Asus ROG Xbox Ally X review

The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X is a handheld gaming PC that is filled with, and fills me with, contradictions. 'This is an Xbox,' cries Microsoft of what is patently just a PC. 'This is the best handheld gaming PC I've ever used,' I cry of a device that I could not in good conscience recommend anyone with budgetary constraints should buy.

Such is the folly of the redesigned and rebadged Asus ROG Ally X. A handheld gaming PC that goes a long way to ironing out many of the kinks inherent in Windows-based devices, but does so with what I believe is a fundamental misunderstanding of why people buy handhelds in the first place.

At its heart, it's a new version of the Asus handheld, but with a new AMD APU inside and a reskinned, reimagined version of Windows on top. And both are improvements over what's gone before. But Microsoft, having ditched its own plans for an in-house handheld, has slapped an Xbox badge on it and is now asking gamers to pay far more than they have for any Xbox console that has ever existed.

This is the Xbox Ally X: An Xbox that isn't, and a handheld PC that's kinda got it right, but also kinda wrong.

Asus ROG Xbox Ally X - our verdict

But should you buy one? If you have money to burn, and are desperate for the ultimate handheld gaming PC experience, then the Xbox ROG Ally X is the one you will want. It's powerful, feels great (though I think still looks kinda ridiculous), lasts a long time, and runs super quietly, too.

Though if you're just after a second device as a small scale companion to your gaming PC, and don't want to essentially pay the same again for half the performance, it's a far tougher sell. You can find machines with very similar performance, in any Z1 Extreme device, for a lot less. The original Legion Go, for example, is regularly discounted to around half the price of the Xbox Ally X and will happily house SteamOS if you're after a truly seamless handheld experience.

And if you're coming to this expecting a fully Xbox experience, and an upgraded Xbox experience from the most expensive Xbox 'console' Microsoft has ever released… well, you are going to be disappointed. It's still very much a PC experience, with PC games and all the foibles that regularly come with it. This is still not a console.

This is not an Xbox.

Specs of the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X

This was honestly the part I was most interested to see with the new ROG Xbox Ally X, the handheld-focused version of Windows. Essentially, it's a stripped-back interface, with some standard Windows elements and background processes parked until you switch to Windows Desktop Mode.

Sadly, Microsoft isn't just rolling this out as a new option for any current Windows-based handheld, with support for other devices coming sometime in the new year.

So, for now, this is an Xbox Ally X thing, bar some kinda awkward workarounds. That's a shame, because it does make a big difference to the overall experience. As you would expect from the Xbox branding, the Xbox full screen experience, as it's called, is very reminiscent of the design of the Xbox Series X/S UI, but you get to swipe between per-app panels when you want to shift between, say, the Xbox app, the Epic Games Store, or Steam.

Or Armoury Crate. Yes, this is still an Asus product, so it will always have to have Armoury Crate running things, and so you will end up with times where you're not sure whether the setting you're after will be found in the Xbox UI or Armoury Crate's overlay or mainscreen.

And this is why it's never going to deliver the unified experience you get with the Steam Deck, or any other device now running SteamOS, such as the Legion Go S.

But it boots quickly and, crucially for me, it will enter and exit sleep modes quickly and with the minimum of fuss. What it doesn't have, which any Xbox console player will miss, is the Quick Resume feature. On the Series X, I still find it magic that I can shut down the machine mid-game and a couple of days later come back to the exact same point when I boot up. No such luck here, and you will have the Windows thing of games shutting down when the machine goes into hibernation.

I'll say it again. This is not an Xbox.

Aside from the price, this is the biggest disappointment with the Xbox Ally X. I know that a 500 nit 1080p display was all the original device had, but I was hoping for a bit of an upgrade, especially if I'm paying $1,000 for the privilege. Going back to the OneXFly F1 Pro, with its beautiful 1080p OLED panel, I'm wishing I could make the trade.

My soldering skills are sadly not up to it, however.

Honestly, the Xbox Ally X display feels rather flat, especially by comparison, and never really feels like it's reaching the full 500 nits heights. Even at 100% brightness, there is no pop or vibrancy to the colours.

It's responsive, though, and I never experienced any ghosting in even the most fast-paced of games on the device.

The bottom line

The ROG Xbox Ally X is at once both the best handheld gaming PC I've used, but also a lesson in where the industry is going awry with this category of device. Valve got it so right with the pricing of the Steam Deck, and that's why it's still going strong in 2025. Microsoft, on the other hand, is being far too aggressive, expecting people to pay $200 more than an Ally X for a new chassis, an updated APU, and an OS overlay.

And don't get me started about the ludicrous pricing of the ROG Xbox Ally (non-X) with its Steam Deck-like performance and $600 pricetag.

Best handheld PC 2025

1. Best overall:
Lenovo Legion Go S SteamOS ed.

2. Best budget:
Steam Deck

3. Best Windows:
MSI Claw 8 AI+

4. Best big screen:
Lenovo Legion Go

5. Best compact:
Ayaneo Flip DS

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