The original ASUS ROG Ally was released in 2023, over a year after Valve’s Steam Deck showed us all exactly how successful a PC gaming handheld could be. There were a couple of glaring weaknesses with the ASUS device, both of which were addressed by the upgraded ROG Ally X the following year. We’re referring to the battery life and RAM, but it’s the former that was perhaps the biggest offender. This led to many people turning to ROG Ally battery mods for cheaper than buying an Ally X.

So, battery modding with kits that are readily available online is nothing new. We’ve seen mods that replace the standard 40Wh battery with a bigger 74Wh kit, and there’s a 65Wh kit from JSAUX that offers “50% more playtime“. YouTuber Miner TechTips decided to take it a step further by installing a 90Wh unit sourced from one of ASUS’s gaming laptops.

ROG Ally fitted with a battery laptop with more than twice the capacity

You can buy the laptop battery online – it once belonged to the ASUS ROG Strix G15, and its large size means that the YouTuber had to refit the ROG Ally with a custom 3D-printed back panel. He also upgraded the SSD to full-size 2280 form factor, which required a 90-degree bracket, so a lot has been crammed into this original Ally. As a result, the console jumped from 670 grams to 813 grams, so this isn’t a mod for those who want to keep the device as lightweight as possible.

Miner Techtips also went ahead and installed SteamOS on the device to help boost battery life further compared to the more bloated Windows 11 that comes as standard. He says that with the stock 40Wh battery, the ROG Ally would last anywhere between 1-1.5 hours for AAA gaming at 15W. This jumps to 2.5-3 hours for lightweight indie games at 10W.

After all the improvements, the YouTuber claims the baseline (for AAA) has tripled to 3.5-4 hours at 15-20W, and can even manage 6-7 hours of AAA gaming with reduced 7W-10W power. So, you don’t need to keep an eye on your battery life as much.

Next up are the upcoming ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X handhelds, scheduled for launch this Holiday season.

About the Author

Charlie Noon

Charlie is the Affiliate manager for PC Guide. He has a vast understanding of most PC hardware and consumer essentials, using his knowledge to provide the best products and the biggest deals.