ROG Ally vs Legion Go vs OLED Steam Deck: Which gaming handheld is right for you?

here we have three awesome handheld gaming PCs but which one is right for you well let's hash it out back in the summer we took a look at the Asus Rog Ally and how compared to the steam deck but since then we've had another Challenger join the fight with the arrival of the Legion go well actually one and a half new Rivals if we're really counting the new OLED steam deck which we have right here so as we approach the end of the year it feels like a great time to do you know a little face off between three of the most popular gaming handhelds on the [Music] market but first let's talk design the Rog Ally the OLED steam deck and the legion go all kind of use the same basic template you've got a larger screen in the middle flanked by a pair of joysticks some face buttons and additional triggers bumpers and paddles on top and around back all three devices also have 3.5 mm Jacks for Wired audio and micro SD car slots for expandable storage which you know I really appreciate in the day where phones don't get that anymore but from there each has its own set of unique quirks and features at 1.3 lb 11 in across and 0.83 in thick the Rog Ally is easily the smallest of the bunch while also having the most straightforward build has a 7-in Ola display in the center but Asus didn't include much in the way of fancy extras not that that's a huge deal the Ally's most notable feature aside from its sleekness is probably its built in fingerprint on top right here which makes it faster and easier to log into Windows this doesn't give it a huge Advantage but I do appreciate the convenience now some surprisingly it also only has a single pair of rear paddles joysticks are responsive but nothing out of the ordinary and has a circle style d-pad which isn't my favorite for playing fighting games but that's just me oh and there's also one of asus's XD mobile ports on top so you can connect the Ally to one of their GPU docks I should also mention that unlike the steam deck and the legion the Ally is the only device here that doesn't come with the case so you'll probably want to save some extra money to buy one if you're going to go with this option now the steam deck in this case the new OLED model is the middle child weighing 1.4 lb and measuring 11.7 in across and 1.9 in thick with a 7.4 in screen now aside from the orange highlights in the Smoky shell on this limited edition model the main differences are two pairs of rear paddles and dual touchpads which can be helpful when trying to play games originally developed for mouse and keyboard for the new OLED version they have also made a couple minor tweaks including new more durable cating on the joysticks a less noisy fan and some revamped internals so it actually weighs about 30 G less than the old LCD model then there's the leion go over here which is the largest of the bunch or should I say XL cuz it's definitely big anyways it has the biggest display at 8.8 in while also being the heaviest at 1.9 lb and the same 11.7 in across as the steam de deck more importantly the legion go has the wildest design kind of similar to the Nintendo switch as detachable controllers and a kickstand in back so you can prop it up on a table and you know share the screen with somebody else it also has more precise hall effect joysticks and two USB 4 ports which are really nice for anyone planning on use this thing as a portable desktop so you can plug in a bunch of peripherals without you know a lot of extra work there's also a single touchpad on the right though that's more for navigating Windows than something you're really going to use while playing games but that's not it because the legion Go's coolest party trick is that you can detach the right controller activate the FPS toggle on the bottom and then drop it into lenovo's included Puck and voila suddenly you have sort of an ersat vertical Mouse there's even a little scroll wheel in back this is great because if you want to use this thing as a desktop it means you might not have to carry a dedicated Mouse around but you can also use it in Shooters you know hence why it's called the FPS toggle to give you more control while aiming now that said in my experience this mode takes more than just a little bit of practice to get really good at so unless you're especially dedicated fan of games like Counter-Strike it might not be your go-to option so while the legion go is definitely on the chunky side it has the most adaptable design I also want to give Lenovo a shout out for putting this little cutout right here on the case so you can feed a charging cord through and charge the system while it's stashed safely inside really nice touch now let's talk about displays because thanks to the new OLED version the steam dech can finally hang with its more expensive Rivals well kind of that's because while valve was able to increase the size of the screen up to 7.4 in up from 7 Ines on the original model by slimming down its bezels you know because it's not actually physically larger you're still looking at an 800p 90 HZ display on the deck versus a 1080p at up to 120 HZ display on the Ally or a 2560 x600 at 144 Herz on the legion go still text just isn't as sharp on the steam deck and you might notice some faint color fringing too however the one thing the steam deck has that the others don't is an etched anti-glare mat glass display which is available on valve's top end configurations so let's take a look at how it really Compares close up now this can be hard to capture on