I was interested in buying a Steam Deck... Until I discovered all the (apparently) better alternatives. Asus Rog Ally, OneXPlayer, Aya Neo etc... I like the idea of an handheld console and obviously I would like to have a device that can run almost everything, so the Windows based handhelds seem better than the Steam Deck. Is it true? Furthermore the Steam Deck looks really big compared to some new devices out there (eg the OneXFly) and neither I like the screen of the Steam Deck, apparently of lower res and with very big bazels (to me looks like the first Nintendo Switch). On the other hand, I think Valve is a more serious company than (apart from Asus) some other unknown Chinese company and I expect Valve to deliver a better product. Still I'm not convinced of Steam OS compared to Windows 11, since I would like to play also Epic games and maybe some emulators. So I started getting information about the alternatives and... There are a lot. There are so many that I got overwhelmed. If you go to the OneXPlayer website they sell like 3-4 different handheld consoles, Aya Neo even more and they also have IndieGoGo campaigns running for new devices, all with weird names. I can't understand what's the device right for me (and I really don't understand their business model). So my question is: are the rivals of the Steam Deck worth their price? Are they really better than the Steam Deck (in terms of quality, screen, size)? Thank you for your opinion!
UPDATE: I finally bought a refurbished 256GB Steam Deck.
Steam Deck punches way above its weight. But it does so much thanks to its lower resolution. Though in the format 720p isn't bad at all. It's what the switch uses as well.
Skip all the Chinese alternatives, they require far more tweaking / researching than you're fit for (judged solely by this post).
Really I'd break it down to games and game types you want to play. If you want say Genshin Impact then it's a lot easier to go with the ROG Ally. There are other Asian games that also don't play nice with Linux. Multiplayer titles also tend to be finicky with Linux. The ROG Ally is also strong enough to dock to a 1080p screen for titles like Valorant or CSGO. If that is appealing.
If you're playing mainly older games then the deck is the obvious choice, it's a beast when it comes to emulation and has much better battery life in that setting than the ROG Ally. It's also arguably more plug-and-play especially if you play mostly steam games.
Running Windows on the Deck isn't very good, it kills the decks battery advantage and the lower performance becomes more obvious. Same running Linux on the ROG is also missing out on what it's actually good at and Linux won't improve the battery life much.
800p!
Also the 42fps setting is wonderful