ASUS ROG Xbox Ally Review: Beautiful Hardware, Compromised Performance at a Premium Price

The reviewer's gaming time comes in stolen pieces: gaps between work, chores and bedtime stories. So when the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally, model RC73YA, landed on the desk, the question was whether it earned a place in that limited time. After weeks of testing, the answer in The Expositor's review is a qualified no. The handheld is beautifully built, the verdict runs, but it suffers from what the reviewer calls a debilitating identity crisis and delivers a compromised experience at a premium price.

The device went on sale October 16, 2025, at $799, through the ASUS Store and Best Buy. That figure is the heart of the problem. The Xbox Series S console costs $450 and the Series X $650. The Steam Deck starts around $499, and the Nintendo Switch 2 runs about $630. Carrying the Xbox name, the reviewer argues, the Ally should deliver something close to a console experience, either on the go or plugged in.

The hardware is where it earns its praise. At 670 grams (1.48 pounds), it is light, and the reviewer calls it the most comfortable Windows handheld they have used, matching its bigger sibling, the Xbox Ally X. The 7-inch, 1080p screen refreshes at 120Hz and is described as stunning, with vibrant games and smooth motion. Other listed strengths include a faster fingerprint reader, quicker boot times, longer battery life at lower power settings, and the Xbox full-screen interface.

Under the shell is an AMD Ryzen Z2 A processor with four cores and eight threads, tuned for battery life and running at a modest 5 to 15 watts when unplugged. It is a clear step up from the Steam Deck's older architecture in raw processing power and screen quality. But the review says the Switch 2 often matches or beats it in frame rates on demanding AAA titles. The Ally also sits well below the Xbox Ally X and the MSI Claw 8 AI+, both built for maximum performance at nearly double the price. On battery, it lands mid-pack: the Steam Deck OLED often lasts longer, and the Claw has a larger battery.

In practice, the reviewer found the Ally to be fundamentally an indie machine. Platformers, turn-based RPGs and other lighter titles in the Game Pass library run smoothly and are enjoyable. Anything released in recent years is another matter. With AAA games, the reviewer had to drop from 1080p to 720p, push graphics presets to Low or at best Medium, and hope for an average above 30 frames per second. Set against a Series X that costs over $100 less and runs the same games in 4K at high frame rates, the review calls the trade-off disappointing.

Software added to the frustration. Layering the Xbox full-screen experience over Windows produced real struggles. Launching Battlefield 6 through Steam often looked like a freeze, but the splash screen had loaded and simply never came to the foreground; swiping up on the touchscreen or long-pressing the Xbox button revealed it. In No Man's Sky, the sound stopped and gameplay froze while text and particles kept moving, until the reviewer switched to another window and back. In the Armoury Crate menu, input-adjustment tools were sometimes cut off, hiding some options entirely. The listed cons also include the lack of a centralized software update space. The reviewer concludes the device looks rushed to market, turning premium buyers into unwilling beta testers.

The verdict is that the Ally fits a small, expensive niche: people who insist on playing Windows and Xbox games on the move but don't need the latest releases at medium or high settings. The reviewer plans to keep the unit anyway, letting their son play Lego Star Wars on it while they turn to a PS5 or the higher-tier Xbox Ally X for more demanding games. For prospective buyers, the comparison to cheaper consoles and handhelds is the one to make first.