ROG Xbox Ally X review – Microsoft switch to a handheld console

Asus and Microsoft team-up for the first ever Xbox branded portable but what exactly is the ROG Xbox Ally X and is it worth the price?

It seems fair to say that Microsoft’s current plans for next generation hardware are… uncertain. They’ve recently had to issue a public denial that they’ve cancelled their new Xbox console, but while the long-standing rumours suggest they’re planning both home and portable devices it’s unclear whether that’s still the case.

Xbox execs have been talking about their admiration for PC handheld devices for years now, which has always seemed a little odd as even the most popular of them – Valve’s Steam Deck – has only sold a few million units, which is nothing compared to the Nintendo Switch and other legacy consoles.

The second most successful has been Asus’ ROG Ally range, although all such devices are the same basic idea: a Switch-inspired design that rather than being a bespoke console is essentially just a portable PC. That’s all too obvious at times, when using the system interface and fiddling with options to get games to work, but in terms of high-end performance with the latest state-of-the-art games, the ROG Xbox Ally X is very impressive.

What is the ROG Xbox Ally X?

If you’ve ever come across a PC gaming portable before then you already know the basics of what the ROG Xbox Ally X is, because they’re all essentially the same idea. If you haven’t used one before it’s a very straightforward concept. Imagine a Nintendo Switch but where the innards are a gaming PC. And that’s pretty much it.

The interface is just Windows 11 – you’ll have to log in with your Microsoft account when you start and you can see the desktop and taskbar sitting there, just as if this was a laptop – but most of your time spent outside of a game will be using Steam, which comes pre-installed, and a recreation of the Xbox console dashboard (Epic Games, EA Play, Ubisoft, GOG, and Battle.net are also all compatible).

We should emphasise that the ROG Xbox Ally X does not play Xbox console games, except via streaming. It is just a PC, but it does integrate with your Microsoft account and it’s a very easy process to download any games you already have attached to either your Steam or Xbox accounts and start playing them straight away.

Most recent games are graded as to whether they’re fully compatible or ‘mostly’ compatible, which is just how it works with the Steam Deck. Sometimes it’s obvious why there’s a problem, because of heavy use of the mouse, for example, but other times not.

Some Xbox games you own may have a Play Anywhere option, which also grants you access to the PC version, but not all of them. So again, it’s important to emphasise this is *not* a portable Xbox console.

Although that’s easy in the context of PCs in general, not consoles. As much as it tries to present a simple, console-like interface, the ROG Xbox Ally X can often be fiddly and unresponsive. Just the thought of controlling Windows with a touchscreen, or even worse an analogue stick, is enough to give you an aneurysm but we’ve also had a lot of trouble with the virtual keyboard, which seems to register your inputs purely on a whim.

It’s also easy to forget that most of the on-screen buttons and options were originally designed with the assumption that you’d be using a mouse and keyboard. The designers aren’t blind to these problems though and the Command Center from which you adjust game settings and the Armoury Crate, that lets you change custom settings for the device itself, are more user friendly.

Some games work better than others – which is the main drawback for any such device – to the point where it’s always clear, when preparing to start a new game, that you’re constantly forcing a square peg into a round hole, with the whole concept of a PC portable. It’s the very opposite of plug ‘n’ play but once you get going the effort is definitely worth it.

What are the differences between the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X?

Microsoft sent us a ROG Xbox Ally X to test, which is the more expensive of the two devices, at an eye-watering £799. The cheaper option is the ROG Xbox Ally, without an ‘X’, which costs £499 – which is £104 more than a Nintendo Switch 2.

Despite the large price difference, the two models are physically identical, with the same screen and controls. However, the Ally X version has double the storage space, at 1TB, and 24GB of RAM instead of 512GB. It also has a bigger battery – with an impressive maximum of 10 hours of charge – and a more powerful processor.

Although we’ve not used the non-X version, all that will make a big difference to how games run. As a result, nothing we’ve tried on the Ally X has really struggled and that includes even brand new games like Dying Light: The Beast and Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

The Ally X is a faff to use (although no more or less than other similar devices) and absurdly expensive but after having used it for the last few days it’s clear you do get what you pay for.

As for the differences between the ROG Xbox Ally X and the ordinary ROG Ally X without the Xbox branding (remember: this is Asus hardware, not Microsoft), they’re pretty minor. The processor is a little more powerful but they’re fundamentally the same device, just with an Xbox button to the top left of the screen.

That’s not to be dismissive – there’s nothing else you’d necessarily want it to do – but most people are still going to be playing games via Steam, not their Xbox account, so you’d have to be a real fiend for the Xbox ecosystem to care too much about that. But then again, that is almost certainly the device’s core audience.

Is the ROG Xbox Ally X worth it?

In terms of graphical capabilities, the ROG Xbox Ally X is in a completely different league to the Switch 2, but then it should be if it costs twice the price. As we’ve seen from the flood of Steam Deck imitators over the years, anyone can stick a high-end processor in a portable shell and pretend it’s a viable device but it’s the interface and ease of use that defines how truly useful it is.

Even the Steam Deck is far from perfect in that regard, but we’re impressed that the ROG Xbox Ally X does at least try. And while it’s absolutely huge, at 29cm wide, it’s nicely ergonomic and the large grips will please those that always worry that the Switch is too spindly. The grips are reminiscent of the Xbox controller, and the hardware runs impressively quiet and cool.

The fundamental problem for any of these devices though, and one of the reasons they’ve never really taken off with the mainstream, is that while it’s hugely impressive what the ROG Xbox Ally X does, it’s debatable as to how practical it really is.

It’s obviously great for playing indie games and while there are many indie titles that are PC-only (we’ve been playing a lot of Look Outside on the Ally X) the ones that aren’t run perfectly fine on the Switch. You’d never get a game like Battlefield 6 on Switch 2, but do you even want to play a game like that on a portable? Especially when it would cost relatively little extra to just have a top-of-the range gaming PC or laptop instead.

You could attach a mouse and a keyboard to the Ally X, and even a monitor, but that only underlines the fact that the whole concept is a massive compromise that is trying to be two diametrically different devices at once.

Every first party game for the Switch is made exclusively for that format, whereas nothing has been made with the ROG Xbox Ally X in mind, and probably never will be. Conversely, that’s also the device’s greatest achievement, as it manages to not only hammer that square peg home but make it feel almost as if it belongs.

Given the price tag involved, the ROG Xbox Ally X is clearly not for everyone, but even if that wasn’t a consideration it’s still something that’s only going to appeal to a relatively small niche. If you do like the idea of what it’s doing then this is a superior choice to even the Steam Deck. And if, as seems likely, Microsoft is aiming to focus only on high performance, premium priced hardware in the future then the ROG Xbox Ally X is a fine start along that road.

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