Is Microsoft's first ever handheld Xbox console worth the wait?
9 hours ago Share Save Tom Gerken Technology reporter Share Save
Watch: BBC’s Tom Gerken puts the first ever portable Xbox console through its paces
For almost two decades, rumours have swirled about a handheld Xbox console to rival Nintendo and PlayStation. Now, it's finally here. The ROG Xbox Ally has been released worldwide, putting an end to the speculation. It works natively with Xbox's Game Pass subscription service out of the box, meaning members will start off with hundreds of games in their library. But its big trick is that it's really a portable computer running Windows, meaning most digital PC games people already own will work too - so long as they don't need a keyboard and mouse to play. It's capable of running most modern games at a decent resolution, although all that tech doesn't come cheap. The handheld costs £499, or £799 for the more powerful ROG Xbox Ally X. I've had my hands on the console for the past week and my experience has been positive - though the hardware certainly has its hiccups. So, has it been worth the wait?
What's it like?
You may not be surprised to hear it feels like a handheld Xbox. The controller that makes up each side of the screen is comfortable to hold. Both thumb sticks have a solid feel to them, and though the face buttons are a bit plastic-y for my taste, the triggers on top of the machine feel great. So far so good - but what about the games? The first thing I did with the device was boot up something known for its vibrant colours - 2019's Persona 5 Royal - to see how good the screen looks.
Xbox/Atlus The opening cinematic of Persona 5 Royal showed just how vibrant the colours can be
Personally, I thought it looked fantastic. Tech nerds like me may have had concerns that Microsoft went for an LCD display rather than the top-tier OLED displays. In English, that means this portable Xbox doesn't have the best screen available on the market, which may seem like a questionable decision considering the price. But LCD displays have gotten significantly better in recent years, and while it may not have the most vibrant colours possible, I was pretty blown away by how good Persona 5's deep reds looked on the handheld screen. The game played well too, with no visible stutters or freezes - though this is surely to be expected for something that doesn't have the same graphical demands as modern titles.
Remember, this isn't like buying a game for the Nintendo Switch 2, where you can expect things will work out of the box. This is much more like buying a game for your home computer. In other words, you don't know for sure whether a game will work or not. It's definitely a mark against the handheld, though it's something PC gamers have been used to for years. As much as this is a handheld Xbox, it could also be described as a portable computer running Windows - all the downsides of PC gaming are present here, but so are the upsides. For example, Baldur's Gate 3, which is known for being particularly demanding at times, proved a challenge for the device on higher graphics settings, but because it's a PC game I could play around with the graphics settings to make it run smoothly.
Xbox/Larian Studios In the end, I had to turn many of Baldur's Gate 3's graphics settings down quite a bit before it felt smooth to play
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