Asus ROG Xbox Ally review

Xbox's big device-agnostic "This is an Xbox" push means that it's trying to break down perception barriers about where you can play Xbox games – and we're all pretty much aware this is because of cratering sales numbers for its latest generation of consoles.

Having successfully established PC Game Pass (now integrated into a more unified naming structure), its next push is into PC handhelds. Enter the ROG Xbox Ally, on review here, and its more powerful brother, the Xbox Ally X.

These handhelds are collaborations with Asus ROG, building on the existing ROG Ally and ROG Ally X, but adding some slight spec upgrades and redesigning them to look and feel more like Xbox devices.

I've been using the entry-level ROG Xbox Ally for about 10 days to see how it fares. It's just as interesting a device as I expected – for better and worse – as I'll explain in this review.

Price and Availability

The ROG Xbox Ally comes in at $599 or £499 in the US and UK, respectively, and €599 in the EU.

The ROG Xbox Ally X, meanwhile, is a steeper £799, $999 or €899 – but I'm not going to bring up the Ally X every two seconds, since I haven't been able to test it.

The crucial thing to know is that so far they've each only been available to pre-order ahead of the 16 October on-sale date, and stock has been thin on the ground. The basic Xbox Ally has been more plentiful, while the Xbox Ally X has been sold out pretty much everywhere.

It's impossible to know at this stage whether that's due to conservative stock levels from Asus and Xbox, or greater than expected popularity. Either way, it might make picking one up a little challenging in the short term.

Design and Specification

Some bits of the ROG Xbox Ally look extremely familiar if you've handled the older ROG Ally before, but others are very obviously and quite radically different. The biggest change that's been made is the addition of large protruding grips that are basically lifted from the design of Xbox's latest generation of controllers.

Most PC handhelds have grips that are more integrated into the body of the device, making for a squared-off look from the front, which means that the ROG Xbox Ally stands out immediately. Other than that, the face buttons are now Xbox versions (ABXY), and there's a small Xbox button on the left of the device to help with some of the software features on offer.

Another meaningful change from the original ROG Ally is the addition of a second USB port on the top of the device, both with DisplayPort 1.4 and Power Delivery 3.0. This makes it easier to charge the device while keeping it connected to an external display or accessory. You can grab this Xbox version in white, while the ROG Xbox Ally X is in black.

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Those changes aside, there's a lot of consistency here. The ROG Xbox Ally has the same display size and specs – a 7-inch Full HD resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio, 120Hz refresh rate IPS panel.

My hot take here is that, with the width of the ROG Xbox Ally feeling more substantial because of its wing-like grip design, this screen actually doesn't feel particularly huge, and the fairly chunky bezels don't help. Even the Nintendo Switch 2 has a larger display, after all.

The device comes in at 670g, which means it's not the lightest portable out there, but it's still comfortable to hold for hours at a time in my experience, thanks to those excellent grips. I do suspect it might not be ideal for those with smaller hands, though, but your mileage may vary here.

To get deeper into the specs, the ROG Xbox Ally is powered by an AMD Ryzen Z2 A processor, which means it's upgraded over the ROG Ally; the more expensive Xbox Ally X bumps this to a Z2 Extreme for more power.

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This basic version also gets 16GB of LPDDR5-6400 RAM, and a 512GB M.2 2280 SSD that can be swapped out if you want more space. It also comes with a 60Wh battery, up from 40Wh on the original ROG Ally, meaning its battery can go a good chunk further. You get a 65W charger in the box along with a small stand for docked use.

This isn't the place for a detailed comparison, but the eagle-eyed will have noticed that the ROG Xbox Ally basically stands as a sort of stopgap upgrade over the ROG Ally. It doesn't revolutionise the specs list, but offers some small boosts – and comes in at a very similar price to the in-house Asus version.

The main difference is the feel in the hand (thanks to that change in design), but a bigger battery can't be sniffed at, and the slightly better processor is welcome too. However, this might all be by the by – the really interesting thing will be whether Microsoft can actually shift big numbers of what looks like a niche proposition.

