ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X Review – This Is an Xbox?

Before I sat down in front of a television set with a controller in my hand to play a video game, I played games inches away from my face while squeezing my Game Boy for hours on end. There's many a childhood photo of me with my face buried in a handheld device, with a personal favourite being one where I'm deep into my Game Boy Advance SP on a beach. Those handheld beginnings and the handheld-focused gaming upbringing I had make me, in theory, one of the many who would get a lot of use out of a device like the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X.

That is why I was honestly surprised to be so repulsed by the device when I finally had it in hand earlier this month. That repulsion died a bit before I spent some time checking out the new Xbox-branded ASUS ROG Ally at an afternoon event in my hometown of Toronto since, by that point, I had spent a week with the device. ASUS generously sent it over for this review, and I have now spent three weeks with it at the time of this publishing.

Full disclosure, I don't own a PC handheld myself - I've kept an eye on the Steam Deck, the ASUS ROG Ally and others like them, but beyond the fact that there are more important things than gaming hardware to spend money on at the moment, I flat out do not need one. I have a laptop and a desktop that get me by just fine, a PS5, an Xbox Series X, and a Nintendo Switch covering whatever games I may need or want to play. For myself, I can't justify the cost of any of them, let alone the newest and one of the most expensive ones on the market.

That's why getting to spend some serious time with one of these devices has been eye-opening. I have started to understand the appeal beyond the shallow level myself, and any other enthusiast is capable of seeing just from reading and hearing about these devices. It's simply an impressive thing to walk around with a device in my hands, playing games that I would have just a few short years ago never anticipated being playable in a handheld form factor.

Sure, it's old hat for the small millions of people who've already had their Steam Deck or ROG Ally or Lenovo devices for a couple of years now, but I'll admit that despite my initial distaste (which I'll explain), this is a truly impressive and, surely for some, a worthwhile device to own. I don't know who that person is, though, and even if you have $999 USD (or $1299 CAD) burning a hole in your pocket that can only be spent on video games and gaming-related things, I'd still caution you from picking one up yourself.

ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X Review - This Is An Xbox?

Initial Impressions

Let me begin by addressing why I was repulsed by the device at first. On a superficial level, right out of the box, I just don't think it looks that nice. I wouldn't go far enough to call it ugly, but it's not the slickest device out there. Maybe it's something about the controller-style grips on either side, but when looking at it head-on, it struggles to shake the 'controller they slapped a screen in the middle of' allegations.

To their credit, the controller grips on either side make holding the 715g device comfortable for any extended period, which you will almost certainly be doing thanks to an impressive battery life, even when playing on its Turbo 25w setting.

Backing up a bit to when I took it out of the box, inside you get a 65Wh charger to keep the Xbox Ally X fully charged and ready to go (it also boosts to a 35w Turbo-Turbo mode when plugged in), your bog standard manuals and warranty card, and a little cardboard stand stuck to the top of the box on the inside. After taking off the plastic covering the device, I had my initial repulsion, as we discussed, and I started getting it set up, which took far longer than it would have compared to anyone who just picks one up themselves.

I had to do several pre-release updates and follow a guide specifically because the unit I got didn't come with all the prepared day-one updates. Of course, you won't have to do that, but right away, even with an Xbox button on the side, it was clear that this is definitely not an Xbox.

It loads into the Xbox PC app, specifically the new UI refresh that's releasing with this device and its sibling ROG Xbox Ally, and will also be coming to the original ROG Ally and ROG Ally X devices as an update, and that certainly helps it feel like an Xbox and achieve the console-like experience it's going for. I also have to shoutout the fingerprint reader on the power button, which makes jumping back into the device extremely simple.

The buttons on the back are satisfyingly clicky, and the thumbsticks are comfortably placed. The ABXY buttons have a stickiness to them that I'm not a huge fan of, but it's not too jarring. The triggers have a smooth pull, and the D-Pad, I'm very happy to say, as someone who loves platformers, works really well for even the more intense platforming titles like Celeste. Which is probably the game I've been playing on this the most in my time with it, both because it's an excellent game and because the D-Pad is great to use.

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What I do not like about the layout, however, are the buttons on the top corners of the device on each side of the screen. There are five of them, two on one side and three on the other. It's at least two too many buttons. Either get rid of the Armoury Crate button, or the Xbox button on the left side. We don't need both, especially since they open the same side menu, and the Library button on top of the Menu button on the right side can go. I pressed it accidentally more than a few times, and once again, it brings me to an Armoury Crate menu I can get to through the Xbox button or the Armoury Crate button.

ASUS also sent over its official 2-in-1 hard-shell carrying case for the device, which does a great job of protecting the ROG Xbox Ally or ROG Xbox Ally X when you're tossing it in your backpack or something. It also comes with a small pouch attached to the back of the case via velcro, so you can easily take the charger with you. It's a simple, solid black case, though the strap that holds the ROG Xbox Ally/Ally X in place does make it a little cumbersome to remove and put back quickly.

