Embarking on this new hobby and a little overwhelmed
I'm embarking on a new phase in my life and am frankly pretty darned excited about it. My only child is off in college now and I find myself with extra time I didn't used to have. As such, some younger friends of mine have been reaching out and asking me to join them for "shenanigans" in the form of online video games. Mind you, I haven't played games since the mid 90s, so while this sounds exciting, it also is quite intimidating.
So far I have gotten my hands on a ROG Ally X. It's a nifty looking handheld that I have been assured would allow me to play a lot of the games my buddies play, but my eyes aren't what they used to be and the screen, however nice, isn't quite big enough for my needs.
Time to get a dock!
I was able to find a one for this thing, which is very cool, but now I'm thinking I'm going to drive my wife crazy shouting at the device to talk to my buddies. I assume I need a decent headset, but which one? These things seem to run the range in prices. Do I need it to be wireless?
Also, I'm guessing it would be good to have some sort of controller so I'm not on top of the screen, again, what fits the middle of the road? Cordless? Do I want a trackpad? Is that even a thing?
I am overloaded with options.
Basically, I'm a dad who has discovered he has a lot more time on his hands than he expected and good (and patient) friends who want to spend time with him, but I'm way out of my depth trying to plot a modest path forward (without spending silly money).
Anyway, thanks for making an old guy coming to the hobby feel welcome!
You can always follow the golden rule of tools here - buy some cheap stuff and see if they work fine for you. (cheap controllers, a cheap headset, etc) Then if/when they fail or you're finding them annoying, splurge a bit more on the replacement. Look up "[product name] reddit" or "reviews" or whatever to get some insight if people actually like something you're thinking of getting or not. Features aren't crazy important, and I imagine compatibility should be pretty flexible on the Rog.
Cordless stuff can get annoying with bad Bluetooth drivers or bad battery life, and corded stuff can be inconvenient if you wanted to dock somewhere cozy like your couch. I've used a corded Xbox One controller for over a decade at my desktop PC, but I've got a few cheap Bluetooth 8bitdo controllers for my Steam Deck and Switch at my TV to play with other people. Headsets tend to be better when they're corded, or you can typically get a better pair of headphones and a cheap stand mic for the same money. But if a headset seems more convenient, then go for it. Sometimes the most convenient answer for you is better than specs or "quality".
You could totally get a separate trackpad if you really wanted! They're not really what people design games around - precision of a mouse laser/camera is better than your fingertip and it's harder to run out of room with the sensitivity set appropriately - but hey, if it's really most comfortable for you that's fine.
Enjoy! I can only hope in like 30 years I'm going to look at my free time and want to screw around with friends in games like this.
I don't have a handheld game device but your dock has USB right? I like the Logitech K400+ and similar devices.
It looks like you should be able to use Xbox One, PS4, PS5 controllers (though some people report having trouble). You could play it safe and just get an 8bitdo controller. Those are pretty good and probably a bit cheaper.
I can't speak to the ROG Ally X, but my Steam Deck's Bluetooth is not great. Granted, I have only really used controllers with it while docked, and that location likely has a ton of interference.
With that being said, while you certainly can dock these devices, I'm not sure if there's much benefit to them if you never play them undocked. I say this with the kindest of intentions- I would either return it or resell it to put towards something else. Most people would push towards building your own gaming PC, but you can likely find a prebuilt with similar specs/capabilities to the ROG Ally X if that meets your performance requirements. If you're intending to use a monitor or TV at a resolution higher than 1080p, keep in mind that it will be more demanding. However, you can always play games at a lower resolution.
For accessories, there's endless options. I agree with the comment about getting cheap ones to start if you don't know what direction you want to go. You can find cheap keyboards, mice, headsets, etc on Amazon. If you go the controller route and want something that is officially supported by games out of the box, an Xbox controller is your best bet. But those things are very expensive unfortunately.
Where are you going to play games at, once you get a dock? Are you going to sit on a couch and play games on a television? Sit at a desk, and play on a monitor?
Wired versus wireless is mostly a question of ergonomics. You don't need wireless headphones, but they might be less annoying to use, depending on where and how you're going to play games.
I don't have recommendations for wireless headphones because I don't use them, but if you're okay with wired, then:
Those headphones are excellent, including for playing video games, and the microphone sounds great while still being inexpensive. That setup will last you a decade. I mean that literally: I originally bought those in 2015.
Again though, wired versus wireless will mostly depend on how and where you play games (and to a lesser extent, what types of games you play).
Also, if you buy a pair of wired headphones and then just plug them into a wireless controller, instead of directly into your handheld or dock, then your audio quality (in and out) is going to be decided by the controller, not the headphones/microphone.
Also also, wireless headphones have worse latency than wired headphones (almost always), so they're technically less-suitable for fast-paced, audio-cued games like first-person shooters. In reality, unless you're playing very sweaty competitive games, or using a really bad pair of wireless headphones, the audio latency should neither be noticeable nor make a difference in how well you play, how much fun you have, etc.
Well you could possibly save a bunch of money by getting some reading/gamer glasses with mild magnification.
If all I had to game on was a gaming skateboard I would slowly drift back to it being a desktop setup. Monitor, keyboard, and mouse would be the first things I bought. Then down the road you could always buy a tower. The ROG will still be useful as a Moonlight/Sunshine game streaming device even if you get a more powerful gaming rig later.
A wireless headset would be nice since you can use it while undocked. For something that's practical and less gamery you could get some Airpods if you're in the Apple ecosystem or low-latency True Wireless Stereo(TWS) earbuds like the EarFun Air Pro 4. Then you're not stuck with some giant gaudy gamer cans.
8Bitdo controllers are excellent and priced well as everyone else has mentioned.
Meh, bluetooth sucks for low-latency audio. That's fine for listening to music, maybe watch videos, but not for gaming. If you want wireless, you should use headphones with a proprietary dongle; I bought a G435 for something like 50€, it's cheap, lightweight, and works well for gaming and vocal chat.
Bluetooth has gotten noticeably better with modern widgets. I recently bought the earbuds I mentioned and a new adapter with decent results on Windows 11.
I own the same earbuds, and I sometimes use them when playing with the Steam Deck in bed. There's still a delay, even if it's much more tolerable than it was not so long ago.
It doesn't bother me in certain conditions, but if I'm playing comfortably on my desk or my couch, I'd rather not use them.
Fair enough, mileage may vary. Bluetooth spec and codecs are fairly arcane and obfuscated.
Windows 11 I think defaults to some flavour of AptX.