steam Deck has a custom Linux distro that is optimized for gaming and offers a smooth and cohesive experience that is tightly integrated with Steam. The SteamOS is also a full Linux distribution that allows users to access the desktop mode, install flatpaks, and do pretty much anything they would do on a Linux machine or under WSL. The author does not mention any of these features, and instead praises the ROG Ally for letting them write up a Word document and having superior tech specs, sure, it has superior tech specs but the Windows vs SteamOS question is much more complex and merits a detailed discussion! Windows as it is today is not the ideal OS for a handheld device.

The author’s bias is evident in the way they describe their personal experience with the two devices. The author claims that they enjoyed playing games on the ROG Ally more than on the Steam Deck, and that they even used the ROG Ally to write up Word docs with a wireless keyboard and mouse. This shows that the author did not use the Steam Deck to its full potential, and that they did not appreciate the versatility and convenience of the Steam Deck.

This piece could have been genuinely written from the perspective of various users and tried to portray the pros and cons of each handheld. There are really valid reasons to choose the ROG Ally over the Steam Deck, but almost none are identified by this article.

 

[Warrior24_7]

Don't wanna be rude but this is a pretty misleading take. This article makes up the Steam Deck to be this ultra limited device with a locked down OS with only a small selection of games being playable. Neither is true. It's a PC, it runs Linux. There's no imposed limitations and the only gaming related service you're locked out of is Xbox Game Pass, literally everything else is accessible. Same applies to the games, you can attempt to install and run every single game be it on Steam, Epic, GOG, whatever. The Verified program is just a certification done by Valve per game that guarantees compatibility, that's it. Doesn't mean non verified games aren't compatible. The vast majority of games I personally play on my Deck are unverified and even all out unsupported, and every single one works flawlessly. Not a single game has been unplayable (nor in anyway worse than Windows) in my experience, only issues you may come across is a very few specific selection of games with certain unique anti cheat implementations. Let's be honest too: Windows is just not a good handheld experience. SteamOS is.

But wait, there's more. The argument made here to choose the Ally is freedom and performance. If we humor my perspective here, then we've established that freedom in this case is literally only having access to Game Pass, so that can be disregarded by most people (and if it's valuable to you, you can install Windows on the Deck). Imo then the only relevant and true point left here then throughout the entire article is perf. Yes, Ally is considerably faster than the Deck... When running at double the TDP with sub hour battery life. So yeah, if you're looking for a desktop PC the Ally isn't too bad

These devices are handheld, they're meant to be portable. You need significant battery life and efficiency for that. Steam Deck is pretty much the only PC handheld that does this while still providing significant performance per watt with a sizeable battery. Since the Ally can't compete with this even at identical TDP, then the performance point becomes fairly meaningless since it negates the entire handheld capability of the device. So in my eyes, all combined I can't see an argument here that really holds up for why the Ally would be the best handheld device.

And this is despite it actively ignoring all the pros of the Deck such as the software experience, ergonomics, efficiency, perf per watt, accessibility, customizability, value, display, audio, QC, customer support, community, mods, repairability etc. which are all miles ahead of the competition including the Ally. The Ally isn't a bad device and it's a good fit for some people, and if someone thinks it's better than anything else then that's great for them. The Deck also has its own flaws of course that are equally important to highlight. But this article to me just felt kinda biased and imo misleading. For some, the Ally is best. Meanwhile for some (I'd argue most but whatever) the Deck is best. But please try to cover both as completely, equally and accurately as possible before making purchasing suggestions.

If you're considering getting a gaming handheld, you should get an ROG Ally rather than the Steam Deck. Here's why.

Don't buy a Steam Deck, if you want a gaming handheld buy an ROG Ally — here's why : Read more

This debate will ultimately turn into a ****** argument. But the “truth”, is there’s only two reasons to buy a Steam Deck! You want a cheaper handheld, or, you absolutely love Valve! Please don’t talk about bias. I’ve seen some pretty biased reviews and statements regarding the Steam Deck versus its competitor's. Besides wanting a cheaper machine, or, you just love Valve, you can do better.

Both, the Asus Ally and Lenovo Legion Go are more powerful than the Steam Deck. PERIOD! Windows IS NOT a liability as is insinuated in biased Steam Deck VS competitor reviews. You can play your whole Steam library on the Legion Go and Asus Ally, this is something not mentioned in the reviews for the Steam Deck. This is the main reason that you don’t need a Steam Deck! Why? To play Steam games? YOU-DON’T-NEED-A-STEAM DECK-TO-PLAY-STEAM-GAMES! Some Steam games don’t actually play well on the Steam Deck! For example, you get a better screen and way more options on the Lenovo Go than the Steam Deck! I’m NOT going to tell anybody what to buy. But both the Lenovo Legion Go and the Asus Ally are more powerful than the Steam Deck and give you more options.

 

[wojtek]

there is third reason to go with steam deck - breaking Ms monopoly... as regulators doesn't seem to be able to do it one can only vote with the wallet...