Confessions on ROG Ally from a Deck, Switch & Ayaneo Owner (4 Months After Release)

it's been 4 months since the RG Z1 extreme  was officially released to Best Buy retail   I pre-ordered this handheld back in early May  and was lucky enough to receive it on day one   a release which was June 13th I devoted an entire  day just to setting it up and after moving over my   ROMs and diving into some AAA games I immediately  fell hard for the RG Ally it was lightweight cool   to The Touch under heavy load powerful with  a considerably better screen than the one on   my steam deck however the honeymoon with the  RG Ally was abruptly interrupted a few days   in when it began randomly ejecting my SD cards  often right in the middle of a gaming session   I spent days reading up on the issue and  troubleshooting until I ultimately decided   that this was more headache than I was willing  to deal with so early on following the initial   purchase so I exchanged the handheld for a brand  new Z1 equivalent at my local Best Buy well guess   what a couple days in I started having the very  same SD Card issues with my second unit and no   these cards had absolutely no issues with my  other handhelds I then made the decision to   send this unit in directly to Asus and it was  in their possession for nearly a month but once   the RG Ally made it back to me up until this  point it's been running flawlessly ever since   throughout my initial Rocky Journey with the  Ally I almost gave up on his handheld multiple   times and it would have been an easy thing to  do with so many handhelds in my possession at   the moment but I can tell you now I'm glad that  I didn't because the Ally has gradually become   the device I reach for most cons consistently  in my downtime so for this video we're going   to cover off on all things R GZ1 Extreme as  it compares to the steam deck I 1s 7840 U and   the Ia 2 6800u we'll dive in on the hardware  ergonomics the specs software accessories some   more unconventional than others and we'll even  draw some comparisons against what is probably   the biggest threat to the Ally in the coming  weeks the Lenovo Legion go so step inside and   pull the curtain behind you these are confessions  on the RG Al from a deck switch and IAL [Music] owner if you asked what I think is oral GLI  strongest selling point for the exterior Hardware   as compared to other popular PC handhelds first  and foremost I say it's the 7in 1920x 1080p IPS   display itself we're talking a 7 millisecond  response time 500 in Max bright Ness and srgb   color space of about 100% 75% Adobe 120 HZ refresh  rate as compared to 60 for the steam deck the io   1s and the io 2 and we can't forget the Alli  display panel has that free snc premium Wild   Card AKA vrr I don't think any other handheld on  the market right now can make this claim and from   what I've read not even Lenovo Legion go that's  dropping in a few weeks will support vrr in spite   of boasting a superior display refresh rate 144  versus 120 but the Alli display panel is far from   the only exterior feature that gives it a distinct  advantage in the market there's also the superior   fingerprint reader technology that's a Bonafide  step up from my iono devices because it takes   an image of your finger the moment you power it  on and then it stores that information and uses   it to log you into your Microsoft user account  all with a single gesture for ional I have to   power on the device wait for the login screen  to load and then tap the fingerprint reader a   second time to log into my user account and you  know what the four function button placement   on the rgi in my opinion is even better than on  the steam deck because each of them are so much   easier to reach from the thumbsticks another  exterior feature that I really enjoy on this   device is the phenomenal dual front fire and  high-res speakers and they support Doby Atmos   and smart amplifier technology the large xyba  face buttons are also much appreciated because   they come much closer to a traditional controller  I'm also a huge fan of the rlg Ali haptics they're   actually really really good it's not on the  the level of the HD Rumble as with the switch   but the vibration is much stronger than what you  get with the steam deck and I really do provide a   heightened sense of immersion in game now if you  crank up the sensitivity all the way up they can   get a little loud which is why I like to keep  it around 60% but they're nowhere near as loud   and Buzzy as my ional devices I don't love the  circle d-pad but I don't hate it either in the   Sleek futuristic and lightweight build has really  started to grow on me as well as the material and   the texture that's used for the outer shell the  grip could be a bit beefier though as with the   steam deck which is why I experimented with 3D  printed attachments from a seller on Etsy however   after using them for some time I started to feel  that the grips were a little too exaggerated and   I also couldn't get the best fit for my rgi carry  cases if you're interested I dropped a few links   for these third party hard shell carry cases  that I finally settled on after trying way too   many cases I'll also drop a link to these thumb  grips as well as this sweet TPU grip case where   I actually attached the cell phone kickstand  this case material is extraordinarily grippy   and it's super easy to remove so