Posted by Jeff Rubenstein, Xbox Wire contributor

I have always been attracted to portable gaming devices. As a child, I distinctly remember the first time I saw the Game & Watch, smitten with the idea of ​​playing anywhere. After a few days of using ASUS ROG Ally, I became even more excited.

Since ASUS ROG Ally first appeared last month, it has attracted a lot of attention: are its specs real? If yes, how much will it cost? Details are barely available, and if you want a verdict from someone who does this all the time, here it is. To me, the most enticing aspect of ROG Ally is the promise to take the vast Game Pass library with you wherever you go, so I’ll focus on that. (To see if your favorite Xbox games are compatible with Xbox Play Anywhere, visit the official Xbox Play Anywhere website here.)

What sets ROG Ally apart from most other handheld gaming devices is that it runs the full version of Windows 11. Once I signed in, ROG Ally easily identified that I was a Game Pass Ultimate member and even automatically connected to WiFi. .-Fi from my house. Another bonus is access to all the games I previously bought from the Windows Store, seamless syncing of my progress with Xbox cloud storage, and access to Steam, Epic, Battle.net, Ubisoft+, EA Play and more. , further. If your favorite game is available on PC, chances are it’s on ROG Ally too.

I love booting up a new device, launching the Xbox app, and instantly having access to a wide selection of games. Ghostwire: TokyoI’m coming for you. The last case of Benedict Fox And Ravenlock It just came out, so I’m going to put them on my waiting list. Vampire Survivors This is important, and what to say about person 3 portable

In addition to the hundreds of games available on Game Pass, you might be surprised at how many games you get even if you’ve never played on PC before. I (again) found dozens of Xbox Play Anywhere games that were on the waiting list after buying them over the years: Cuphead Hadesgreat Harbor And Like a dragon: Ishin! (a full list of XPA titles can be found here). Of course, I can continue my game from where I left off.

After shopping, downloading games that were well suited for portable or shorter sessions, it was time to play. The first thing that strikes me is Ellie’s 7-inch screen; Incredibly sharp, bright and smooth down to 120Hz, I was quickly immersed in vibrant scenes from titles like Tetris effect, Ravenlock And grounded.

As a mostly console gamer, I’m not the type to spend time adjusting settings other than changing the y-axis (I know, I know), and I spent very little time on that. If the game looked great from the start, great. In a couple of titles, I slightly lowered the general graphics settings to increase the frame rate, and it was gone. Of course, this is a portable Windows PC – if you want to play games, you have all the options.

For my fellow Xbox gamers, most of the buttons are where you’d expect them to be. Even menus and buttons use the same icons. In addition, just below you’ll find two useful buttons: one displays a manual-like overlay for changing brightness, toggling the frame rate counter, taking screenshots, or a host of other shortcuts; it is fully customizable. Another button offers quick access to Armory Crate, the ASUS touch interface where all your games just… appear – it’s a great way to collect all your countless PC game libraries in one place.

The Armory Crate interface also offers quick access to the device’s most important features: those related to performance and battery life. Select “Operating Mode” ROG Ally; preset profiles from “Turbo” to “Quiet” or manually adjust settings to balance CPU and GPU performance with power consumption and fan speed. In Armory Crate, you can also customize the lighting effects around the joysticks (or turn them off completely) and access a full list of display presets optimized for different game genres or other functions such as watching videos on your ROG Ally. .

While the main attraction of ROG Ally is the ability to download and play games right on your device, it’s all about Windows, so Xbox Cloud Gaming is easily accessible, sign in to the Xbox app or sign in to Xbox. com/play in Edge Browser, you will be able to stream games in a few seconds. on my network force horizon 5 it worked smoothly and responsively. I quickly forgot I was streaming and even took first place in a technically demanding Rally Adventure, which I would consider an achievement on any device.

My cloud gaming experience force horizon 5 doubled as a great reminder of ROG Ally’s excellent speakers: the sounds of engines revving, gravel skidding and Dua Lipa “levitating” sounded in such a way that I was immersed in the game … and the volume was only 40%.

The ROG Ally’s audio/video capabilities feel powerful for such a small device; He has a margin of brightness, decibels and overload, so I constantly reduced them. Given that it’s not wall-tethered, I didn’t expect that from a portable device. Reviewers cover the battery life tests more thoroughly, but I was able to get through them comfortably. Vampire Survivors during my son’s football practice without looking for a place to connect.

If my time with the ASUS ROG Ally has taught me anything, it’s that you’ll want to take it with you wherever you go, and for that, I highly recommend a protective case. I tossed my tester into the pocket of my laptop backpack and immediately wished I had another layer of screen protection. But that’s something I’ll worry about when I get my own ROG Ally.

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