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00:00Hmm, okay. Hey guys, I'm TomTheTechChap, and I have got my grubby little paws on the three latest and greatest
00:06What are we calling them? Handheld gaming PCs?
00:08We've got the Lenovo Legion Go, Steam Deck OLED, ASUS ROG Ally
00:12And I absolutely love all three of these and just this whole new era of handheld gaming
00:16I can take these on planes and trains to bed with me
00:19I don't have to sit over there at my desk with my desktop PC
00:22Honestly, whichever one of these you buy you're gonna be very happy with it
00:25But the question is which one of these is best?
00:28Which one should you actually buy? And as always if you do find this video useful a cheeky little like and subscribe down there would be
00:34lovely
00:36Okay, so these guys do have a fair amount in common. We have these big high refresh touchscreens
00:40We get USB C charging, headphone jacks, micro SD card slots for expanding your storage, dual joysticks, haptic feedback and
00:48Plenty of options for tweaking performance and of course they all play, well, PC games
00:52But apart from that they all actually are quite different
00:55So let's start with this guy the Steam Deck OLED
00:58And I will reveal that I'm using a sticky light and some DJI
01:03microphones to actually hold it up because this doesn't have a
01:06kickstand like this guy does and I'm actually using a tech chat mug to hold this guy up and the Steam Deck has kind of
01:11Been the benchmark for these handheld PCs, right? I mean it was the OG
01:15It was the one that sort of spawned these new kids on the block and now we have the Steam Deck OLED
01:20Which is essentially a Steam Deck 1.5. The new larger 7.4 inch 90 Hertz OLED screen looks fantastic
01:27The battery life is significantly longer up to double in some cases. We get more consistent performance
01:32So games feel smoother, especially with that high 90 Hertz refresh
01:35We have a new 1 terabyte storage option and it's basically the same price as before
01:40It is as comfortable to use as ever lots of people swear by these trackpads
01:44Especially for RPG games and of course with Steam OS and Steam verified settings and controls
01:50It is by far the easiest just to pick up and play. This thing is great
01:54Then we have the ROG Ally and this is like the sleekest, the lightest, the most
01:59pocketable of the three despite sharing the same size screen as the Steam Deck OLED
02:03But this gets a sharper 1080p
02:06120 Hertz IPS display and like the Legion Go these guys use the Z1 Extreme Ryzen processor from AMD
02:12Which is anywhere between 20 and 50 percent faster than Steam Deck
02:16Although we'll come to performance in a second and that's also partly thanks to our higher
02:20TDP that can scale even higher when plugged in and after a recent price drop it costs about the same as the Steam Deck OLED
02:26Although the storage does top out at 512 rather than the terabyte
02:29Although of course you can pop in a microSD or even open it up and swap out the SSD
02:34We get some nice go faster RGB
02:36I do quite like the offset position for the joysticks which we also get on the Legion Go
02:40Although the Ally does lose the touchpads and also a couple of rear paddle buttons versus the deck
02:45Although we do get this XG mobile connector port thing at the top here part of it is the USB C
02:51But there's also this XG mobile connector so you can actually plug it into ROG's own
02:56GPU dock external GPU if you want to well to spend a ton more money and get better graphics performance
03:02Although of course you will be bottlenecked by the CPU, but you have the option
03:05Then we have the Legion Go which is by far the biggest and also the most versatile of the three the
03:138.8 inch quad HD plus
03:15144 Hertz screen is faster sharper and about a third bigger which makes a big difference to how immersive your games feel
03:22Although this is a big boy. It might be too big
03:25We have a kickstand which I absolutely love and I wish these guys also had we have RGB thumbsticks a single touchpad
03:32Plenty of paddle buttons on the back and also a second USB 4 port
03:36So you can actually charge and connect extra peripherals if you want to use this more like a desktop PC
03:41Most impressive though or at least most interesting is the fact that we have these
03:46Detachable controllers very much like the joy cons on the Nintendo switch if I can pull it out
03:51There we go
03:52And obviously then you can put the kickstand out and game like this
03:54But I do wish there was something we could connect these to otherwise you can I just have to well hold them like this
03:59But this is certainly a unique feature compared to the rivals
04:03But wait, there's more because this is a puck drop a controller into it and it becomes a sort of mouse for FPS games
04:09Where you can shoot by clicking the scroll wheel on the back or just navigating the desktop
04:14It's a really unique and smart idea
04:16Although I'm not entirely sure how much I actually want to use it like this
04:19So the go is the biggest and the chunkiest and the heaviest
04:22But it also kind of feels like the most well-made the most sort of premium out of the three
04:27But in terms of pocket ability and the fact that these are supposed to be handheld gaming devices
04:32I would probably say the most comfortable one is the same deck then the ally then this but what about these screens?
