It may be niche, but anyone looking to run their biggest games on the go at a modest framerate and with sharp, clear visuals to boot will find the most success with the ROG Xbox Ally X. Sure, this is more Asus' party than anyone else's, but the Xbox inspiration, whether it's those gamepad-like grips or the Xbox OS (on a stripped-back version of Windows 11) cannot be ignored.
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Design
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Display
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Performance
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Features
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Battery
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Value
Could this be it? Is the end of the Xbox as we know it? Maybe. But we can definitely say that this is the start of something new for Microsoft’s iconic brand, even if we aren’t sure where it’s headed. While this is technically Xbox’s first go at “creating” a gaming handheld, the ROG Xbox Ally X is Asus’ third time around the block.
That means a couple of things. One, Asus has a pretty good handle on how to make these things by now, which makes for an excellent, if expensive, experience. And two… well, this is an Xbox, however much it may not look like one. Following the Asus ROG Ally and the ROG Ally X, the more expensive ROG Xbox Ally X doesn’t try to reinvent the gaming handheld; instead, it refines those bits that needed the most attention.
Asus finally got a grip
Easily one of the biggest misses with the previous two handheld efforts from Asus was the lack of any proper grips around the sides. Personally, we don’t mind the Switch-like claw grip when using handhelds for short periods, but the addition of the Xbox-inspired grips on this 7in handheld made a world of difference.
We played through the hours of battery life this thing served up without any aching pains halting our fun. We were ironically thrown by how well Asus distributes the 715g weight, which is a fair bit heavier than, say, the Switch 2 (535g), making for a device we wouldn’t mind spending hours with on a road trip — assuming you’re still relegated to the backseat. If you can afford to own one of these, that probably isn’t the case.
The rest of the ROG Xbox Ally X is a mostly recycled affair. That’s a good thing, with the A/B/X/Y buttons, Hall Effect triggers, and customisable bumpers proving to be a joy to game on. The eight-way D-Pad is still spectacular, and the analogue sticks — while not Hall Effect — are both light, indented, and grippy. They’re accompanied by (most) of the same buttons you might remember from last time.
Except for one. Xbox’s involvement meant that a newer, showier button bearing the company’s logo had to be thrown in, on the device’s left-hand side, in place of the last Ally X’s Armoury Crate. Ports too haven’t seen a makeover, still offering a single 3,5mm audio port, one Thunderbolt 4 USB-C, one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, and a microSD card reader slot. It’s nothing marvellous, but we appreciate it all the same.
Would it have killed them to throw an OLED in here?
If one thing is certain, it’s that we haven’t seen the back of this Xbox/Asus partnership. Sure, the ROG Xbox Ally X may crater — that price is rather high — but not before the two launch an OLED-toting device together. That seems about par for the gaming PC handheld course, and who doesn’t like more money for almost no work?
It’s a shame, really. After Asus’ last big swing with the OG Ally X didn’t incorporate an OLED screen, we felt sure that whatever it delivered next would. Wishful thinking, apparently. Instead, Asus opted for the same — entirely competent — 7in FHD IPS-level LCD that’ll hit 120Hz and supports VRR. That’s… still good.
Real good. We can’t pretend that the lack of HDR wasn’t a blow, and it would’ve come in handy during our time with Forza Horizon 5. Despite all that, we enjoyed a smooth refresh rate, a bright-enough display (Asus claims 500 nits) to keep the curtains open in the day, and ultra-crispy visuals that really pop on the smaller display.
Indisputable gains
We can’t say that we were immediately thrilled after we got our hands on the ROG Xbox Ally X. It suffered from minor issues, mostly with the UI — like the gamepad bugging out, and forcing us to dirty the screen needlessly, et cetera, et cetera. To Asus and Microsoft’s credit, this wasn’t the case for very long, and nothing a few updates couldn’t fix. It was, at least, running fine ahead of release.
With Game Pass Ultimate and our Steam library at our backs, it didn’t take long to put the ROGXbox Ally X through its paces. We gravitated toward Forza Horizon 5 (okay fine, we downloaded Hollow Knight: Silksong first, sue us), but before long, we had tapped out the 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD and made room for more.
It wasn’t long before we got to put the AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme to the test. The ‘AI’ bit is technically true — there is an NPU involved, but since this is a dedicated gamer (or at least, it’s meant to be), it feels unimportant to the conversation. Like most artificial intelligence. More important was the 24GB of LPDDR5X RAM on board.
That all amounts to a remarkable time with the ROG Xbox Ally X, whether on the go or hogging all the juice at home before Eskom decides you’ve had enough. Obviously, the best results come from a ‘docked’ experience, but we were surprised by how well the handheld managed big-budget AAA games. Indie games like Balatro and Hollow Knight: Silksong would run on a potato if you asked them nicely enough, which doesn’t say much.
We ran a couple of basic benchmarks; here are the results:
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3DMark Steel Nomad avg – 596
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PCMark 10 avg – 7,254
The console even managed to keep its cool when put under the pressure of the ‘Turbo’ power profile, and running games like Forza Horizon 5 — which performed well while in our care, and maintained a cool FPS. Even when dropping down to the regular 17W ‘Performance’ profile, which worked best away from a power point, and some tweaking in the settings, the console supplied some excellent visuals at a lower but still decent FPS.
We expected that since the bulk of our time was spent in the 35W Turbo (when plugged in, 25W unplugged) mode, we’d be left with an overheating and expectedly loud console, but the opposite was true. The ROG Xbox Ally X heats up, don’t get us wrong, but it never felt like anything was wrong.
Even the battery life caught us off guard. It’s the same 80Wh that was in Asus’ last handheld, but with the Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme and 17W Performance, we clocked around two hours in bigger titles, and just shy of double that when confining our habits to smaller indies.
No more Windows 11?
The worst bit about gaming PC handhelds? The ‘PC’ bit, or more specifically, Windows 11. Fortunately, by default, Windows 11 has been banished to the shadow realm when you turn on the ROG Xbox Ally X. At least, until you call it back from the other room. If you’re only here for the games, there’s no reason to ever do so.
Having immediate access to all your games, whether it be from Steam, Epic Games, GOG, or plain ol’ Xbox titles, is excellent, and how all gaming handhelds should be. A Game Pass subscription was essential for us to get the most out of the ROG Xbox Ally X, but that might be due to our lack of owned titles that aren’t Minecraft.
Mileage may vary depending on your library of Xbox games, of course. Steam and Epic users won’t have to worry — their games are made for PC — but not all of Xbox’s are. While there are more than 1,500 titles available via the ‘Play Anywhere’ campaign Microsoft is pushing, your games specifically might not have made the cut.
ROG Xbox Ally X verdict
The ROG Xbox Ally X is easily one of the most impressive PC handhelds out there. It bloody well better be, with a price so high it belongs in a Cheech and Chong film. It may have only hit shelves yesterday, and it probably won’t be long before it’s dethroned by the next big thing™, but you can rest assured that, today, this is the best in a pool of a dozen other gaming PC handhelds that all technically do the same thing: play games. Assuming you’ve got a reputable-enough Xbox and Steam library to keep you stimulated without skipping on rent first, that is.
