A handheld that wears the Xbox name for the first time in five years arrives at a moment when the boundary between console and personal computer has grown thin, and the reviewer who spent a week with it finds that the PC underneath still speaks louder than the badge. Its new full screen interface is a real attempt to make Windows bearable on a small screen, a quiet acknowledgment that a machine built for the living room of the hand must be governed by something other than a desktop. Yet the work is unfinished, and at a thousand dollars the promise of a merged gaming identity remains something
Asus ROG Xbox Ally X Review: A Powerful Handheld PC That Only Partly Feels Like an Xbox
It's kind of an Xbox, but it's mostly an Ally
Mark
So is this an Xbox or not?
Mimi
Mostly not. The grips and button feel borrow from the controller, but the reviewer calls it far more PC than console. You still manage TDP and wrestle with Windows.
Mark
What's the real advance, then?
Mimi
The full screen experience. Windows on a 7-inch screen was painful, and the Xbox button now gets you to your launchers and open apps without touching the screen much.
Luke
Worth noting this is a review with one reviewer's testing. The performance numbers come from a handful of games and benchmarks, not a broad study.
Mark
The gains look small, don't they?
Mimi
Yes. About 52 fps in Cyberpunk at 35W versus about 46 for last year's Ally at 30W. The bigger point is better results at 15 to 25W.
Luke
And that wattage gap isn't a perfectly matched comparison. Also, the Windows update helped the Legion Go 2 even without the new interface, so credit for the boost isn't all the FSE's.
Mark
What are the sore spots?
Mimi
Standby battery drain, missing settings, no right-stick scrolling, and no way to add third-party apps to the home screen.
Luke
The standby drain is the reviewer's own experience. Whether it's widespread, or fixable by an update, isn't established.
El Pulso
- A $1,000 price tag sits uneasily against a device the reviewer calls more Windows PC than Xbox console.
- The new full screen experience replaces the cramped Windows desktop, but missing settings and touchscreen-only menus still pull users back into friction.
- Standby battery drain and a power-management tool left in place by Microsoft leave console-minded players juggling wattage settings themselves.
- Performance gains over the prior ROG Ally X are modest, and the strongest showing is at lower wattages where the device quietly holds playable frame rates.
- The outcome hangs on whether the interface reaches other handhelds and whether Microsoft loosens its limits on third-party apps.
A handheld that wears the Xbox name for the first time in five years arrives at a moment when the boundary between console and personal computer has grown thin, and the reviewer who spent a week with it finds that the PC underneath still speaks louder than the badge. Its new full screen interface is a real attempt to make Windows bearable on a small screen, a quiet acknowledgment that a machine built for the living room of the hand must be governed by something other than a desktop. Yet the work is unfinished, and at a thousand dollars the promise of a merged gaming identity remains something the buyer must wait for rather than something already possessed.
The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X costs $1,000 and is the first serious piece of gaming hardware to carry the Xbox name in five years. After more than a week with it, the Gizmodo reviewer concludes that it is far more a Windows PC than an Xbox console, though Microsoft's effort to make Windows workable on a small screen has made it one of the strongest handheld PCs available.
Its body borrows from the Xbox controller. Two prongs on either side were modeled on the wireless pad, and each holds a rumble motor that feels more present than in rival unibody handhelds. The sloped sides mean the reviewer no longer needs a crab-claw grip to reach the bumpers. At 1.58 pounds it is light, and it was comfortable enough that playing in bed no longer numbed the wrists. Two USB-C ports, a microSD slot and a headphone jack sit where a PC would put them, but there is no bottom port for a Switch-style dock.
The real change is the new full screen experience. Pressing the Xbox button opens a Game Bar and a library drawn from the major launchers, and Steam's Big Picture Mode is only a few taps away. It is unfinished, however. Some launchers still force touchscreen use, the Xbox app will not scroll with the right stick, and apps installed outside the supported launchers still require desktop mode. The reviewer also noticed worrying standby drain. Microsoft kept Asus's Armoury Crate for power management, so players must now manage wattage themselves, and the reviewer recommends low settings for lighter games and Turbo mode for the rest.
Performance gains are modest. The Ryzen Z2 Extreme is only a small step beyond the chip of two years ago, though Windows changes that trim background tasks help. The device edges out last year's ROG Ally and the Legion Go 2 in several tests, but it does not clearly beat the MSI Claw in others. Its best showing comes at 15 to 25 watts, where current AAA titles run at playable frame rates with upscaling.
