Administered by:
So I bought a ROG Ally (the Z1 Extreme model).
This will be a thread sharing my ongoing opinions and experiences through the lens of someone who’s owned and loved the #SteamDeck since launch day.
And through the lens of someone who’s always loved handheld #gaming.
This is not meant to provoke a “Windows vs Linux” flame war.
The first few hours with my ROG Ally were rough, and that's being kind.
By the numbers:
10 to 12 screens of Windows setup steps.
3 screens trying to sell me Office 365/Onedrive/GamePass.
4 reboots for Windows updates.
2 reboots for Armory Crate/firmware/BIOS updates.
I kinda love the Command Center shortcuts here. Especially the ability to quickly switch refresh rate (120hz and 60hz) and resolution (720p, 900p, 1080p).
The grid is customizable, which is appreciated
I figured a good first game to test would be DOOM (2016), and I ended up sinking two hours into it right off the bat. Absolutely a SUBLIME experience playing that game on a portable 1080p/120hz display. I got 90+ FPS on Ultra quality which blew my mind.
Also, VRR is a game-changer for me. This was by far the smoothest I've ever seen DOOM (your mileage may vary of course).
Also, I quite like the offset thumbsticks and appreciate that they have a LITTLE BIT less resistance than the Deck's sticks. Although the Ally in general doesn't feel as comfortable in my hands as Steam Deck.
Armory Crate is effectively your universal game launcher, but some of the defaults are baffling. Like, why is the actual Steam launcher under "Other" but Steam games are under "Steam?"
And I think ASUS does an admirable job trying to put a layer of usability on top of Windows 11 since it's not remotely user-friendly on handheld devices. However, I frequently get the feeling of "one hand not talking to the other."
It's not a harmonious user experience. It's one that feels brute-forced in as a patchwork of band-aids.
Also, this has mostly been my experience when connected to an external monitor.
Overall, I love the performance based on what I've played. I love the aesthetic of the hardware. I like the colorful face buttons. It's a promising device, but it's not living up to its potential because Windows makes it cumbersome.
Cumbersome AND broken. As I type this, the gamepad controls have stopped working across the board. One minute they were, then they weren't. Multiple reboots haven't solved it and not sure I have patience to solve it.
For all intents and purposes, it is bricked.
So, now the unexpectedly arduous task of getting to a point where I can even install Bazzite on the ROG Ally...
Despite turning off Bitlocker, disabling the virtual page file, disabling system restore, cleaning all temp files, and defragging the drive, Windows will only let me shrink 70GB of the 350GB that are free.
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
Progress! This is exciting!
(I used a free third party app called AIMEI Partition Assistant to shrink the Windows partition).
Holy crap! I feel like a wizard!
Now for some configuration…
(I’m donating to the Bazzite team after this. They’re the real wizards)
Yesssssssss!!!!
Linux is amazing.
Fedora and Bazzite devs are amazing.
Long live open source.
I need a break now 
I’ll be back later with hands on gaming updates.
Well this is interesting...
I ran Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmarks.
1) "Original" ROG Ally w/ Windows: 1080p, High Quality
Average FPS: 30
2) "Deckified" ROG Ally w/ Bazzite: 1080p, High Quality
Average FPS: 39
Additionally, at 800p, the "Deckified" ROG Ally runs the game 32% faster than the LCD Steam Deck.
@killyourfm mesa devs are dark geniuses and the work they do is well beyond mortal comprehension
@killyourfm or, well, it might just be that it's pulling more wattage xd
@halva I prefer the dark genius explanation 