More companies are beginning to see there is a market for a PC gaming handheld, with Asus planning to release the ROG Ally. Initially, this seemed like an April Fools joke but it turned out to be real.
For the GamingOnLinux readership it might not be exactly what you're going to instantly sign up for, since it will be coming with Windows 11, but it's interesting to see more companies jump in and no doubt after a while Linux drivers will appear like they do for pretty much everything. We may even see Valve support it with their eventual release of SteamOS 3.
Coming in a bit smaller than the Steam Deck with no touchpads, it will limit what you're able to play a bit more but it will have a 16:9 1080p display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a custom AMD APU they claim is the "fastest yet", a dual-fan design and eGPU support. Asus claim it will offer double the performance on the Steam Deck but they're not giving out any tech specs or battery life details.
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Asus are a much bigger name than the likes of AYANEO, GPD and Onexplayer so they could potentially offer prices a bit lower since they're likely able to take on a bit more of the costs. Naturally though, they will still have to price it at a point where it makes enough money to be profitable to a point where it makes sense, so I still expect it to be a fair bit higher than the Steam Deck pricing since they can't make up for it by the 30% cut Valve get from Steam games.
LinusTT and Dave2D managed to take a look at it:
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They're only prototypes right now, so there's of course every chance that Asus don't actually end up releasing it but given how far along it is, I imagine they will. You can follow it on Best Buy if you want to be notified of when it's available, no word yet on availability in various regions.
Given how Valve have clearly said there's no planned Steam Deck refresh for some time, as they're waiting for it to be truly worth it, this is the closest I've been to believing it has some real competition. It all depends on the price.
What do you think about this?
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So, given the potential problems involved with running Windows 11, let's assume that Valve, or even somebody else, get Steam OS running for this thing. Turning around the question that got asked so much before the release of the Steam Deck but then disappeared without a trace after a while, how many people will rip out Windows on this thing and put in SteamOS (or maybe ChimeraOS)?
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So, given the potential problems involved with running Windows 11, let's assume that Valve, or even somebody else, get Steam OS running for this thing. Turning around the question that got asked so much before the release of the Steam Deck but then disappeared without a trace after a while, how many people will rip out Windows on this thing and put in SteamOS (or maybe ChimeraOS)?
As long as the experience is fine, not many people will do either I guess (which is supported by the hardware survey for Steam Deck). "IJW" - it just works, and that's fine and that's it.
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So, given the potential problems involved with running Windows 11, let's assume that Valve, or even somebody else, get Steam OS running for this thing. Turning around the question that got asked so much before the release of the Steam Deck but then disappeared without a trace after a while, how many people will rip out Windows on this thing and put in SteamOS (or maybe ChimeraOS)?That's assuming it's even possible.
No technical details are out yet, it's entirely possible there's no way to put Linux on this device (for example, can it even boot from USB?). But it's also possible it can be done. But either way, we don't know for sure.
With that said, honestly, I think most "average users" will leave the OS as stock, just like they do with the Steam Deck.
If there's one thing, I think both Valve and Asus could do to improve their devices:
Multiple M.2 support.
If space is an issue, perhaps one that's buried deep inside for the OS and another that's easily user accessible for storage. Perhaps even a little openable flap like old laptops used to have for quick access.
Last edited by BlackBloodRum on 4 Apr 2023 at 7:54 pm UTC
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Perhaps even a little openable flap like old laptops used to have for quick access.Hm… HDDs in the olden days were a lot less sensitive to ESD than M.2 SSDs. So that might be a case of increased support load.
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That's true, but we had the same openings for RAM, WiFi cards and what-not back then too. Besides, you could just stick a "Change at your own risk, make sure to ground yourself" clause on it.Perhaps even a little openable flap like old laptops used to have for quick access.Hm… HDDs in the olden days were a lot less sensitive to ESD than M.2 SSDs. So that might be a case of increased support load.
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With that said, honestly, I think most "average users" will leave the OS as stock, just like they do with the Steam Deck.Well, yes. To be honest, I just find it amusing to be in a position to ask the question.
