Greetings friends and fellow enthusiasts!
This is Mikhailov from Team Retrogue, where we like retro games and the devices that bring them to us.
Last week, I wrote an article documenting my experiences with ASUS customer service when my Left Trigger failed. I ended up fixing the trigger myself. This week, I continued to open my unit to fix it, leading me to a curious conclusion: ROG Ally Handhelds don’t have the best build quality.
Am I Overreacting?
Full Disclosure: I definitely enjoy playing games on the ROG Ally X. The battery life and the performance make this a very capable handheld.
I also enjoy that there is a full-sized nVMe slot in this handheld. I was able to put in a 4TB drive as a result. Now, my Ally X has transformed into a Bazzite/Windows dual-boot thanks to some very handy YouTube guides from Retro Game Corps and Cyber Dopamine.
Andrew also wrote up a review on Retro Handhelds pointing out all of its strong points.
My own review was very positive, which you can find below:
So why am I hating on this handheld? The short answer is:
The Build Quality
The typical consumer should never have to ever open their unit. I have opened mine at least seven times. The first time was to replace the hard drive. That should have been it.
Then my left trigger failed. Since I couldn’t get anywhere with ASUS customer support, I just fixed it myself.
You can see the hot glue where I had to reattach the hall-sensing magnet.
Then, the same left trigger made this awful creaking noise. A quick Google search revealed that this is such a widespread issue that there are several tutorials on the solution on YouTube.
Apparently, there is such a thing as “keyboard lubricant.” I opened up the unit yet again and slathered the springs in the left trigger mechanism with the stuff.
As I used a small paintbrush to generously apply this newly discovered product to my left trigger, I asked myself “Why am I doing this”?
Be very generous in applying the keyboard lube to the springs and keep applying until the trigger stops squeaking.
I Shouldn’t Have to Do This
The reason I have taken to doing this maintenance on my unit is that not only do I not trust customer service to properly handle the issue, but I also don’t want to be without my ROG Ally X while they fail to properly handle the issue.
The original ROG Ally also had its fair share of issues including faulty Micro SD card readers. I wrote an article about how I experienced this in an Open-Box Z1 Ally I bought from Best Buy.
Why Does This Matter?
It’s important for people making informed decisions to know all aspects of a unit, and clearly, the build quality is something that could impact people’s units down the line.
As a reviewer, I plan to be much harsher on ASUS products down the line, especially considering every other x86 handheld I own or have owned, including the MSI Claw, possesses amazing build quality.
Hopefully, these articles have been helpful. I still have fun playing games on the ROG Ally X, but the build quality issues have soured my opinions on it.
Look for a re-review on the Team Retrogue YouTube channel soon.
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