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I’ve been a PC gamer for nearly my entire existence. Even as a young child on my father’s clunky beige work computer, I spent countless hours immersed in the sole game it had installed: Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition. I adored the magnificent Flash era of internet games and purchased numerous magazines solely for the demo disks.
As I matured, I dabbled in console gaming, but once I received my inaugural gaming laptop as a teenager, we were back in familiar grounds. It didn’t take long before I constructed my first gaming PC, and the rest, as they say, is history.
I never imagined that I would part ways with my dependable gaming desktop – possibly the fourth or fifth PC I’ve assembled solely for my own use over the years, disregarding the literal dozens I constructed while working at Maximum PC magazine – and yet nowadays, I realize I’m utilizing it less and less for gaming. I previously devoted hours sitting at my desk grinding in my live-service game of the moment, yet these days I mostly occupy that chair to compose articles like this. What’s the reason for this? I acquired an Asus ROG Ally.
The handheld revolution
PC gaming handhelds have been around for some time in primitive forms, but it wasn’t until Valve launched their successful and well-received Steam Deck handheld that interest truly began to soar. Before long, other manufacturers sought to enter the market; Asus emerged as the first significant competitor to Valve with its ROG Ally (and the new ROG Ally X), followed by others: the MSI Claw, Lenovo Legion Go, and most recently the Zotac Zone, all providing high-quality handheld gaming experiences surpassing anything in the current console domain.
I’m not disparaging consoles here; I own a Nintendo Switch, and it was thanks to that (along with a second Switch for my fiancé, and two copies of Animal Crossing: New Horizons) that I navigated through both lockdown and cancer treatment unscathed. I’ve possessed every Game Boy, and I was one of the eight individuals who actually purchased a PS Vita back in 2011 – a terribly underrated handheld, by the way.
However, the ROG Ally represents a completely different entity; my extensive game libraries across Steam, Epic, GOG, and beyond enable me to relish a wide array of games, with superior graphics than anything the Switch offers. Moreover, as an indie game enthusiast, I have the added advantage of being able to enjoy all the wonderful titles on Itch.io, the majority of which are unavailable on consoles.
What makes PC handhelds so remarkable?
My affection for the ROG Ally has increased to the point that I’ve begun actively recommending it and its counterparts – abandoning my usual advice concerning gaming laptops and PC construction. The primary reason, quite simply, is cost. The ROG Ally can commonly be purchased for approximately $400 / £400 if you keep a lookout for promotions – and honestly, good luck finding a gaming laptop that can deliver comparable performance for that amount, even during sale periods.
On the topic of performance: the Z1 Extreme APU chip housed within the ROG Ally and several other handhelds performs exceptionally well, providing solid 1080p gaming performance. Certainly, you may need to reduce the graphics settings in some more demanding titles to achieve that sought-after 60 frames per second, but the capabilities of such a compact device are genuinely outstanding and would have been inconceivable just a few years prior.
And certainly, it’s that compact design that renders the Ally far more attractive to me than a desktop PC or a hefty gaming laptop. I remain at my desk throughout the day; why would I choose to stay seated there during my leisure time after work, when I could take my handheld and relax on the couch while playing the exact same titles? It’s a perk you don’t realize until it’s presented to you. During a recent storm here in the UK, I was snug and cozy in bed with a hot water bottle and the rather excellent Afterparty, and it was delightful. Although the Ally may be somewhat weighty, its comfortable design and robust thumbsticks are considerably less taxing on my hands compared to a mouse and keyboard.
So indeed: I’m finished with gaming laptops, and while I’m not about to discard my powerhouse desktop anytime soon, I’m undoubtedly putting a lot less wear on it these days. That’s probably a positive for my electricity expenses too, now that I think of it – the RTX 4080 certainly consumes a lot of power.
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