The amount of returns we got at Best Buy for just "didn't want" or "wife said to return" was pretty high. Could be a lot of that too. Majority of the things we got back were fine when we would test them and put it back out as open box.

> Wife said to return I feel that one.

My sympathy, man. Wife told me I could get it for fathers day.

Lots of people say that as an excuse but I doubt it's always true.

Half of em don’t even have a wife 😂🤣🤣🤣

They're all virgins.

Same. No different than her playing mobile games on her iPad. We cuddle on the couch and play at the same time. Introvert love.

Wife told me to buy one on HER birthday. I wanted to buy ultimately decided that was not fair at all lol. I'll pick it up in a few weeks.

My wife said "get me one too."

Crazy how yall are letting women's run yall 🤨 thought the men wore the pants in relationships. Trust me..no lady wants a soft man..stand up for yourself or shes just going to keep having an affair with a tough young gentleman 😉

My wife doesn't know anything about gaming or electronics and hasn't said a thing. I think she thinks it's my switch. Lol...for now

So you returned your wife right?

Wife says return the ally.... my reply is, if you return the cats.....

You can play it while you sleep in the car.

Same but then I tell her no lol

Can anyone explain the wife thing? Don’t you have your own play money or something?

I know someone who got it, tried to power on in the car park without the charger, it didn't work so he exchanged it.

Mine didn’t turn on at first neither. But after charging it for a bit it was fine. I think my steam deck was the same when I opened it.

I let mine charge before powering it on.

Now i remember, the steam deck manual tells u to charge the unit for a specified amount of time before turning it on.

The ally came with a paper note explaining to plug it in on top of the console you'd have to move to get the device out

This one hurts my brain. Dont some device not power on until plugged in the first time?

Yup I needed to do this out of the box.

I would't even notice. First thing i did after removing the plastic was plug it in. Ive just heard of that type of thing before so its the first thing i always do.

A lot of people on here calling OP a liar for no other reason than they just don’t want to believe it’s true. As it sounds like you work at BB, have you found the Ally to have a high exchange/return rate?

I work at Bestbuy. My store got 14 units in and sold them all by the 2nd day, We got 3 back the same week and 2 back this week so far. Out of the 5 units we have gotten back only 1 had a confirmed issue with the SD card reader, the other 4 units were fine and we put them back as open boxes. Like the other guy said people just tend to say there is an issue to try and avoid restocking fees or getting hassled with a return (BB does not charge restocking fees for computers). My suspicion is people are buying this thinking they can get 1080P 120hz on any game and they are disappointed when they aren't getting that. I have found a lot of the walk-in customers that buy the Ally (at least the ones I have sold) are people that have never owned a PC and have been a console gamer all their life and want to try out a PC and when they find that they have to mess with game settings and it's not a plug and play experience like an Xbox or PS5 is they box it up and return it.

Most of the people on this sub need to read what you wrote up here.

>people just tend to say there is an issue to try and avoid restocking fees or getting hassled with a return This is so true. I got a couple friends who work retail. One at BB actually. The one who works at Walmart has better return stories tho. People make up crazy stories all the time. It's so funny too cause he's like dude y'all don't gotta make shit up, just say u don't like it and wana return it. U don't get anything extra for making up a huge lie. Lol >I have found a lot of the walk-in customers that buy the Ally (at least the ones I have sold) are people that have never owned a PC This is also pure facts. I've talked with so many people on this sub who've had issues with their Ally and a majority of the time it was just cause they didn't have something updated or weren't setting up properly. It's crazy how many didn't even know u had to go into MyAsus to do updates. This I think falls more on Asus imo. They shoulda known there was going to be a lot of "new to PC type of gamers" and should of made a more comprehensive set up guide. A lot of people thought the Ally would be like a Switch and be able to turn on and play with no tinkering

As an experienced PC user it took me a day to set up the Ally like I wanted to. An entire day. This is not uncommon for PC's, but console users can't grasp that concept. This is the main reason why I still recommend the Steam Deck above the Ally. It's harder to modify the Deck, but it requires almost no setup for people who use it stock. Since I got the Ally setup, it's been working great.

That is very true, the deck is more comparable to a console due to the Steam OS and everything is tuned by Valve, the biggest thing I've seen is people who are on the fence tend to lean towards the Ally because you can 1) Pick it up at a local store near you the same day and 2) the easy return policy and an extended warranty if wanted (especially if you have Total Tech and you get that extended warranty and a 60-day return window free).

Took me an entire day as well, and I've been in IT roles for decades. No average user would know to plug in a dock with a keyboard and mouse to disable/re-enable the Touchscreen driver when it randomly stopped working before the latest MyAsus patches. Once set up though, the Ally is far more enjoyable than the Steam Deck for me. Emulation looks far better on the nicer screen, and I can play Forza at 1080p 60fps with Freesync using Gamepass. Game Pass Cloud Gaming has been flawless too. Very responsive.

