Home
Games
Games Reviews
Asus ROG Ally X Review: An All Weather Friend

Asus ROG Ally X Review: An All-Weather Friend 3h4o6b

The Asus ROG Ally X was unveiled ahead of Computex Taipei 2024 in June. 133m4t

Written by Sheldon Pinto | Updated: 29 October 2024 12:23 IST

Asus ROG Ally X Review: An All-Weather Friend

The Asus ROG Ally X ditches the Ally's White colourway to embrace an all-black look 1hg1d

Highlights

The Asus ROG Ally X brings a host of design tweaks for better ergonomics
The gaming handheld performs irably on triple-A titles
It packs an 80Whr battery compared to the Ally's 40Whr cell

ment

The told me that the company didn't believe in waiting. The Taiwanese firm's strategy to be the first to market across device categories has paid dividends in India, so why wait when you bring something new?

And Asus ROG Ally X is also more expensive than the original Ally, coming in at Rs. 89,990 in India.

But are the upgrades packed in this refresh worth the higher price? At Computex, when I first got a hands-on opportunity to try the Ally X, I felt that Asus had made all the right choices for a mid-gen refresh of the ROG Ally. After spending some time testing the device, it's clear that the company took no half-measures.

MSI Claw A1M Review

The ROG Ally X dwarfs the Nintendo Switch

Asus ROG Ally X Design: Ergonomic improvements 3t515i

Dimensions – 280mm (width) x 111mm (height) x 24.7 ~ 36.9mm (depth)
Weight – 678g
Colour – Black

Asus returned to the drawing board to make the new Ally more ergonomic. While the handheld retains the visual language of its predecessor — barring the Black colourway, there's little that differentiates the Ally X from the Ally at first glance — there are studied design tweaks all over to make the handheld more comfortable and natural to, well, hold in your hands. Most notably, the grips feature a more pronounced curve than the original ROG Ally — taller by 4.5mm, so the rear side nestles into your palms rather than digging against them. The grips are also textured to resist slips, but these are a little more prominent than necessary. The ROG-themed textures on the rear ended up creating a bit of friction against my palm during longer playing sessions, making them sweat more than usual.

Hands-on With the Asus ROG Ally X: Upgrades That Matter

On the other hand, the textured rubber on the joysticks feels really good and prevents your thumbs from slipping off during intense play. The thumbsticks also sport deeper concave grooves on top for your thumbs to settle in comfortably. Asus also claims that the joysticks on the ROG Ally X are twice as durable as the ones on its first handheld — rated for 5 million rotation cycles. The RGB halo effect around the sticks also adds a bit of flair to the handheld.

The ROG Ally X has a more ergonomic design than its predecessor

The hall-effect triggers are wider and sport a slightly more curved contour. The D-pad has been redesigned to be less sticky and floaty, resulting in satisfyingly crisp . This is one of the best D-pads I've used on a contemporary controller or gamepad. The left and right bumpers and the ABXY buttons are quite clicky, too. The two rear macro buttons are now smaller to reduce the chance of accidental presses while playing.

ROG Ally X to Arrive in India Soon as Asus Doubles Down on Its Handheld Bet

There's a change in the port selection, too. Asus has dropped the proprietary ROG XG Mobile Interface from the original Ally for a second USB Type-C port. This is appreciated, but it would have been better if one of the USB ports was placed on the bottom side of the handheld rather than both positioned side-by-side on the top spine. The ROG Ally X is also a bit thicker and 70g heavier than its predecessor, but it feels right at home in the hands. The construction is solid, and the handheld has a robust presence while maintaining a slick and clean design aesthetic.

The grips feature a slip-resistant texture that is a bit coarse for my liking

Asus ROG Ally X Display: If it ain't broke, don't fix it 69614x

Size – 7-inch "IPS-level" touch display
Resolution – Full-HD (1920x1080 pixels)
Refresh rate – 120Hz

The ROG Ally X retains the display from the Ally. The 7-inch multitouch LCD goes up to 500nits of peak brightness. It's crisp with accurate and vivid colour reproduction. Asus also claims the Corning Gorilla Glass DCX coating on the reduces reflections, which improves visibility in bright and outdoor environments. However, the best feature of the display is the variable refresh rate , which reduces screen tearing and stuttering to provide smoother framerates while gaming.

