Verdict: 8/10
Review Summary
While the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X incorporates the Xbox name, it doesn’t quite deliver a truly integrated, console-like Windows gaming handheld experience. However, thanks to its impressive AMD processor and a surprisingly competitive price, it currently stands as the handheld to beat in the Windows ecosystem.
Pros:
- Fantastic gaming performance
- Solid battery life
- Comfortable grip design
- Great overall aesthetic
Cons:
- Windows remains a challenging interface for handhelds
- Higher price point
- Disappointing Xbox app and overlay additions
Introduction: A New Era?
The highly anticipated Asus ROG Xbox Ally X has finally arrived, heralding what many hoped would be a new era for Windows gaming handhelds, driven by Microsoft’s innovative Xbox app. Unfortunately, this $1,000 handheld largely reinforces why Windows alternatives still struggle to match the overall usability of Valve’s Steam Deck. Despite its underwhelming Xbox console-like experience, the Xbox Ally X is an excellent device worthy of consideration, largely due to its superb AMD processor.
At the heart of this machine lies the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme, representing a significant performance leap over the original Steam Deck and other first-generation handhelds like the older ROG Ally X and Lenovo Legion Go. While devices such as the Ayaneo 3 and AOKZOE A1X have recently demonstrated similar raw performance with AMD Radeon 890M-class GPUs, the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X offers this power at a much more reasonable—though still premium—price. As it vies for a top spot on our list of best gaming handhelds, let’s delve into what makes this latest Windows handheld a compelling, if imperfect, choice.
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Technical Specifications
Here’s a detailed breakdown of the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X’s key hardware:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme
- GPU: AMD Radeon 890M
- RAM: 24GB LPDDR5X 7,500MT/s
- Display: 7-inch IPS LCD, 1920 x 1080 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 500 nits brightness, 100% sRGB, 75.35% Adobe RGB, AMD FreeSync Premium (VRR)
- Battery: 80Wh
- Storage: 1TB M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 SSD
- Weight: 715g (1.58 lbs)
- Dimensions: 290 x 121 x 27.5 – 50.9mm (11.42″ x 4.76″ x 1.08″ – 2.00″)
- Controls: Xbox layout, two rear buttons, two additional top-mounted left and right click inputs
- I/O: 1 x USB 4 Type-C/Thunderbolt 4, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C 40Gbps, 1 x UHS-II microSD, 1 x 3.5mm combo audio jack
- Extra Features: Two rear buttons, power button with integrated fingerprint sensor, Ayaspace quick menu button, home button for Windows Game Bar access
Design Overview
The Xbox Ally X’s design is a refinement of the existing ROG Ally X. It maintains the same color options (black for Xbox Ally X, white for ROG Ally X) and features identical face buttons, D-pad, and thumbstick designs, complete with their signature RGB lighting rings. The only visual distinction is the inclusion of an Xbox button on the front, to the left of the screen.
This handheld doesn’t introduce revolutionary features like detachable controllers, a slide-out keyboard, a kickstand, or touchpads akin to the Steam Deck. It sticks to the classic Windows handheld form factor, with its innovative grips being the primary differentiator.
These grips, however, are a significant highlight. This is arguably the most comfortable gaming handheld we’ve tested, with the added depth and ergonomic shape fitting naturally in the hand, much like a well-designed PC controller. The unique split section at the bottom, which gives the device the appearance of a controller split around a screen, allows for a firm wrap-around grip. Combined with a subtle crosshatching pattern, this design enables comfortable one-handed operation.
In other ergonomic aspects, it’s comparable to similar handhelds. At 715g, it’s slightly heavier than a Steam Deck but considerably lighter than the 854g Lenovo Legion Go. The 7-inch screen’s proportions work well with the control layout, though the noticeable bezels suggest there might have been room for a slightly larger display.
Display and Audio Performance
Delving into the screen, it’s a 7-inch IPS LCD panel with a crisp 1080p (1,920 x 1,080) resolution and a high refresh rate of up to 120Hz. Crucially, it supports variable refresh rate (VRR) with FreeSync, allowing the screen to adapt its refresh rate to match game frame rates. This prevents screen tearing and stutter, ensuring a smooth visual experience while also helping to conserve battery life at lower refresh rates.
For gaming, these specifications translate into excellent performance, providing the speed and flexibility needed for both fast-paced titles and those where battery preservation is a priority, all while maintaining good image clarity. However, in terms of pure image quality, this screen is competent but not exceptional. While it offers good viewing angles for an LCD and produces natural, well-saturated colors, it cannot achieve the deep black levels of OLED panels found in devices like the Steam Deck OLED. Consequently, it lacks the vibrant contrast and punchiness that OLED technology offers. Its response time, while technically slower than OLEDs, is not a significant factor in a handheld of this nature.
