A YouTuber has demonstrated what a real version of SteamOS looks and plays like on their Asus ROG Ally, and it works surprisingly well. There are, however, some quirks that are holding back performance, and TDP settings are inaccessible, which is expected to be fixed when SteamOS officially rolls out to more devices.
The Steam Deck is still the best handheld gaming PC, in large part due to SteamOS. Valve rolling out its secret weapon to more powerful gaming handhelds is a bold move, but it also goes to show just how far behind all other operating systems are when the competition is happily abandoning ship and allowing for SteamOS to be downloaded.
In the video below, YouTuber The Phawx showcases a version of SteamOS 3.8 running on an Asus ROG Ally. While not official, it is the genuine article and not a version of the OS running via shenanigans. It’s immediately noted that running SteamOS on the Ally causes some compatibility issues with buttons like the Xbox Guide having no purpose.
There is also no way to bring up the SteamOS quick menu other than to do it through the main menu. Despite this, the quick menu registers the 120Hz display and includes a VRR toggle, something not featured on the Steam Deck. Despite this, if you try to limit the TDP, the setting is locked to 15W, meaning this feature still needs to be properly implemented before it’s rolled out to other, more powerful gaming handhelds.
It’s this limit, and the fact that this is still an unofficial release, that leads to average frame rate benchmarks across multiple games like Cyberpunk 2077, Deus Ex Mankind Divided, and Horizon Zero Dawn falling in favor of the Steam Deck, despite the Ally’s AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme being a more powerful APU.
SteamOS ultimately looks great on the ROG Ally, but I’m now worried that Valve’s own hardware will become less of a priority, and instead it will focus on bringing more manufacturers on board with it’s operating system.
It’s still exciting to think about the possibilities of SteamOS on other gaming handhelds, though, even if there is still work to be done on the final product. Despite no release date currently being known, the first official non-Valve device to use the operating system, the Lenovo Legion Go S SteamOS, is set for launch in May 2025.
If you’re keen to explore gaming handhelds outside of the Steam Deck, you can read our Ayaneo 3 review or Asus ROG Ally X review to see how these Windows machines stack up.
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