Everyone fell in love with SteamOS the moment Steam Deck landed back in early 2022 but promises that it’ll come to other Windows-based handhelds have yet to be fulfilled. Thankfully, it looks like hope is on the horizon, as the latest beta update finally hints at potential support.
The SteamOS 3.6.9 beta patch mostly consists of bug fixes and optimisations, but support for “extra ROG Ally keys” stands out given that Asus ROG Ally and its newer Ally X only support Windows 11. While nothing concrete, the direct reference seems like a great insight into what’s going on behind the scenes and a fantastic sign of things to come.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t suggest a timeline, so we might have a wait on our hands. It’s also unclear whether Asus will get it before others like Lenovo Legion Go or MSI Claw.
It’s been a long time coming, particularly considering Valve reiterated that a third-party SteamOS release was still in development at the end of last year. Steam Deck OLED, and possibly the teased Steam Deck 2, took priority and slowed progress, but it’s still back on track to reach other handhelds before eventually coming to the wider PC base. In the meantime, you’ll either need to be patient or rely on finicky clones like Bazzite and HoloISO.
The sooner I can officially ditch Armoury Crate, the better. It has improved with the latest revisions, but nothing quite beats the smooth navigation of SteamOS handheld mode, which is tailor-made for gaming.
I still have a lot of love for Steam Deck OLED. After all, no other handheld can reach the same colours with their LED alternatives. That said, ROG Ally dominates in just about every other category.
Its 120Hz display is faster than anything Valve currently has in store, with a 1080p screen rather than 800p. The hardware similarly packs a punch, particularly the Ally X with an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme CPU, newly bolstered 24GB of RAM, and 80Whr battery life. Granted, it might take some time before the latest version sees discounts anywhere near the sleek white original, but there’s definite value for what’s on offer.
Until Steam Deck 2 arrives on the scene, ROG Ally is perhaps the beefiest handheld without detrimental battery life sacrifices. With the Linux-based SteamOS, it could very well become one of the most sought-after portable gaming devices.