camera so we're going to do the best we can now I'm going to take one of our LED fill lights over here I'm going to hold it over the steam deck and you can see there still is a reflection but it's pretty hazy and it's not super sharp so it's a bit less distracting but now if I move it over the Ally you can see almost every LED bulb individually and same thing for the legion go and so that's really kind of highlighting the differences between your traditional glossy screen and that matte screen like you have on the deck the OLED panel on the updated steam deck is a big upgrade but it still sits in third place the Allies full 1080p display is everything you need from a gaming handheld it's bright it's punchy and it's a great match for the performance of the system meanwhile Lenova went above o and Beyond with an 8.8 in screen though it is honestly kind of overkill for a device like this don't get me wrong that 2560 x600 resolution and 144 HZ refresh rate are awesome but you're never really going to take full advantage of it the legion C just isn't powerful enough to play new AAA games at 60 FPS with Graphics turned all the way up let alone at over 100 FPS and if you're playing older retro titles that pixel density has sort of a limited return on investment but even so it's hard to turn on a panel that looks this good even if it's XL Dimensions make the whole system kind of bulky moving on to software where one of the biggest differences between these devices is the OS they're based on in an attempt to provide wide compatibility with a huge library of PC games and digital stores both Asus and Lenovo opted for Windows the good thing about this is that downloading and installing games is a very familiar process the bad part is that Windows simply isn't optimized for devices with with screens this small especially ones without dedicated mice or full-size touchpads that means you often have to combine touch controls with the tiny touchpad on the Legion or the joystick on the Ally which Asus thoughtfully tweaks so that it can move your cursor outside of games it's usually enough to get the job done but things still feel clunky so to streamline their systems Asus and Lenovo created apps that serve as Central hubs for adjusting performance tweaking settings and browsing and launching games and while Armory crate and Legion space are fun functional there's always a sense that both are just kind of Band-Aids trying to MCH the fact that Windows really really needs a dedicated handheld gaming mode remember how Windows 8 had a dedicated tablet mode come on Microsoft can we do that again but for handheld this time oh and you know make it good meanwhile Steam OS is a true streamlined gaming platform it's super simple to browse through your library install games or even buy new ones with just a couple Taps and while all three systems have handy buttons for summoning things like your game library or quick settings menu because of how much better integrated these functions are in seos it just feels so much smoother on the steam deck however the big limitation for valves machine is that it's tied to steam itself if you don't have a big library of games already purchased from valves Digital Store the deck may lose some of its appeal granted it's possible to install other game stores like epic Battle.net and others but it can be tricky for you know less Tech savy Gamers the other thing to consider is compatibility because while they're now over 10,000 titles playable on the steam deck there are still some that just don't run or work right at all this includes a handful of major games like some Call of Duty titles and others like Dragon Age Inquisition that have various issues when installed on the steam deck even when things work perfectly though the steam deck can't match the performance of the Rog Ally and the legion go both of these devices are powered by amd's ryzen Z1 extreme chip and thanks to their higher tdps they consistently pumped out more frames in games I should mention that that there is a version of the Ally over here that uses a less potent non-extreme Z1 processor and while I haven't tested it myself the general consensus is that it's a bit underpowered so you're better off sticking with the flagship model in cyberpunk 2077 at 800p on medium and FSR set to Performance all three systems were rather close the olet steam deck actually came out ahead at 55 FPS followed by the Ally and the legion go pretty much tied at 46 and 45 FPS respectively however when I raised the TDP to 20 watts the Lenovo jumped up to 68 FPS and at 25 watts the Ally hit 71 FPS which is a pretty sizable Gap and both the Ally and the legion actually top out at 30 Watts though you will need to be plugged into the wall to get that performance meanwhile in Shadow the Tomb Raider at 1080P and high settings and both of the Ally and the legion set to 25 watts the performance was you know pretty similar as you'd expect from systems with the same chip the Ally hit 6 3 FPS while the legion go was only very slightly behind at 60 FPS the one wrinkle to this is that to get those numbers I had to install beta drivers and bios on the Lenovo that's because currently there is a known issue with the legion go software that causes reduced performance when using the custom wattage setting now normally this might not make a big deal but because lenovo's performance mode is set to 25 watts instead of 25 like on the Asus I had to use that custom water setting because that's the only way you can do a true Apples to Apples performance comparison all this is saying that