Tech Specs

A little overview of the technical specifications, the chart below includes the tech specs for the ASUS ROG Ally, Ally X, Xbox Ally, and Xbox Ally X.

The ROG Xbox Ally X is now the new top-end device for the ROG Ally line of handhelds, with its latest Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme Processor, which doesn't add more cores but does seem to add plenty of value in terms of battery efficiency. It has faster memory, but the new processor, memory, improved USB ports, and the new console shape with the controller grips on either side are about where the hardware upgrades stop, compared to the ROG Ally X. Oh, and the addition of an Xbox button, of course.

	ASUS ROG Ally (2023)	ASUS ROG Xbox Ally (2025)	ASUS ROG Ally X (2024)	ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X (2025)
OS	Windows 11 Home	Windows 11 Home	Windows 11 Home	Windows 11 Home
Processors	AMD Ryzen Z1 4nm Zen 4 - 8c/16T up to 5.1Ghz - RDNA 3 12 CU up to 2.7Ghz	AMD Ryzen Z2 A Processor - 4c/8T Zen 2 up to 3.8Ghz boost - RDNA 2 8CU up to 1.8 Ghz boost	AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme 4nm Zen 4 - 8c/16T up to 5.1Ghz - RDNA 3 12 CU up to 2.8Ghz	AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme Processor - 8c/16T Zen 5 up to 5Ghz boost - RDNA 3.5 16CU up to 2.9Ghz boost - up to 50 TOPS NPU
Memory	16GB LPDDR5-6400	16GB LPDDR5-6400	24GB LPDDR5X-7500	24GB LPDDR5X-8000
Storage	512GB M.2 2280 SSD	512GB M.2 2280 SSD	1TB M.2 2280 SSD	1TB M.2 2280 SSD
Display	7" FHD (1920x1080p) IPS, 500 nits, 16:9, 120Hz refresh rate, AMD FreeSync (VRR), Corning Gorilla Glass Victus + DXC Anti-	7" FHD (1920x1080p) IPS, 500 nits, 16:9, 120Hz refresh rate, AMD FreeSync (VRR), Corning Gorilla Glass Victus + DXC Anti-Reflection	7" FHD (1920x1080p) IPS, 500 nits, 16:9, 120Hz refresh rate, AMD FreeSync (VRR), Corning Gorilla Glass Victus + DXC Anti-Reflection	7" FHD (1920x1080p) IPS, 500 nits, 16:9, 120Hz refresh rate, AMD FreeSync (VRR), Corning Gorilla Glass Victus + DXC Anti-Reflection
IO Ports	1x ROG XG Mobile Interface and USB 3.2 Type-C combo port / DisplayPort 1x UHS-II microSD card reader (supports SD, SDXC, and SDHC) 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack	2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with DisplayPort 2.1 / Power Delivery 3.0 1x UHS-II microSD card reader (supports SD, SDXC, and SDHC; UHS-I with DDR200 mode) 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack	1x USB4 Type-C / DisplayPort / Power Delivery 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C / DisplayPort / Power Delivery 1x UHS-II microSD card reader (supports SD, SDXC and SDHC) 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack	1x USB4 Type-C w/DisplayPort 2.1 / Power Delivery 3.0, Thunderbolt Compatible 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with DisplayPort 2.1 / Power Delivery 3.0 1x UHS-II microSD card reader (supports SD, SDXC, and SDHC; UHS-I with DDR200 mode) 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack
Network and Communications	Wi-Fi 6E (2 x 2) + Bluetooth 5.2	Wi-Fi 6E (2 x 2) + Bluetooth 5.4	Wi-Fi 6E (2 x 2) + Bluetooth 5.2	Wi-Fi 6E (2 x 2) + Bluetooth 5.4
Dimensions (W x D x H) and Weight	280*113*39mm 608g	290.8*121.5*50.7mm 670g	280.2*114*36.9mm 678g	290.8*121.5*50.7mm 715g
Battery	40Wh	60Wh	80Wh	80Wh
Price	$499 USD	$599 USD	$799 USD	$999 USD

Benchmarking/Battery Life

Beginning with battery life, after an hour of Red Dead Redemption 2 on Turbo mode, the battery was only down to 50%. Only losing half of the battery after starting with a full charge, while pushing the device on Turbo after an hour of playtime, might not sound like the best, but it's not bad in my book considering the fact that I've found I really don't need to be at the Turbo setting all the time to get solid performance out of whatever I'm playing.

When set to the 17w Performance mode, the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X handled just about anything I've thrown at it, and while Turbo is impressive, knowing I can squeeze a significant amount more time out of the device, without having to tone down my playing experience, is one of the ROG Xbox Ally X's biggest features.

Part of that, as I learned when I spoke to ASUS's Whitson Gordon and Sashca Krohn, comes from the company's focus on ensuring that battery life is a priority, which meant not going with an OLED screen, and not giving up its power-efficient IPS display. As much as I'll always love an OLED display when I can get it, I can't knock the IPS display here. The 7", 1920x1080p, 16:9 IPS display at 500 nits with a 120Hz refresh rate is more than servicable. Would an OLED be nice? Sure. Would it make the device even more expensive and difficult to recommend than I already think it is? Undoubtedly. All that to say, I'm not miffed about the lack of an OLED.