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Without trackpads, I'm really not interested. The "xbox" stick config is also off putting to me in a handheld. It's "ok" for me on the Switch only because the unit is lighter and smaller,but I find the SD layout to be much easier to hold/use.
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TheRiddick 5 Apr 2023
I'm sure its going to be a good device, but the price will likely make people cry pretty hard. Btw this is just another 6800U handheld device from what I can gather unless their using the NEW AMD 704x APU's (unlikely).
Plus more Windows as a handheld OS... at least try and make a custom build somehow...
Last edited by TheRiddick on 5 Apr 2023 at 2:03 am UTC
Plus more Windows as a handheld OS... at least try and make a custom build somehow...
Last edited by TheRiddick on 5 Apr 2023 at 2:03 am UTC
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Now is the perfect time for Valve to consider releasing a "Steam Deck Mini", and sell it at the same $399 starting price point, but perhaps with 128GB eMMC, instead of 64?A Steam Deck Mini exactly as you describe here sounds exactly like the sort of thing that I would want to buy, and I know a few other folks for whom that would tick exactly the right boxes for convenient PC gaming. I would love to see this, and if it comes along before I manage to get a standard Steam Deck, it's what I'd go for.
All these companies keep using Steam Deck's large size as a selling point for their product, so a Steam Deck Mini would just outright kill that rhetoric.
It should use the same tech specs as the Deck, but with a larger capacity battery (50Wh, instead of 40Wh). And no, it doesn't need to have an OLED screen, it just needs to have a more vibrant IPS screen, with higher SRGB range (Steam Deck currently only covers around 60-68%).
If they can't do a Joy-Con style design, then they should consider taking off the trackpads, and emulating their functionality via "virtual trackpads" on the touchscreen. It wouldn't be as good as the physical ones, but it's better than nothing.
Lastly, I really want to see removable front and back plates, so we can customise the entire look of the thing. I would like to see the same level of modularity and user-replaceability, too.
That time ASUS took the time to explain that the device needs a special desktop for the low spec CPU, tiny SSD and the small screen.I was around that community back then, and for a great many users it was the same as with anything else - they were happy with what it came with and just wanted to learn more about using it.
People refused to think and still demanded Windows.
So ASUS evetually shipped EeePCs with Windows.
People's reaction: Oi, we dont like this. Windows does not work well with the low spec CPU, the tiny SSD the small screen...
So ASUS incrased CPU, SSD, sceen... and price... to adjust to the needs of Windows, essentially killing the original idea of a netbook.... but it rans Windows well.
That said, there were certainly those who sought to seed the idea that people should be asking for Windows on those devices, but from what I saw they were never the majority, at least amongst genuine users.
That story still makes me sad.Same. That was how I got started with Linux, and then a category of portables that I particularly liked* went away far too soon.
*I'm a portables enthusiast across the board, and affordable mini laptops were a fab idea for so many use-cases.
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That story still makes me sad.Same. That was how I got started with Linux, and then a category of portables that I particularly liked* went away far too soon.
*I'm a portables enthusiast across the board, and affordable mini laptops were a fab idea for so many use-cases.
My original EeePC is 16 years old and still going strong! I put Ubuntu on it as soon as I had it though. It was used for years (daily, up until a couple of years ago) as my daughter's media centre (with Arch) and never a problem with the hardware failing, surprisingly.
Last edited by fabertawe on 5 Apr 2023 at 10:20 am UTC
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My original EeePC is 16 years old and still going strong! I put Ubuntu on it as soon as I had it though. It was used for years (daily, up until a couple of years ago) as my daughter's media centre (with Arch) and never a problem with the hardware failing, surprisingly.They were built like little tanks - one of my favourite traits in a laptop!
I stuck with the stock OS (a somewhat chopped-up Xandros, wasn't it?) and modified it to enable a full desktop, since it was my first Linux machine and I just wanted to poke at it and see what I could do. The first thing I did was to compile an emulator from source - not because I needed to, but just because I wanted to so that I knew how to. Fun times.
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Why so? We're all Linux enthusiasts here, so we all generally have some form of technical backgroundWith that said, honestly, I think most "average users" will leave the OS as stock, just like they do with the Steam Deck.Well, yes. To be honest, I just find it amusing to be in a position to ask the question.
