Everything is an Xbox now, right? If that’s the case, why can’t we mod our smart fridge or smart toaster with screens to transform them into the rough approximation of an Xbox gaming machine? The hard truth is that there is no unified sense of “Xbox” anymore. That’s epitomized by the $1,000 Asus ROG Xbox Ally X handheld. It’s the first piece of real gaming hardware with an Xbox name to roll out in five years. Despite the moniker, it’s far more of a PC than it is any flavor of Xbox console. And thanks to Microsoft’s efforts to fix Windows for a small screen, it’s one of the best handheld PCs yet.
The ROG Xbox Ally X can certainly compete with Valve’s Steam Deck, and it can do so without worrying about kernel anti-cheat compatibility. The one point it can’t compete on is price. At $1,000, the ROG Xbox Ally X will seem like an overindulgent splurge that won’t net you the ease or comforts of a true-blue console. And though it has better graphics potential than Valve’s handheld, maximizing its capabilities requires coaxing.
If this is what we can expect from “Xbox” going forward, then console gamers had better get used to their new PC playground—whether that means adjusting power and graphics settings or dealing with Windows’ penchant for bugs and missing settings. But it also means a cleaner, more gamer-focused experience than any other handheld Windows device released over the past several years can match.
Asus ROG Xbox Ally X It's the first step on a long road to reinventing the Xbox brand. In the meantime, it's one of the best handheld PCs you can get, despite one glaring bug. 4 Pros Controller-like grips are comfortable
Performance at lower power
Windows finally good on handhelds
Access to all your game launchers
Better than average battery life Cons So-so screen and speakers
Missing Windows settings in FSE
Battery standby bug
More expensive than before
The real innovation of the Xbox Ally is the new “full screen experience,” or FSE. The built-in software finally alleviates the excruciating experience of forcing Windows 11 desktop to run on a 7-inch screen. Now, a hit of that newfangled Xbox button pulls up most (but not all) of the features and apps you need. Even better, you can access games across the most popular game launchers with a few quick taps. Plus, the device promises better performance on this version of Windows. In our tests, that proved true compared to devices with similar specs.
The new UI is imperfect, and the software is far from complete. You’ll still find game launchers or incongruous settings that require you to muddy your screen with your grubby fingerprints. There are options missing—some are still stuck behind Windows settings—and I’ve experienced concerning issues with the device depleting standby power, as if leaking juice like sand through an hourglass. Since this handheld has the entire weight of Microsoft’s gaming arm behind it, I hope updates come swiftly and that the FSE makes its way to more handhelds than just the one bearing Microsoft’s Xbox logo.
Still, this isn’t the Nintendo Switch 2 of the Xbox brand. The Xbox Ally is the kind of device to make me imagine what a true merging of PC and Xbox could be. It could prove an expensive disaster—or a glorious (but still expensive) shift to the entire gaming landscape.
It’s kind of an Xbox, but it’s mostly an Ally
Xbox told me that Microsoft and Asus started working together shortly after the launch of the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X to craft the new handheld. What, can’t you tell? It’s the two prongs on both sides of the device that the two partners in crime claim was modeled directly on the Xbox wireless controller. When you hold the controller and Xbox Ally up together, you’ll see the similarity isn’t 1-to-1—not that it matters. Each prong holds a rumble motor that feels far more present than those of other unibody handhelds do.
Despite all that, I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s more ergonomic than flat body designs. I can curl my digits around a Steam Deck and play comfortably just as well as I can with the ROG Xbox Ally X.
This is still a PC. With that in mind, you have access to two USB-C ports (one being USB-4 compatible, for hooking up external devices like an eGPU) on top alongside a microSD slot and a headphone jack. There’s no port on the bottom to enable a Switch-like dock. In fact, all your regular Steam Deck docks you bought for other handhelds may not work as well with the two grips sticking out from the body. My Steam Deck Dock from Gulikit does not fit the Xbox Ally, even though it’s perfectly usable with past handhelds.
While I didn’t find the grips supremely comfortable, there’s another extra benefit to the controller-like design. My wrists never fell asleep as I lost circulation while playing while lying down, like they often do when I’m using my personal Steam Deck or Switch 2. I like to play my handhelds in bed, so the extra grips proved to be a plus despite making the handheld even thicker.
It weighs in at 1.58 pounds, which is barely any more heft than the original $800 ROG Ally X and lighter than other handheld PCs like the Legion Go lineup.
The triggers and bumper buttons also have a feel akin to the Xbox controller and its “Impulse” triggers with individual vibration motors. The sides of the device are sloped more than they are on the ROG Ally X, meaning I don’t need to perform any crab claw gestures to access the LB and RB buttons. But if you were expecting the device to feel exactly like an Xbox controller, you’ll end up disappointed. The A,B,X,Y layout is the same, but the look and feel of both the buttons and joysticks are far more ROG Ally than Xbox.
In the end, all that matters is if it feels good to play. I can comfortably say: It does.
