I took the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 with me around the world — it’s great, but is it $1,299 great?

I started with an indifferent feeling towards the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 — playing on it at Computex and feeling worried it was being left in the shadow of Intel Arc G3-armed handhelds being announced at the same show.

Then the price got announced: $1,299. Being real, that’s not as bad as I thought it could be in the age of RAMageddon. Plus with the ergonomic improvements, translucent aesthetics and that gorgeous OLED screen, I believed this was the slightly-weaker-but-better-quality-alternative to what we’re seeing in the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ and others.

And then, I took it on my press trips across the globe over the past couple of weeks, and I’m left feeling a little mixed. The internal specs remain exactly the same (AMD Ryzen Z2 AI Extreme, 24GB RAM, 1TB SSD), and while Asus did mention evolved ROG Intelligent Cooling, the performance hasn’t moved an inch.

At $999 with nothing else really competing in the market, that level of performance was the absolute best you could get. Now Team Blue’s in town, that price increase becomes harder to swallow.

In all fairness, this may improve over time, as AMD has announced FSR 4 is going to be coming to its handheld silicon. I’ll be keeping a close eye on that, but then we’re back at that same issue again — with the OG ROG Xbox Ally X at the $1,000 mark, are these upgrades worth the cost increase?

ROG Xbox Ally X: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? Asus’ latest premium Windows gaming handled — aiming to fix the minor gripes of the previous Xbox Ally X, while adding a major screen upgrade.
• Who is it for? This is for the PC gamers who want a premium, portable Windows 11 machine and value screen quality and ergonomics over the highest performance.
• What does it cost? $1,299 — a full $300 more than the launch price of the previous ROG Xbox Ally X.
• What do we like? The new translucent design looks fantastic, the rubberized grips make long play sessions a joy, and the rotatable D-pad is a massive win for fighting game fans. The 1080p OLED display is exceptionally bright and vivid.
• What don’t we like? The price. It is incredibly hard to shake the feeling that the physical tweaks are just a smokescreen to absorb the cost of the pricier memory. At this price point, native performance on demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077 is also sluggish.

ROG Xbox Ally X: Specs

ROG Xbox Ally X: The ups

And so, I take off from Heathrow for another long haul to an event that I can’t tell you about (yet). Firing this up and getting into a bit of Silksong showed me the absolute best of what these upgrades bring to the table.

An OLED display that steals the show

The immediate standout feature that you’ll notice about the Ally X20 is its new 7.4-inch OLED display. This is a mesmerizing flash-flood of color that really brings a game to life on-screen — be it the vivid world of Japan blurring past at over 200MPH in Forza Horizon 6, or the dark, immersive world of Silksong.

And as you can see from our display results, it’s bright, it’s colorful, and it leaves a lot of its Intel counterparts in the dust. Make no mistake about it: if screens are very much your make-or-break when it comes to getting a handheld, this is a winner. But of course, gaming devices are about so much more than that.

Ergonomics done right

Last year, I said that the ROG Xbox Ally X is the best-feeling Windows gaming handheld you could get. That is still absolutely the case with its even weight distribution, the Xbox-inspired controller grips and the perfectly-placed buttons for your thumbs to naturally rest around.

This year, Asus has listened to some of the feedback and made small but significant tweaks to make it feel even better. The new transparent chassis isn’t just visually striking; it features highly effective rubberized grips that drastically improve grip and reduce hand fatigue during long sessions.

On top of that, the TMR joysticks feel silky smooth in operation and guarantee much better longevity of the hardware, the improved bumpers have a more satisfying tactile tap to them, and the rounded face buttons feel better sculpted to the thumb.

Then there’s the D-Pad, which is more than just a cool party trick. It’s ideal for switching game genres on the fly and getting your best performance out of them. It starts with a rubber and metal dome hybrid beneath the directional buttons that improves its preciseness and tactility.

But that rotating function can change it from a 4-way D-Pad (perfect for platformers or quick weapon selection in FPS games) to a 8-way (exactly what you need for fighting games). It’s this kind of versatility that makes it stand out in terms of overall comfort from the competition.

Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20: The downs

And as I played more and more when I really should’ve been working (sorry boss), it became clear to me that while these upgrades are nice to have for sure, the lack of improvement in performance while charging $300 more is a tough pill to swallow — especially when 007 First Light comes to a crawl.

The $300 smokescreen

The previous ROG Xbox Ally X was a 4-star device, with my primary complaint being its $999 price tag. The X20 pushes that to an eye-watering $1,299.

While the OLED screen and new grips are great, those same performance stats that I saw from last year’s handheld are hard to justify a $300 leap in price when you can still get that OG model with the same internals for that same price.

Instead, these upgrades feel like a smokescreen to pass the higher costs of that 24GB RAM array directly onto you. Of course, how you feel about that depends on how much you care about OLED and ergonomics in balance with performance.

Struggling under the weight of AAA

And that (alongside the debut of Intel Arc G3 Extreme) paints the AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme in a different light. You see, while it can handle moderately demanding titles well, native performance on heavy hitters can crawl.

Of course, you can rely on upscaling and tweak the settings to play the heaviest titles, but while we wait for FSR 4, the past generation frame gen and upscaling tech can be rather noticeable — especially with the improved clarity of that OLED panel.

And then there’s the battery, which as you can see hasn’t really budged either from last year’s model.

With Team Blue managing to hit similar frame rates at half the power, while also offering vastly better efficiency, it makes this tricky to recommend when a little more investment can futureproof you against future AAA titles.

Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20: Verdict

The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 is a frustrating paradox. In one way, it is an undeniably better physical device than its predecessor — the OLED screen is stunning, and tweaks to the ergonomics make it a joy to hold.

But at $1,299 (and with Intel handhelds offering a whole lot more for the power players), the value proposition falls apart.

You are paying an ultra-premium tax for a handheld that requires heavy upscaling to play the latest AAA games, and trails in rivals in endurance.

If your eyes lit up at the idea of OLED, congratulations: this is the device for you! But for the rest of you, this is a gorgeous piece of hardware that’s tricky to recommend for the price.