The Asus ROG Ally X is the best Windows gaming handheld you can buy, but with it comes a steep $800 price tag. That’s cheap gaming laptop territory — in fact, you can snag a HP Victus with RTX 4050 for the same price.
So that got me thinking (which is hard to do on the hottest day of the year). If you have 800 bucks, should you go for the handheld or opt for a budget gaming laptop? It’s an odd question to ask, given they are drastically different types of devices with very different pros and cons.
But it's a good one to ask, as you leave a lot of potential on the table whichever way you go. It comes down to five considerations you should take into account when deciding.
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1. Portability
There is no question that this is Asus’ superpower in this bout between gaming handheld and gaming laptop. Basically a chunkier Nintendo Switch in construction, this is something you can easily throw into your backpack for long journeys without needing to take up too much space.
Granted, most of the best laptop bags have a sleeve integrated directly into them, but at just under 1.5 pounds for the Ally X, it makes the 5.5-pound heft of the Victus 15 feel like a powerlifting competition.
Put simply, if portability is your primary concern, the Victus 15 shouldn’t even remotely enter your orbit of decision-making.
2. Performance
Make no mistake about it — the Asus ROG Ally X’s performance is impressive. That AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme is capable of some great things when it comes to PC gaming on a 7-inch handheld.
But nothing beats the power of a dedicated GPU when it comes to PC gaming, and the RTX 4050 may be Nvidia’s weakest, but what it can pull off is impressive. A lot of this is driven by DLSS 3.5, which uses AI for frame generation to make games run vastly smoother.
Of course, there are other things to consider such as the Thermal Design Power (TDP) of a laptop being naturally higher than a gaming handheld. And with a little tweaking, you can get those frame rates nice and smooth on the ROG Ally X. For example, Forza Horizon 5 was running at low presets on the X for that result, whereas it was at 1080p Ultra with DLSS on.
But to cut to the chase, if getting the most power for your money is critical, then this is the easiest choice to make — get the gaming laptop.
3. Interface
As Tony Polanco nailed on the head in his video review of the ROG Ally X, Windows 11 sucks on a handheld. Asus does try to work around it with its own Armoury Crate overlay that gives it a good console-esque UI. But the reality is you have to interact with Windows itself a lot, and it can get frustrating fast.
It’s clear Microsoft’s OS is very much a desktop (or laptop)-only affair, and you get a much better experience on a gaming laptop. Not only that, but you can actually make the most of not just play, but work too. Because seriously, who wants to use Office 365 on a gaming handheld?
So in making this decision, it comes down to whether you want an experience honed on gaming on-the-go (and can forgive navigating around a tiny Windows 11 for a bit to get your games), or whether you want to get more out of Windows on a bigger screen.
4. Some genres are just better with a keyboard
Being able to play all your PC games on something like a handheld is awesome, and there are some genres like third-person action titles, turn-based RPGs, platformers, racing games, and fighting titles that are always superior with a controller.
But let there be no doubt that real-time strategy titles, first-person shooters, building games and more are optimal with a keyboard and mouse in front of you — both which you get on a gaming laptop over the handheld. So realistically, this comes down to individual preference by figuring out what types of games you play the most.
5. Battery life
Gaming laptops have an infamous reputation of having battery life that lasts…well, probably to the end of this sentence. And even though the RTX 4050 is certainly the least power hungry of Nvidia’s GPUs, the same can certainly be said for the HP Victus — paling in comparison to the Asus ROG Ally X.
So when thinking about this in your purchase decision, it all comes down to how long you may be away from power outlets. If you spend a lot of your time near a socket or two, you won’t get the best value for money out of going for Ally X. But for long commutes with no power, Asus’ handheld really comes into its own.