FSE is a great idea—but a work in progress
Beyond the twin menu buttons, the only switch you need to care about for menu navigation is the new Xbox button found next to Asus’ own Armoury Crate toggle. Hitting the button once brings up the Game Bar menu, delivering quick access to your game library across all launchers. Hitting the library button will take you to the Xbox app, where you can access Game Pass (you get a three-month Xbox Game Pass Premium subscription with the device; just don’t forget to cancel) and Xbox Cloud gaming. It’s here you’ll also find your library of both games and supported apps, which mostly include game launchers.
Xbox gamers who have never had to even consider their consoles’ power draw will now need to start thinking about TDP, or thermal design power. Despite originally telling me it was working on a replacement for power management, Microsoft left Asus’ Armoury Crate software in this handheld. You can access the program from the Game Bar to tweak the power draw you’re sending to the processor. More TDP means better performance at the cost of battery life. As a rule of thumb, you can stick to lower performance modes for two-dimensional or less intensive games. For everything else, shift it to “Turbo,” which ends up at 25W on battery power, or the max 35W if you have the device plugged in.
How does it fare compared to Valve’s SteamOS, the Linux-based operating system made popular by the Steam Deck? Like SteamOS, the Windows FSE is a controller-first layout designed to make accessing the Xbox game store and your game library easier than it is on a desktop. Firms like Asus, Lenovo, and MSI have designed front ends to enable some easy access to your titles, but the FSE has come closest to a “console-like” feel.
When you hold down the Xbox button, you can easily swap between open apps. Want to access Steam’s Big Picture Mode? It’s a few taps away, with no need to muddy the touchscreen with your fingerprints. It’s here you’ll also see an option to open up desktop mode if there are platforms you can’t access through the Xbox app.
Asus originally described the FSE to me as the system dual booting Windows. However, the improved performance is available in either variation.
As if you needed another reminder, this is a PC, not an Xbox console. A 2023 update redesigned the Xbox app so it could be navigated with a controller. There’s still more work to be done on this front. You can’t use the right stick to scroll. There isn’t enough use of the RB and LB buttons for navigating through side-by-side menus. Beyond those hangups, what’s particularly egregious is just how limited Microsoft made its first-party software. On the Linux-based SteamOS, I can drop into the desktop mode, install Emulation Station, and access it from the Steam Deck’s home menu. The Xbox app will recognize apps like GOG Galaxy, Epic Games Store, Battle.net, and Ubisoft Connect, but it won’t enable other apps you may load on. Accessing them requires entering the Desktop Mode. SteamOS can be tweaked to allow third-party apps to appear on the home screen, but Microsoft, being Microsoft, won’t let you do the same with the FSE.
Don’t be afraid to lower the TDP
What’s often lost in the rat race for better performance is the fact that small improvements mean a lot on a power-sipping device like a handheld: A 5 fps difference can determine whether a game is playable or not.
AMD’s Ryzen Z2 Extreme offers only a marginal bump in performance compared with the Ryzen Z1 Extreme that hit the scene two years ago. However, the updates Microsoft made to Windows 11 also supposedly limit background tasks and boost performance. From what I experienced comparing the Lenovo Legion Go 2 to the ROG Xbox Ally X, that seems to check out. Asus’ device displayed small performance gains (the delta varied by title, of course) at the same resolution and TDP.
There are areas in which Lenovo’s handheld wins, of course. The Legion Go 2 contains 32GB of RAM; the Ally sports just 24 alongside its 1TB of SSD storage. The Legion also sports a massive 8.8-inch OLED display. After spending more than a week with the Xbox Ally’s 7-inch IPS LCD, I miss those deeper black levels and contrast.
But for that specific upgrade, you have to drop the price equivalent of a new Nintendo Switch—$350 after recent price hikes. Lenovo’s Legion Go 2 held the price record among AMD Ryzen Z-series devices with the astronomical $1,350 launch price of its AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme model. The same APU—or accelerated processing unit—can be found in the much more affordable ROG Xbox Ally.
At 1080p resolution and 35W when plugged in, I could get around 52 frames per second in Cyberpunk 2077 on Steam Deck settings. In actual gameplay, you’ll see frame rates at just under 50 fps in most scenarios. At 30W, last year’s ROG Ally hits around 46 fps. Other games, like Shadow of the Tomb Raider, see better uplift, with the new Xbox Ally X netting around 10 fps more than its predecessor.
Synthetic benchmarks may help us get a better idea of how much the device has improved. The Xbox Ally X netted around 400 points more than its predecessor did on 3DMark Steel Nomad Light and did 600 points better on 3DMark Time Spy. In actual gameplay, the difference is more minute, especially at the highest wattage. On some tests, notably 3DMark and games like Baldur’s Gate III, the device didn’t perform exceptionally better than the MSI Claw 8 AI+ running an Intel Core Ultra 258V. On others, the Ryzen Z2 Extreme underperformed Intel’s mobile chip.
