We're replacing the incorrectly labeled SSD length at 2:40. Sorry about that.

15:13 video starts here

The tiniest nick in the plastic will still void your warranty

I used to work at a repair shop with authorization from Asus back in Europe. There, they used a model of many independent authorized repair shops instead of shipping to a central location. The quality of repairs as well as speed was highly dependant on which shop you chose. Moreover, the official policy was "if a device has any sign disassembling then we assume an attempt of an unauthorized repair and void the warranty for the whole device (no need to prove that user's actions caused the specific damage)". In some cases it made sense. For example, liquid damage means that the whole thing is potentially corroded and might die any moment. Mechanical damage (dropping/ deforming) means that there are micro-cracks in PCBs (potentially internal layers) and ripped off soldering pads of BGA chips. In other cases it was grey zone. For example, people opening up the device to remove the signs of liquid damage to claim a warranty repair afterwards. Other people opening up the devices to replace the cracked screen (to hide the fact of mechanical damage) and then claim warranty for a mainboard repair. Sometimes, people opened up the devices to replace RAM/SSD but were unqualified to do so and damaged slots or just fried mainboard. Officially users were supposed to come to a closest authorized shop for this replacement. AFAIK, in the USA you can't void warranty if customers open up the device. You have to prove that their actions caused damage and only this damage is off warranty, not the whole thing. Also, not everyone is authorized doing such analysis, only specific independent labs for a lot of money and a lot of time. Lastly, you should keep in mind that ASUS pays independent shops a couple of bucks per repair, and technicians get a fraction of this. For them to earn minimum wage they have to perform 10+ repairs a day. They just physically don't have enough time for in-depth investigations. BTW if a technician misses user-induced damage on a part and does a warranty repair, but ASUS finds out, then the price of the replaced part will be deducted from the technician (-$300 mainboard when you are making minimum wage). That's why you gotta be very conservative.

That Ad Sponsor Read at the end is, hands down, the best one I have ever seen on KZfaq.

I predict 😉 Asus will keep scamming buyers with their warranty and you shouldn't get this regardless of how good it is

Linus taking his "Chief Vision Officer" job to the next level with all these "predictions"

Valve really did just start the handheld PC movement with the Deck and now can just sit back and do basically nothing while the competition shoots itself in the foot

ROG Ally X: breaks. User: hands in a perfectly clean ROG Ally X. ASUS: whips out the electron microscope to search for any molecule that's out of place. "We're sorry. You damaged the device. Your warranty is void."

ASUS: "You are not allowed to share any Performance graphs" Linus: "Ok, Anyway..." "I Predict"

Editor killed it in this one. Added both context and comedy without distraction.

dang! that was the best ad ever! very impressed with how durable those cases are!

Bought the Ally, killed my 1TB micro SD ASUS refused to replace it. I took it back to Best Buy for a full refund. The worker said I wasn’t alone, he had seen a ton of them being returned with the same issue. So much so they stopped testing them and just issue refunds no questions asked. It sucked because I loved it so much. Oh well OLED steam deck works just fine 😎👍

that "I predict" sounds very much like a lawyer's advice and I absolutely love it

the way he hammered with that case at 15:08 gave me chills

I love your predictions! Please do more of them!

Linus has figured out how to bypass the embargo by "predicting" everything 😂

I just love the second sponsor spot. That's how you advertise something durable.

Was going to buy a router, then I remember the ROG ally issues and their "warranty" services

7:52 nice touch in the edit with the hand wave masking out the title. Love little creative decisions like that

Looks like 'ROG' might actually stand for 'Regretting our Gadget !' 😂

The end sponsor bit was perfect. If a sponsor is selling something that's meant to be able to take a beating: show it taking a beating! Awesome :D

15:08 made me go full “HOLY CRAP LINUS!” Out loud in the middle of a busy food court

The ad segment at the end is one of the best ads I've ever seen jeeze

brother its 3 am

Asus needs to up their all stuff especially customer support

I would really like an LTT video that goes over the handheld market in general right now. There are so many videos on individual handhelds, but I've no idea where to go to to actually see them all compared side by side with a high level of rigor.

That sponsor spot at the end. NOW THAT is a product test!!!

The Dbrand ad at the end is probably one of the best ads i've ever seen for a case.

I worked at Best Buy's Geek Squad between 2021 to very late 2023 and I had not seen a product so unanimously returned and sent to repair as the ROG Ally. We had a ton in stock, all repackaged used, and the issues were not JUST the SD card reader. It blows my mind that they would try to release another version.

That battery upgrade is HUGE :O I really hope Steam will soon release the OS that runs on the Steamdeck to public or at least to other OEMs. It sounds like a nightmare to run Windows on a portable gaming device..

