There are plenty of supposed Steam Deck killers available in the portable gaming space, from the Asus ROG Ally to the Lenovo Legion Go and all the Ayaneo and ONEXPLAYER devices in between. But none of them have managed to outright slay the dragon that is the mighty Steam Deck yet.
I had an ROG Ally which I just returned. Currently waiting on the Legion Go now and see how the reviews are.
There were a few reasons why I picked the Ally over the Deck such as the screen and power but the main thing really was windows for GamePass. I already use it with my Xbox so just being able to natively play so many games was a value I couldn’t beat. Cross saves also work well so I could play something at home and then take the Ally with me on the go seamlessly. I think the Deck is great but personal factors made the Ally a no brainer.
My biggest complaint with Windows is how there’s no Big picture mode for the Xbox app. Steam on windows does better than Microsoft on its own platform. I hope there’s a fox for it at some point. Sleep is also really annoying but wasn’t that big of a deal breaker. Otherwise windows hasn’t been so bad. I’ve been enjoying using it as a desktop as well coding or watching Netflix etc. I know that goes against the grain in this community but there is definitely a place for Windows handhelds in the market. Now let’s hope Microsoft sees that and makes some changes so it works as flawlessly (at least 90% cmon) as the Deck does.
The real problem is Microsoft hasnt released Windows Handheld Mode yet
So the handheld experience is kinda ass for eveey non steamdeck device
This is exactly what they need. At least a Big Picture mode where it boots to a launcher. That and they should scan all games on their computer. Not just Xbox games.
This sentence really confused me.
Lol you know what , maybe I do need sleep.
Logitech’s handheld looks like it would be premo for gamepass, except it costs as much as a Steam Deck and is only a streaming device.
I keep waiting for them to flop so I can scoop one up and clearance.
I’m also interested to see how the Legion Go will perform/compete. What makes that more interesting than the Ally is the expanded input selection and the “joy con” like controllers. If we could combine that with SteamOS or a similar OS to create a similar software experience, I think it would be a lucrative alternative.
The problem I have with the Ally is that for the performance improvement on the hardware side, you lose input selection, the optimized OS, and the battery life to run the bigger titles. Just not enough “oomph” to push me to commit to another handheld device.
Just install Windows on the Steam Deck or dual Boot to get one of the most satisfying OS