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I loved myROG Ally.
So the relationship is over.
This isn’t my ROG Ally, because mine is dead, and lasted less time than my first relationship.
Easily the shortest one I’ve ever had.
What happened to my ROG Ally?
It all happened so fast.
While installing a game from Steam, my ROG Ally died and would not come back to life.
It all happened without noticing any hints of a problem.
My ROG Ally was laid at the side of my bed, connected to power, downloading Spider-Man 2.
I returned to find it turned off, and it wouldn’t turn back on.
Stuff in here seems to have a fondness for breaking.
The button press tactics didn’t make a difference.
And I tried forhours.
Neither did trying to power it on with the battery disconnected and external power.
My advice is to save up longer and get an ROG Ally X instead. Or a Legion Go.
No signs of life.
Everything was completely dead.
By this point I didn’t want another one, the ROG Ally became tainted for me.
I’m far from the only one with hardware issues on the ROG Ally.
What do you do when you have a problem?
You go on the Internet and look for every possible solution.
And lest we forget the whole debacle with the microSD card when the thing first launched.
Thisthread on Redditwas the first I found, because it details the exact same issue as I was having.
A dead USB-C port.
ASUS' own forums have their fair share of people with issues, too.
Hardware issues happen, I get that.
I’ve also been plagued with issues on other controls just flat out not working.
ASUS has its own tutorial showing you how to upgrade the SSD, fully expecting people to do it.
The ROG Ally X is what the original should have been all along.
The ROG Ally X is what should have come to market first.
Besides having a better spec, it’s just an all-around improvement.
The internals were completely redesigned, and the whole thing just feels sturdier to me.
Checkout ateardown comparisonof the two to see just how much of a redesign went into the ROG Ally X.
It looks mostly the same outside, though anything but underneath.
The cynic in me feels like ASUS may have rushed the ROG Ally to market to be first.
It is a great handheld, with a superb design, bags of power, and a fantastic display.
But I won’t be burned again.
For now, it’s back to the warhorse, the Steam Deck.
My next Windows handheld?
I haven’t decided, but I’m leaning towards theLenovo Legion Go.
So I think that might the path I take next.
Or the Legion Go.
I think given everything, these feel like a better bet in the longer term.
