Asus must be reading XDA, because they took our wishlist for the ROG Ally 2 and turned it into the mid-cycle refresh ROG Ally X. With a long list of quality-of-life adjustments, it's easily the best PC gaming handheld and sets a blueprint for future handhelds. Asus has done so many things right that other companies should take note and, in the best tradition of technological advancement, copy what they see. I've been using one for a few weeks and it's also my favorite Windows handheld, although I find myself going back to the LCD version of the Steam Deck to get my portable gaming fix. That's more because I like SteamOS, but Valve and every other handheld maker needs to copy these features from the ROG Ally X on future releases.
6 The desktop-sized SSD
Seriously, stop with the weird form factors
One problem with many gaming handhelds is the lack of internal SSD capacity to install games. Seriously, 256GB or 512GB isn't enough these days, and the problem at launch was made worse by the lack of compatible SSDs. That's because the Steam Deck, ROG Ally, and MSI Claw used 2230-style SSDs, which are tiny and didn't have a big market before handhelds. The Legion Go used 2242-style SSDs, which made the situation even more confusing.
SSD manufacturers have caught up and there are plenty of choices of 2230 or 2242 style SSDs, but the ROG Ally X has changed things again. Asus has used a standard-sized 2280 SSD in the new handheld, the size that desktop PCs and laptops have used for years. You no longer have to worry about finding a compatible drive, and while 2230 and 2242 SSDs seem to be limited to 2TB, 2280-style SSDs are available in capacities up to 8TB. This should be the standard for all gaming handhelds going forward, making things easier for manufacturers and consumers who shouldn't be expected to seek out niche SSD sizes.
5 The enormous battery capacity
Some handhelds forget that they are meant to be portable
Asus hasn't just increased the battery capacity of the ROG Ally X compared to the original, it's doubled it to 80Whr. That's a significant increase, and since it's kept the same AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor, we knew it would be a winner in terms of battery life. All other gaming handhelds use smaller batteries, and it shows. Even the long-lasting Steam Deck uses a 40Whr battery, helped by the relatively power-efficient AMD APU and custom Linux operating system. The Legion Go has a slightly larger battery capacity of 49.2Whr, and the MSI Claw has a slightly larger one of 54.5Whr. Every gaming handheld manufacturer needs to follow the path Asus has taken here, because smaller batteries just won't cut it.
Worryingly, even companies that were late to market with their first handheld PC gaming consoles have relied on relatively low-capacity batteries. The Acer Nitro Blaze 7 was announced at IFA with a 50.04Whr battery, which might be fine for a first attempt, but with a laptop-class AMD processor, it won't get the same battery life as the less powerful Ryzen Z1 Extreme. Ayaneo is the only handheld PC gaming console maker to include an 80Whr battery in some of its models. However, these are also heavier than the ROG Ally X, which reduces the amount of time you can comfortably hold them.
4 Multiple cooling fans
Double cooling, half the noise
I've tried many of the gaming handhelds on the market and the ROG Ally X was the best at keeping heat under control with minimal noise. This is largely due to the well-designed cooling solution that uses large heat pipes and two fans to push heat out of the chassis. Two fans are always better than one, which is why the Legion Go is so loud at anything but the lower TDP settings. The single fan just can't keep up. The Steam Deck isn't immune to this either because of its single fan.
A single fan is not enough to cool a laptop, and it should not be enough for gaming handhelds. Some signs of this change are already there, with VideoCardz noticed that the Legion Go's product page now mentions “dual fans.” Whether that refers to a mid-cycle refresh or a new device, we don't know, but it shows that Lenovo is listening to feedback on the first device. Nobody wants to game on a handheld that gets hot and stays hot, and fan noise is always going to be an issue when using integrated speakers. Put two fans in (or even more if there's room!) and keep the next generation of handhelds cooler while gaming.
3 The ergonomics
I'm not sure if some handhelds know they're meant to be held
When Asus decided to put an 80Whr battery in the ROG Ally X, it also had to be a bit thicker than the first iteration. That's a good thing, because the extra weight makes it feel more ergonomic and more like a console controller. The grips are a different shape, and the rear buttons are, well, more normal and better centered, making them less prone to accidental presses. The joysticks are now lighter to the touch and have a slightly different shape. They're not Hall Effect based, which would improve the experience, but perhaps the next generation will have better joystick sensor technology. The front buttons are higher so they're easier to press, the D-pad is larger, and the triggers are wider, all of which contribute to a better feel in the hand.
I'm not saying this is the final shape a handheld game console should have. There will always be enough variation in personal taste and hand sizes that no one shape will win. But it's in the right ballpark. The only other handheld that even comes close is the MSI Claw. I love my Steam Deck, but the D-pad and button placement is kind of weird, and the stretch to the touchpads is even weirder. The Legion Go is way too thick, as are its controllers, and the rest of the market uses weird niche designs that don't feel like they were designed for the mainstream audience. Maybe that's OK, too, but as the console market shows, the winning designs are often “the same but slightly different.”
2 A razor-sharp 1080p display
The Goldilocks size for handhelds
While I'd like to see an OLED screen on any portable gaming device, I have to admit that they do use a bit more power than IPS panels. The ROG Ally X's 1080p, 120Hz display strikes just the right balance between sufficient resolution for gaming, desktop tasks, and battery life. The Steam Deck's 800p resolution is fine for gaming, but a problem when trying to use SteamOS on the desktop without hooking it up to an external display. The Legion Go's 1600p, 144Hz screen goes too far in the other direction, draining the battery too quickly even with 2D games that aren't as demanding on the CPU. The Nintendo Switch has a 720p screen in handheld mode, but no desktop mode, which requires a higher resolution. Until battery life increases or components become more efficient, 1080p with variable refresh rate is the best choice for portable gaming consoles.
1 More storage
16 GB is not enough for CPU and GPU usage
The ROG Ally X has increased the total available RAM to 24GB, which is an acceptable amount when you need to power both the CPU and GPU from the same memory pool. Previous gaming handhelds almost all included 16GB of memory, which might be enough for the Steam Deck when running SteamOS, but for Windows-based handhelds it was a balancing act between desktop performance and in-game FPS. Any upcoming gaming handheld should use at least 24GB, as that gives you 8GB for the GPU and 16GB for the OS and CPU duties. I'd like to see future devices get more. RAM is cheap, so why stop there and start putting 32GB into handheld consoles?
The first generation of handheld consoles was great, but the next generation will be even better
It's an exciting time for gamers on the go, as the first generation of PC gaming handhelds showed that people don't just want to play Nintendo games on a smaller screen. The market is about halfway through the cycle of refreshes, with devices getting quality of life improvements or new screen types. The second generation won't come until new mobile processors come out, likely designed explicitly for the power and performance needs of gaming handhelds. I hope that the upcoming models incorporate the lessons learned already, like Hall effect joysticks and triggers, normal SSD sizes, and more power efficient displays, and that we also get some improvements to Windows for the smaller screen sizes.