Asus ROG Ally vs. Valve Steam Deck: Which Gaming Handheld Is Better? (2024)

Gamers have been playing on the go for decades, but until recently, the idea of taking a full PC gaming experience on the road was relegated to costly gaming laptops. The release of the Valve Steam Deck in 2022 sparked a new market for handheld gaming devices. In just two short years, we've seen a wave of wildly different options reach the market, including 2023's Windows-powered Asus ROG Ally.

Both the Steam Deck and the ROG Ally have unique features that set them apart from the pack and one another. The former is the cheaper option (starting at $399), seamlessly integrating with your Steam Library to offer a console-like experience. But if your games are spread across other libraries and services, such as Xbox Game Pass, you'll have to jump a few more hurdles to get to the launch screen. The ROG Ally is more expensive ($699), but thanks to Windows 11, it's arguably easier (or at least more familiar) to use and can even act as a capable laptop alternative.

These two devices may come from the same strand of DNA, but there are major differences once you start to dig into the details. We've extensively tested both, so you can trust us to help you determine which handheld gaming platform is right for you.

Full Specs

Design: Controller and Screen, Side by Side

The ROG Ally and Steam Deck may look similar at a glance, but their designs have big and small differences. The Steam Deck measures 1.9 by 11.7 by 4.6 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.47 pounds, with two parallel control sticks flanking a 7-inch screen. Below the control sticks are two 1.2-inch pressure-sensitive touchpads with haptic feedback. Face and shoulder buttons will make the Steam Deck feel at home to anyone who has held a modern game controller, and the addition of a D-pad gives players an additional control option for retro games. Two speakers sit at the bottom of the handheld, just below the menu buttons.

Valve Steam Deck (Credit: Will Greenwald)

The ROG Ally measures 0.8 by 11 by 4.4 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.37 pounds. Its control stick placement differs, with two analog sticks diagonally opposite one another. The face buttons are colored, similar to an Xbox controller, and the D-pad is tucked below the left stick rather than beside it. The Ally also flaunts RGB lighting around the control sticks. The speakers are toward the bottom, while the option buttons are at the borders of the 7-inch screen.

In hand, both devices feel comfortable for long-term play, though the Ally's ergonomic grips and slightly thinner body give it a slight edge over the Steam Deck. The Ally's pop of RGB color also gives it some eye-catching flair compared with Valve's gray and black color scheme.

Asus ROG Ally (Credit: Molly Flores)

While both handhelds have 7-inch IPS displays, the Steam Deck offers 1,200-by-800-pixel resolution at a 60Hz refresh rate, while the ROG Ally boasts full HD (1,920 by 1,080 pixels) at 120Hz. The Ally also supports AMD FreeSync Premium, while the Steam Deck only supports FreeSync while docked, a feature Valve added after launch. The Steam Deck didn't originally support variable refresh rates (VRR), but Valve added that in another post-release patch.

In an option Asus lacks, Valve customers who want more vivid color can opt for a more expensive model with an OLED instead of IPS screen. More about that below.

Storage, Battery Life, and Connectivity: All the Space You Need

The base Steam Deck model comes with 256GB of storage via a high-performance NVMe solid-state drive, though some retailers still have cheaper launch models with a smaller, slower 64GB eMMC drive. The ROG Ally offers double the storage at 512GB. Storage expansion isn't a problem for either, as each device has a high-speed microSD card slot.

Valve Steam Deck profile (Credit: Will Greenwald)

Battery life is a little harder to compare. Both handhelds have 40Wh batteries that promise anywhere from two to eight hours of play depending on how resource-intensive the game is. For example, in our Steam Deck OLED review, we found Baldur's Gate 3 only lasted an hour and 15 minutes under conditions similar to our laptop battery benchmark (set to 50% brightness and 100% volume, adaptive brightness off, and all dim-display and sleep options disabled). For its part, the ROG Ally managed 8 hours and 37 minutes of video playback, a task that demands little processing power, but it didn't even last an hour when playing Cyberpunk 2077 in Turbo Mode.

Asus ROG Ally (Credit: Molly Flores)

Lastly, the ROG Ally and Steam Deck offer different connectivity options. The IPS Steam Deck supports Bluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), while OLED models have faster Wi-Fi 6E, as does the ROG Ally. Both have Bluetooth for connection to wireless speakers and headphones, and both offer high-quality audio on their own—you won't find too much of a difference here.

Operating Systems: Windows or SteamOS

The Steam Deck uses SteamOS, a Linux-based operating system that syncs seamlessly with your existing Steam Library. Like the Nintendo Switch's simple menus, SteamOS provides a seamless UI that makes finding, downloading, and playing games painless. Doing anything outside of SteamOS, however, is a challenge. Other launchers aren't natively supported, although they can be used via the Steam Deck's browser back end. The upshot is that you'll need more than a few extra steps to get games not purchased on the Steam platform working on the Steam Deck.