The screen also doesn’t support HDR and covers 100% of the sRGB color space and 75% of the AdobeRGB color space, which means its colors may appear slightly less vivid compared to top-tier gaming monitors.
Sound, conversely, is a strong point for the Xbox Ally X. Its stereo, forward-firing speakers deliver impressive volume—often more than required—and maintain a decent depth that prevents them from sounding shrill or tinny. The 3.5mm headphone jack provides clean, clear audio without any noticeable background noise.
Operating System and the Xbox App Experience
A major reason for the excitement surrounding the Xbox Ally X was the expectation that Microsoft would deliver a groundbreaking Xbox app experience, transforming the usability of Windows gaming handhelds. While the updated app introduces some positive elements, it ultimately falls short of being the comprehensive solution needed to overcome the inherent frustrations of navigating Windows with a D-pad and touchscreen.
Upon startup, the Xbox Ally X automatically loads the Xbox app, creating a centralized hub for your installed games, Xbox profile, Game Pass access, Cloud gaming options, and the Microsoft game store. It successfully integrates games from other launchers, such as Steam and Epic, allowing you to launch them directly from within the app. However, this is largely where its extensive integration ends, as it fails to provide a unified access point for device-specific controls or settings.
Given that the app is essentially a revamped version of the existing Xbox app for Windows, its limited integration of device functions is somewhat understandable. Yet, Microsoft missed a crucial opportunity to replicate standard Windows controls—like screen brightness, volume, and power mode settings—directly within the app. This oversight is particularly puzzling, as Valve has already demonstrated a highly effective approach with its Steam Big Picture mode, which Microsoft could have easily emulated for its own equivalent.
The app’s main home screen prominently displays recently played games (regrettably, only as icons without titles) and largely focuses on promoting new games and Game Pass. Similarly, the Game Pass section highlights the service rather than prioritizing titles you’ve already installed. The “Library” section, thankfully, offers a clean and sensible interface for all your installed games, while the cloud gaming and store sections function as expected for discovering and acquiring new titles.
In the “Friends” section, you can chat with your Xbox contacts, check online statuses, and communicate via voice, voice-to-text, or the on-screen keyboard.
With limited device management within the Xbox app itself, these critical functions are handled by the Xbox/Asus overlay, which activates by pressing either the Xbox button or the adjacent Asus Command Center button, appearing over any running game or application.
Pressing the Xbox button takes you to the overlay’s home section, allowing you to quickly launch one of your last three played games or open a game launcher. Swiping left reveals the main Asus Command Center, where all device settings are controlled. Here, you can adjust brightness and volume, power down the device, switch between various power modes (Silent at 13W, Performance at 17W, and Turbo at 25W on battery or 35W when plugged in), set the FPS Limiter, enable AMD RSR, and change resolutions. Lower power consumption naturally extends battery life but comes at the cost of performance, a trade-off we explore in the performance section.
To the right of the home section, a “Settings” tab redundantly duplicates some volume, brightness, power, and network options already available in the Command Center. Other tabs include Xbox Social, Audio, screen capture, system monitoring, Xbox Achievements, the inevitable CoPilot AI tab, and a Widget Store tab.
The cumulative effect of these overlapping and sometimes redundant features is an overly complicated and somewhat fussy user experience, exemplified by having three separate locations to adjust system volume. While having these functions accessible is beneficial, the overall implementation feels rushed and lacks a coherent, holistic design.
Furthermore, during our review, a recent automatic firmware update caused the Xbox button to incorrectly launch Steam Big Picture, rendering the D-pad navigation within the overlay non-functional. This bug, though likely to be fixed, created a frustrating workaround requiring exclusive use of the ROG Command Center button. More broadly, the Xbox app and overlay ultimately fail to address the fundamental problem of Windows’ poor touchscreen and D-pad navigation. Microsoft urgently needs to develop a unified interface that centralizes key Windows functions into a proper mobile-style environment, complete with a clean, scrolling app drawer and a simplified settings menu. The current blending of touch and mouse interfaces hinders the desktop experience and remains particularly cumbersome on touchscreen devices, a critical lesson Microsoft appears to have overlooked since the struggles of Windows 8 a decade ago.
Gaming Performance
While the Xbox Ally X’s integrated Xbox software experience leaves much to be desired, its raw performance and gaming capabilities are nothing short of excellent. Once games are successfully launched—especially through Steam—the controls operate flawlessly. The AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor, the core of this machine, delivers significantly higher frame rates compared to first-generation handhelds. Although devices like the Ayaneo 3 and AOKZOE A1X boast similar GPU power, the Ally X’s performance figures remain impressive.