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What does technical background have to do with it? The point is, for all these years every time anything has Linux on it, a ton of Windows types have claimed "Oh, people will just rip it out and put in Windows because Linux suxxor!"Why so? We're all Linux enthusiasts here, so we all generally have some form of technical backgroundWith that said, honestly, I think most "average users" will leave the OS as stock, just like they do with the Steam Deck.Well, yes. To be honest, I just find it amusing to be in a position to ask the question.
But now, with the Steam Deck having firmly demonstrated that no, they won't, and indeed it seeming like anyone who has tried it found that the experience is . . . underwhelming because Windows isn't well suited to the job, it becomes viable to turn the question around, and I find that somewhat gratifying. That's all I was getting at here.
I hate having to explain the joke.
Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 5 Apr 2023 at 4:37 pm UTC
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My bad! I misunderstood intention/reasoning, sorry mate!What does technical background have to do with it? The point is, for all these years every time anything has Linux on it, a ton of Windows types have claimed "Oh, people will just rip it out and put in Windows because Linux suxxor!"Why so? We're all Linux enthusiasts here, so we all generally have some form of technical backgroundWith that said, honestly, I think most "average users" will leave the OS as stock, just like they do with the Steam Deck.Well, yes. To be honest, I just find it amusing to be in a position to ask the question.
But now, with the Steam Deck having firmly demonstrated that no, they won't, and indeed it seeming like anyone who has tried it found that the experience is . . . underwhelming because Windows isn't well suited to the job, it becomes viable to turn the question around, and I find that somewhat gratifying. That's all I was getting at here.
I hate having to explain the joke.
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CyborgZeta 5 Apr 2023
The specs suggest to me that battery life is likely to be atrocious.
People will disagree with me, but I think Valve nailed the best compromise for a handheld PC with the Steam Deck's specs. 720p and 60hz is, IMO, what you want. 720p looks great on a screen designed for it, and 60fps is still plenty smooth; especially for someone who grew up with consoles, like me. At a $400 price tag with an additional $40-50 dollar for a 512GB SSD upgrade, the price-to-performance ratio is excellent.
You want more power? You'll have to pay for it; literally and figuratively.
Last edited by CyborgZeta on 6 Apr 2023 at 8:30 pm UTC
People will disagree with me, but I think Valve nailed the best compromise for a handheld PC with the Steam Deck's specs. 720p and 60hz is, IMO, what you want. 720p looks great on a screen designed for it, and 60fps is still plenty smooth; especially for someone who grew up with consoles, like me. At a $400 price tag with an additional $40-50 dollar for a 512GB SSD upgrade, the price-to-performance ratio is excellent.
You want more power? You'll have to pay for it; literally and figuratively.
Last edited by CyborgZeta on 6 Apr 2023 at 8:30 pm UTC
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NerdNoiseRadio 6 Apr 2023
So, I have very mixed thoughts on this.
While I am definitely happy with the Steam Deck, and am in no hurry to replace it, my loyalty is ultimately not to the Steam Deck per se. Instead, it is, primarily, to Linux in general, and to the state of Linux gaming in particular, and secondarily, to the "handheld PC" form factor at large, or put more crassly, the "Nintendo Switch of PCs" of the world.
To the second priority, this definitely helps the form factor, advances the medium, and proves that it's only continuing to gain more traction. So, on that front, I'm happy!
But to the first, I worry that its impact, shipping with Windows by default will ultimately be corrosive to the gains and changes in perspective that Steam Deck and SteamOS3 have brought. And that would be very disappointing to me (and likely most of the rest of us) indeed!
Now, I know that Steam making Steam OS available universally, and the inevitability of Linux drivers eventually coming along for the device will soften that blow a little bit, at least for us Linux devotees - those of us using Linux by choice. But for the majority of Steam Deck users, the mass of people using Linux on the deck simply because it works well enough by default and they just don't want to dick with setting up Windows may evaporate, and I still feel at least a small measure of anxiety that the balloon we joyfully watched the Steam Deck inflate may begin deflating again now that there will be a big name supporting the big OS, and providing an alternative in the space to making Linux work.
