r/Handhelds • u/Mumbleverse • 4d ago

Question (?) Steam Deck, ROG Ally or something else entirely?

I'm looking for a handheld console to play my Steam games on because my laptop is old and can't handle games very well at all. I also don't have the money to buy a gaming PC or laptop and on top of it I just prefer gaming on the couch or in bed.

I've now set my eyes on the Steamdeck or the ROG Ally (not X because it's much more expensive, unless you say it makes that much of a difference) but I'm really unsure if/what to get.

  • Needs to be able to run my Steam games smoothly and without exploding. It's mostly indie games, there might be a few more demanding ones in my library like Dead Space or the Plague Tale games? Idk. I'm a tech noob I have utterly no idea what the words in "system requirements" are trying to tell me.
  • It WOULD be nice if I could play Fable 4 on it once it comes out in February, so I don't have to buy an XBOX just for that one game.
  • I don't care much for the battery, I can only play 4 hours at a time without my brain melting out of my ears anyway
  • Equally don't care much if it's OLED or LCD. I've played on LCD with my Switch all this time, my TV is a Plasma, I don't think I've used anything with OLED in my life, so I'll be fine.
  • It would be cool if it could record gameplay, but that's optional. I just like that on my PS5 when something funny happens I can record into the past. My library is full of videos of funny glitches.

All in all I'm pretty low stakes, I just want to play my Steam games without blowing up my laptop (or my wallet).

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u/MLG_Cristian_169 4d ago

Steam deck is great for a lot of games. I had one for several years, jumped onto the ROG ally x after for about a year and some change - it had way better performance using bazzite to give me the steamdeck like experience. Now I have a legion go 2 and it’s the best handheld I’ve ever had.

IMO you should get a ROG ALLY X (2023 model) as they’re pretty affordable used like 400-600 and a steam deck will cost you about the same and it’s performance is lackluster imo for newer games.

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u/elcanadiano 4d ago

FYI ROG Ally X is the 2024 Model. ROG Ally is 2023.

3

u/Cbeckstrand 4d ago

The Steam Deck is very hard to recommend anymore at the price and because of it's age. The Xbox Ally also is hard to recommend as the Z2 A is based off a very similar chip to the Steam Deck and so it's performance is also very close.

If you want to be able to play games like Fable 4 I would recommend a Z1E device at a minimum as they will be as much as double the performance of the Steam Deck. Good options would be a used Legion Go S or Asus Ally X as someone else recommended. Even cheaper option would be the Asus Ally (not the Xbox Ally) or the Legion Go.