Lenovo Legion Go Review: Best Windows Handheld?

Asus, however, missed a trick by not upgrading the Ally X with an OLED . The handheld's LCD display is excellent, but an OLED screen makes a big difference in the viewing experience, especially while gaming.

The ROG Ally X sports two USC Type-C ports on the top

Asus ROG Ally X Software: Close the Windows 151z35

OS – Windows 11 Home
Proprietary app – Armoury Crate SE

The ROG Ally X runs on Windows and run Valve's OS out-of-the-box.

Here's where the improved Armory Crate SE comes in. Asus' software brings an intuitive console-like interface that is a hub for all your games and your portal to dive deep into handheld settings. There are plenty of refinements that make Armory Crate smarter and more efficient. The game library can be customised to your preferences and gets a favourites tabs to quickly jump into your go-to games. A deeper level of customisation comes to settings, too. Now, you can adjust custom TDP values and assign additional memory to GPU — the Ally X allocates 4GB of its memory to the integrated graphics by default, but with the bumped-up RAM, I increased it to 8GB. You can also manually adjust the fan curve for both fans.

Overall, Armoury Crate SE adds a hassle-free interface to Windows, and I found myself working off the software most of the time, whether to access games across services like Xbox or to tweak performance settings and personalise the Ally X. The Command Centre, which can be brought up by tapping the dedicated button that hugs the left side of the display, is also a handy way to quickly select power profiles, switch between Gamepad and Desktop control modes, take screenshots, and more. Contrary to the quick settings overlay on the MSI Claw A1M, the command centre on the Ally is responsive and free from stutters and touch input issues.

The joysticks feel sturdy, with a textured rubber top preventing slips

Asus ROG Ally X Performance: Consistency is key 3w2736

Processor – AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme
RAM – 24GB LPDDR5
Storage – 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD + M.2 SSD (2280) slot for additional storage
Graphics – AMD Radeon Graphics (RDNA 3, up to 8.6 teraflops)

The ROG Ally X comes with the same Ryzen Z1 series processor seen on its predecessor that works across a TDP range of 9-25W (it can further go down to a minimum of 7W TDP in Manual settings) on DC power (on battery). Power limit values can be adjusted to your liking in the Manual power profile, or “Operating Mode,” as Asus calls it. Aside from Manual, there are three pre-defined operating modes — Silent (13W), Performance (17W), and Turbo (25W). On AC power (while charging), Turbo mode goes up to 30W TDP even though it's the same AMD chipset, the Ally X's abundant and faster memory, its efficient utilisation of power and the VRR-ed screen results in some of the smoothest gameplay I've seen on a handheld.

Playing a demanding title like Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 1080p resolution and Medium graphical preset at 17W (Performance mode) resulted in very respectable frame rates in the range of 35-45fps, with densely forested areas, heavily populated settlements and intense combat sections seeing frame rates on the lower side of that range. The average frame rate ed in the in-game benchmark stood at 39fps.

Playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider on the Ally X

At 25W Turbo mode, the game performed in the 40-50fps range, with the average frame rate coming in at a slightly improved 42fps. On AC power with Turbo mode boosted to 30W TDP, the average frame rate on Shadow of the Tomb Raider showed a marked improvement at 44fps. And since it's a small screen, you can easily lower the resolution to recover more frames without a noticeable hit to image quality. For instance, with the same Medium graphical preset at 720p, the average frame rate in the game shot up to 63fps.

On Forza Horizon 5, at Medium present and 1080p resolution, the average frame rate ed at 76fps on 30W Power mode while charging. When unplugged at 25W TDP, the racing title performed at an average of 72fps. And on the 17W Performance profile, the average came in at 68FPS. These are really good performance numbers on fairly demanding titles.