I don't have  to worry about the kickstand interfering with   docks the dual fan system is also a leg up on  the competition because it allows for quieter   operation and more efficient cooling but it would  be irresponsible of me to praise the rli cooling   system while ignoring the fact Asus probably  should have positioned the SD card reader much   further away from the left exhaust vent now I do  want to make it abundantly clear that throughout   the entire testing and repair process at the Asus  repair center ases was insistent that there was   no concrete evidence to suggest that any of my  malfunctions with my unit were due to excessive   heat in fact after receiving the working unit  back there was little to no information provided   at all in terms of what work was actually done it  wasn't until after following up that I received a   more detailed explanation which was that the SD  card reader and the main motherboard were quote   unquote bad and therefore had not been repaired  but completely replaced in order to solve the   issue but one thing I can say when I did get  it back I was really glad that I swapped out   the 512 gig SSD for a sabrin rocket 2 terab Drive  during my initial setup process which did set me   back 200 bucks by the way because all I had to  do once I received the unit back was pop that 2   terab drivein download some Windows updates and I  was Off to the Races but it's kind of a shame that   Asus didn't go with the 2280 SSD size because what  I paid for 2 terab Drive could have gotten me four   but first the steam Deck with the 2230 followed  by the RG Ally and now Lenova Legion go wants to   shake things up even more with going with the 2242  but here's another design choice I don't love for   the RG Ali the proprietary egpu Port aside from  this locking users down to Asus Hardware I often   find myself hunting for the charge port in low  light which is precisely the reason I picked up   this simple but ingenious 3D printed cover on Etsy  it Clips directly over the egpu port but it has a   cutout just for the USBC making it much easier to  locate in a dark room moreover while we're on the   topic of exterior gripes I cannot stand that the  Ali power indicator light never shuts off while   the device is in use or a cable is attached you  would think at the very least when it's shut down   and charging is complete that power indicator  light would go out but it doesn't once charging   is complete it'll shift from Orange to white  but that light won never turn off unless you   manually unplug the cable which is the reason I  placed white electrical tape on the TPU grip case   it's transparent enough that I can still see the  device status but it makes the light indicator a   lot less distracting anyway when it comes to the  internal hardware specs both the RG Z1 and the   Z1 extreme come equipped with 16 gigs of lpddr5  RAM that can support up the 6400 megat transfers   Wi-Fi 6C Bluetooth 5.2 a 40w battery which I  wish was 50 in minimum as on the i 2 but I can   only assume that this was a compromise to keep the  weight and the dimensions down so unless Microsoft   releases a version of Windows operating  system that's dedicated and optimized for   handheld gaming Steam OS will continue to be the  unquestionable winner when it comes to providing   the best PC consolized experience after all the  deck natively launches into a dedicated gaming   Hub but the desktop interface being a separate  portal that must manually be accessed and steam   input just makes controller configuration and  customization so easy to implement however the   rgi Armory crate software does an impressive job  with shouldering a lot of the Jank that comes with   the territory of using Windows 11 to play video  games and it gives you the ability to remap both   a primary and a secondary function for each and  every physical button independent of Gamepad and   the desktop mode and you can even achieve this  on a more micro game specific level and more   recently left and right sticks and both the left  and right triggers can all be calibrated directly   in the Armory crate as well as stick Dead Zone and  Trigger pool personalization on top of that the   RG Command Center which boasts a host of customiz  iable and reorganizable hotkeys is extraordinarily   well done placing really anything that you can  possibly need to tweak on top of the game that   you're currently playing swap between controller  modes adjust resolution and refresh rate lock and   FPS adjust game visual profiles close out games  and a very deck likee Manner and so so much more   and with the introduction of Steam Big Picture UI  for Windows if you fancy steam input over Armory   crates controller configuration you can take  advantage of that now as well mind you this is in   addition to the well-known Windows PC perks that  give it a distinct advantage over Steam OS such   as Game Pass local gaming and full steam Library  compatibility I can't say enough how nice it is to   shop steam's massive game Library without having  to search for a green check mark but overall it's   not all roses for the Ally and my biggest software  complaint so far is how Asus distributes updates   placing major bios and firmware updates inside  my Asus and more micro software updates inside   the update Center over in the Armory crate so in  addition to traditional Windows updates that live   inside the general