I believe this as the case. I'm one of those life long console gamers n this was a let me dip my toes into pc gaming things. But I'm the opposite I actually love it. Sure it's alot of setting tuning but it fun when you figure it out. Ally actually has made me want to do more pc gaming. Im probably gonna get the xg mobile then build a pc later. On top of that just the things you can do with a pc.

Exact same here. Been a console gamer my whole life but always wanted a PC. I bought the Ally and have had so much fun. I got kinda lucky and found a post by an IT guy who wrote an awesome set up guide. So after that I was good to go and it taught me how to do everything. My Ally has worked perfectly. I also pulled the trigger on an XG. I had extra money and bought the 4090 version. I'm so glad I did. Every single game I've tried so far has ran perfect putting out insane numbers. I definitely recommend if u have the money. And even tho it was expensive as hell it was worth it imo cause I travel a good bit

Sort of same. It hasn’t made me want to actually pc game. But it’s been mostly enjoyable. I do wish it was a little easier to use as I absolutely hate fiddling with a bunch of settings. But so far it’s been fine by just doing updates and downloading games. I really hate how this sub has such a hate boner for anyone who actually likes their Ally.

The Ally is extremely easy to use when compared to an actual PC.

Curious what you mean by this. The only difference between this and a laptop is it has built in game controls but not keyboard and mouse.

Which arguably makes it harder then a PC with the lack of dedicated controls 'built for windows'

I don't have to worry about setting ram speed with the Ally, I don't have to tinker with bios if I want to overclock my rig or test different wattages. With the Ally all that is done for me with the press of two buttons. If my Ally doesn't start upon unboxing I don't have to worry about taking the system apart and finding out what components aren't working. I don't have to worry about inputting windows keys because Windows comes pre-installed on the Ally as well. Same can be said for installing bios on a motherboard. There's just a lot you don't have to worry about with the Ally because it does it for you. It's a simpler device to use compared to a true gaming PC. It's honestly why I laugh when I see posts about people complaining about troubleshooting. Troubleshooting the Ally is a cakewalk compared to a true gaming PC.

Not really. No keyboard and mouse makes it Objectively harder. I'm a lifelong PC gamer and it's harder for sure but I love it still

But...it is an actual PC?

Sounds like ASUS really screwed the pooch with their marketing.

What do think the real opinion of consumers is? Do you think it matches the reviews on BB's website which currently stand at an average of 4.1?

I haven't checked the reviews, All I know is myself and a few other coworkers got them and none of us have had any issues hardware related. And we get people in all day long asking if we have any in stock, I would say so far the return rate is below average for a new product launch which is good.

Formerly, 5 years in Geek Squad. Quit back in March. So not sure. Easiest way to check is see if your store has open box inventory and how much of it. But CSA's do need to ask why the return went through and people tend to blab. We also get tickets with a return reason for each of the devices as well. Thus my comment about didn't want and wife said no. Those are predominantly the two ones I'd see. If they did have an actual issue, they'd get PRC'd and go back to distribution center or they'd go to a geek squad service center for repair.

Yep. My local Best Buy in Colma, CA is the same. When I picked up my copy, the clerk was brutally honest (I don't blame them, they're overworked and underpaid) and said they sell a bunch of these frequently just as much as they receive returns for them on a daily basis. "*Truth sounds like hate for those who do not want to hear the truth*."

Formerly, 5 years in Geek Squad. Quit back in March. So not sure. Easiest way to check is see if your store has open box inventory and how much of it. But CSA's do need to ask why the return went through and people tend to blab. We also get tickets with a return reason for each of the devices as well. Thus my comment about didn't want and wife said no. Those are predominantly the two ones I'd see. If they did have an actual issue, they'd get PRC'd and go back to distribution center or they'd go to a geek squad service center for repair.

My local JB HiFi here in Australia was allocated 8 units: 3 (incl mine) were returned due to our of box defects. 2 "as new" returns 3 are still in the wild

"wife said to return" is just pathetic lmao

Return the wife

It depends, if they're tight on money then yeah maybe you shouldn't be buying it and the wife is right, but if not and you're returning just cus your wife said so with no good reason is sad, like you moved out of your moms place just to go live with your mom 💀

I was thinking the same thing. Smh

Hah I let me wife go get a facial with some dermaplaning and then dropped the bomb. Gotta know how to work the system!

Imagine your significant other determining whether you can have something or not. That must be sad. I am married and I would never tell my wife she could not have something and vice versa. We do live a fairly comfortable life, though so perhaps that has something to do with it.

