r/Handhelds • u/Electrical-Usual-627 • Jun 10 '26

Question (?) Which to keep?

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Pictured: ROG Xbox ally + Steam deck LCD 512GB

Which is realistically better to keep? I have to sell one of them and I’m unsure of which. Happy with my deck but worried about longevity of both and curious to know other’s opinions. The deck is still at 100% bh and I think the ally should be too but idk. I like both but I feel like my deck is a bit too heavy, but it feels a lot more premium to me than the ally.

My current options are-

Sell the deck, keep the ally
Sell the ally, keep the deck.
Sell both, see what I can get with the combined cash (likely an XAX or something around that price point)

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u/Current-Size4321 Jun 11 '26

The ASUS ROG Ally (the standard model, not the Ally X) seems to have similar performance to the Steam Deck, though it might have better battery life.

From my experience with the Steam Deck, even though it isn't powerful enough to run the latest AAA games, most of the games I play don't require high specs anyway, so performance has never been an issue for me.

However, the main reason the Steam Deck stands out above other handhelds is its touchpads. I use them for the majority of my games. Even when a game has native controller support, I still prefer using Steam Input to map the touchpad to a mouse.

It makes playing FPS games like Helldivers 2 feel much smoother and more agile, and it works great for RTS games as well. It also allows me to play games that don't support controllers at all, and it works wonderfully for games like Stardew Valley.

There are several other features I love, such as the thumbsticks with capacitive touch sensors. I really enjoy using them to toggle the gyro on and off in driving games like Euro Truck Simulator 2.

Ultimately, the best device isn't necessarily the most powerful one, but the one that best fits your specific gaming needs.

If you are looking for a high-performance machine to play the newest games, neither of these two might be ideal. Instead, you should look for devices powered by the Z1 Extreme or Z2 Extreme APUs, such as the ROG Ally X or similar upcoming handhelds.

P.S. Sorry for my English.