Xbox Shows Support As ASUS ROG Ally Pre-Orders Go Live

Isn’t the rumoured Switch 2 going to be using the GPU in one of these models, or is it the Tegra239?

I already have a SteamDeck that is underutilized. This looks promising, though. Native GP games is a huge plus.

I am very interested in this. I think its the 'perfect' hand-held to compliment my Xbox and Game Pass subscription - as well as not be 'limited/locked' to 'Xbox' only enabling me to play games not available on my Xbox too.

Battery life maybe isn't great, but then if I know that I can't get to a 'charging' point, I can opt to Stream as that is much lower battery consumption - and get 5-6hrs, or even turn the settings down, rely on RSR or FSR to make it 'look' higher res and get longer. I don't need to play at 1080p with 'high' settings, over 60fps etc to push the unit hard when 'on the go' and relying on Battery Life...

@Kaloudz That is definitely a big consideration when it comes to these devices, and the Steam Deck is no better really. I mean yeah the battery life might not be bad if you're just playing lightweight indie games, but by then you might as well just be using a Switch.

I just think of them as something you can take around with you and game in odd places around your home or in a hotel room on vacation or something. It's definitely for a more adult handheld gaming crowd in other words, as I never really use handheld consoles on the go anymore like I would as a kid.

I’m “interested” but not enough to get one. More curious on the future of these devices, and really curious how windows would handle on a thing with no mouse or keyboard.

@Kaloudz Yeah I think I'm the same lol, GBA was probably the last one I would use all the time even when I was out.

@Kaloudz What you have to remember is that both the Steam Deck and this have the same 40w/hr battery and the Steam Deck is limited to about 15w so you get 2-3hrs and you'd get 'similar' Battery life running the Asus at about 15w too. As its 'more' efficient, you get better 'performance' at 15w - whether you use that to boost 'resolution' to full HD (not 720-800p), visual settings or frame rates - choice is yours.

Point is, if you 'keep' the RoG Ally set to a 'low' power consumption mode, its still 'better' than Switch with 'equivalent' settings. You get higher, more consistent frame rates at the 'same' power settings and about the same battery life too.

As its 'PC' games, therefore 'control' over the settings and a 'Small' screen, dropping the res down to 720p and using RSR to 'upscale' to 1080p is not as detrimental to Picture Quality as it is on big screen TV's. If you aren't 'getting' the battery life, you can adjust the performance or PQ to reduce the load on the APU to extend it. Cap the game to 30 or 60, cap the screen to 60hz, turn the brightness down etc and you may get 3-4hrs instead of 1hr.

The difference between this and 'improving' your internet is that this can play those games locally - for 'best' PQ, Lag/latency. It can even be docked to your TV with bluetooth used for connecting controllers - like a Switch. However, unlike a Switch, you can also 'dock' it with a external GPU (Like the RTX4090) and get DLSS, RT and a massive 'boost' in graphical performance - essentially beating anything your Series X could 'offer' - but of course you'd expect it to at that price.

As I have said many times, MS never needed to make their 'own' Handheld - locked just to Xbox. They have PC partners - like Asus, HP, etc who can build handheld windows gaming PC's and compete with each other to keep prices competitive and Xbox, being Windows based, has their 'handheld'. With 'Play Anywhere' purchases, you can buy FH5 on Xbox, and play it on PC too without needing to 're-purchase'. So you automatically will have 'games' to play - before exploring all the other options like Steam for example...

@JONOFTHEJONS If they switch from Nvidia to AMD it could, the chip is an apu , with CPU and GPU in the same silicon, but I would think Nvidia would make Nintendo an offer they cannot refuse if they were going to switch from supplier.

@Kaloudz yes - but also look at the 'quality' of those games - not the 'game-play' - but the res, the colours, the details etc etc. The OG Game Boy was a low res mono screen to power - not a 'full HD 120hz' screen.

Some 'handhelds' had 'similar/worse' battery life - Sega Game Gear had a 2-3hr battery life and required 6 'AA' batteries every time.

Also, the charger of the Asus is quick - can fully charge in an hour or so, the Switch takes quite a bit longer - Linus Tech Tips review was pretty good on this.

