u/Jmac8716

I put the screens between the ZTF, ZF8, and S26U to the test to see how much of a difference it really is. Bottom line, ZF8 is the best overall. The images were taken with the intent of aligning the screens to the best of my ability. The overlay image was lined up perfectly to the bottom right corner of the displayed video but the camera makes it appear off.

Clarification: ZF8 is the wide (new form factor) and not the Ultra with the same form factor as previous gens. Photo with video information in the bottom is portrait orientation while the other two are landscape orientation.

Videos: The ZTF is king for media consumption by a sizeable margin. However, the colors and sharpness on the ZF8 are the best overall. S26U has the second best for the colors and sharpness but the screen aspect ratio forces really bad pillar boxing making very poor image/video size. ZF8 also has the best overall utility when watching videos as the smaller size/weight allows for easier mounting solutions and use for extended periods while handheld.

Social media: S26U works best because most social media platforms are optimized for the shape. However, a few settings changes in labs gets you the same thing on the Folds. The ZTF is good for social media but the size of the device makes it nearly impossible to use one handed. ZF8 can be used one handed much more easily.

Multi-screen: ZTF wins again but not by much. It only wins because of the size. The ZF8 handles multiple screens and windows with ease. The aspect ratio and size is ideal for top landscape video and two bottom portrait apps when in portrait orientation. S26U doesn't even compete.

Battery use: S26U wins. That's not a surprise. Then the ZF8...barely. Last is the ZTF. Which is actually commendable to the ZTF. What I will say, the ZTF blew the ZF7 out of the water when it came to battery. So the fact that the ZF8, with a brighter-higher PPI-screen beat the ZTF is saying something.

Typing: Typing on the ZF8 is a dream. IGNORE THE IDIOT REVIEWERS. It takes two seconds to resize your keyboard. A few extra seconds to download G Board and resize it even better. I swear, it's like they don't actually use the devices they review...anyway... rant complete... External screen, internal screen, portrait mode, landscape mode, all are perfect for typing (wrote this whole thing on the ZF8). That being said, ZTF is actually not great to type on when open. It's actually too big of a keyboard for my taste even after resizing to the smallest possible. I prefer the keyboard smaller. S26U is a vanilla typing experience.

Overall: ZF8 has been a really wonderful and surprisingly good experience. I'm actually shocked on how well it keeps up with the ZTF.

I have the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X and wanted to get better performance when docked. I looked at a few options and whittled it down to the XG Mobile and Gigabyte Aorus eGPU. I ended up going with the Gigabyte Aorus RTX 5060ti eGPU for a few reasons. The main reason was higher ram (16gb vs 12gb). Second reason was price since the Gigabyte was half the price (bought on sale for $600 US from Newegg).

Performance has been fantastic. You'll see the picture I took with my phone of Lego Batman. Without the eGPU, going above the medium settings would cause significant performance issues. On medium settings, you don't get fine details like rain on the suit or intricate rendering in the background. The picture shows the game in max settings while running on the eGPU. I've been able to run all of my games at 4k with Ultra settings in game with very little issue. The only time it has struggled was in co-op play on Lego Batman during cutscenes. Death Stranding and 007: First Light have been flawless. I have the Ally X external display set to 4k 144hz and haven't noticed any frame drop.

The combo could be good for travel too but the eGPU is somewhat large (about the size of a thick book). If you travel with it you'll be able to connect it to a hotel TV if you bring a HDMI cable.

Setup: before you do anything, make sure you install the ASUS PD FW update or else the Xbox Ally X will not recognize the eGPU and you will not be able to install the requqired Nvidia drivers. Once I did that, the driver install was seamless. The Nvidia software adds some extra control but I haven't really done much with it. I also haven't really done anything else with Gigabyte or other software.

Overall, I highly recommend this setup as a docking solution.