The original Asus ROG Ally launched over two years ago, and there have been varying iterations of Windows gaming handhelds ever since, from MSI, Lenovo, and more. They've all suffered from the same problem: Windows. Until now. The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X has a brand-new full-screen UI, along with next-gen internals, of course.

If you've never owned a Windows gaming handheld, it's not hard to imagine. It's just a Windows desktop on a tiny screen, but instead of a mouse, you have to try and use a touchscreen to interact with tiny game icons. There's usually some OEM software on top that tries to do better, but it's not great.

The new Xbox UI is fantastic. That's it, this is the best gaming handheld now. It's pricey, and you won't find any SteamOS handhelds at this price because Valve doesn't want it, but that also means you won't get a Z2 Extreme chip with SteamOS.

Microsoft didn't just deliver a friendlier UI either. It's lighter too, not loading Windows system components that would typically hog memory.

Asus ROG Xbox Ally X pricing and availability

The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X is available beginning on October 16 for $999.99. There's only one configuration, including the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor, a 1TB SSD, and 24GB RAM.

The regular ROG Xbox Ally will also be available October 16, but for $599.99. That one comes with the AMD Ryzen Z2 A, a 512GB SSD, and 16GB RAM. It comes in white, while the Ally X comes in black.

Notably, the Z2 Extreme is the good one, packing eight cores including three Zen 5 and five Zen 5c. The Z2 A has four Zen 2 cores.

The new Xbox shell makes all the difference

Finally, Windows can be good on a small screen

I cannot put into words how bad Windows is on a seven-inch screen. Indeed, I asked HP once why it never made a gaming handheld, and I was told in no uncertain terms that the company simply wouldn't make a product with that bad of an experience. You can imagine it though, because it's just like using your computer, only much smaller.

This new experience is so much better. It's not just some "optimized" version of the same thing, like we've seen on Windows 11 touch mode. It's familiar, taking familiar parts of the Xbox app, and it's making it into what's more or less a shell.

There's a navigation panel that runs down the left side of the screen that you're familiar with: home, Game Pass, your library, cloud gaming, and the store. If you swipe in from the left, you get the Game Bar overlay. If you swipe up from the bottom, you get a multitasking view that lets you switch between game/apps, close them, and sometimes critically, switch to the Windows desktop.

Let's talk about switching to the Windows desktop, because it's there if you need it. Just like any other Windows handheld, you could plug it into a monitor and use it as a full PC.

But Microsoft was smart about this. When the ROG Xbox Ally X boots into the Xbox app, it's not loading everything it typically would on a normal Windows boot. We were told that this frees up about 2GB of memory, which will boost performance. When you switch to the desktop, it's loading those other components.

To get back to the full-screen Xbox UI, there's a button in the top-right of the Xbox app. When you hit it, it's going to suggest that you reboot so you get those performance optimizations back. It's not mandatory, if you're willing to stick with the compromises.

But to be clear, this product runs full Windows. It's not something that can only play Xbox console games, and in fact, it can't play console-only games. If you want those, you have to use cloud streaming. I mention full Windows because you can run games from anywhere you want, just like you'd expect. Steam games work great.

I do like it better than SteamOS for that reason. The ROG Xbox Ally is way more powerful than a Steam Deck, and it can run all of the games you want. You can't run Xbox Game Pass games on SteamOS (I 100% expect to be reading comments from the mad geniuses that can get that to work).

It's designed like an Xbox controller

Everything about this screams Xbox

One of the most notable difference between the design of the ROG Ally X and the ROG Xbox Ally X is that this one is shaped like an Xbox controller, at least on the sides. It's completely designed to feel like you're playing an Xbox, which is cool. It's probably the most comfortable gaming handheld that I've used. It feels natural.

It has the familiar joysticks and buttons, although I have a gripe with the fact that the buttons are not colored, like they would be on an Xbox controller. It's even more painful because they are colored on the ROG Xbox Ally, which has a white chassis. I do not know why this design choice was made. In fact, given the same dimensions of each, I have no idea why you can't just choose your color.

The two buttons on each side of the screen are still there from the original ROG Ally series, but there's a new button just above the directional pad, the Xbox button. You can probably guess what it does; it takes you right back to the Xbox UI. Indeed, like I said when I talked about the experience, it's all different, yet familiar. If you're an Xbox user, you should be able to figure out how this works.