Thanx for the review. Still have My Aya Neo 2021. Very solid device with 0 issues running all games I like. should I consider Ally x or the leagon go if Iwant an upgrade??

A moment of silence for all the bros that were ripped off by asus when they bought that awful 2000$ 4090 xg mobile card

whoever the editor that added in the eye test thing during the blind test is a genius

I see you had the Precision driver there, Linus. Any *prediction* on when that is coming out?

Tons of predictions made in this video, I hope they upload a video with all the ones he got right

I remember paying for my ROG Ally and then it DESTROYED my 70$ Micro SD card and I had absolutely no idea the issue existed until I was out a nice chunk of change... I should have just gotten a Steam Deck and taken the performance hit for the amazing software experience and brand loyalty. For any Ally owners out there, do not let your wattage run as far as possible as it WILL most likely screw up or totally DESTROY your micro sd card. At a point I was running hotter and at a higher wattage than fps gain in most of my game, by capping the wattage to only what I needed instead of letting it hit max I totally circumvented the issue. Crazy how you buy this thing thinking you can just use it at max watt for the best fps, to bad there is no warning on the box that it can cause your SD card to go on vacation permanently. It is a shame I cant get my money back for this crap but I think Asus should reimburse all of those who where affected by this at least by replacing or paying for the SD card. This whole situation actually made me wish I bought a gaming pc that did not have an Asus motherboard... UGH moment.

That dbrand sponsor spot at the end was amazing. No talking points, talking facts

I really like these "mid-form", sit-down, in-depth reviews.

If you love in Denmark and have bought it at Elgiganten and a member of their club wich is free. You can buy it and return it within 50 days, and of course you also have a 2 year warranty. their support is actually really good, and almost no question asked. You just get a new one!

Railing on the treatment of the SD issue hits much harder after the way you handled the backpack issues. This is the value of integrity.

Asus controversy aside, this is what the Ally should have been from the start. It's nice to see revisions like these since it makes more competition for the deck and it's driving the prices down. Hard sell still since without warranty, because it feels like it's coming without garanty at this point, I can't see myself shelling that much money for a device that could fail within 6 months.

4:37, the display for the Ally at my local Best Buy is hands-on, and its BROWN after the regular use of random people! Really good idea to move to black.

Man, seeing that big "NOPE" in the intro hurts, especially considering Linus's enthusiasm towards the Ally X otherwise.

FTC is investigating ASUS for years of warranty issues, i only buy the motherboards. lat time i bought a asus laptop it died in 3 months.

Linus had way too much fun at the end with that sponsor

That ending segue though. Good gravy.

Im so glad i didnt skip the sponsor segment at the end 😂

1:30: i think that’s the only sponsor that would ever let him say this

Can't wait for the ROG ALLY XS ultra max

in the kill switch ad i thought they were faking the hits with sound effects until i noticed you can see the table bouncing at the bottom of the frame.

I got an ROG Ally for Christmas and accidentally dropped it, now a piece from the bottom right corner is broken off. So now I need to live with it.

I'm using an Asus laptop right now, and I'm glad the community of consumers and tech influencers are explicit and vocal about this customer service nightmare. I mean, I want Asus to be good if not great... as it aspires to be. Any company would fall short if they don't take post-sale service seriously and honestly. Don't just provide warranty just for the sake of having it. It's not sustainable but, quite the opposite, self-damaging. I do hope Asus takes this matter into their hands seriously and redeem itself from it. That would be a win-win situation for all.

I''d still choose the Steamdeck. Steam OS is just not replacable with Windows 11 on a handheld.

I've had a open box rog extreme for about 5 months.. luckily no problems so far

Thanks LTT! I wanna buy one, but you really made me think about it

14:55 I thought this was the best sponsorship bit you have ever made. Nothing better than a physical test.

Asus dosent care, everybody is talking about this like its something new, they have been shitty with their customers, and have been selling hardware that has no QC for over a decade now.

That's one of the best ads of any product that I've ever seen

Any STL files for that bit holder during the teardown, or any chance you'll be producing one that only holds the bits and not the shaft there?

Maybe feels strange to say, but i feel like products like these especially by Asus will be abandonded in a few years. I rather get a Steamdeck just because of the support and parts.

The intro with the black background is so much easier on my eyes than the white one, please make this permanent...thank you Mr. Linux!!

Just sent in my ROG ally for RMA about 4 days ago. My SD card reader had been bricked since month two of release, but honestly I didn't care enough to fix it until it just stopped turning on for some reason. You bet your butt I took really good care of that device, I just set it down one day, and when I picked it back up the power button was unresponsive. Now I'm dreading the repair process after reading so many horror stories about other people trying to get theirs fixed.