Now, it may not turn out so bad as that. But I still feel that anxiety.
Plus, with it being Windows and very likely being quite a bit more expensive than the Deck (if I have that kind of money, I'd rather upgrade my big rig out of its current 2017 spec), plus, with my being pretty happy with the Deck, and not in any big hurry to replace it, I can definitely say that this device will not be for me personally.....
.....that said, I certainly can't deny that this thing looks slick as hell! Very good looking! And, as I said earlier, this does move the form factor forward, and may provide some influence into what the eventual proper Steam Deck sequel and potentially other future Linux handhelds may look, feel, and spec like. And that much, at least, I can't help but celebrate.
And that's my take! :-)
While I am definitely happy with the Steam Deck, and am in no hurry to replace it, my loyalty is ultimately not to the Steam Deck per se. Instead, it is, primarily, to Linux in general, and to the state of Linux gaming in particular, and secondarily, to the "handheld PC" form factor at large, or put more crassly, the "Nintendo Switch of PCs" of the world.
To the second priority, this definitely helps the form factor, advances the medium, and proves that it's only continuing to gain more traction. So, on that front, I'm happy!
But to the first, I worry that its impact, shipping with Windows by default will ultimately be corrosive to the gains and changes in perspective that Steam Deck and SteamOS3 have brought. And that would be very disappointing to me (and likely most of the rest of us) indeed!
Now, I know that Steam making Steam OS available universally, and the inevitability of Linux drivers eventually coming along for the device will soften that blow a little bit, at least for us Linux devotees - those of us using Linux by choice. But for the majority of Steam Deck users, the mass of people using Linux on the deck simply because it works well enough by default and they just don't want to dick with setting up Windows may evaporate, and I still feel at least a small measure of anxiety that the balloon we joyfully watched the Steam Deck inflate may begin deflating again now that there will be a big name supporting the big OS, and providing an alternative in the space to making Linux work.
Now, it may not turn out so bad as that. But I still feel that anxiety.
Plus, with it being Windows and very likely being quite a bit more expensive than the Deck (if I have that kind of money, I'd rather upgrade my big rig out of its current 2017 spec), plus, with my being pretty happy with the Deck, and not in any big hurry to replace it, I can definitely say that this device will not be for me personally.....
.....that said, I certainly can't deny that this thing looks slick as hell! Very good looking! And, as I said earlier, this does move the form factor forward, and may provide some influence into what the eventual proper Steam Deck sequel and potentially other future Linux handhelds may look, feel, and spec like. And that much, at least, I can't help but celebrate.
And that's my take! :-)
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It all depends on the price.
Well, kindof not at all. For me it all depends on the software, in particular the OS. The ASUS thingy won't stand a chance with me for being Windows 11 based.
And that is not because of ideology this and that; okay maybe a bit ideology, but mainly because I do not want to end up with a brick once MS decides to no logner support it (potentially on purpose because it competes with the Xbox ecosystem).
Booo booo, ASUS, booooooooo!
There's a rumor floating around the interweb that Asus is working on their own custom OS. You know how rumors are though. They seem to have gone out of their way to mention that it's a Windows handheld, so I'm skeptical. If they did have their own OS though, it would likely be Linux-based since it's the only other OS that can support a large catalog of games.
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I've read that the new Sony handheld will only be able to remotely play games on a PS5 and it was said that it would be permanently online only. If that's true then that thing will be no alternative at all.
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NerdNoiseRadio 6 Apr 2023
I've read that the new Sony handheld will only be able to remotely play games on a PS5 and it was said that it would be permanently online only. If that's true then that thing will be no alternative at all.
That's what I've heard about it too. So it's not gonna be a "PS Vita 2" nor a "Playstation Steam Deck", but rather, an optional aftermarket "WiiU gamepad" add-on for the PS5. So you're not gonna be able to play in the car or the coffee shop or the office.....but for the overwhelming majority of us who can't afford, or at least can't justify a "dedicated toilet PS5", this at least makes it so you can play from the throne....for those who might want to. Puts quite the spin on "play 'on the go'"! 😂😉
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