Performance: The Z2 Extreme is better than the Z1 Extreme

Big, if true

The ROG Xbox Ally uses AMD's shiny (I don't know, I obviously haven't seen it but we'll assume it's shiny) new Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor. It's got eight cores in a mix of Zen 5 and Zen 5c. Notably, not all of the Z2 lineup is Zen 5 at all. The Z2 A in the ROG Xbox Ally non-X is quad-core Zen 2. The Z2 Go that was in Lenovo's Legion Go S is Zen 3+. In fact, for the Legion Go S, the Z2 Go was considered the lower-end variant of the product, while the more expensive one still used a Z1 Extreme.

The Z2 Extreme is the proper successor, and big surprise, it's faster and better. Battery life has been multiple hours, more than I can say about the Lenovo Legion Go, although the ROG Xbox Ally X has a big old 80Wh battery.

Here, have some benchmarks:

As always, keep in mind that Geekbench 6 and Cinebench 2024 are just CPU tests, while 3DMark paints a more complete picture.

The somewhat bad news is that it still feels like you're playing games on a laptop with integrated graphics, which isn't necessarily a terrible thing. It's just not a great thing. Games can take a while to load, and performance is still just fine on most games. The more graphics-intensive it is, the harder it will be.

For anyone that's used a PC gaming handheld, this doesn't come as a surprise. If you're thinking of it like it's a Nintendo Switch 2 but for PC games, that's not quite what you're getting.

Now, let's talk about the Xbox experience and if it really improves performance. The answer is that, well, it doesn't hurt performance. In the benchmarks I ran comparing the Xbox mode to running the same game from the Windows desktop, the results were at worst the same, and at best about 2fps better in Xbox mode.

At an event in New York where we were briefed on the ROG Xbox Ally series, people asked if they should buy an Xbox console or the handheld, and the answer was...both. Representatives from Asus, Microsoft, and AMD were there, and while Asus would certainly prefer you to buy a ROG Xbox Ally, the other two parties talked about this as being a companion device.

It's not, of course. It would be ridiculous to go say you should spend twice as much as you did on your console, on a companion device. This is a standalone product, for gamers that want to play games on the go, or even at home but not on the big screen.

I'm actually not sure why the ROG Xbox Ally X exists

It's great for Asus, but also, why?

I saved this section for last because it's more along the lines of commentary, but why does the ROG Xbox Ally series exist? It definitely makes sense for Asus, partnering up with Microsoft on a handheld Xbox. It just doesn't make sense for Microsoft.

First of all, Microsoft makes hardware, as we all know. In case you don't know, you've probably been wondering what that whole "Xbox" term I've been throwing around means. We're not going to go there.

But if Microsoft wanted a handheld Xbox, it could've just made one. This is a proper PC though, so if it was more about making a proper UX for a gaming handheld, I'm not sure why it didn't just make it and give it to everyone.

Microsoft isn't confirming if this new full-screen experience is coming to other devices. I'd be absolutely baffled if it didn't though. It's just running through the Xbox app and the Xbox Game Bar.

Companies like Asus, Lenovo, and MSI have been putting out incredible hardware with an awful software experience for over two years, dealing with reviews on their products complaining about Microsoft's software. The least Microsoft could do is just make this new shell an option.

And again, I'm sure it will be an option at some point. It's just that partnering up with Asus on a device feels like an odd choice.

Should you buy the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X?

You should buy the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X if:

• You want a PC gaming handheld
• You want the best performance a gaming handheld can offer
• You like the feel of an Xbox controller

You should not buy the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X if:

• You're not gaming on the go / away from a computer or console
• You need the most power, fastest load times, best frame rates, etc.

In my opinion, the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X is the best gaming handheld on the market. It finally fixes the glaring problems that have historically come from using Windows with the form factor, and it doesn't come with the limitations that you get from SteamOS. On top of that, it's got the best gaming handheld chip under the hood.

The big problem is that it costs a thousand dollars. If you're just looking for the ability to play games on a travel device with a screen, the Switch 2 is still way more cost-effective, although you can probably manipulate those numbers if you play enough games on Game Pass. You also, of course, get to play all of the games that you already own.

But if you're looking for a PC gaming handheld, this is the one to get.