In Cyberpunk 2077, running at 1080p with medium detail settings and FSR upscaling set to “Quality” while in the highest 35W power mode (when plugged in), the Xbox Ally X delivered a perfectly playable experience. An average of 43 frames per second (fps) and a 1% low of 33fps might not feel perfectly smooth with a mouse and keyboard, but we found it entirely acceptable for controller input. Boosting FSR upscaling to “Balanced” mode (which renders at a lower initial resolution) saw performance jump to a 49fps average.
In the lower-power 17W mode, running on battery, performance decreased by approximately 25%, with balanced upscaling yielding a 37fps average. This is still just about playable, though for more intense combat scenarios, you might consider further tweaking settings, such as dropping to low overall quality, for a smoother experience. Playing at the Steam Deck’s native resolution with balanced upscaling achieved a 52fps average.
Remarkably, the Ally X can even (just barely) handle ray tracing in Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p. Using the low ray tracing quality preset and FSR set to balanced, the device managed 29fps in 35W power mode. While not our preferred way to play, the option is there.
Similarly, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, a game that doesn’t allow for complete ray tracing disablement, ran exceptionally well on the Xbox Ally X, even without any upscaling. With the low quality preset, the game averaged 33fps in 35W mode. This dropped to 29fps in 17W mode, which is still quite playable for a slower-paced adventure game. For a smoother frame rate, enabling FSR upscaling on the “Quality” setting achieved a 42fps average in 35W mode (37fps at 17W), and using “Balanced” upscaling pushed this to 46fps (35W) and 39fps (17W). Throughout, even at low quality settings, the game looked fantastic on the screen of this size.
Beyond demanding modern AAA titles, we tested a variety of older 3D games, such as 2011’s Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, which effortlessly ran at well over 100fps even in 17W mode.
Regarding thermals and acoustics, this handheld remains remarkably cool and quiet. Even in its most powerful 35W mode, it only registered 38dB from a distance of 10cm during Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay, dropping to a mere 33dB in 17W mode. The device itself only became slightly warm to the touch.
Battery Life Assessment
Featuring a substantial 80Wh battery, the Xbox Ally X delivers robust battery life for a gaming handheld. In the demanding PCMark 10 gaming battery life benchmark, the device lasted just under two hours in its top 25W power mode. However, this duration significantly increased to three hours when operating in the 17W mode.
It’s important to note that these tests were conducted without an FPS Limiter enabled, which could further extend battery life by reducing the GPU’s workload. We plan to update this review with additional tests, including battery life measurements with an FPS limiter, as well as video playback and PCMark 10 Office benchmark results, similar to our gaming laptop reviews. Based on our general usage, the device provided approximately four to six hours of gaming on less demanding titles, which is comparable to other handhelds in its class.
Pricing Details
The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X is priced at $999 / £799. This positions it as an expensive acquisition, noticeably pricier than the Steam Deck OLED and many first-generation handhelds. However, it is comfortably more affordable than other competing handhelds that feature second-generation chips, such as the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme. The UK price, in particular, is highly competitive, matching the existing ROG Ally X. In contrast, devices like the AOKZOE A1X often retail for upwards of $1,300.
Alternative Handhelds to Consider
If the Xbox Ally X has caught your eye, here are a few other compelling options:
- AOKZOE A1X: Currently holding the crown for raw performance and screen quality among Windows gaming handhelds, the AOKZOE A1X also incorporates a similar second-gen AMD processor to the Xbox Ally X. However, it comes with a significantly higher price tag and typically offers less impressive battery life.
- Asus ROG Ally X: The original ROG Ally X, despite utilizing an older generation processor, remains a strong contender. It offers almost all the features of the Xbox Ally X, albeit with a slightly reduced performance. Currently, its price hasn’t dropped enough to make it a distinct value proposition below the Xbox Ally X. A substantial price reduction, perhaps to the $600-$700 range, would make it an excellent mid-range option.
- Steam Deck OLED: For unparalleled ease of use, the Steam Deck interface continues to reign supreme. At roughly half the price of the Xbox Ally X, the Steam Deck OLED remains, for many, the best gaming handheld overall. While its 800p screen and aging processor are showing their limitations in raw power, its streamlined user experience and exceptional value are incredibly difficult to surpass.
Final Verdict
The grand hope that an Xbox-branded Windows device would finally deliver a slick, streamlined gaming handheld interface has not fully materialized with the Xbox Ally X. Yet, despite its Xbox additions feeling somewhat superficial, this device nonetheless stands as the premier Windows handheld currently available.
Much of its success stems from the sheer power of its AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor, which provides a truly significant upgrade in gaming performance compared to the Steam Deck and other first-generation handhelds. Furthermore, the distinctive, controller-style grips on the Xbox Ally X are a surprisingly effective and welcome ergonomic feature.
Crucially, the biggest differentiator is its pricing. While still a premium gaming handheld, it offers far greater value than other devices in its performance category. If you’re seeking the best Windows handheld experience right now, the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X is undoubtedly your top choice.