The ROG Xbox Ally is a Steam Deck disguised as an Xbox — so why is it $600?

Six hundred dollars. Why is the ROG Xbox Ally $600? It’s a question I simply cannot answer.

That’s not to say the Xbox Ally is a terrible handheld — it’s actually fine. In the two weeks I’ve had testing it, I’ve had fun digging into indie titles at smooth frame rates and being afforded the battery life uplift that comes with it.

AAA performance is lacking, but nothing a little tweaking to 720p low settings can’t get around to afford around 40 FPS in the likes of Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite. And on top of that, I can’t ignore that the new gamer-fied Xbox Full Screen Experience of Windows 11 does eliminate my biggest bugbear of PC handhelds.

But this is a similar experience I can get in the vastly cheaper Steam Deck. In fact, it’s almost exactly the same APU with 4 cores/8 threads, and 8 RDNA 2 GPU cores. And I can snag one with an OLED screen for $50 less, or even go lower and pick up the LCD version for $200 cheaper.

And for those looking for more AAA overhead, there are more powerful Ryzen Z1 Extreme options that come in at the same price as this less powerful option — all of which will get this same power unlock with the Xbox FSE update.

Plus, there’s the Xbox Play Anywhere confusion. On paper, with more than 1,000 titles supported by this platform-agnostic move, you may not feel it. But if you’ve been an Xbox loyalist for a while, you may run into some pain points with your library just not being compatible.

So yes, the ROG Xbox Ally can be the most comfortable handheld I’ve used, with the more pronounced grips with subtle contours, and it can be a nice device for crushing Silksong on. But the price is going to leave a bad taste in your mouth. Make it $500, then we’ll be onto something.

ROG Xbox Ally: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? This is a Windows gaming handheld — the entry-level model of the two made by Asus in partnership with Xbox.
• Who is it for? This is for the indie darlings only. If you’ve racked up 50-plus hours on Silksong and you’re looking for your next great indie title, this will suit.
• What does it cost? You can pick one up for $599.
• What do we like? The ergonomics are on another level compared to other gaming handhelds — this thing is comfy. On top of that, the re-engineered Windows 11 gives you a slick Xbox UI to navigate over the desktop OS, and the low-end APU doesn’t stress the battery too much.
• What don’t we like? Why would I spend $600 on this when I could get the similarly-specced Steam Deck for less? Moreover, the Ryzen Z1 Extreme is a more powerful chip on paper, and you could get a handheld sporting this for the same price. It’s far too expensive for what it offers.

ROG Xbox Ally: Specs

ROG Xbox Ally: The ups

Given my solid playtime experience with the ROG Xbox Ally at Gamescom, where I got to tuck into a well-optimized title like Forza Horizon 5, I came in feeling pretty excited. And at first, there were elements to celebrate.

A dream in the hands

I have to give the design teams at Asus and Xbox props here — just like the ROG Xbox Ally X, this is the most comfortable handheld I’ve ever played on. The Xbox controller-inspired grips eliminate fatigue effectively and ensure you could keep playing for hours on end.

The texture on the grips ensures a firm hold, buttons and joysticks are in just the right areas for thumb placement, and the haptics inside deliver impressive enhancements to the experience with good detail.

Windows 11 gets a gaming tune up

And then there’s the work done to Windows 11 to make this feel a lot more like a console than a tiny PC (and all the awkward touchscreen problems that come with it).

It’s called Xbox Full Screen Experience, and it’s a stellar UI to navigate — both for just jumping into your games fast and having quick, easy access to all the technical settings to tweak, whether that’s display restrictions or wattage limits to preserve battery life.

Even better, Microsoft’s done the background work as well and killed off all those desktop-running background processes that come with traditional Windows 11. Of course, you can open it at will, but whenever you’re just playing, none of it is necessary. And what this does is remove those costly background processes, limiting the true potential of that Ryzen Z2A chip.

The end result is an indie handheld that is capable of lasting a while. For all intents and purposes, it’s a decent handheld.

ROG Xbox Ally: The downs

Unfortunately, the Xbox Ally is only a decent handheld when you look at it with serious tunnel vision, and not question what else you could get for that $600 investment (or less). Because when it comes to our testing, you can get much better for your money.

Feels like its 2022 all over again

To those who have already read my pieces on the build-up to the launch of the ROG Xbox Ally, you’ll know that I’ve been a little suspicious about that Ryzen Z2 A. With 4 cores/8 threads and 8 RDNA 2 GPU cores, this is pretty much identical to what the Steam Deck packs — the only difference being the Ally can get to a higher wattage.

In my benchmarking comparisons, though, you’ll be hard-pressed to spot the difference.

The more I played around with the settings, the more near-identical numbers I got — 40-ish FPS on Forza Horizon 5 at the same settings, super low frame rates when throwing more demanding (and less well-optimized) games at it.

There’s a part of me that does want to say “good job,” because Microsoft has stripped back Windows 11 to the point that it can match the Steam Deck’s performance. But then, I realize I’m paying $600 for that experience.

That’s $50 more than the cost of the Steam Deck OLED with the same amount of storage and a far superior screen. (Yes, the LCD panel on the Xbox Ally does have variable refresh rate, but you won’t really be using that much given the frame rates you can actually get.) And if price-to-performance is key, it’s $200 more than the base model.

You could get better for cheaper

So let’s take that amount of money and go shopping around a little bit, because the Steam Deck is one good example, but not the best. This Windows 11 Xbox Full Screen Experience update is coming to all handhelds in 2026. As a matter of fact, users can actually install it now.

And just like the roof being raised on performance on the Z2 Extreme-armed Ally X, this looks set to breathe new life into older handhelds sporting the Ryzen Z1 Extreme — a chip that is demonstrably faster than the Z2A in this particular Ally.

For example, the Lenovo Legion Go is regularly discounted to $599 during peak sales events, and that breezes past the Ally. The original ROG Ally with Z1 Extreme is $649 at the moment, but I’ve seen it sold for $599 as well. Once again, it might be worth waiting until Black Friday to see that price come down. If it did before for Amazon’s October Prime Day, it will again.

But that’s all before dipping into the world of refurbished tech. If you’re desperate for a handheld right now, the ROG Ally is $489 in excellent condition, and the Legion Go is $579. This is far better performance for the same price or cheaper.

If this were a $500 device, we’d be having a different conversation. But in a world where every penny matters, if you’re in the market for a handheld, you could get much more for your money.

ROG Xbox Ally: Verdict

I’ll be honest with you, after seeing the $1,000 price tag on the ROG Xbox Ally X, I was really rooting for the Ally to be the real value buster here — the Series S of handhelds that just ticked all the right boxes at a lower price.

But then, the cold, hard reality hit, and what we’re left with is a $600 system that should cost $400 based on its performance. That’s a crying shame because the Ally itself is an OK handheld, which I would’ve had a better impression of if it were more affordable.

Alas, this just feels like the base model companies make so they can say “from *INSERT LOWER PRICE HERE*” and not have to say the big number. But even at that level, this is still a big number, and you can get similar or better price-to-performance for cheaper.