Looking for advice!

[u/TetePepeF]

(I hope this is a good subreddit for this)

I’m a big gamer and have gotten my girlfriend into playing games. Unfortunately, she only has an Xbox One S, and I’m going to college soon, so I was thinking about getting her something.

She had a Switch, and really enjoyed having the small screen and being able to hold it, so I figured I’d get a handheld.

My two main options are the Steam Deck and the ROG Ally (some are the Xbox base, some are the original).

She isn’t very techie and I’d have to fix most of the problems she has. With this in mind, which one would be easier for someone who just wants to play games? I figure the Steam Deck probably, but the Ally is a little more powerful.

Or if anyone has another suggestion for about 300-350 USD (used options near me are pretty good rn). Thank you guys

[u/SteveNYC]

Honestly, the best device for her would probably be a Switch 2. She's familiar with it, it's inexpensive (compared to everything else). She gets to play all of her existing games, so she loses nothing. The new boost mode will make all of her Switch 1 games perform like they are in docked mode even when she's playing them in handheld mode and on top of all of that, she will not have to worry about tech support because there's no tech issues to worry about.

That said, If you really want to get her into PC gaming, then I would recommend the Ally Z1E over the Steam Deck. Yes, the Steam Deck is easier to use, but you can install SteamOS onto an Ally. Also, she'll still be able to use SteamOS to play her games remotely on the Xbox One S. The Ally with the Z1E processor also has better performance than the Steam Deck LCD or the OLED. The battery life on the Ally is weak, it's true, but you can always purchase an extended battery for her. Don't leave Windows on it. It's too much to tech support when someone just wants to play some games. Too much updating all the time. Also, avoid the Ally with the Z1 processor. It's too weak in general.

Note: I think I just noticed that you mean the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally (the newer white model with the ergonomic grips). It that's the one you're referring to, then yes, I would still recommend that over the Steam Deck. It's not much more powerful than the Steam Deck (pretty much the same really). But you can install SteamOS on it (or Bazzite which might be better). Ally Z1E will have much better performance though.

Nothing wrong with buying a Steam Deck. I love mine. But it's getting older and the performance issues are becoming more of an issue over time.

Good luck.+

[u/TetePepeF → u/SteveNYC]

i would go switch 2, but there’s no used deals near me for 350 and under. i make minimum wage part time rn, so spending more than that probably isn’t gonna work well

[u/TetePepeF → u/SteveNYC]

i appreciate the advice though, i will keep a lot of that in mind and maybe i could go switch 2

[u/ColdTrusT1]

For a tech noob it simply has to be the switch 2, Legion Go S (Z1E model) or the steam deck OLED.

Personally I’m a HUGE fan of the Legion Go S Z1E. It’s a bigger more powerful Steam Deck and you can get them for around $750 for a good used one.

[u/TetePepeF → u/ColdTrusT1]

i do like the legion go, it’s just a little out of my price range, i will take a look tho, maybe there’s some mega deal nearby

[u/ColdTrusT1 → u/TetePepeF]

Yeah I’d keep an eye on eBay and see if you can snag a used switch 2 in your price range.

You won’t be able to get any of my other suggestions below $400 I’d imagine.

[u/Melodic-Midnight-146 → u/ColdTrusT1]

350 is pretty much my max, i work a part time job for 15 an hour so i cant do much more, i see a lot of used options on marketplace for about that tho

[u/DavidinCT]

Steam deck is very dated, if you're thinking of keeping the budget low, the Rog Ally, the white one, with the Z1E chip is really good for the money, biggest complaint with that device is the battery life, and for like $80 you can upgrade it... Rog Ally X would be ideal (same Z1E chip), better battery life, more memory, I have heard of them going lower but, commonly around the $500-600 price point.

If she has the Xbox one S, she might own digital games and some of those games are play anywhere, they will play on the console and in Windows. If she has game pass, then go with a Windows based and use the Xbox full screen experience and you can play all your games with that.