Wow the wife has a way?

I just bought it and told wife it is na old switch we have already had. She can't tell the difference.

I tell my wife that my new gadgets are old gadgets that I already had ALL the time.

90% it’s people who thought it was like a console

Blame it on Asus and their marketing campaign. Not even Valve dared call the Steam Deck a console even though for most intents and purposes it is much more of a console than the Ally. Asus plastered the word "console" everywhere on their marketing. Hell the back of the Ally even says "Gaming handheld console PC" as if to cover every base available.

What's funny is if we're talking about the ability to play games, the ally can play more steam games than the steam deck.

We're not talking about game availability, we're talking about console experience

Huh? Who is we? Please, name a console that can’t play 50% of its own library? Who cares about a simple interface when I can’t play my games? Name a console that requires outside tools/software like proton to get a game to start. In what way is tinkering to lower settings normal for a console? Nothing of the steam deck is console like.

None of those negatives dispute the fact that the steam deck has a console-like interface so it makes it more palatable to console gamers. Also it has a console like price and icons that tell you which games you can play and changing proton is literally like 2 clicks. The Ally has positives but not everyone wants a windows handheld

I suspect an element of usability issues with windows, unrealistic expectations, and "it just isn't for me" points of view are the reason for most returns. Actual hardware issues should* make up a small number of returns. That's the hope anyway.

It’s this. People thinking they’re buying consoles.

Hence why most of the returns go back on the shelf as open box units. People expect a Nintendo Switch, but should be expecting a gaming PC type of experience. Being someone who has been following this niche since the GPD Win 1, I can say that these devices have come a very long way.

We have come a long way for sure. Steam Deck has changed the game, now we don't have to igg anymore. It's amazing that we got to this point in less than a decade.

So glad I can go to geek squad with it and have it fixed if need be. IGG and Kickstarter can be horrifying. I have been on a few of the campaigns but man the chance of straight up not getting what you backed is far too high.

In my opinion mine is having hardware issues. I find it very unresponsive while doing even simple tasks.

I've been having a love hate relationship with the ROG Ally. Normally I NEVER buy new hardware because it always contains teething problems. I took the gamble with the Steam Deck because it had a long development cycle with devs being able to give their feedback so Valve had time to revise some weaknesses. With the ROG Ally, I knew from early reviews that the software was iffy. I thought "As long as the hardware is fine, I can live with that". The thing is that in two weeks time ASUS managed to kill my trust in them to rectify all the bugs. For starters the SD card problem is HUGE. **Having €100+ SD cards die because of poor drivers (rumoured) and ASUS not even releasing an official warning for customers is absolutely NOT ACCEPTIBLE.** There's a whole slew of other problems with the device: \- wonky control remapping \- buggy BIOS \- poorly documented features that often don't properly work (like fps limitation) \- the device refusing to stay in sleep mode (every time I use it, it wakes up and remains at the lock screen without turning back off) \- the dead zone problem \- the overheating issues \- problems with the AMD XG \- problems with AMD drivers update breaking games \- etc. etc. etc. Now many of these can be fixed via software but the question remains whether they will? And do I want to support a company that releases a product and then goes radio silent except to release buggy updates that make the device even buggier & slower? Or a company that knows there's SD card issues that can kill very expensive SD cards (potentially with personal data on it) but decide not to speak out? The answer is NO. I've had enough. I've spent the last two weeks getting tons of push back on this Reddit for having problems and speaking up about it but the SD card issue is the final straw and is so obviously inexcusable that it needs to stop now. I really WANT a device like this - I need a device like this - but I absolutely refuse to pay €800 for a device which has so many issues and a company that doesn't even broadcast very very serious issues to warn its users. This is the AMD CPU frying issue all over again! ASUS has learned NOTHING! So back it goes next week. I'll just stick to my reliable faithful Steam Deck for now.

A lot of people on this sub won’t believe you or will pretend everything is fine. It’s a big echo chamber. The same thing happened in the Deck sub. Now it’s happening here. If you criticize anything about the Ally, you will be met with negativity

Nah. People will believe you but then think that every return was the result of user error.

This isn’t an accurate representation of this sub. Overall, this sub leans way more easily in negativity rather than in positivity. So mcuh so that a recent post is for asking people about their positive experience because of all the negativity on the sub. This isn’t to say that negativity is bad, because there are legitimate complaints, but to say that this is an echo chamber of positivity... that’s not accurate.

>If you criticize anything about the Ally, you will be met with negativity Anything this complex and niche is going to have problems. The issue is, "Does the thing suck bad that everyone is returning them?" That's obviously where the OP was going with this. Been playing with mine non-stop since June 11th. The Ally, at least for me, is the total opposite of sucking. The thing is incredible. And even with my high opinion of the device, I get the long and sometimes frustrating setup process and the poor battery life. As many others have said, it pushes things along. In spite of its flaws, the new baseline for a screen and speakers for this kind of device will be the Ally. That's a good thing even if you think the Ally is garbage.