system settings I find myself  having to navigate three different interfaces just   to make sure that I'm caught up and everything  is utilizing the latest and greatest but because   this video is coming much later than many others  I'm glad that I don't have to spend a ton of time   harping over software issues that have already  since been corrected such as minimal brightness   that at launch could only be lowered to a minimum  of 25 nits which was far too bright for late n   gaming sessions and you know what this is the  very same issue that IAL devices still suffer   from to this day minimal brightness just isn't  low enough for comfortable gaming late at night   and it's distracting to others nearby in a dark  room so I went as far as to download thirdparty   software via the Microsoft store that's called  care uis now this software applies blue light   filters and allows for lowering screen brightness  beyond the limits of the device manually or based   on a set schedule but since bios 323 update for  the RG Ali which change minimal brightness from   25 to 10 nits I've had absolutely no need  for this software bios 323 also removed a   bug that prevented thirdparty 65 wat Chargers  from activating 30 W turbo mode on the RG Ali   and it added some additional optimizations for  performance mode when plugged into a power source   and obviously there were some modifications  made for the fan curves for performance and   the Turbo Modes following the whole SD card craze  my short and sweet takeaway is that the Dual fans   are noticeably louder since the update under  heavy load but they're not nearly as loud as   they are on the steam deck and ional devices under  similar stress load as for the silent mode it's   literally just that quiet as a mouse however it's  important to note that silent mode can cause some   major issues depending on the game that you're  playing some games will experience audio crackling   if Adobe Atmos and audio enhancements are enabled  because the system just isn't able to draw enough   power from Silent to support it so I decided to  switch up the parameters a bit from the 1s review   where I ran benchmarks for the 1s the RG allly  seam deck and a few others except 720p resolution   medium Graphics preset without FSR or any other  upscaling features enabled this time around I ran   benchmarks at the 720p resolution as well but I  dropped Graphics down to low preset and I enabled   FSR with the Balan configuration and I'm going to  focus on the Alli the 7840 U and the steam deck   all drivers and bios are up to date using the  latest and greatest which means that the RG Ali   is currently using bios 330 and for good measure  during my test I kept each device plugged into a   65 watt PD charger first up cyberpunk 2077 for the  RG Ali at 15 watts which pulled in an average FPS   of 51.3 versus 51.0 3 for the 7840 U however the  steam deck actually inched out both the Ally and   the 7840 U at 15 watts with an average FPS at 53.2  whereas interestingly enough from my previous test   run using medium Graphics preset at 15 watts the  deck beat out every other device but the RG Ally   on the other hand at a 20 wat TDP the rgi shot up  to the top with an impressive average just shy of   70 FPS 6934 precisely about a two frames average  increase over the 7840 U at 6696 FPS however at a   25 watt TDP the Ally created a solid amount of  separation from the 7840 U with an average FPS   of 7721 versus 7022 for the 1s I thought this  was really interesting because the 1s actually   dominated the Ally for this title at 25 watts  using medium Graphics preset without the help of   SSR on the device on the flip side for Guardians  of the Galaxy at 15 watts the RG Ali beat out all   of the competition at both medium and low Graphics  preset parameters as shown here Graphics low FSR   enabled the Ally pulled in an average of 55 FPS  at 15 watts 69 at 20 watts and 70 at 25 watts and   at medium preset without FSR the Ally pulled in  an average FPS of 60 and 15 watts 69 at 20 watts   72 at 25 watts and so on for shadow of the Tomb  Raider the deck actually returned to the top at   15 watts with an impressive average FPS of 52 at  low preset versus 47 for the Ally and 37 for the   784 U at 20 watts the Ally actually barely inched  out the deck which had 52 average FPS at 15 watts   D3 on the Ally versus 52 for the deck but as you  can see the 1s was actually still behind the deck   at 20 watt and even at 25 watts I ran a number of  other test runs off camera for all these handhelds   the 7840 U is undoubtedly a powerful Apu but from  my experience it appears that outside a handful of   situations the Z1 extreme and the deck custom  van go Apu appear to be better optimized and   upscale efficient within the thermal capabilities  of these handheld form factors for me the biggest   Testament of just how good the rgi Z1 extreme is  in spite of how quickly the handheld Market is   becoming saturated is just how hard I fought for  it if I didn't think that this device was special   I would have returned it back to Best Buy for  a full refund at the first sign of trouble and   moved on and I'm not going to lie the thought  did cross my mind once or twice when the second   unit started to fail but deep down I knew I'd be  doing myself a disservice because this PC handheld   the form factor the specs the pricing retail  accessibility and the software that