The point is that if you are running games at the 'highest' possible settings, pushing over 60fps to warrant using the 120hz mode etc - boosting the system to its max capacity, then you'll drain the battery quicker - with a 40w/hr battery, using 10w/hr will last 4hrs, use 20w/hr and it lasts 2hrs - push 35w, and you'll get maybe an hour or so.

But you don't need to run over 60fps at 1080p with settings dialled up to the 'max' on a 'small' screen - 720p with Radeon's Upscaling to 1080p reduces the GPU load, therefore reduces 'power' consumption so you get 'more' battery life for 'on the go' gaming and, if you really need to 'conserve' battery because you can't get near a 'charging' point, streaming is 'cheaper' on power consumption so could get 5-6hrs worth - from something that only weighs 608g, that thin and that 'powerful'.

Like a Laptop, they don't 'last' 10's of hours - especially not if you have a high spec thin gaming laptop to play 'PC' games on the go - also weigh over 2kg. Some barely last 2-3hrs at their 'highest' settings - but many use them near a power outlet.

I never Game on the go myself anymore - but I often have 'idle' time to game where I cannot access or justify turning on the Console. It seems pointless to turn it on for just 30mins or if the TV its connected to is in use, its too much hassle to 'move' it. So much easier just to game on the handheld, plug it in to any socket and play in bed or on the sofa whilst the TV is on. If I ever do go 'somewhere', like on Holiday, its also much easier to take with me than my Series X - also have a 'portable' PC with a great screen to watch TV/Movies on - better than a 'mobile' and much easier than taking a Laptop with you...

@Kaloudz That's where power extension leads can come in handy - I don't think I can be anywhere comfortable in my house without being 'close' enough to any power socket.

Even if I wanted to play in the bathroom, I'd only require a 'small' 3/4m extension.

All I am saying is that for the Price, the performance and the size, it seems incredibly good value - playing the latest PC releases on the go. Doom 2016 would blow what the Switch can offer, same with Witcher 3 for example, even out-perform Steam Deck too. Those older handheld were a very 'compromised' or very different 'game'...

@Kaloudz I've just pre-ordered one from Asus directly - expected mid-June and just £700 (with 'free' delivery)

The Steam Deck and Switch both have a lower res screen - 800-720p respectively. Its also a 'small' screen so 720p on a 1080p handheld isn't as bad as 720p on a 55" HD TV. Then of course you have the option to 'upscale' using FSR or RSR to improve the quality of the upscaling too.

Issues too are much less 'noticeable' as they are so much smaller. Therefore you could use 'lower' settings than you'd get away with because the 'difference' is too small to be noticeable. If you want to, you can push everything to 'ultra' and cap the frame rate for a very consistent experience.

From my perspective, I think it will get used and will deliver what I am hoping for - an 'extension' to my Series X allowing me to play more games, more often. Of course with Sony releasing PC games too and many on Steam that don't come to Console, it has more games. Its not just the 'latest' either, but even 'old' games that were 'never' patched on Xbox to offer higher res, higher visual settings or higher frame rates. Imagine playing PC version of Battlefield 3/4 - 1080/60 on Ultra settings. Games like FF7, Death Stranding, Spider-Man, God of War etc are also on PC so also on this too...

Its not just 'Starfield' or 'Fable', but every PC game - any game you can play on PC, you can play here - and that would no doubt include 'emulation' too...

@Kaloudz $600 is the 'cheaper' variant coming later this year - not the more 'powerful' unit. This has the Z1 Extreme chip.

What you are also forgetting is that the 'US' price of $699 is without any 'Tax' on it. In the UK, all prices include Tax which is '20%' so take 20% of the £700 I paid (£140) and you get a price of £560 - which 'coinicidentally' is about $700...

@Kaloudz Can Santa bring me one too? 😁

Nah, just kidding - I have the Steam Deck to play at home and I must say that it is great, mostly because I play retro games (PS2 era/OG Xbox games on it), so the battery issue isn't that bad.

OTOH, playing Game Pass natively is tempting...(without installing Windows on SD and all that!).

@Kaloudz I wish...

Maybe I'm just to naughty to get on Santa's List so I have to either fund things myself or hope by some miracle things I want come to me by just wishing for them...