04:39Well, I'll tell you the first one
04:41You'll definitely be drawn to is the Steam Deck
04:43Oh
04:43It is the only one of the three to have an OLED panel giving you those deep inky blacks and rich colors and actually surprisingly
04:49Impressive brightness this can hit 600 nits in SDR and a thousand it's an HDR enabled games
04:55Versus just 500 on the other two and while it is only 90 Hertz
04:58It's still a big upgrade over the 60 Hertz LCD on the old deck and like the 800p 16 by 10 resolution
05:04It's a good fit that does suit the power on offer
05:07Although obviously with a lower resolution you do lose some detail and you get more aliased edges and text can look a little bit grainy
05:14Also exclusive to this one terabyte model of the Deco LED
05:17We have this anti-glare etched glass, which is still pretty reflective
05:21It does a similar job to what we have on the original deck and to be fair bright lights are less intense and a bit
05:27More diffuse than on the other two
05:28It's kind of like going from a glossy to a slightly mattified screen, although you do lose a little bit of that OLED contrast
05:35But the 16 by 9 1080p screen of the ally and especially the 16 by 10
05:411600p display on the go are just so much sharper and it kind of makes it hard going back to the deck
05:47They still get fairly bright and colors and viewing angles look fantastic
05:50but as I say the Legion goes much bigger screen is a sight to behold and it gets the highest quality resolution and the
05:57Smoothest 144 Hertz refresh rate and even if you choose to not game at their native high refresh rates
06:03No, no refresh rates resolutions and you drop the res to like 800p or whatever or 720p
06:07Then the extra performance on tap allows you to crank up the graphics settings
06:11So your games do end up looking better on these also 90 Hertz 120 Hertz 144 Hertz
06:17So if you are playing older or less demanding games and you can get those higher frame rates
06:20Then it will of course look smoother on these as well
06:23Now in terms of actually using them the experience and how many times they want to make you tear your hair out
06:28Steam OS on the Deco that is by far the easiest to use
06:32It's so simple and easy to navigate and you can access the Linux desktop via the power button and from there
06:38You can install other game launchers or console emulators
06:41Whereas Windows 11 on the ally and the go means we get better compatibility
06:45It's easier to access non Steam game stores, although definitely the expense of a less slick and less curated experience
06:52Windows really needs a dedicated handheld mode now to be fair
06:56All three did experience sort of launch issues with the Steam Deck originally
07:00There just wasn't that many games that were optimized for this sort of handheld form factor
07:04That's got better, especially with the Steam door and it's sort of verified list with the ally
07:09Annoyingly actually when we reviewed this like a week or two later AMD pushed out a driver update which boosted the performance by like
07:1510 to 20 percent which was really annoying for everyone who'd reviewed it
07:18But again getting better with time and the Legion go this is the most recent to launch and it does have some problems
07:23We've got dead zone issues with the touchpad and the controllers
07:27We've got the sort of orientation problems full screen issues with it and a fair amount of crashes and games that simply don't work
07:33Although that also applies the ally as well
07:35It will get better with time
07:37But certainly early adopters have had their fair share of issues with all three
07:40Although I think right now the go does need a few tweaks
07:43So it might be worth holding out on this guy a little bit for more updates to come out and also for the price to
07:48Drop a little bit
07:49So the ally has the armory crate and we have legion space on the go both acting as hubs for your settings and your linked
07:55Game libraries and from here you can open the relevant launchers including Steam OS
07:59Outside of Steam though you do miss the control compatibility modes
08:03Which valve implements in its deck verified and playable list of games and their curated great on deck list really helps to know how well
08:10A given game will work on a handheld and in each case there are unsupported games or games that simply won't work at all
08:16So it is worth checking to see if your favorite game has decent support
08:19And you can use any of them like a more traditional desktop PC if you wanted although
08:24Obviously got Linux here Windows 11 on these two and if you hook them up to a compatible dock and maybe video out to a
08:29Monitor you can plug in other USB peripherals
08:31Maybe an RJ 45 Ethernet and turn them into a bit of a PC
08:35And also these things are a great way to emulate your old console or
08:39Ancient PC games and emu deck is a great place to start and it's designed for the Steam Deck, but it does work on the others
08:45Okay, let's talk about performance and straight away
08:48These two are at an advantage because they have the much newer more powerful AMD Ryzen Z1 extreme processor
08:55Although technically the ally does come with the regular Z1 as an option
08:58It's a bit cheaper
08:59But I would probably avoid that and roughly speaking
09:01It's 20 to 50 percent faster than this guy the Steam Deck OLED does use the same processor as the original one
09:07But it's now on a more efficient smaller 6 nanometer process. So it's more efficient a little bit cooler runs more consistently smooth
09:13I'll come to that in a second
09:14But certainly in terms of raw performance
09:17These guys are definitely out in front to give you a rough idea
09:19Both are good for 30 to 40 FPS in the latest triple-a games at full HD with medium settings
09:25And in fact, they can manage 1080p at about the same frame rates as the Deck OLED can running at 800p