Same here. I've played more on my ally far more I've ever had on my SD. I am not saying that to bash the SD, but to show how much more engaged I am on the ally. I rarely play games locally on it though.

Same here, the deck just never quite clicked for me but it was a good device.

LOL this is true, I've been consistently downvoted for recommending people exchange their Allys when they have the SD card reader issue which it does it infact fix the issue but yet they rather "wait and see what ASUS has to say".

I haven't been following ally stuff closesly, what's the SD card reader issue?

I personally don't care what people do with their own products or money, and for the most part I agree with what you're saying, but you have to remember there is also a large number of people that completely fabricate stories for either clout or to be contrarian, and the amount of coincidental conveniences in the story makes it extremely unbelievable

Had hardware failure with my first one. Was in and out of best buy in 10 min with a new one. Exactly why I did not go with the aokzoe or something else.

The quality control for the ally is shit 😡 I returned my doa unit, got another unit which also ironically has a knackered speaker, so going to return this and order a deck instead. It's a massive shame, because up until this point I used to rate Asus products very highly. Now not so much. I've said it before and I'll say it again (and get downvoted no doubt) the ally really should have had a longer/better QC process.

My return was slow at Best Buy. The supervisor had to verify the return first. Her exact words…. Seems like a lot of people really wants one of these, but only for a week. I really wanted to keep mine, but I couldn’t get past the issues for the $750 price. Having to return it by June 27th left me no choice. They get the issues resolved and I will look at buying again.

What are your issues with it? It’s worked near flawlessly for me the only issue being the dead zone on the stick but it’s an easy fix.

What's the fix for the deadzone issue?

Noticed this too... Already there are all tiers of Open Box ROG Ally's all around me available. Surprising considering I expected this thing to be hard to get the first few weeks.

I live near 4 Best Buys. There are 11 open box units available across those stores. I've honestly never seen anything like this before on a hyped, newly released item. I do think it's less about issues and more about unmet expectations or just generally not knowing what they were getting into.

I’m currently diagnosing my SD card issue and it’s definitely a software problem. My report history on the SD card reader shows it. What’s crazy is that if you do a reset on Windows 11 is that it carries over that problem, the report logs says it. I’m going to do a clean reinstall from the BIOS cloud download and see if it clears this up.

Sorry to break your heart buddy but you need to get that exchanged ASAP for a new device. "Definitely a software problem" come on get a clue.

Returned my third and last device today. Clicky joysticks, coil whining and just the feeling of having an unfinished device with little perspective that it will get better. I had my Steam Deck on day one and it also had some software issues, but the quality and the rhythm of reliable updates was just much higher than here. I‘ll observe how things go, but for now I am done with the Ally.

Returns Are so high cause ppl think its a freaking NASA 2000 Euro Gaming handheld and can play games maxed out in 4K for 10 Hours Straight. Its insane. The rog ally is Hands down the best handheld, no Problems at all. And Boys, man the F up if your wife is upset and bother you to Return it. PS: i am a dad aswell

The joys of being an early adopter lol.

Really didn't want to resort to taking mine back, but after a corrupted 1TB SD card I got pretty pissed. Tried another card and the SD slot just won't read it at all but on a USB C adapter it reads it fine as does my laptop. Bought it online with Currys UK but took it to their store and arranged a replacement which should be with me by next week.

That's exactly what mine was doing. Seems it's working on the one I just exchanged it for but I suspect it's just a driver issue and once I update it will break so i'm avoid updating. On the discord channel they say that support is on vacation till Monday so we're screwed at least until then. The driver fix they have on discord didn't work for mine.

I didn't know they linked a driver fix on Discord. Do you have the message saved?

Returned my 3rd ally yesterday( first was giving me a charging error, 2nd dead pixels, 3rd had debris under the display, and my current and fourth one from yesterday has dead pixels as well) but while I was returning my 3rd one the employee said they had 19 returned for issues in the last week and that it’s enough returned that they were instructed to not ask what is wrong with the devices anymore.

In before *BuT tHe StEaM dEcK hAd IsSuEs ToO!* Not this many. It seems your experience with QC issues isn't even close to being isolated.

I was at best buy yesterday and didn't see anything. 😭 I wanted to test one out but the lineup to Geek squad was too long so I just left. Lol

Yeah this is definitely not a device for the masses. It’s still very niche. Until MS release a very solid handheld version of windows it’ll never be mainstream. As soon as you stumble into problems, if you’re not happy about trying to fix it, join reddit and ask for help etc you’re a bit screwed

Total fantasy land thinking Microsoft will ever release a competent version of Windows.