I think I'll wait to consider the 'extra' 4090 GPU at over £2k LOL, but i'd rather do that than try and play it through a standard dock on my 4k TV personally - but I have my Series X for that experience for now.

I don't have a Steam Library to be concerned about but I do have 'Windows' based Digital games Library through Xbox and I already have Game Pass Ultimate so I know I already will have games to download and play at NO extra cost - great incentive to 'me'. Pity I can't play the PC versions of my 'Digital' Playstation Library too - but I can play them portably if I want - inc games 'never' coming to Xbox thanks to Sony as well as countless other great PC only or never got newer versions of games that now run better than ever...

@Kaloudz You do have the option of paying 'just' for the Console version - like you do for Cloud or PC. However, you still need 'Gold' on Console to play 'online'.

Gold is 'bundled' in to Ultimate so that if PC/cloud gamers upgrade to Ultimate, they can still play on Console without needing to pay anything more.

I believe its the Same Price (~$10/£8) to just subscribe to Game Pass on a Single Platform but as you say, its 'pointless' on Console as you need Gold too and the perks of Ultimate (EA Play for example) makes it the better value option. But that would allow you to stream (as you have 'Game Pass for Cloud') and play on PC (as you get Game Pass for PC). With just Game Pass for Console, you can't 'stream' games via 'cloud' before you decide if they are worth it.

If you were to get the RoG Ally for example, with your GPU sub, you automatically have access on 'PC/Cloud' too - rather than have to buy Game Pass PC because you only owned Game Pass for Consoles...

@Kaloudz Mine is guaranteed 'minimum' of 55 down - but averages around 70-75 with 20 upload. Wifi is 'lower' compared to hardwired.

My Series X is Hardwired to my Router so if I Stream, I'm streaming direct through wires. My Laptop and XB1X (bedroom) is connected via Wifi, but I haven't used these as much to Stream, although I have used both and both seemed Satisfactory.

I do notice some terrible macro-blocking - probably due to the 'compression' used but it can seem more noticeable/prevalent at times - particularly in shadow gradients. Its obviously not as 'good' as playing local at the same res/settings because streaming requires 'compression' to reduce the bandwidth and reduce lag/latency.

On smaller screens, its far less noticeable than on a big Screen TV

@Kaloudz Game Pass only requires at least 20Mbps download speeds as its limited to 1080p over Wifi (or 720p on mobile networks) but obviously if you have others using your internet, having higher bandwidth just means that you aren't competing for bandwidth traffic (someone watching 4k Netflix and someone else downloading/uploading their daily Vlogs for example will impact the amount of bandwidth you have). I have no noticeable issues with my Service - as I said, I'm guaranteed at least 55 download speeds or can 'leave' my ISP for free without breaking the T&C of my Contract.

I am generally the only person on my Network so its more than adequate to game on Cloud on my Laptop or XB1X over 'wi-fi' in my house. My XB1X is furthest from the router too and seemed 'consistent' to me and as my 'bedroom' TV is a 48" 1080p Screen, it doesn't look quite so 'soft and/or underwhelming' as my Series X does connected to a 55" 4k HDR screen.

I have been on (up to) 80 for probably a decade now (averaging 70-75 most of the day) and its more than adequate for my needs. It doesn't seem to drop low enough to impact me and I don't have others to share that bandwidth with either.

I'd always recommend going for the highest bandwidth you can get. Even if the 'highest' single use case may only require 20 download, it does fluctuate and other users can use some of that bandwidth watching Netflix or checking emails on their mobile. The higher the bandwidth, the more data can flow - meaning that 'bandwidth' alone isn't throttling your Game updates, game downloads etc so can speed those up to.

I can't tell you how to spend your money so I'll leave that decision to you but I do recommend getting the 'highest' bandwidth you can afford...

@Kaloudz My man, I have 5 Mbps up and down! It is a miracle I can use GP at all, lol!

Joking aside and FWIW, when nobody else is using Wi-fi at home, I can get a pretty decent time with xCloud. Last year, I did finish The Artful Escape on my phone with little issues.

I am looking for a better internet provider, but there aren't many options over here.

@Kaloudz That is what's worse: I live in Mexico City, the capital of the country.

I will try to check with the service provider, because it has been getting worse and worse every year!