it's kind of understandably frustrating if you get a new Legion go and then you suddenly are beset by a shiny handheld that kind of has underwhelming performance in specific situations but if you remember the Ally also had similar issues when it launched back in the summer in fact I found that the Ally is actually about 5 to 10% faster than it was back when I tested it four months ago thanks to a number of Patches from Asus now at the time of shooting Lenovo says it hopes to release updated drivers and software for the legion go in the coming weeks so while the Ally currently has an overall Edge in stability I don't expect that to be the case forever regardless if you're hoping to play games at 1080 or 1200p you'll be way better off with either the Ally or the legion go as for the steam deck while it's not quite as powerful as those other two it's still no slouch either of course there are consequences to All That Power because for the Ally in the legion go they do suffer from slightly diminished battery life compared to the steam deck Lenovo tried to combat this by installing a larger 49.2 W battery versus just 40 wat hours on the Asus that said you're still going to want to keep a power adapter handy that's because depending on the performance mode and the game you're playing the Ally typically last around an hour and a half while the legion go gets closer to 2 hours but if longevity is a really big deal to you the Clear Choice is the steam deck which consistently runs for between 2 and 1/2 to 3 hours on a charge and if you lower TDP you can make it last even longer okay now let's do the hard part and try to pick a winner or not because while I know there are people out there who want to Crow about how their device is better than someone else's at least when it comes to these three gaming handhelds it's not that simple starting at $550 for the OLED model which trust me is the version you want the steam deck is my favorite heck I even went out and bought this one partly so we could use it in the video but also because I liked my old LCD one so much and valve's latest update basically addresses all of my complaints about the original model now sure it has a lower res andp screen and it's not nearly as powerful as the Ally or the legion go but it has the best battery life it comes with a case and those dual touchpads really do come in handy sometimes but what really puts it over to the top for me is Steam OS unlike its Windows Rivals which have to resort to custom launchers the steamex UI makes it so easy to browse launch and even buy games all in a single place yes installing games from third party stores like battle donet or epic can be kind of a chore but the sheer number of titles that have been verified to run on the steam deck is massive and that number is growing every day so you're not exactly hurting for choices and when it comes to little things like adjusting brightness or changing the TDP doing so on the steam deck just feels smoother if you're looking for a handheld with simplicity of a console but the power to play PC games the steam deck is what you want this doesn't make the RG Ally or Legion go bad choices though the Ally is sleer and has an ideal screen for this size of device also while I'm not sure how long these prices will hold right now you can get a 512 gig model with a Z1 extreme chip for $600 instead of $700 like it was at launch that's just $50 more than steam deck and $100 less than a legion go so if you want the most portable device that also is the best per performance for the money the Rog Ally is it then we have the legion go which is kind of like the Land Rover of gaming handhelds it's big it's bulky but thanks to its design it can tackle a lot of different situations you can remove its controllers and prop it up on its kickstand to use it as a tiny portable monitor it also has dual USBC ports so you can easily connect it to a bunch of peripherals and because both Jack support USB 4.0 you can hook up an external GPU without being locked into a proprietary ecosystem like you would be with asus's setup and then there's that screen it's large and in charge and when compared to the Ally it's got slightly better battery life too the main downside is that because the legion go just came out Lenovo is still trying to polish up its software so it may require a bit more fiddling or troubleshooting than the other two still if you want the device with the biggest and best screen of the three combined with a switch like design and dual USBC ports the legion go is your Champion honestly honly as long as you consider what's really important to you and you select the device that best fits your criteria you can't really go wrong with any of these and while that might not be the kind of spicy conclusion that's going to start fights on social media as someone who just likes to be able to take their games on the go this is a really encouraging outcome for the current crop of portable PCS what do you think do you like the small medium and large or I guess this is more of an extra large version of the latest batch of gaming handhelds let me know in the comments down below and as always stay tuned to gadget for more news reviews and hands-ons

Channel: Engadget

Views: 121,973

Keywords: engadget, technology, consumer tech, gadgets, science, gear, tech, ASUS ROG ALLY, Asus, Lenovo, Lenovo Legion, Lenovo Legion GO, Steam Deck, Valve Steam Deck OLED, Gaming handheld, handheld reviews, Valve, Steam

Id: 7LL7LoOXF_w

Length: 15min 48sec (948 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 12 2023