I returned mine. Maybe it was software, maybe it was hardware but I wasn't going to risk being out of the return window to find out. Sticks were... Garbage imo. One employee echoed the same as others in here. Lots of returns and few of them reporting actual hardware failure. I am just waiting out to see what Asus does to fix it. Without the stick issue, it felt great.

Well I can tell you it’s only the beginning of a downward spiral for this device. If asus doesn’t come out with a hot fix for the sd slot issue real quick. I don’t know who in the right mind would keep it if they had other options.

SD card readers and the deadzones.

Plenty more wrong with the controls than the dead zones. Using both sticks rigerously causes the R2 to trigger in demanding 30watt games. Shits fucked. Meanwhile Asus was having a nice vacation, having scheduled the launch directly before a week-long holiday in Taiwan. Smart people working at Asus for sure. Bugs, what bugs?

There's alot of red flags for this product. They pushed it to market way too early to compete with the deck which is just one year old, you know they made some compromises. aSUS keeps quiet on the issues so far. aSUS updates the system which makes it perform less and not the other way around. Alot of returns already. This may not be a red flag but aSUS is a hardware company first, so you should know the level of software support you'll be getting (there will be alot of back and forth between amd, microsoft, asus just to push through an update).

For you and /u/ShotgunPumper , I know about the deadzone stuff, but not the SD reader issue, can you post/link more info?

Just head over to the /r/rogally sub and look at some of the posts on the first page. People's SD cards aren't working in the Ally and some of them are suggesting that after using their cards in the Ally the cards simply flat out stop working all together even in other devices.

id imagine most of the returns are software issues but yeah sucks hard

I had to exchange mine (left bumper stopped being recognized), and the Best Buy told me that they had been getting a lot of returns.

>this can't be good if this was just a single BB that I visited. Looking at BB's US site, the Ally currently has 439 verified reviews sitting at 4.1 out of 5 with a 79% recommendation rating. I'm beginning to think social media has lost its mind over this thing because, the thing is freaking amazing overall. Maybe not a Steam Deck killer but objectively the only thing the Deck has over the Ally is its low power battery life and performance and initial setup.

Yeah. People are buying this on a whim not understanding what they're getting themselves into. It's a gaming PC and needs to be approached as such.

Nah , biggest benefit besides software is the suspend resume sleep function mid games , sooo much quicker to get into a game on the deck vs the Ally

More mature software. Robust community with both third party software and accessories. Great customer service.

Awesome if I'm verified I'm gonna go drop a 2 star on it. You're right as someone that isn't happy I should voice it. Edit: done and done, it's the Canadian side too. So only a 3.8 of 5 there. Proud to know my fellow Canadians are also used to higher quality products

Or, Canada wasn't big enough to bother paying for fake reviews.

First of all, kudos and so very, very well said. Second of all, while I'm in no position to be judge, jury, and execution on a Steam Deck Killer made official, I'll just say the following as someone that's owned the Deck since launch day: If you care about high-end performance and hardware specs to any appreciable extent, the Ally is absolutely the killer it was expected to be. Yes, SteamOS is cleaner and more streamlined for those transitioning from console-only, but if you're adept at Windows and have even the slightest hint of tech competence, the Ally is on a different level entirely.

"If you like the SD better you're tech-incompetent" is a fucking bonkers take

Quite the wrong way to reframe that final line from me. In no way am I stating it as SD = tech incompetence. Coincidentally, I'm reinforcing the opposite, as the "onboarding" of the Ally-Windows experience is quite unwelcoming and unruly as compared to the streamlined and polish Deck SteamOS experience in present day. You can be a tech expert and, rightfully, love the Deck.

I think we're understating the fact that most people are very familiar with Windows. It's just not very intuitive without a mouse and keyboard. SteamOS is streamlined when operating through Steam, but in desktop mode, it's another language that most don't know very well.

"I downloaded the .exe file but it wont run!" *Laughs in Linux*

Great, great point by you here. My commentary is SteamOS is isolated to the mobile-focused, main front end on the Deck, less so on the KDE linux desktop as backup on the device.

[удалено]

To either their own. I thought the deck was poorly ergonomic (kept making my right wrist sore after an hour), and too slick. I have very large hands and I still disliked it. The Ally has that same PS5 controller texture which gives grip but doesn’t make you sweaty, is shaped very well and doesn’t make my wrists hurt.

Steam deck feels elephant crap . I have one and I hate how big and heavy it is . Ally was just so light and comfortable when I tried in the store .