Asus ROG Ally (Credit: Molly Flores)

By contrast, the ROG Ally uses Windows 11, which works almost exactly as it does on a desktop or laptop. That means it comes with its own set of challenges—navigating Windows with a touch screen can be a pain—but it does let you download and install programs, Steam included, without much issue. Asus does offer its own game and system management software called Armoury Crate, and while we don't find it to be particularly user-friendly, that's not a huge drawback because of the versatility that Windows offers.

Chipset: Custom AMD Silicon

Both handheld devices have custom AMD silicon inside. The ROG Ally comes equipped with the Z1 Extreme, an APU built around AMD's Zen 4 architecture and advanced 4-nanometer (nm) assembly process. The chip has eight cores and 16 threads. The Z1 Extreme can also be found in other handheld gaming devices like the Lenovo Legion Go.

By contrast, the Steam Deck uses an AMD APU (named Aerith, after everyone's favorite flower girl from Final Fantasy 7) built around the older Zen 2 architecture and 7nm process, with four cores and 8 threads. On paper, it's less powerful than the Ally, but in practice it holds its own, thanks to the less demanding lower screen resolution and support for FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR). The last is AMD's AI upscaling solution, which boosts frame rates and resolutions on lower-end hardware. Without it, you might not be able to get most modern games running on either system.

Using custom APUs in both systems ensures that they can balance performance and power consumption while also supporting a wide range of games. Newer consoles like the MSI Claw opt for the latest Intel Core Ultra silicon, which is also used in cutting-edge laptops (you can read more about that in our MSI Claw review).

While both the Steam Deck and ROG Ally run many major game releases today, neither system is future-proof. AMD's FSR can potentially extend the lifespans of both, but as of this writing, its latest FSR 3 update is natively supported only on the ROG Ally. The Steam Deck can technically support it, but the software must be modded onto the system.

New Models To Choose From

As mentioned, the Valve Steam Deck launched in 2022 with three variations—the aforementioned 64GB model with eMMC storage, a 256GB model, and a 512GB model. The 64GB and 512GB Steam Decks have been discontinued but are still available for purchase while supplies last.

Valve Steam Deck OLED (Credit: Joseph Maldonado)

In late 2023, Valve introduced the Steam Deck OLED. Available with a 512GB SSD ($549) or a 1TB drive ($649), the upgrade is similar to the original LCD model with some minor internal differences including an improved battery, a slightly more efficient APU with 6nm process (named Sephiroth after the Final Fantasy 7 antagonist), and Wi-Fi 6E instead of 5. But the star of the show is the gorgeous OLED display, which stretches just slightly wider than the original IPS screen at 7.4 inches.

As for the Asus handheld, the ROG Ally has a downgraded cousin that shares the original's name but not its processor. The $499 ROG Ally uses a Z1 processor instead of the Z1 Extreme. Its performance doesn't quite match its sibling's, but its slashed price does make it a decent entry point into the world of handheld gaming.

Asus ROG Ally X (Credit: John Burek)

However, Asus plans to expand the Ally family further, beginning with the ROG Ally X. Making its official debut at Computex, the Ally X is not quite a next-gen makeover but addresses much of the most prominent user feedback with a bigger battery, more RAM and storage, and a new color scheme. The display and APU remain the same, while the price rises to $799. It remains to be seen if the upgrade is worth it for current owners.

So, Which Gaming Handheld Is Right For You?

Both gaming handhelds are excellent, but which device is right for you and your gaming needs?

• Consider how much you're willing to tinker with your system to get the most out of it. The Steam Deck's Linux platform may be more intimidating for casual users, though it's a hurdle that most can overcome with a little homework. But if you want all your games from different libraries to "just work," the Windows 11-based ROG Ally might be your best bet.

• If your gaming is strictly on Steam, the Valve Steam Deck is the obvious choice. The system seamlessly integrates with your Steam library, automatically tagging games that offer full or partial compatibility with the handheld.

Note that the original Steam Deck is the most affordable gaming handheld, but the Steam Deck OLED is perhaps more tempting—it's still cheaper than the ROG Ally and soon-to-be-released Ally X, and its vivid display makes the lower resolution a nonissue. We haven't reviewed the Ally X yet, so it remains to be seen if its enhancements will be worth its asking price. Be sure to check back for our full review when it's released.

And if these handhelds aren't exactly what you're looking for, you'll find plenty more to choose from. For more insights on the handheld scene and our top recommended models based on rigorous testing, check out our guide to the best handheld gaming devices.