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The ROG Xbox Ally X, the handheld console collaboration from Asus and Microsoft, is an impressive, yet expensive, piece of gaming tech. The pricier of the two portable gaming devices dropping on 16 October, the all-black ROG Xbox Ally X will cost you a cool £799 (€899/$999/A$1599) to sample its splendour. (The less powerful ROG Xbox Ally, which comes in white, will run you £499/€599/$599/A$999.) Thankfully, the pricier option has said splendour in spades.
I’ve put the ROG Xbox Ally X through its paces for the last few weeks, playing indie darlings and massive role-playing games throughout my apartment. Though the price tag is certainly a shocker (the Steam Deck OLED, a direct competitor, costs £479/€569/$549/A$899 for its cheaper model), the power packed into this comparatively smaller frame (291 x 122 x 51mm) is like nothing the portable gaming market has seen before.
That power, coupled with its ability to play Xbox games through cloud gaming or its Play Anywhere initiative (where purchases and process carry between Xbox and PC platforms), and PC games across various storefronts, makes it incredibly appealing to both Xbox loyalists and portable gaming fans alike. Though the ROG Xbox Ally X had a few hiccups during my time with it, and some user interface issues that interfered with performance, most of them were easily rectified and quickly forgotten once I was deep into playing a game.
Setting up the ROG Xbox Ally X
Setting up the ROG Xbox Ally X isn’t frictionless. Though the device will launch into a dedicated full-screen Xbox experience that mimics both the Xbox console and PC app, it’s still a handheld running the Windows 11 operating system, and it needs an update before you can get going. This took a little time, and with all the pop-up notifications and steps of the standard Windows experience, it feels a bit odd for a gaming handheld.
For the first day, despite adding my Xbox account immediately, the device told me that I didn’t have Xbox Game Pass Ultimate – the upper tier of Microsoft’s gaming subscription service – and my attempts to re-link my account were in vain. The next day, it randomly worked. It also struggled to connect to my home wifi after waking from sleep mode – though weirdly, this also rectified itself after the first 24 hours.
Once I got my various accounts connected (since this is a Windows handheld, you can also download PC game launchers like Steam, Epic Games Store, and Blizzard’s Battle.net), the ROG Xbox Ally X ran pretty well.
In a user friendly touch, it boots straight into the familiar Xbox user interface, but pulls games from the other game launchers, to ensure you can jump right into whatever you were just playing, no matter where it’s hosted.
This can be an issue, however, if you’re playing say a Steam game, then jump back to the Xbox dedicated launcher and try to start a game through another storefront. The ROG Xbox Ally X doesn’t automatically close the last game you had open, or even ask you if you want to close it, which obviously kneecaps performance. And there were also a few moments where it kind of hung, suspended, in the Xbox interface and didn’t respond to any of my inputs.
There was also a moment where the handheld slogged through a download of a rather beefy RPG, repeatedly losing connection whenever it would go idle, forcing me to resume the process manually. But after a reboot, it sailed through the rest of the file download without a hitch.
ROG Xbox Ally performance
The above issues can hopefully be solved with a simple user interface (UI) update, because when it’s not being a bit finicky, the ROG Xbox Ally X performs incredibly well. There’s a bit of sluggishness when trying to boot up at low battery levels (sub-15%), but Supergiant Games’ beloved roguelike sequel, Hades II, launches fast and plays perfectly with no discernible load times between areas. Meatier games such as Avowed and PC mainstays like Backyard Baseball run smooth as butter, with beautiful frame rates and very little load times.
Though the ROG Xbox Ally X doesn’t have an OLED screen, I’d be surprised if anyone really misses it. Games look incredible on its 7-inch, 1080p display. The glimmers and glints of Hades II’s mostly stationary characters are a visual feast; I let out a soft gasp when the moon goddess Selene first appeared, her pearlescent gown shimmering blue and sea-foam green.
Xbox and Asus cleverly routed some system resources towards higher frame rates, and it pays off when playing a game as visually busy and punishing as Hades II – at no point am I so overwhelmed by what’s playing out that I can’t make sense of the battle at hand and act accordingly.
The speakers are also fantastic for immersion. At one point in Hades II, I walked past the goddess of the hunt, Artemis, who was sitting in a moonlit glade quietly singing to herself. As I moved, her song emanated only from the left speaker, telling me she was still there behind me, even though I could no longer see her. Those kinds of beautiful details really shine.
As for looks, the ROG Xbox Ally X may be initially odd – it’s like someone cut an Xbox controller in half and then soldered a screen between its grips – but the matt black finish is incredibly sleek, and the adjustable LEDs that ring the joysticks offer just the right amount of gamer-style finish.
Gaming on the go, or on the couch
During my time with the ROG Xbox Ally X, I’ve played it lying prone in bed, propped up on the couch, leaning on the counter while waiting for pasta water to boil, and at my desk during writing breaks. After 10 minutes of hands-on time this summer, I wasn’t sure if the rather large handheld would be comfortable for me during longer sessions. But actually, holding it is comfortable even after a couple of hours of playtime. At 715g, though heavier than the less powerful ROG Xbox Ally (670g) and Steam Deck OLED (640g), the weight difference is negligible, especially because the controller-inspired grips are incredibly ergonomic. The only time I felt uncomfortable was after sitting with it held up above me on the couch with no elbow or wrist support; then, my pinkies got a little sore from holding its weight.
The battery life is great (coming in at 80Wh, more than the ROG Xbox Ally’s 60Wh), considering what’s under the hood. I could play Hades II for two hours straight with no issue, including a run that lasted 20 minutes at 22%, which only dropped the battery to 10%. Although parts of the handheld got a little warm during especially long play sessions, it was never excessively hot.
ROG Xbox Ally X’s game library
As for games, the device cleverly leverages the Xbox Play Anywhere initiative, which reflects Microsoft’s recent push for you to access its games, including a library of 1,000 purchasable Xbox and Xbox Game Pass subscription games across multiple devices, such as on PC, Xbox consoles, and now ROG Xbox Ally handhelds, with your progress intact.
As someone who once owned a Steam Deck, and who has had an Xbox Game Pass for years, the ROG Xbox Ally X is my platonic ideal for a handheld console. I prefer the way Xbox controllers feel in my hands, and this device mimics that. I enjoy dipping into the Xbox Game Pass library to try out a new game, and this device lets me take that on the go – and if it’s a Play Anywhere title, which most games are, I also don’t need to worry about having internet access to enjoy it.
If you’ve got the funds and are in the market for a powerful gaming handheld that can not only play PC games from a digital store of your choosing, but also an impressive suite of Xbox games, the ROG Xbox Ally X would be a good end of year splurge.
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The ROG Xbox Ally/Ally X is out today, October 16; £479-£799/$599-$999