I just got my RMA back for a bad micro sd reader and I couldn't be happier. They also replaced a rumble motor and trigger with out me asking for it, for free.

13:13 and warranty voided - there are micro scratches on the fan blades

Nah, I already knew from dealing with them (myself) with previous products, and a friend that had his FLOW z13 keyboard fail on him: they don't sell the keyboard separately so they were going to and force him into an out of warranty repair for a removable accessory. I don't see them supporting this any better. my current standpoint: If you get this -get it knowing that you prob won't get any support or use out of the warranty.

There’s some good upgrades for sure, pretty happy the battery is improving & that you can use cheaper external gpu’s on that usb c . I’m gonna save up to get one

Loved the quality of the video

With all the BS going on with asus rn and the rma problems GN has pointed out, I refuse to buy until Ive seen some longer term reviews

4 in the morning is wild

The 2 ports thing is awesome and is great for people with those AR smart glasses who also want to charge their handheld too. As far as I know I believe it’s the only and first one to do this.

For a long time, as the price of Chanel increased, I no longer thought I could afford it. I think I'll be happy that I have the kislux as my travel bag that I don't have to take care of. By the way, I'm sure no one will have a hard time telling the difference. Thanks for the comparison.

One note: 2230 and 2280 at 2:45 does not refer to the frequency at which the SSDs run at, but rather their physical format, in this case 22mm x 30mm or 22mm x 80mm. No MHz.

Linus finally uploaded in time for his Southeast Asia homies. Thanks bro.

White was fine for my overused XBox 360 controller. The joysticks started to blister before any sort of noticeable staining of the white plastic.

my ally works really well, 1tb midrosd chillin never broke. gonna wait until a really big upgrade is made

Watching your videos makes me happy, Linus. They've always made me happy and even though life keeps changing, it truly makes me smile from the bottom of my heart to still be able to watch your new videos. Thanks man!!

Glad to see you guys are holding strong on consumer protection. Also that hoodie is sick, just bought one.

Love your work Linus. Your amazing 💖

Wifi, Asus as a company, and win 11 are the 3 things that stop me from wanting one.

I love how the Dbrand spot at the end doubles as an advertisement and a vent as Linus curb stomps his OG Ally in the case knowing full well it might not survive the abuse. Way to send a message. xD

I will talk about the fuse failure. I watched a repair video of a certain model of laptop that had this issue. The internal screen would turn off at high loads, but the CPU and GPU are running .It was one of these auto reset fuses, it cuts off power to the lid detect sensor when heated by the GPU and makes the laptop think the lid is shut.

I am a newbie to this is the Ally X a competition to the steam deck. Can you play all the same platforms on it that you can the steam deck? Trying to see what to buy. Thanks

Me with my steam deck comfortably... existing

Dbrand is one of the few brands that makes me not want to skip sponsored advertising spots in videos

I agree! I'm not making the same mistake again and buying day 1. I'll wait till months later

Ok so for someone who doesn't have it i would assume its a no brainier but would you recommend it for me who already has the original? Or should i just stick with it till it breaks or something?

my god. My stomach is hurting like hell at 1 am and the only thing am doing is shitting and watching your video.

Well this is definitely a time to upload

It would be so funny if in the final add read Linus would just continue on smashing the dbrand case like a madman while the subtitles rolled

Please notice! Can you try replacing aio tubing with hard tubing? What fitting would work? Thanks!

thanks for uploading for european time zone once in a while, it's nice to see videos in the morning

Man do I absolutely love my ROG Ally from day 1 of ownership, and fortunate enough to have zero issues. But I still could not recommend anyone buying this handheld, simply because of windows, and Asus software. Just get a Steamdeck.

Could you do a video about what would a good handheld game pc to buy because I am thinking of get my first one

All these handhelds and not one has tried adding cellular data to make it truly on the go. Just add cellular antenna and give it a esim . They do it for tablets and watches should be able to.

just got my lenovo legion go and much happier with this, and i dont need to be scared of customer support in the future

remember that you have no guarantee for this

Cant wait to upgrade my rog for the x, i need it now❤

As somebody who works in tech support for a big company and knows how the engineering pipeline works a bit, ASUS definitely has to know which units have failed fuses. You can get a lot of information at the factory level of production. They very likely have an internal policy to fix on fail but won’t issue a recall because the warranty repair costs will be massive. However, when a user has to initiate the claim, it’ll be cheaper that way since not all users will do that claim and not all fails will be reported within the warranty period.

I got a Lenovo Legion Go and could not be happier