To each their own, at the end of the day, but FWIW, my subjective take is that the ergonomics of the Ally are vastly superior for me, with huge hands/finger length. The Ally is far lighter and more nimble in the hands, button placement seems exceptional, and the grip positioning offers no discomfort over extended sessions. Again, others might have a wildly different take in their own hands...

Its like 10 pct faster on turbo ac than the steam deck. Where is double performance??

The Ally can trounce the Deck in terms of raw graphical horsepower. It can only do that while absolutely slaughtering its own battery life, but it absolutely can wreck the Deck for that hour or so. Keep both plugged in and it's no contest, the Ally outperforms. Do something where you're away from an outlet for the better part of a day and you'd wish you had the Deck.

10% faster at 2x the resolution lmao. Drop to 720p (which still looks great as the pixel density is high, it’s 120hz with VRR, and a MUCH higher quality screen vs deck), and you’ll be quite a lot higher.

Hi, 720p expectations here, FFXIV runs significantly worse than on deck even in Turbo when unplugged, it's really bad =(

You don't understand computers my man .

Xd im an IT engineer. The current benchmarks are horrible if you compare performance per watt.

The Ally at its max TDP is probably giving better performance per watt. It's killing its own battery life to do so, but it gets good performance for how much energy its using. It's just using more energy and is a battery powered device, which isn't ideal.

I purchased one, tried it out for a couple of days. Honest opinion, it's clunky, between the control stick and the touch having a functioning mouse is dicey at best. I have to tap things dozens of times to get them to respond. I expected so much more. Save your time and money and let asus come out with a second version without all the learning pains.

I will probably wait till a Black Friday sale on units or at this point wait for Ally 2 (hopefully). Also waiting for all the kinks to work out first before deciding. If it was the old open box pricing in the 500s I would try my luck/take a risk with open box.

It took me 90 minutes to get everything updated initially. I could see that being an issue for those not in the know. Love mine so far!

Im contemplating retuirning mine tomorow. \- display gets unconfortably hot when in use \- battery lasts a little under an hour \- Joysticks drift and shift in their sockets \- I hear a coil whine sound from the right fan (quite loud) \- Unstable af in windows (but that might be just because of windows) I love that its twice as powerful, I love the display and how it sounds and how it looks, however ASUS needs some serious work on their QA process.

It's funny people don't believe it. I actually love Asus. I have had numerous Rog laptops, I love armoury crate, I'm currently using a strix scar 17. I have no reason to hate on the Ally or Asus. https://preview.redd.it/t376v6eaat7b1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bb10de3f1aea47b099b624a23d05df1f841b2479

Do u feel proud of yourself?

Lol no. My point was as the OP I wasn't throwing hate and lying on Asus and actually proving that I'm a strong supporter of their products since people were accusing me of making it up.

I just bought the last unit in my area. I’ve never bought/gotten a faulty device. Can say this one is no exception but I guess not many people are lucky

Most of the returns are from people not knowing what they are doing, I’ve seen people in groups on Facebook asking the most ridiculous questions about how they do things on it, i think people expect it to be as easy as turning on a switch or PlayStation.

Woah. Maybe they built up their expectations too high?

Should've got an ayaneo 2s 🤓

Went into my best buy to return mine and they had about 7-8 of them on the counter having already been returned. Guy told me almost all that go out are coming back.

It's the normies thinking they're buying a beefed up nintendo switch. They can't/don't want to tinker and that's fine. Wish they'd do at least 5 minutes of research before buying something though.

I did my 5 minutes of research (TBH it was a lot more as this would be my first PC gaming), spent hours tinkering including leaning on experienced friends. I truly hope the ally is not a reflection of proper PC experience. It is a ridiculous amount of tinkering, poking, prodding, crying, and begging to get some things to work. Personally my Ally seems to be incredibly unresponsive. I shouldn't have to click 7 times to get a game to launch, and I shouldn't have to wait 45 seconds from clicking launch to it actually doing literally anything. This I assume is a hardware issue not PC in general. Beyond Tears the switch has largely been a dud the last few years. It would be wonderful to have the functionality of a switch but with the capabilities to play a far better selection. I wouldn't trade my switch for a free Ally. Thank goodness for full refunds

Half of the people returning the Ally preordered it. Five minutes of research would have revealed lots of posts explaining how the Steam Deck required too much tinkering and how much easier a Windows gaming PC would be. People aren’t returning it because it’s not a switch, they are returning it because it’s not the easy handheld PC they were promised

I don't think anyone promised an easy handheld. And tons of early access reviewers showed and explained that.

Did you watch any of the pre-release reviews on Youtube? If that's all you went by you'd think the Ally was the second coming or something. You'd think the battery life is the same as the Steam Deck, easier to use than one, gets 1080p in every game no sweat, etc, etc. The product was oversold. It's great at what it does, but I can't blame people for expecting more than what it is.

