A handheld that wins the eye and the palm but asks the wallet to believe in more than it can show: the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 arrives with a luminous OLED screen, a sturdier and more thoughtful body, and a price $300 higher than its predecessor, though its inner engine has not changed. In the long human habit of paying for refinement, this reads as a familiar tension between what a thing looks like it has become and what it can actually do. Its worth will be settled less by its beauty than by whether the promised software improvements arrive to close the gap.
Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 Review: Gorgeous OLED and Ergonomics, but Not $1,299 Worth of Performance
A gorgeous piece of hardware that's tricky to recommend for the price
Mark
So what's actually new on the X20?
Mimi
A 7.4-inch 1080p OLED, a translucent chassis with rubberized grips, TMR joysticks, and a rotating D-pad. The chip, 24GB of RAM and 1TB SSD are the same as the original.
Mark
And the price?
Mimi
$1,299, which is $300 above the original's $999, and the original is still available with the same internals.
Luke
Worth noting this is one reviewer's opinion, and the "smokescreen" idea, that the upgrades cover higher memory costs, is his inference. Nothing here shows Asus's actual costs.
Mimi
Fair. He frames it as a feeling, not a finding.
Mark
What about performance against Intel?
Luke
He says Intel's Arc G3 Extreme hits similar frame rates at half the power. But the review gives no figures for that, so we can't check it.
Mimi
Same with the battery. He says it hasn't budged, but the numbers are in charts we don't have here.
Mark
Could it get better?
Mimi
AMD has announced FSR 4 for its handheld silicon, so upscaling may improve.
Luke
Which is a maybe. Nothing says when it arrives or how much it will help.
Le Pouls
- A $1,299 price tag lands $300 above the original, and the internals are identical, so buyers are asked to pay for polish alone.
- The OLED screen dazzles in racing and dark-world games, but that sharpness exposes every blur of upscaling and older frame generation.
- Heavy titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and 007 First Light struggle natively, forcing players to tweak settings and lean on upscaling.
- Intel's Arc G3 Extreme reportedly matches similar frame rates at half the power, while the original X still sits at the old price.
- AMD's FSR 4 support is the hoped-for rescue, and until it proves itself, the verdict hangs on whether the upgrade is worth the premium.
A handheld that wins the eye and the palm but asks the wallet to believe in more than it can show: the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 arrives with a luminous OLED screen, a sturdier and more thoughtful body, and a price $300 higher than its predecessor, though its inner engine has not changed. In the long human habit of paying for refinement, this reads as a familiar tension between what a thing looks like it has become and what it can actually do. Its worth will be settled less by its beauty than by whether the promised software improvements arrive to close the gap.
The reviewer began a flight out of Heathrow by launching Silksong on the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20, and that session showed what the handheld does best. Over a couple of weeks of travel, he found a machine that is better built than its predecessor but hard to justify at its new price.
He came to it skeptical. After seeing it at Computex, he worried it would be overshadowed by Intel's Arc G3 handhelds, and the $1,299 price was a shock he had braced for. Still, the improvements in ergonomics, the translucent body and the OLED display made it look like a slightly less powerful but better-made option for those who value comfort and screen quality.
The display is the clearest triumph: bright, vivid and striking in everything from Forza Horizon 6 to the shadowy world of Silksong. Ergonomics follow closely, with rubberized grips, smoother joysticks, satisfying bumpers and a rotatable D-pad that suits both platformers and fighting games.
The disappointment is what stayed the same. The chip, memory and storage match last year's model, and performance and battery life have not moved, despite Asus citing improved cooling. He suspects the added cost mainly covers the 24GB of memory. Demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 and 007 First Light run poorly without heavy upscaling, and the sharp panel makes those compromises visible.
His verdict is a paradox: a genuinely better device with a weak value proposition. For those who prize OLED, it is worth it; for most others, it is gorgeous but difficult to recommend. He will be watching whether AMD's FSR 4 can change that calculation.
The reviewer at Tom's Guide was on a flight out of Heathrow, headed to an event he can't yet discuss, when he fired up the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 and started playing Silksong. That session, he says, showed the best of what this handheld adds. It also set up the verdict he reached after a couple of weeks of press trips around the world: a better-built machine that is hard to justify at $1,299.
His starting point was indifference. After trying the X20 at Computex, he worried it would sit in the shadow of the Intel Arc G3 handhelds announced at the same show. Then the price came in at $1,299, which he found less alarming than he had feared in what he calls the age of RAMageddon. With better ergonomics, a translucent look and an OLED screen, he figured it might be a slightly weaker but better-made alternative to rivals such as the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+.
The screen is the clearest win. The new 7.4-inch 1080p OLED is bright and vivid, and he describes it as a flash flood of color, whether in Forza Horizon 6, with Japan blurring past at more than 200mph, or in the dark world of Silksong. His display testing found it outshines its Intel-powered counterparts. If the screen decides your purchase, he says, this is a winner.
Ergonomics are the second. Last year he called the original ROG Xbox Ally X the best-feeling Windows gaming handheld available, and he says that still holds, thanks to even weight distribution, Xbox-inspired grips and well-placed buttons. This year Asus made small changes. The transparent chassis has rubberized grips that cut hand fatigue in long sessions. The TMR joysticks feel smooth and should last longer. The bumpers click more satisfyingly, and the rounded face buttons sit better under the thumb.
The D-pad gets particular praise. A hybrid of rubber and metal domes beneath the directions improves precision and feel, and the pad rotates to switch between four-way, suited to platformers or quick weapon selection in shooters, and eight-way, which fighting games need. He says that versatility sets it apart from competitors.
The trouble is what did not change. The internals are identical to last year's model: AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme, 24GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. Asus mentioned evolved ROG Intelligent Cooling, but he says performance hasn't moved. Battery life hasn't either. At $999, with no real competition, that performance was the best available. Now that Intel has arrived, the extra $300 is harder to swallow, especially when the original X, with the same internals, is still around at the old price. He rated that model four stars, with price his main complaint.
He suspects the upgrades are a smokescreen to pass the cost of the 24GB memory on to buyers. Moderately demanding games run well, but heavy titles crawl natively. He cites Cyberpunk 2077 and 007 First Light. Upscaling and tweaked settings help, but until FSR 4 arrives, older frame generation and upscaling are noticeable, particularly on a sharper OLED panel. He also says Intel's Arc G3 Extreme hits similar frame rates at half the power.
His verdict is that the X20 is a frustrating paradox: undeniably a better physical device, yet a weak value at $1,299, with rivals offering more for power users. If OLED excites you, it's your device; for everyone else it is gorgeous but tricky to recommend. AMD has announced FSR 4 for its handheld silicon, which could improve things, and he plans to watch it closely.
Citations marquantes
The reviewer calls the X20 a frustrating paradox: a better physical device whose value proposition falls apart at $1,299.— Tom's Guide reviewer
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