ASUS ROG Ally is an unthinkable handheld gaming PC, but aft spending a coagulated magnitude of clip with some ROG Ally Z1 Extreme 512GB and ROG Ally X 1TB, I tin confidently accidental the upgrade was worthy it. Both models present fantastic performance, but the Ally X’s improved artillery life, further USB-C port, and accrued RAM marque a existent quality successful regular use. If you’re trying to determine betwixt them, you can’t spell incorrect with either, but if you're going for agelong gaming sessions oregon request much expandability, the Ally X is the 1 to get.
ROG Ally Z1 Extreme vs. ROG Ally X – Which One Did I Prefer?
The Ally X’s amended battery, other port, and upgraded RAM marque it a wide victor for me, but some models are fantastic handhelds. Obviously ROG Ally X is the astir expensive, but the achromatic ROG Ally is simply a cracking handheld for the money.
ASUS ROG Ally Z1 Extreme 512GB Specifications
Storage
512GB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD
Battery
40WHrs, 4-cell Li-ion
RAM
16GB LPDDR5 (6400MT/s)
Ports
USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2) + XG Mobile
Glass Protection
Gorilla Glass DXC + Victus
ASUS ROG Ally X 1TB Specifications
Storage
1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD
Battery
80WHrs, 4-cell Li-ion
RAM
24GB LPDDR5 (7500MT/s)
Ports
USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2) + USB 4 (Thunderbolt 4)
Glass Protection
Gorilla Glass Victus
The Ally X’s bigger artillery means I really get due portable gaming, and the other USB-C larboard has made docking a batch easier.
Optimisation Guide – How to Make the ROG Ally Even Better
The archetypal happening I did aft mounting up some models was cheque for updates. ASUS provides BIOS, firmware, and GPU operator updates close retired of the box. Using Armoury Crate SE and MyASUS, I made definite everything was afloat up to date. The quality was noticeable—better powerfulness absorption and smoother show crossed the board.
Lossless Scaling (Steam App)
Lossless Scaling (Steam App)
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Lossless Scaling is simply a game-changer. AMD’s FSR 3 has excessively overmuch question blur, but Lossless Scaling gives crisper visuals and mode amended performance. Running games astatine a little solution successful windowed frameless mode, past scaling them up, has doubled my FPS successful immoderate cases. There are occasional ocular artifacts, but for single-player games, it’s perfectly worthy it.
Little Apps
Little Apps
Windows 11 is afloat of unnecessary inheritance apps that devour up strategy resources. Little Apps Suite took attraction of registry cleaning, disk cleanup, and privateness protection. Boot times got faster, RAM usage dropped, and the full strategy conscionable felt snappier.
Winaero Tweaker
Winaero Tweaker
A tick container windows de-bloater program
WinAero Tweaker helped maine disable each the bloat, including telemetry and copilot. It's each successful a tickbox format with descriptions connected each the features, truthful you're not going to deactivate thing that you need. As always, if you're not sure, don't interaction it and bash your research.
Avast
Avast
The cleanable all-in-one information suite.
The ROG Ally is inactive a Windows PC, meaning it's conscionable arsenic susceptible to ransomware, phishing, and malware. Avast Premium Security is what I use—it has real-time malware protection, a built-in VPN, and anti-phishing tools. It’s lightweight, doesn’t interaction gaming performance, and provides acold amended information than Windows Defender.
Best Micro SD Cards for ROG Ally
Storage enlargement is indispensable for handheld gaming, and I’ve tested a bunch of microSD cards to spot which ones are worthy buying.
SanDisk Extreme | 1TB | 190MB/s | £86.98 (Was £101.05) | Fastest speeds for large crippled libraries |
NY PRO Elite | 1TB | 100MB/s | £109.99 | Reliable retention for 4K contented and gaming |
Samsung PRO Plus | 512GB | 180MB/s | £49.99 (Was £73.99) | Best equilibrium of velocity and price |
PNY XLR8 Gaming | 512GB | 100MB/s | £44.99 | Budget-friendly gaming option |
PNY PRO Elite | 256GB | 100MB/s | £24.99 | Cheapest reliable option |
The SanDisk Extreme 1TB has been the champion performer, with accelerated load times and reliable performance. The Samsung PRO Plus 512GB is large for velocity without breaking the bank.
Best Power Banks for ROG Ally
A 65W USB-C powerfulness slope is simply a must-have, and these are the ones I’ve tested.
sharge SHARGEEK 170 | 24,000mAh | 170W | £136.99 (Was £166.99) | Best high-end choice |
UGREEN Nexode | 25,000mAh | 200W | £74.99 (Was £98.99) | Best premix of powerfulness and affordability |
INIU 100W | 25,000mAh | 100W | £50.99 (Was £79.99) | Budget-friendly accelerated charging |
Anker Prime 250W | 27,650mAh | 250W | £189.99 (Was £229.99) | Ultimate show for dense users |
I usage the sharge SHARGEEK 170 the most—it charges accelerated and has a chill display. The UGREEN Nexode 200W is simply a large mid-range enactment with accelerated charging.
Best Docks for ROG Ally
Docks are indispensable for turning the ROG Ally into a afloat gaming setup. Here’s what I recommend.
JSAUX 6-in-1 Dock | HDMI, Ethernet, USB-A | £27.99 (Was £39.99) | Budget choice |
Asus 65W Dock Charger | USB-C, DisplayPort | £59 | Official ASUS option |
UGREEN 6-in-1 Dock | 4K HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet | £24.69 (Was £39.99) | Best worth for money |
UGREEN 9-in-1 Dock | 4K HDMI, USB-C 10Gbps | £39.99 (Was £59.99) | Best all-in-one dock |
The UGREEN 9-in-1 Dock is what I usage for docking to an outer monitor. The Asus 65W Dock Charger is large for accelerated charging portion docked.
Do you cognize thing I don't? Maybe a amended Windows de-bloater oregon framework procreation bundle for Window's AMD handhelds? Let maine cognize successful the comments!
Christian Wait is simply a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has implicit 7 years of acquisition successful the Gaming and Tech manufacture with bylines astatine Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian besides makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is besides the writer of "Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior". Find Christian connected X @ChrisReggieWait.
Originally posted:
Mar 16, 2025 1:37 pm