The ROG Xbox Ally is $599 — $100 more than the Nintendo Switch 2 that we already said was rather pricey in our review. And that’s before I even had the chance to spit my morning coffee out at seeing the ROG Xbox Ally X is $999.
Gaming handhelds are getting pricier, and this isn’t even the worst offender (looking at you, $1,349 Lenovo Legion Go 2). But a thousand dollars for an ultraportable just seems crazy to me. Did you know that for the price of one ROG Xbox Ally X, you could buy three Steam Decks?
Obviously I’m comparing apples to oranges here. One is a handheld that launched back in 2022, and the other is coming out in just a few weeks. But they may be closer than you think — let me explain.
There are levels to this
It is a little complicated by the fact these are easily two of the best Windows gaming handhelds I’ve tested. Turns out when you remove the weight of Windows 11’s background tasks, you unlock a lot of performance headroom.
As I’ve talked about before, the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X come with the Xbox Full Screen Experience — more than just a UI overhaul, it doesn’t run any of the background tasks required for Windows 11 desktop mode. In my time testing, this saw an uplift in frame rates across many of the AAA titles I jumped into.
Then there’s the ergonomics, which with inspiration taken from the Xbox controller, makes these the most comfortable handhelds I’ve gripped. Oh, and in a 1-up over the Steam Deck, you get support for all your gaming libraries here — not just Steam. Sure, there are Linux-based workarounds, but out-of-the-box it's way easier on the Ally.
Everything lined up, and I had a lot of fun with both of them. They are good, but are they a thousand dollars of “good?” In this economy, that’s a question I’m less sure about, but if you’re sold on the idea of this, be my guest — preorders are open.
Where to buy ROG Xbox Ally in U.S.
- Xbox: check stock
- Best Buy: check stock
- Amazon: check stock
- Walmart: check stock
- Newegg: check stock
- Asus: check stock
Where to buy ROG Xbox Ally in U.K.
- Xbox: check stock
- Amazon: check stock
- Argos: check stock
- Currys: check stock
- Asus: check stock
Silicon similarities
Oh, you’re still here? That means you’re a little more skeptical like I am. Well, let’s go a little more granular, and start with the Ryzen Z2 AI Extreme. Of course, while I can’t speak for the NPU side of things, which looks primed to help with some AI super resolution trickery, we do have a basis of comparison here in the MSI Claw A8 with the non-AI Z2 Extreme.
Because they have the same APU specs minus that NPU: 8 cores/16 threads, a 16-core GPU with RDNA 3.5 and a TDP of up to 35 watts. On paper, we saw an effective 25-30% uplift in frame rates over the Z1 Extreme. At the top end, the upgrade is a little more clear cut.
But that’s when the Ryzen Z2A of the ROG Xbox Ally comes in, and when I say the specs “4 cores/8 threads, and 8 RDNA 2 GPU cores” you may be thinking that sounds familiar? Well, it is, because these are the same specs as the Steam Deck’s custom AMD APU — only difference being that the Ally can reach a higher wattage.
You see? They’re more similar than you think, and I don’t think it’s the best idea to charge $200 more than your competition for that.
Settings tweakers
But it could be even more problematic than that, because of the one thing we gamers love to do on PC: tweak settings. Yes I’m saying that sarcastically, but nothing scratches that satisfying itch more than being able to find a zen-like balance between fidelity and frames.
Nothing scratches that satisfying itch more than being able to find a zen-like balance between fidelity and frames.
In PC gaming handhelds, that puzzle becomes a little more complicated, as it’s not just fidelity and frames, but it’s also performance per watt too. You want the game to look pretty, run smoothly, and not murder your battery life in under 30 minutes.
And when it comes to tweaking, the Steam Deck is still one of the best at low wattages. You may be wallowing in low graphics settings, but it’s always surprising to me how good low settings games can look. God of War Ragnarok still looks epic, Forza Horizon 5 still runs impressively smoothly, and even something like Indiana Jones can run north of 40 FPS.
However, that’s before even talking about indie games — the kinds of titles that are perfect for handheld gaming, like Silksong, and these barely cause any pressure on the Steam Deck. And all of this performance (and maybe a few percent more) is what you’ll probably get on the ROG Xbox Ally… Why is that worth an extra $200?
Z1 Extreme could be the power user cheat code
What if you wanted that extra headroom? Yes, the Ryzen Z2 AI Extreme looks set to give you up to 30% extra frames in your games over Z1 Extreme, but what happens when that Xbox Full Screen Experience comes to every Windows gaming handheld?
It’s clear this has been key to some of those performance improvements I saw when playing on the ROG Xbox Allies, and Microsoft has said it will be coming to others (we know this seeing it pop up in the insider preview of Windows 11 25H2).
To me, that brings the Z1 Extreme back into play, as it could revitalize the frame rates here. And for users, that could mean the original ROG Ally for its cheaper price could be the one to buy.
Obviously, all of this is pre-review of the new Xbox handhelds (keep it locked to Tom’s Guide for those). But my initial impressions are that you could get better bang for your buck by being smarter with your handheld buy here.
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