But the Z2 Extreme’s secret weapon is that it performs better at lower wattages than previous generations did. When testing multiple games at 15-25W, relying often on AMD’s FSR upscaling, I could finally achieve playable frame rates on titles like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Star Wars Outlaws. (Even on the “Turbo” profile, the device defaults to 25W when running on battery.) I found that I could run multiple current AAA games, and a few unreleased Xbox titles, at playable frame rates with just a bit of finagling in the graphics settings.
And here’s another secret: You don’t even need the FSE to get this boost. Xbox claimed the latest Windows build (which includes the FSE) would separately enhance the Ally’s performance, and that has more than panned out. I updated the Lenovo Legion Go 2 to the latest Windows Insider Update without bothering to install the updated user interface. It displayed bigger performance improvements than the Ally had (perhaps influenced by the Legion’s additional memory, which is the most significant difference between the two systems). The update moved the needle by 5 fps or more in games like Cyberpunk 2077 and up to 3 fps in Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
There’s a voice in the back of my brain that’s hard to ignore. It tells me to shake my fist at Microsoft in a “man yells at cloud” fashion over how simple this fix seems to have been. Are you telling me we could have had this level of gaming performance on Windows this whole time?
The screen is just good enough
There’s a “just fine” quality to the ROG Xbox Ally’s 1080p display. It’s a semi-glossy IPS LCD that lacks the “inky” qualities of OLED. I eventually tired of the large bezels surrounding the display, and the size makes it difficult to read text in RPGs like Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader and other RPGs. The screen is plenty bright indoors and in ambient light, but it’s still not enough to survive direct sunlight. It didn’t help that I was moving between the Asus model and the Legion Go 2 in quick succession; for some, the larger screen will probably be worth the extra heft. Still, the Ally’s panel is serviceable in the same way that Apple’s MacBook displays get the job done, even if it’s the same damn screen every damn year and there’s a big notch.
The 120Hz refresh rate, now a constant throughout three Ally generations, is more than enough for 3D titles. However, when you opt to play a game like Hollow Knight: Silksong or Hades II, and your game can easily net over 160 fps on the lowest power settings, you may start to feel a little cheated after paying $1,000 for a handheld like this.
Sound quality through the dual speakers was nothing to write home about either. Audio got plenty loud, but unlike when using the Legion Go 2, I wanted to reach for a pair of gaming headphones or earbuds more often. It wasn’t terrible, and neither were the visuals, but the whole affair did feel a bit lackluster for a third-generation device in the Ally’s price category.
The Xbox Ally X has concerning battery and standby issues
Handhelds don’t have great battery life. The Xbox Ally X, with its 80Wh battery, can claim more playable time than most other handhelds. The Lenovo Legion Go 2 and MSI Claw 8 AI+, with their larger screens and higher resolution, will sap energy faster. The Switch 2 has notoriously poor battery life, and you’ll be lucky to get two hours out of that. Still, don’t count on the Ally to get you through long-haul flights. I eked out around three and half playable hours of Hades II at low power before the device was begging for the sweet embrace of a power cable. More intense titles could cut another hour off that span.
The Xbox Ally X has other problems when trying to go to sleep. There were times I tried to put it to bed by hitting the power button, only to receive a gray screen and be prompted to restart my game.
There were also multiple instances in which I thought I’d successfully put my review unit to sleep via the power button, only to later find it had been sucking power for hours and eventually died. The fans would occasionally kick in while asleep, which indicates to me there’s an issue Microsoft needs to fix before I can safely store the device away after a quick gaming session.
It’s clear Microsoft was working on this software until the last minute, and that means there’s still work needed to clear up these glitches. The issues were enough to diminish what would otherwise have been a glowing review.
What should we eXpect from Xbox?
High-end handhelds now cost more than $1,000. Sorry, but that’s what we should expect from now until Sony releases a handheld PlayStation 6. The base ROG Xbox Ally, available in in white, features a lower-end Ryzen Z2A chip that I have not yet had the opportunity to fully test. That system is positioned to compete with the $550 Steam Deck OLED and Lenovo Legion Go S with SteamOS. Inevitably, because of tariffs and trade retaliations from China, we shouldn’t expect many budget handheld releases aside from Nintendo’s more restrictive hybrid console.
There’s a part of me that believes prospective handheld buyers should hold off for the next generation. Today’s Z2 Extreme devices are running on an RDNA 3.5 GPU. Tomorrow’s may instead include a chip based on AMD’s RDNA 4 architecture, which would mean access to AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution 4. That would offer improved AI upscaling, making games appear to run at higher resolutions than they actually are. The technology may be a staple of future consoles, and Microsoft and Sony will likely push developers to use it. The Xbox Ally X will be left out of the loop.
On the other hand, Microsoft seems keen to improve the FSE in preparation for a next-gen Xbox console. Hopefully, that means Xbox has enough incentive to fix what’s broken and polish the experience to a squeaky-clean shine. Is that enough to make me abandon the Steam Deck? Maybe one day. Is it enough to give Xbox gamers the new hardware they’re looking for? It’ll depend on their tolerance for the PC gaming lifestyle.