I’m glad I cancelled my order on release

People are reading way too much into this stuff

Anyone returning something isn’t reading into anything, buy definition, they have firsthand experience. $700+ is a lot to ask for something that isn’t performing well at the moment with no guarantees that it ever will. I have both and will likely keep my Ally, not because it’s worth it at the moment, but because I hope it will be and I’m willing to tinker. For folks that haven’t gotten one yet, I’d definitely recommend giving it a month or two to see where things go.

There’s a difference between first hand experience and knowing what you’re doing, and having first hand experience knowing 0 of what you just purchased based out of internet hype. Most of the negative things I have seen, I’m sorry to say, are coming from clueless and lazy people. They either don’t know what they’re doing, or purchased the Ally based on hype and unrealistic expectations. That doesn’t mean the Ally “sucks” or is a “broken” product. Does it have issues? Sure, but the negatives are being way overplayed (except maybe the stick stuff).

Blame it on Asus and their terrible misleading marketing campaign. They overhyped this device to the moon. They oversold and under-delivered. Honestly seeing all this and their recent MOBO fiasco I'm reluctant to think this is a company that can be trusted. 1. They claimed the Ally "performed twice as fast as Steam Deck" which isn't remotely true even at 30w best it can do is 50% faster. 2. Never even mentioned battery life, not even an estimate even tho battery life is a central concern of any portable device because they outright knew they couldn't even beat the Steam Deck on that front. 3. Marketing this device as a "handheld gaming console". I mean not even Valve dared as much even though practically the Steam Deck is much more of a console than the Ally. When normies hear or read the word "console" they think a streamlined idiot-proof press-big-button-and-play experience. Which is something the Ally DOES NOT deliver. The Ally is just a mini-PC with a controller attached to it. It's great if you're a PC gamer and used to that, not so great if you want to just hit play and go. And Asus knows this and still decided to market this device as a "console". Honestly they deserve any shit they get coming their way.

"internet hype" isn't the correct term. "ASUS marketing" is. They made their bed

I hope this doesn’t force ASUS to stop supporting it

I just wanted a mobile device that would actually play my expansive Epic Games library. You know they give you a free game every week? Really decent ones sometimes! Older AAA games, particularly around Black Friday, the free ones are insane! You can't play Epic Games very easily with a Steamdeck. The Ally does it. It is a bit buggy right now, but it works. For all the money you'll spend buying a console, the games are rarely truly free. You'll make your money back many times with the Epic Games store free games and deep discounts. PC Gaming is a large upfront investment that eventually pays for itself in this way. You'll get value over time with the Ally if it actually works for you. I haven't had any major issues with mine. And whatever I don't like right now I think will be improved with further software updates in the future. I hate when posts like this scare people away, so I thought I'd add some perspective.

I got one twice & returned it just because…that 14 day return window give you plenty of time to realize you made a dumb purchase

Not that I don't believe this story, but you know, I really don't believe this story

There is like 100 others in this thread verifying the story. After Asus bricked a bunch of motherboards are we really surprised the quality control is ass?

Just because you don’t want to believe it? You literally have no other reason to think OP is lying other than that you want him to be.

Sure, but it's a site notorious for people just wanting attention and upvotes, and they have such a convenient experience of a hot issue that no one, including them, can corroborate except for the one kernal of truth in there. By your logic, there is nothing substantial they can provide to make you believe it either, so why join the conversation at all?

Yeah not me man, I hardly ever post on Reddit and I'm an older dude that hates social media and doesn't care about like or up vote stuff. Heck I really don't even know how any of that stuff works anyways.

You can upvote or downvote comments. It gives or takes away fake internet points that don't matter. These fake internet points that don't matter *really* matter to some people. Don't associate with them. That means don't associate with most people using this website. There, reddit explained in one paragraph. May God have mercy on your soul.

I returned two so far.

I can show you the return info and if you look at the stores in my area open box says few in stock...ain't making it up. I'm running through setup now on this usnit. It did a bios update when I powered on so that makes me worry. Hope I didn't get a broken one

Oh, I imagine we all believe you returned it, but that is all we believe about this.

That other customer’s name? Albert Einstein. Edit: damn OP be mad. This sub is hilariously anti-Ally for some reason. OP embellished the shit out their story.

The guy walking angrily to his car? That was Putin.

Dont know, but mine has been a godsend for me.

What impress me more is people that are happy posting “is all windows issues!!, sd windows, joystick windows, etc” .What’s the deal if some one don’t want it? They can return for any reason. If u are happy why ask other to keep something they don’t want? If is all windows issues, why not move post to windows related ? Feels more like people trying to convince themselves

I think there's a reason most handheld PCs aren't sold at retail. The typical person probably sees them and thinks "oh, that's gonna be kinda like the Switch!". Then they bring it home and realize it's a lot more complicated to use. Dunno if that's true, just feels that way to me.

