I never hesitate to praise the Asus ROG Ally, and I'm generally obsessed with handheld gaming PCs. Although some enjoy the Ally X's glory, many are still stuck with the battery life of the original handheld, which is objectively inferior.
However, third-party companies are working on addressing these issues first-hand, with electronics supplier JSAUX having announced a battery and thermal upgrade kit for the original Asus ROG Ally. Its current pre-order cost is $79.99, offering a 65Wh battery versus the original 40Wh battery in the original Ally.
The Asus ROG Ally X significantly improved over the base ROG Ally by upgrading to an 80Wh battery. While 65Wh isn't quite at the level of the Ally X, it will make a massive difference in how long you can game untethered.
One of the ROG Ally's biggest flaws is its short battery life, so this upgrade is more than welcome.
Beyond that, the kit provides a thermal upgrade, with a "precision-engineered aluminum heatshield." The company claims it runs cooler than the original model, "reducing heat buildup and extending both battery lifespan and overall device efficiency."
I asked Asus PR Specialist Anthony Spence if the company planned to release its battery upgrade for the Ally, and it doesn't seem likely.
"Our focus isn't on manufacturing individual aftermarket upgrades like this," Spence tells Laptop Mag. Instead, it is on an "open ecosystem where users can customize the Ally and Ally X in ways that best suit them."
Spence told me, however, that "companies interested in making accessories or mods can reach out for guidance."
If you were waiting for Asus to release its ROG Ally battery upgrade, stop. The company has no plans for it, so you might as well invest in a third-party upgrade kit like the one from JSAUX, and here's why you should do it.
Battery life is vital in handheld gaming devices
I was blown away by the Asus ROG Ally X's battery life. Doubling the original's lesser 40Wh of battery to 80Wh provided the machine's needed longevity. To illustrate the difference, we tested the Ally Z1, Ally Z1 Extreme, and Ally X battery life.
On the Laptop Mag battery life test, which involves continuous web surfing over wifi at 150 nits of brightness, the 40Wh Ally with an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip lasted 5 hours and 51 minutes before running out of juice. The Ally with a Ryzen Z1 chip, which is also 40Wh, did marginally better at 6 hours and 17 minutes. This results from the Z1 processor being less demanding on battery than the more powerful Z1 Extreme.
On the same test, the Asus ROG Ally X lasted 8 hours and 19 minutes with its 80Wh battery. It also has the Z1 Extreme processor, so comparing it to the original Ally with the same chip lasts 2 hours and 28 minutes longer.
Through a rough calculation, a 65Wh battery is 62.5 percent better than 40Wh. 62.5 percent of the 80Wh's 2 hours and 28 minutes of longevity is 1 hour and 33 minutes. Adding that number to the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme's battery life equals 7 hours and 24 minutes with the upgraded JSAUX battery. These calculations don't reflect the actual result, but it's a rough sketch based on our own tests.
We also measured its longevity through PCMark 10's battery benchmark, which runs a 3DMark window in a continuous loop to simulate gaming. The Ally Z1 lasted 1 hour and 43 minutes, while the Z1 Extreme took 1 hour and 46 minutes. After destroying both without a sweat, the Ally X took 3 hours and 4 minutes, which is 1 hour and 18 minutes better than the Z1 Extreme.
Using the same calculations as our previous sketch, 62.5% of 1 hour and 18 minutes is 49 minutes. Add that to the Z1 Extreme's original number, and you get 2 hours and 35 minutes, which is roughly how much extra juice you can expect from the JSAUX battery upgrade.
Again, don't take these calculations as fact, especially considering the thermal upgrades could improve efficiency and result in different final numbers. Regardless, if you want to see a solid boost in the longevity of your Asus ROG Ally, consider if $80 for the JSAUX upgrade is worth that additional battery life.
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