There's also a Steam Deck-shaped elephant in the room, in the form of other handhelds that are cheaper for performance that can get pretty close to what's on offer here – but more on that shortly.

Performance and Display

While its price isn't particularly surprising given where the original ROG Ally sat, there's no question that Xbox has some justifying to do if it wants people to spend more than the price of an Xbox Series X on this handheld.

I'm not a newbie to PC gaming handhelds (I had a Steam Deck for years), so I booted up some favourites to see how the ROG Xbox Ally held up. The short version is that it left me feeling extremely similar to my conclusions about the ROG Ally nearly two years ago. This is a handheld that boasts good performance and some great features, but there's no way to pretend it's the best value option on the market.

This time around, much is the same – you're still running Windows as the operating system, which means you're still running into all of the foibles that come with it. The question of compatibility is a non-starter, since you can run almost anything you like on the device, but usability is another topic. Windows still feels terrible through a touchscreen, for my money.

However, Xbox and Asus have cleverly got around that with some Xbox app integration that can make the ROG Xbox Ally feel more like a portable Xbox console if you're happy to keep it simple. This all flows decently smoothly, and I definitely appreciate having a handheld that has plenty of strings to its bow.

Performance is much as you'd expect – and it's extremely dependent on the game you choose. Forza Horizon 5, which is phenomenally optimised and well-loved as a testing game, can look excellent on the 1080p display with settings lowered to around the Low mark throughout, and just about get close to 60fps if you set it up right.

Newer titles like Doom: The Dark Ages are also a challenge that can be surmounted on lower settings, but some others, like Oblivion Remastered, are pretty close to being non-starters, even on the lowest settings. If you need 60fps in modern titles, then needless to say, it doesn't feel like cost-effective tech is there for you yet – but it's getting closer.

Go a little more sensible, though, and you can have an incredible time. A perfect case in point comes in the form of Hollow Knight: Silksong, a recent Game Pass addition that I've been banging my head against (it's hard!). Its simpler 2D graphics mean you can really crank the performance and make the most of your 120Hz display with higher frame rates.

That said, even with a relatively moderate load, the handheld does get pretty loud from spinning up its fans, and that makes some earbuds or a great gaming headset an asset while you're using it. It's also a slight shame to see no upgraded display (an OLED in particular), though this looks more stingy on the extremely pricey Xbox Ally X rather than this basic version.

Having access to Steam via Windows when you want it is also a boon – I used it to play the indie roguelite Clover Pit and had a tremendous time, again thanks to much less ambitious graphical requirements.

The comparison to a Steam Deck is hard to avoid, too. Valve's machine is a bunch older and a chunk less powerful, but I'd argue that most people should really be playing similar games on the ROG Xbox Ally as they would on a Steam Deck, negating that advantage to a degree. The Steam Deck's way cheaper, crucially, which makes the ROG Xbox Ally stand out even more as a quite niche option, in my view.

On battery life, though, the ROG Xbox Ally does win, and it can get over 5 hours on a charge if you set it up right, which makes it one of the better PC handhelds you can grab right now.

Verdict

I'm not sure the ROG Xbox Ally is going to convince anyone of much – which isn't to say that it's worthless, by any stretch. Indeed, it's a great little handheld gaming PC, albeit there are other better-value options out there (and the market won't be able to escape the looming shadow of the Switch 2, either).

Performance is solid, ergonomics are surprisingly good, and the Xbox software wrapper is also an actual success. However, the experience still has rough edges that make the Xbox Ally feel like the first thrust in a slightly haphazard experiment from Xbox. If you're interested and can afford the outlay, however, then it does largely what it says on the tin.

Also consider

The obvious big name in the market here is the Steam Deck, and it's a great option for those looking to spend a good chunk less (especially since it now goes on sale fairly regularly). Whether you opt for the pricier OLED version for a superb display or the cheapest one available, you'll end up playing many of the same games as you would on the ROG Xbox Ally.

PC gamers won't like me for this, meanwhile, but it's silly to pretend the Switch 2 isn't a great option, too. It's got almost no user customisation and you're completely locked into Nintendo's world, but that world is full of stunning exclusive games and has an ever-increasing roster of indies to call on too.