Getting into some of the benchmarking I did, for context, I'm no Digital Foundry. I'm not able to provide analysis on that level, but I can share internal benchmark results from the games I tested that have internal benchmarks. To that end, I tried to test a good mix of games: Forza Horizon 5, DOOM: The Dark Ages, Red Dead Redemption 2, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

In all of these games, save one, the common thread was that I could find ways to hit above 30 FPS, or even 60 FPS+, but keeping the frame rate consistent was always an issue. Forza Horizon 5 was the one game where I saw the game hit a consistent, smooth 60 FPS.

The built-in VRR helps smooth out the experience, but some games, like DOOM: The Dark Ages, I would just flat out not recommend playing on the ROG Xbox Ally X.

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My Red Dead Redemption 2 benchmarks were much more promising. I consistently hit 40 FPS on the 17Wh power mode, even with the graphics settings at Ultra. It was only when I switched to the Silent 13Wh power mode that it dropped to 30 FPS.

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Shadow of the Tomb Raider was a similar story in that the higher settings would be able to hit around 40 FPS on both the 25Wh and 35Wh Turbo mode and the 17Wh Performance mode, though, of course, it started to falter much more when dropped down to the 13Wh Silent mode. Still, it only dropped to 30 FPS, and if you're like me and you don't balk at something when it hits lower than 60 FPS, the fact that I could play a game like Shadow of the Tomb Raider, even at 30 FPS, on this machine's 13Wh Silent mode is impressive.

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Horizon Zero Dawn was, once again, the same story, with closer to 40 FPS on the 17Wh Performance battery mode, and 30 FPS on the 13Wh Silent battery mode. What separates Horizon Zero Dawn from the rest (besides Forza Horizon 5), however, is that you can run the game on its Favour Performance graphics settings, enjoy a slightly higher, closer to 50 FPS frame rate on the 17Wh mode, and it'll still look and feel great.

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There were other games I played to test them out, like God of War (2018), Elden Ring, Dying Light: The Beast, OlliOlli World, and Hell is Us. Elden Ring, for whatever reason, crashed almost every time I tried playing it. The first time, it was seemingly just because I used the volume buttons on top of the device. Two more times, it was seemingly because I tried to navigate the menu with the LB and RB buttons. Another was just in the middle of gameplay, for no discernible reason.

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I also crashed in Dying Light: The Beast, and that one was caused by going outside into Old Town from the Town Hall safe zone. Thankfully, that only happened once, but crashes aren't necessarily the ROG Xbox Ally X's fault.

This Is An Xbox?

At least to me, it's not. It's a PC handheld that runs Windows 11 and a special Xbox UI that makes it feel and behave more like a console. But it's not a console, and you shouldn't expect to pick one up and have a console experience with it.

You might have a console-like experience, heavy emphasis on 'like,' but it's a PC handheld, and even without having spent a lot of time with the full suite of PC handhelds out there, this definitely feels like one tailored for me, the console player who started seriously playing PC games within the last five years.

Having access to my full Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG library on the go in this form factor is awesome. It's not my full Xbox library, though, which is one reason it's only a 'console-like' experience. When I scroll over to the games that I 'Own' under my Xbox account, I don't see my full library.

I'm not talking about not seeing games I have on physical discs; I'm talking about the original Xbox and Xbox 360 games that are playable on my Xbox Series X but don't appear here. Or any game that I know is available on my Xbox console but, for some reason, isn't on the Xbox PC app. It flat out is not my full Xbox library wherever I want it, and is only games playable through the Xbox PC app and Cloud Gaming.

It's honestly a small element in the grand scheme of it all. I know not everyone is going to be as miffed about this as I am, but it's another straw to add to my pile labeled, 'What am I paying $999 for then?' I also still really don't know who this device is for. If you're so invested in playing games that you'd be spending that kind of money on this device, you probably already have another means of getting your gaming time in. I get that portability is the big thing you're paying for here, but besides the fact that there are cheaper devices you can accomplish that with, your pre-existing PC and console can more than cover your gaming needs.

The price of this handheld is exorbitant; there's no other way to put it. In fairness, an overly expensive Xbox-branded PC handheld aligns perfectly with Microsoft's current Xbox plans. Still, compared to other popular PC handhelds, including ASUS's own ROG Ally products, I'm not sure this is the upgrade to go for.

If you already own a PC gaming handheld, ROG Ally or not, this doesn't seem like enough of an upgrade to drop $999. If you're looking to grab your first PC gaming handheld, you absolutely do not need to jump to the top-end of the price chart to get what you want out of a device like this. Just pick up a case that has grips on either side to match its built-in grips.

Credit where it's due, this is still an impressive piece of technology. I definitely understand why devices like this have become popular, but I don't understand paying that much when you can get comparable experiences, particularly on ASUS's own devices, for less.

The device was provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.

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