Is it worth the price?
In this video, I’m going to show the remanufactured Asus ROG Ally Z1 that I purchased, and I want to see if it’s good value for money.
Here is the video unboxing of the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme:
Timestamps:
0:00 – 0:16 Intro
0:17 – 1:54 Buying the Remanufactured Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme
1:55 – 4:46 Unboxing
4:47 – 10:25 Game Tests
10:26 -12:34 Graphed Battery Test
12:35 – 13:42 Should you buy?
13:43 Who is this device for?
$500NZD to USD:
What is a remanufactured unit? (PBTech NZ):
- What is a remanufactured unit (PBTech NZ – Retailer I bought it from)t: https://www.pbtech.co.nz/help/article/11/factory-remanufactured-products
Game settings (Hover for names):
Battery Test:
Battery tests were done with Full-Screen Brightness, 20% Speaker Volume, and on a handheld battery, no keyboard or mouse.
They were done on a 1-run average and I was only just progressing through the game, I was not repeating any levels so there is variation in the levels e.g. 25W had the level called Sargasso, but the 15W had the level called Blizar Prime. So not exactly an objective test.
I found that the performance was similar between the 25w and 15w when on battery in Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart. It was a bit disappointing to see such low numbers for the time it took to drain the battery to 3%.
- The 25W lasted 50 minutes from 99% to 3%.
- The 15w lasted 74 minutes from 95% to 3%.
Watch the 10:26 -12:34 Graphed Battery Test for more commentary! :D.
Real Life Tests
Not a bad result for the real-life tests, and it was surprising that even Cyberpunk 2077 could play somewhat. The temperatures were a bit high reaching 95* sometimes which was a bit concerning on the 30w mode. I think it’s an interesting note that on some games, the 15W mode is more than enough and much quieter than the highest 30W mode when plugged in.
Also, changing your settings, such as in Cyberpunk, can help to smooth out frame rates.
Should you buy a remanufactured device?
Well, based on the risk, it isn’t too bad if you are getting a one-year warranty from a reputable retailer like mine. My unit pretty much looks brand new and plays like new, which is interesting, so if it says remanufactured, not refurbished, it should be close to a new unit. At this price point of $500NZD or $306USD as of recording, there aren’t many other options second-hand that compete in price even on the second-hand market. The lowest I’ve seen is from the MSI claw for $699NZD which isn’t too bad but it has the intel chipset. The Z1 Extreme is not a replacement for a laptop, but it is pretty powerful as an 8-core CPU, and the APU, as we saw, isn’t too much of a letdown. It can run AAA games, which is really impressive. Mine also came with a hefty 512GB SSD which is plenty.
So who is this for and would I recommend a remanufactured Ally Z1 Extreme?
I think this device is for a casual gamer who just wants to pick up a controller and get playing quickly. Even so I can see this being an emulation monster and if you want to play AAA games from your bed for example. If you can temper your expectations and don’t mind lower texture qualities or framerates, this device could be for you. Sadly from the small battery test it would be hard to justify this for someone who wants to take it on the go
Based on the 1-year warranty, the resell value, the basically brand-new condition I received from mine, and the value comparison between other handhelds and the 2nd hand market, I’d say this was a pretty good buy at this price. This is a small summary of my thoughts, and I’ll give you a full review later on.
Thank you! 😀
YSTech: https://ystech.org
YSTech Full Review: https://ystech.org/remanufactured-asus-z1e-unboxing
What is a remanufactured unit (PBTech NZ – Retailer I bought it from): https://www.pbtech.co.nz/help/article/11/factory-remanufactured-products
-YS