7.8/ 10

Verdict

Judged on its specs and published reviews, the Ally X is the most capable Windows handheld yet, with a useful Xbox-branded shell over Windows 11, but the $999.99 price and a battery that reviewers measured at roughly two to three hours of demanding play make it an enthusiast purchase.

ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X handheld gaming PC shown from a secondary angle, highlighting its grips and control layout
ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X — ASUS Pressroom (press.asus.com) — ASUS / Microsoft official press kit, ROG Xbox Ally reveal

The Steam Deck spent years as the default answer to "what handheld should I buy," while ASUS's Ally line tried to out-spec it and kept hitting the same wall every Windows handheld hits: Windows itself. The ROG Xbox Ally X is the first one built with Microsoft's help to get over that wall. Whether that's worth the extra money is the whole review. This review is based on ASUS's specifications and the testing published by other reviewers; BlitzRig has not run its own battery or thermal tests on this handheld, so every figure below is attributed to its source.

What the ROG Xbox Ally X is

The Ally X launched on October 16, 2025 at $999.99, with the entry ROG Xbox Ally at $599.99. It pairs AMD's Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme (eight cores, with RDNA 3.5 graphics) with 24GB of LPDDR5X-8000 memory and a 1TB SSD, a 7-inch 1080p IPS display at 120Hz with FreeSync Premium, and an 80Wh battery. ASUS lists the weight at about 715g, roughly 1.6 pounds. There is no OLED option, which is a real omission at this price when rivals at lower prices already offer one.

The real story: the Xbox Full Screen Experience

The spec bump matters, but the headline feature is software. Instead of dropping you on the Windows 11 desktop like earlier Allys, the Ally X boots into the Xbox Full Screen Experience, a controller-first shell that Microsoft describes as bringing Game Pass, Xbox titles and games from other PC storefronts into one console-style home screen. Notebookcheck's testing found no performance advantage from the mode, though it said it makes the interface easier to use, with about 85 background processes and around 5GB of memory use against 6GB on the Windows desktop. Switching to and from the desktop still requires a restart.

It is still Windows underneath. The upside is compatibility: anti-cheat-protected multiplayer games, Battle.net, the EA App and Ubisoft Connect all run natively because there is no compatibility layer between the game and the OS. The downside is that the shell sits on top of Windows rather than replacing it, which leaves it short of the tighter integration a purpose-built OS can offer.

Performance, battery and thermals

Battery life is where the Ally X's power comes back to bite it. Reviewers' numbers vary with settings: Notebookcheck reported a bit over three hours of gaming in Performance mode, while Computer Bild's test found about two hours. HotHardware's video playback test drained 15% in 3 hours 45 minutes, which extrapolates to roughly 25 hours, though that site flagged the figure as provisional. The 80Wh battery is large for the category, but the silicon is thirsty, so don't expect a battery-life upgrade if you're coming from a Steam Deck OLED.

On thermals, HotHardware saw temperatures in the 90°C range when plugged in under heavy load but no throttling. Fan noise is where reviewers disagree: HotHardware found the fans essentially inaudible in most conditions, while PCgo and PC Magazine described the noise as permanently audible.

Who it's actually for

If you already live inside Xbox Game Pass, or you play multiplayer games gated behind anti-cheat that SteamOS can't run, the Ally X is the handheld built to solve that problem. If your library is mostly Steam-native single-player games, a Steam Deck OLED remains the simpler choice, though our Steam Deck price story shows the gap has narrowed to roughly $210. To dock the Ally X to a TV, see our Xbox mode living-room setup.

Verdict: 7.8/10

The ROG Xbox Ally X is the most convincing argument yet that Windows can run on a handheld without feeling like a dragged-in laptop OS, and the hardware gives it real performance headroom. But it asks $999.99 for that privilege and reviewers measured roughly two to three hours of battery in demanding games. It is an excellent handheld for the buyer who needs full Windows compatibility and can live with charging more often, and a hard sell against the Deck on price alone.

This score is our editorial assessment of the published specifications and reviews, not the result of our own bench testing.

Sources: Notebookcheck: ROG Xbox Ally X review, HotHardware: ROG Xbox Ally X review, Laptopmedia: ROG Xbox Ally X review, TheSixthAxis: ROG Xbox Ally pricing, Galaxus: ROG Xbox Ally X

Pros

  • Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme with 24GB of LPDDR5X-8000 memory and a 1TB SSD, a high-end spec sheet for a handheld
  • A 7-inch 1080p IPS screen at 120Hz with FreeSync Premium
  • Runs native Windows 11, so Game Pass, Battle.net, the EA App, Ubisoft Connect and anti-cheat-protected games work without a compatibility layer
  • The Xbox Full Screen Experience puts a controller-first shell over Windows, which Notebookcheck found easier to use even if it adds no performance

Cons

  • At $999.99 it costs well over $200 more than a Steam Deck OLED, and there is no OLED screen option
  • Reviewers measured roughly two hours (Computer Bild) to a bit over three hours (Notebookcheck, Performance mode) of demanding gaming
  • The Full Screen Experience still runs on Windows: Notebookcheck found no performance advantage, and switching to the desktop requires a restart
Alex Rivera
Reviews Lead

Gaming since the PS2 launched in 2000, building his own PCs since 14. Covers headsets, mice, handhelds and keyboards, and ties every score to the specs and published testing the review cites.