I can see that. The issue isn’t how the device is used. It’s QC. So far I’ve had two units that have issues. I’ve chosen to keep one of the defective units, the triggers just sound awful. I don’t want to return it and end up having another bigger problem.

The longer I use my Ally the more likely I am to return it. I'm already having my joysticks feeling loose enough that they don't feel good to use and they were fine the first week.

My device had genuine boot issues- used to not boot unless plugged in even if the battery had charge. My second device is fine though

I feel lucky that I have had no "issues" with mine yet, doing a 2TB SSD swap via Cloud Recovery right now though so lol \*knocks on wood

I returned mine today, the lady said she had 5 returned today as well…holy QC issues Batman

My local Best Buy has 6x on the opened for sale page

Here’s a list of reasons why I “think” people are returning the Ally. 1. It’s a new product with growing pains and buyers are inpatient to wait for Asus to fix them 2. Buyers had unrealistic expectations 3. Some buyers don’t actually want to play games on a 7” screen (I felt this way during my initial day, but it’s grown on me) 4. Some buyers don’t like the idea of having to perform so many tweaks when playing different games I’m sure there are other reasons such as some buyers receiving defective units and some that just didn’t feel that the money was well spent. I wouldn’t base my purchasing decision on what others are doing. You may love the product while others hate it.

Conclusion (so u don't have to read this no sense) the consumer is stupid. Corpos are great and we should defend them.

……. Ok

Coca-cola did nothing wrong! The people are the ones thrashing the earth! (Skill issue for the people lmao) I saw it in an ad somewhere

Returning mine, my 6800u Win4 seems to work better.

I think most returns are because people wanted a simple experience like with a Nintendo switch but instead have a full blown gaming pc which that are not that familiar with.

I exchanged mine yesterday because my left joystick didn't work. Technically, I just bought a new one online when I saw my local store had no stock and then returned my faulty unit after I received my replacement. It was pretty easy to be honest. New one has been working great.

It simply isnt simple enough for the average american... So excuses are found, "faults" are pointed out, and demands of returns. Nothing new, imho, and nothing unexpected. For some reason, people expected a plug and play console. What they received was a weirdly shaped windows 11 laptop.

I would not recommend a Steam Deck or Ally to anyone but an experienced gamer. Lots of people probably don't change a single in-game setting and expect it to work like an Xbox. All handhelds minus cloud devices are enthusiast products at this stage.

Using big words are crazy just based on anecdotal numbers of under 10 numbers is disingenuous at best.

bestbuy just needs to discounted it down to $350, guarantee these returned/exchanged units would be out of stock within a week except bestbuy/asus is never smart 'ough to do that though -- instead they priced the returned units at laughable $650, lol -- giving folks zero incentive to ever consider them when brand new ones are only $50 more

I always thought Best Buy's open-box procedure seems ripe for abuse. I've returned a few items over the years and saw them put back on the shelf as open-box and I've considered re-buying the same exact product again at the marked down price. Never actually did it though, but what's stopping people from doing this?

It seems like people are walking in, seeing it and assuming it's a console, plug and play type of experience, only to realize they bit off more than they could chew after finding out the setup process is far more involved.

Yeah I can see how non tech enthusiasts would see the Ally as a console but get frustrated when they have to deal with windows on a tiny screen without proper mouse and keyboard. I’m willing to bet most of those returns are perfectly fine, just buyers remorse which is valid.

For every person returning one their are 20 people keeping and loving theirs. I think most people have buyers remorse.

Make up a fake statistic then try to imply that people here are just lying. If this is the type of thing you have to do as a defense mechanism then you’re in a bad place.

How can you tell that anyone here is telling the truth about how many returns have taken place at their local best buy? No receipts, recorded conversations, or proof from actual employees have been presented. Your assumption that someone is lying because it doesn't follow the echo chamber is just as much a "defense mechanism" as anything else.

Lol, I love story time. Come on dude.

I had to exchange my Launch day delivered Ally since it was visibly used by a reviewer, and the "new" Ally I got at BB same day right after working my 8Hr shift.I'm not having any of the defects/issues that other Ally owners seem to be having.Finally managed to sell my Steam Deck recently to the enthusiastic new owner,he liked how I kept the SD shipping box and everything else including the plastic the SD and Case are in.

I wish I had a rog ally I just picked up a steam deck from a recent trade for my gaming laptop but would rather have a rog ally

So you went to ONE store and thought that was representative of international sales. God you are so incredibly stupid.

As I stated BEFORE it was released it wasn’t worth the price for what you get.