Windows remains a frustrating experience on gaming handhelds

Handhelds, however, lend themselves to smaller, less demanding titles, even if they perform irably and adequately on triple-A games. The smaller screen, too, is more suited to platformers and 2D side-scrollers, as expansive vistas of open-world 3D titles can feel diminished on a 7-inch display. On older and indie games, the Ally X predictably shines. On Hollow Knight, for instance, playing at 1080p resolution with High settings on the 13W Silent operating mode yields framerates consistently above 110fps.

On Jusant, a slightly more demanding puzzle platformer, I saw framerates in the range of 45-55fps. At 1080p with Medium settings, while playing in the 17W Performance mode, I noticed some minor dips. On 25W Turbo mode on DC power, the framerates climbed up to 55-60fps range. And with the charger plugged in with 30W TDP, I saw a slight improvement, with performance topping out at around 65fps.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider on the ROG Ally X

Asus ROG Ally X Battery: Best in the business 2c3m2z

Battery capacity – 80Whr
Charger – 65W AC adapter

The Asus ROG Ally X's biggest upgrade comes in the battery department, with the handheld doubling the 40Whr cell of the original Ally. It's a truly transformative improvement that makes the Ally X a legitimate portable device. Most Windows-based handhelds, including the first-generation ROG Ally, top out at around an hour or an hour-and-a-half of playtime on demanding games. The ROG Ally X, with its massive 80Whr battery and efficient power management, can easily last up to two hours while running modern titles. I got just above two-and-a-half hours of gameplay on Shadow of the Tomb Raider before the battery died. Most of my playthrough was unplugged using Turbo mode, but I switched to 13W TDP once the battery reached the 20 percent mark.

On less demanding older and indie games, you can stick to the Silent operating mode at 13W or set it even lower manually to reduce battery drain and get excellent performance and extended play sessions of up to four hours. On low wattage, with brightness set to a minimum, you could go above and beyond on titles like Spiritfarer. The excellent battery life on the ROG Ally X puts it convincingly above its competition. The handheld stays cool and silent during extended play sessions, too, with Asus bringing improvements to its thermal management.

Verdict 91hw

When it launched in 2023, the Asus ROG Ally set a high baseline for Windows-based gaming handhelds. It couldn't touch the Steam Deck OLED in of battery efficiency, but its impressive performance on modern games, its compact and lightweight design, and its 120Hz display made it the handheld to beat. With the ROG Ally X, Asus has clearly kept what already worked well and improved what was lacking. The device's bigger battery, faster (and more) memory, and better cooling results in an efficient and consistent performer that beats out the competition on nearly every metric.

The cost of those crucial upgrades, however, is rather steep. At Rs. 89,990, the ROG Ally X is nearly double the price of the AMD Z1 Extreme model of the original Ally, which currently sells at Rs. 49,990 after price cuts. That vast gap makes it a bit difficult to recommend Asus' latest handheld; an OLED screen would have definitely sweetened the deal. But if you're looking for the best Windows-based handheld in the market right now, it's even more difficult to recommend anything else but the ROG Ally X. With its best-in-class battery and considerable performance gains, the Ally X is your all-weather friend.

Pros

Excellent battery life
Consistent performance
Ergonomic design changes
Clicky, tactile buttons
Improved thermal management
Smooth Armoury Crate SE experience

Cons

No OLED display
Windows OS
Steep pricing

Ratings (out of 10)

Design: 8
Display: 7
Software: 7
Performance: 9
Battery Life: 9
Value for Money: 6
Overall: 8

Comments

For the latest reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: Asus ROG Ally X Battery Life

Manas Mitul

Email Manas Mitul

In his time as a journalist, Manas Mitul has written on a wide spectrum of beats including politics, culture and sports. He enjoys reading, walking around in museums and rewatching films. Talk to Manas about football and tennis, but maybe don’t bring up his video game backlog. More