Asus took our wishlist for the Asus ROG Ally 2 and turned it into a reality by way of the ROG Ally X. It's true that the new ROG Ally X isn't a direct ROG Ally successor, namely because it uses the same AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chipset. However, the company fixed just about everything we hated about the original handheld, adding double the battery capacity, a second USB-C port, more memory, and better ergonomics. I've loved my time with the ROG Ally X, but I also recently bought a Steam Deck. There are a few key ways that Valve's gaming handheld blows Asus' offering out of the water.

I have the LCD version of the Steam Deck, so the OLED screen isn't one of the reasons I enjoy using the handheld more than the ROG Ally X at times. That's fine, because the display battle between the Steam Deck OLED and the ROG Ally X is a complete toss-up. Sure, the Steam Deck has an OLED panel, but it also has a lower resolution than the ROG Ally X, and lacks variable refresh rate support on the inbuilt screen. Neither option trounces the other in terms of display quality; it's simply a question of what matters more: OLED or resolution and VRR?

Instead, there are three small Steam Deck characteristics that make the gaming handheld experience so much more enjoyable. Consider these points before you go out and buy a new ROG Ally X, because they might sway you.

3 Trackpads

They're so useful for when the touchscreen or controller buttons don't cut it

Visually, there's a big difference between the Steam Deck and the ROG Ally X. The former includes two trackpads on each side of the display that can be used for an assortment of functions, kind of like the touch area on a PlayStation DualSense controller. This is crucial, because there are times when you may need to use traditional mouse-and-keyboard input on your gaming handheld. On the Steam Deck, you can use the trackpads for that. When you're using the ROG Ally X, your only options are the touchscreen, the controller, and the on-screen keyboard.

At a basic level, the trackpads on the Steam Deck feel like using a touchpad or a trackpad on a laptop. However, they can become much more than that with a bit of customization. You can map each trackpad to support up to 16 swipe gestures, and that can be doubled if you use another macro — like the rear paddles — as a shifter. This is fantastic for games that don't natively support controller input, and thus might not work as well out of the box with the Steam Deck. Put simply, the Steam Deck's trackpads are its secret weapon that can give users far more flexibility than the ROG Ally X offers.

2 SteamOS

The Steam Deck has software that makes it feel like a console, and that's a good thing

Before trying out the Steam Deck, I thought it was a given that PC gaming handheld users had to fight with a desktop operating system at least once or twice before firing up a game. That certainly was my experience using the original ROG Ally, and I had many battles with Windows 11. Unfortunately, the Asus ROG Ally X still runs Windows and the OS optimization for handhelds or touch-first devices isn't any better.

However, Valve still has the best gaming handheld software on the planet in SteamOS. You can use a Steam Deck for months or years and never see the desktop view of Valve's Linux distro. It feels like a true console, more akin to a Nintendo Switch, Xbox, or PlayStation than a typical gaming PC. For many, that's exactly what they want from a gaming handheld, and it's a reason to go out and buy a Steam Deck over an ROG Ally X.

1 Fast Suspend/Resume

You can jump right back into games on the Steam Deck

Valve has managed to deliver excellent hardware and software integration on the Steam Deck, and there's no better example of that than fast suspend/resume. I call it Quick Resume, because it works functionally identical to the Xbox feature of that name. When you press the power button, the Steam Deck will suspend the game you're currently running. Then, if you press the power button again, it'll resume that game and throw you right back into where you left off.

Let me give you an anecdote that explains why this is my favorite Steam Deck feature. I was playing Grand Theft Auto V: Online on the Steam Deck, and decided to put the handheld down to go do something else. If you've ever played GTA Online before, you'll know it really doesn't like when you idle in an online multiplayer session. Somehow, when I came back to my Steam Deck days later, pressing the power button launched me right back into my GTA Online game. Yes, I did end up getting kicked shortly after, but I was able to resume a days-old multiplayer session in seconds on the Steam Deck. You won't get that experience anywhere else in the PC gaming handheld space.

So, should I buy a Steam Deck over the Asus ROG Ally X?

Now, this isn't to say that you should immediately choose the Steam Deck or Steam Deck OLED instead of the ROG Ally X. As an avid fan of Fortnite, I'm quick to remind buyers looking for a gaming handheld that the Linux-based Steam Deck is incompatible with certain anti-cheat software. It's also important to remember that the Asus ROG Ally X, with the Ryzen Z1 Extreme and 24GB of RAM, will beat the Steam Deck OLED in terms of performance. But, if you want a console-like experience above all else, the Steam Deck might be the better buy.