09:32They also offer different power modes
09:33Now I tested the Steam Deck OLED with its 15 watt performance mode versus a custom 15 watt mode
09:39Which is similar to the default balance mode on the Ally and the Legion respectively as I reckon this gives you the best balance of
09:45Frame rate and battery life, but obviously you can change and tweak this whereas the Deck OLED performance is fixed
09:51So games will run the same no matter what
09:53So kicking off with cyberpunk in Steam Deck mode the Ally and the Legion's performance were basically the same though
09:59The Deck OLED wasn't that far behind at 800p in Spiderman remastered
10:03Both Legion and the Ally kept frame rates above 60 at 800p using FSR 2 balanced in default custom mode
10:09Which is a solid 12 FPS ahead of a Deck
10:12So I reckon 1080p on the Ally and the Legion is best here. It's sharper
10:16You get a lot more detail, but you're still getting a very playable mid 40s frame rate
10:20Although I did see some frame dips, especially on the Legion
10:23Now Baldur's Gate 3 is pretty demanding and it's much more playable on the Ally and the Legion
10:27Although perhaps not at their higher resolutions like 1600p on the Legion
10:31But it's still very playable on the Deck and that OLED screen looks fantastic
10:35But then in Rocket League or any other less demanding game
10:38It really shows how much higher refresh rates can make a big difference because at 720 or 800p
10:44I'm getting a 120 FPS on the Ally on the Legion, which just looks and feels great
10:50F123 performance was solid and by the way looks amazing playing on a handheld like this
10:55Racing games in general work really well on handhelds
10:57And lastly in Shadow of the Tomb Raider
10:59The Ally and the Legion's frame rates were about the same and around 23% higher than the Deck can manage
11:05Even on low settings at 800p
11:07But crucially on the Ally and the Go I can crank the TDPs up to 25 watts
11:11Giving me up to a 50% increase in frame rate versus the Deck across the board
11:16Although at a serious cost of battery life
11:18Although on any of them you can limit the frame rate to 60 or 30
11:22Especially more demanding games to avoid the bigger frame drops
11:24and also if you can play plugged in definitely do it because turbo mode boosts the power from 15 up to 25 watts on the
11:32Ally and 30 watts on Legion Go where performance is improved massively and it feels almost like you're getting a full gaming laptop experience
11:40Now obviously being handheld portable gaming devices battery life is pretty important as well in terms of the size of the batteries
11:46These guys have a 50 watt hour cell. This is 40 watt hours
11:50So the Ally has a smallest battery and it does last the least amount of time
11:54But without question the best battery life is a Steam Deck OLED partly because it has the biggest cell like the Legion Go
12:00But it's just simply not as powerful and also it's on that smaller more efficient 6 nanometer chip compared to the original Steam Deck
12:06For example in Wreckfest the Deck OLED managed a massive three and a half hours
12:11Versus just under two hours on the Ally and two hours ten on the Legion Go
12:16Although dropping down to quiet and balanced mode added an extra 50 and 30 minutes respectively
12:21But then the gameplay was a lot choppier and in each case limiting the refresh rate to 30 FPS
12:27Extends the battery life massively do that in a less demanding game on the Deck OLED and I reckon this will get you to four hours
12:33And breathe. Okay, let me wrap this up. Which one should you buy? Well, I'm just gonna go and say straight away
12:39I do really like this. I think it's the most versatile
12:42I love the kickstand detachable controllers the puck things a cool idea and that big screen is a sight to behold
12:49It's lovely don't get me wrong, but it's just too expensive because this is just launched
12:53It's about 200 pounds there abouts more than these guys and also there's quite a few bugs and issues
12:58So I reckon I would give this a little bit of time to mature
13:01Come down and price a touch and then it'll be a lot more competitive and could end up being the best one
13:05But right now this would pull you my third place option
13:08So it really is a toss-up between these two and then it's a question of how much do you value the slightly sleek and nicer?
13:14design the much better screen much better performance of the Ally
13:17Versus the very nice OLED display and also the much longer battery life and arguably the smoother nicer experience of Steam OS
13:24With the Steam Deck, I would say for most people. This is your best bet
13:28It's just a nice smooth easy experience
13:30But if you want a higher-end gaming experience and easier access to non Steam game libraries
13:35Then I think the ROG Ally is probably the best all-rounder and right now I would say is the one I would buy
13:42It's not perfect. They all have pros and cons
13:44I think for most people the Steam Deck OLED is the one to go for but I would probably pick this for now
13:50Hopefully we see this drop in price soon
13:52Although if you do get the Deck OLED
13:54I reckon the 1TB model is worth paying the extra 90 quid as you're getting double the fast SSD storage
14:00Also that anti-glare coating and the case comes with a liner that doubles as a more compact travel case
14:05And again for the Ally I would definitely go with the Z1 Extreme model
14:09but which one would you go for out of the three and if you already own one share your experience in the comments below and
14:14Also, what would you love to be different about these in 2024 with the Gen 2 versions that could tempt you to upgrade?
14:20Thank you so much for watching guys
14:22Again, if you enjoyed this video a like and subscribe would be fantastic and I'll see you next time right here on the Tech Chat