supports it   catapults the RG Ally to a place that can only be  trumped by a comparable device with insurmountable   and indisputable industry advantages I'm talking  about no other than valve steam deck that's not   only leveraging native Steam OS operating system  but the gargantuan steam storefront itself so   placing these advantages aside I'm going to go on  record to say that the RG Ally has come closest to   providing a true consolized experience for me on  Windows OS even with the addition of ispace 2.0   I'm also going to go on record to say that outside  of my switch handheld the rlg Allies engineering   does a better job than any of my other handhelds  with minimizing the transfer of heat to where my   hands rest and the smoothness that the 120 HZ VR  screen provides is just unmatched right now I also   believe that the Adobe Atmos tune speakers  are second to none and the placement of all   four function buttons at the top are in perfect  reach of the thumb sticks and the ergonomics are   considerably improved from this but the thing that  troubles me the most where the Ally is concerned   is that most people will probably never get to  experience these strengths firsthand because of   the widely shared SD Card issues so early on in  a product life cycle but in spite of the praise   that I have for the Ally there are a handful of  design changes that I would have loved to see   first and foremost there are clearly some quality  control issues going on over at Asus because again   they were very very insistent that heat was not  would cause my reader to fail but even in spite   of this the second change that I would make is  relocating the SD card slot to the bottom of   the device far away from the dual exhaust vents  thirdly if we ever see a hardware refresh I'd   like to see complete removal of this proprietary  egpu port and I honestly don't care that it can   support slightly higher bandwidths because it's  so darn expensive no one is buying the RTX 3080   anyway Thunderbolt 4 supporting thirdparty egpus  such as on many IAL devices is all that is needed   here the volume button placement also makes for  a very awkward reach and if the grips were just a   tad bit beefier and the thumb sticks symmetrical  ergonomics wouldn't be great it'd be borderline   perfect but I have to say seeing how much I enjoy  this handheld leveraging the Z1 extreme Apu has me   very excited about the imminent launch of the  Lenovo Legion go which again has a number of   advantages over the Ally on paper such as faster  Ram 144 Herz versus 120 8 in display versus 7   1600p versus 1080p Thunderbolt 4 egpu support a  mouse trackpad a slightly larger battery and of   course beefier removable controllers however on  that same spec comparison sheet it's important to   note that the Ally still has a number of distinct  advantages such as a smaller form factor in weight   vrr fingerprint reader fantastic front firing  speakers and what I feel is a more ideal layout   for the view and menu buttons which are right  up there next to the thumbsticks while Legion   go is going to have both the view and the menu  buttons near the bottom of the controller on the   left side which means you'll have to stretch your  finger down to pause your game for example and I   worry of Legion go top firing speakers will  mean a less immersive experience as a lot of   people including myself like to angle the handheld  slightly for a better View and experience so I'm   wondering if that means that the speakers will  essentially be firing in the opposite direction   of where you're sitting but yeah I pre-ordered  the Lenovo Legion go Z1 extreme one terab but   I'm already anticipating that I'm going to really  miss vrr the amazing sound quality on the Ally in   the fingerprint reader nevertheless I'm so looking  forward to that 8.8 in 1600p QHD IPS display the   faster Ram transfer speeds the larger battery  the trackpad and I'll have to see how I end up   feeling about the de attachable controllers  hoping it doesn't feel too gimmicky and that   the points where the controller is attached  to the console don't end up feeling loose over   time as with the switch joycons I think of the  controller could be used separately for Co-Op as   with the switch joycons I'd be a little bit more  excited because CU when it comes to FPS Shooters   I generally prefer a controller versus a mouse no  matter what the legion go is going to have some   pretty big shoes to feel for me coming from the  Ally now that's not to say that it can't surpass   the Ally as my favorite PC handheld but much of  this is really rotting on Len no's integrated   software how polished Legion space will be and  how well it achieves the goal of providing a   more consolized experience on a PC platform if  any of the items shown throughout caught your   eye make sure to check out the description  and if you made it to the end of this video   video drop a comment too many handhelds and  while you're at it what's the handheld you're   using the most right now also for those playing  Spider-Man 2 how are you liking that so far as   always thanks for watching and supporting the  channel and I will see you guys in the next [Music] one [Music] n

Channel: MrTek Suggest

Views: 98,782

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Id: Cn0-BZ4Wt5M

Length: 20min 39sec (1239 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 27 2023