The Legion Go 2 wins on memory and display, with 32GB of RAM and an 8.8-inch OLED screen against the Ally's 24GB and 7-inch LCD, but it costs roughly $350 more. For now the Ally is not the Switch 2 of Xbox. It is a hint of what a true merger of PC and console might become, and its future depends on whether the interface spreads to other handhelds and whether Microsoft eases its restrictions on third-party software.
The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X costs $1,000, and it is the first real piece of gaming hardware to carry the Xbox name in five years. Gizmodo's reviewer, after more than a week with it, concludes that despite the branding it is far more a Windows PC than an Xbox console, and that Microsoft's work to make Windows usable on a small screen has made it one of the best handheld PCs yet.
The physical design is the most obvious nod to Xbox. Two prongs on either side of the body were, according to Microsoft and Asus, modeled on the Xbox wireless controller. The resemblance is not one-to-one, and each prong holds a rumble motor that feels more present than those in other unibody handhelds. The triggers and bumpers echo the controller's Impulse triggers, and the sloped sides mean the reviewer no longer needs a crab-claw grip to reach LB and RB. The A, B, X, Y layout matches, but the buttons and joysticks feel more like a ROG Ally than an Xbox pad. The reviewer found it comfortable, though no more ergonomic than a flat-bodied Steam Deck. One benefit was that playing in bed no longer left the reviewer's wrists numb, as the personal Steam Deck and Switch 2 often do. It weighs 1.58 pounds, barely more than the original $800 ROG Ally X and lighter than Lenovo's Legion Go models.
Being a PC, it has two USB-C ports on top, one of them USB-4 for devices like an external GPU, plus a microSD slot and a headphone jack. There is no port on the bottom for a Switch-style dock, and the grips mean existing Steam Deck docks may not fit. The reviewer's Gulikit dock, which works with other handhelds, does not.
The central software change is the new full screen experience, or FSE. It ends the painful business of running the Windows 11 desktop on a 7-inch screen. Pressing the new Xbox button, next to Asus's Armoury Crate toggle, opens the Game Bar and a library spanning the major launchers. Holding it switches between open apps, and Steam's Big Picture Mode is a few taps away. The device includes a three-month Game Pass Premium subscription, which the reviewer warns you to cancel in time. Asus first described the FSE as a dual-boot arrangement, but the improved performance applies in either mode.
It is unfinished, though. Some launchers and settings still force you onto the touchscreen, and some options remain buried in Windows settings. The reviewer also hit worrying standby battery drain. The Xbox app cannot scroll with the right stick and underuses LB and RB. It recognizes GOG Galaxy, Epic Games Store, Battle.net and Ubisoft Connect, but not other apps you install, which require desktop mode. On SteamOS, by contrast, the reviewer can add something like Emulation Station to the home menu. Microsoft also left Asus's Armoury Crate in place for power management, despite earlier saying it was working on a replacement, so console players must now think about TDP. The reviewer suggests low settings for lighter games and Turbo, which is 25W on battery and 35W plugged in, for everything else.
Performance gains are modest. The AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme is only a marginal step up from the Z1 Extreme of two years ago, but Windows changes that limit background tasks appear to help. Against the Lenovo Legion Go 2 at the same resolution and TDP, the Asus showed small gains. At 1080p and 35W plugged in, Cyberpunk 2077 on Steam Deck settings ran around 52 fps, just under 50 in actual play, against about 46 fps for last year's ROG Ally at 30W. Shadow of the Tomb Raider gained about 10 fps. In 3DMark, it scored about 400 points higher on Steel Nomad Light and 600 higher on Time Spy. In some tests, including Baldur's Gate III, it did not clearly beat the MSI Claw 8 AI+ with an Intel Core Ultra 258V, and in others it trailed that chip.
Its strength is at lower wattages. At 15 to 25W, often using AMD's FSR upscaling, the reviewer got playable frame rates in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Star Wars Outlaws, along with other current AAA games and a few unreleased Xbox titles. The Windows build also helps without the FSE: the reviewer updated the Legion Go 2 to the latest Insider build without the new interface and saw larger gains.
The Legion Go 2 does win on some specs: 32GB of RAM against the Ally's 24GB, and an 8.8-inch OLED display versus the Ally's 7-inch IPS LCD, whose weaker blacks the reviewer missed. But the Legion's Z2 Extreme model launched at $1,350, roughly $350 more. The reviewer hopes updates come quickly and that the FSE reaches handhelds beyond this one. For now, it is not the Switch 2 of Xbox, but a hint of what a real merger of PC and Xbox might become.
Citas Notables
The device is far more of a PC than any flavor of Xbox console, but one of the best handheld PCs yet.— Gizmodo reviewer
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