The ROG Xbox Ally X Receives Glowing Reviews, But It's Still Pretty Pricey

Pretty pricey?? that's putting it mildly

Has no Nintendo games. Not interested.

You can buy a switch 2 for yourself and your friend with this amount of money

Good luck! I hope it will get the success it deserves. I prefer games with a friendly atmosphere, mostly targeted at the inner child, so naturally the Switch 2 is the console for me.

Competition = good.

(I don't understand the name of the thing one bit, though xD "Rogue"? "Rogg"? "Roj"? And what even is a ROG...?)

Also, if it bombs, the headline can be "Ally Oops!"

They aren't breaking the console market by slapping an X on it lol. If on;y it was that easy!

So a new Windows handheld for which you can now pay €30 / month for GamePass Ultimate and a €1000 for the handheld.

Yeah.. I'll stick to my PC and Switch 2.

@canaryfarmer ROG stands for "Republic of Gamers"; it's an Asus brand that's applied to the original Ally handhelds as well

@canaryfarmer

ROG
Republic Of Gamers

It is the gaming line for ASUS

It's literally just the Rog Ally which already existed but with Xbox logo slapped on it and maybe a few upgrades.

I'm not against Xbox trying to compete with the Switch. But I'm honestly disgusted how completely shamelessly corporate their strategy is "Why make something when we can use our monopoly over the PC industry to just take something someone else made?".

If the steam deck wasn't Linux based we probably would have seen the "X deck" or something.

I feel people aren't talking about this issue enough and act like this is a legitimate entry into the market like switch or steam deck. It's not, it's just Microsoft putting in minimal effort to muscle into a market without committing to it.

If you want Switch competition just stick with Steam Deck. I own both and there is basically no game I can't play even if you don't count emulation.

Its impressive. No denying that but the price point is too high for me. The tech inside might warrant it but I just can't buy in to nearly a grand for a portable.

I'd rather pay a bit more for a decent gaming PC for the big screen experience and accept the graphical compromise of an affordable handheld.

Each to their own as always.

@Metazoxan The ROG Ally X is more powerful than the Steam Deck. The ROG Ally has the same CPU as the Steam Deck.

And honestly both are less than a midrange PC for the same price

The unfortunate thing about these Ally devices (and pretty much any AMD-based portable PC) is that for being on RDNA below 4, they simply struggle for anything that utilizes ray tracing. This is because ray tracing is handled on the shaders. It's an expensive operation, and shaders can only do one thing at a time. When it's processing ray tracing, it can't process rendering.

Folks with the XAX who tried Star Wars Outlaws, for instance, were hitting only around 40fps using Low Quality settings at 720p FSR Balanced, all while chugging at 25W for the APU alone. Compare that to Switch 2 pushing 1080p in portable mode for the game while consuming roughly 11W for the entire system, as well as 1440p for docked mode at around 17-18W.

Sony won't hold back on specs, so watch this space on the rumoured PS6 handheld.

Im thinking we will soon be seeing £600 + from the tech twins.

Don’t care. If it gets a spec of dust on it, ASUS will void the warranty and refuse RMA. See gamers nexus. I wouldn’t buy any ASUS product if I could avoid it.

@Ooyah I mean, it is an Xbox, which nowadays cannot be arsed to be called anything else other than the letters X and S.

I'm sure this product will be a solid competition for the Switch 2 and Steam Deck, but I honestly hesitate to call it an Xbox handheld as many seem to be doing.

The price means I'm out of this race immediately.

@canaryfarmer republic of gamers. Rich from digital foundry always says “ROG” as “rahwg” in a deep and froggy voice.

@canaryfarmer thank you for asking that question 😅

@TKundNobody itll have hundreds of nintendo games, for free too....😃

It’s more of a gaming pc handheld with Xbox branding than an Xbox Handheld. It even uses Windows 11 rather than something based on Xbox. If they made an actual Xbox Handheld that linked to my Xbox/360/One library it might’ve actually been worth something. I’d love a way to natively play Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, CoD3, etc, on the go. But as is, there are better and cheaper options like the Steam Deck

Just waiting on the steam deck 2. I feel like Xbox has lost it in recent times.

Switch OLED still best console then 🙂

I wonder when they're gonna ditch the Xbox brand...

I was in the market to pick one up, that is right up to the point that Microsoft raised my monthly sub price from $20 to $30 without notice... factor in I pay for 2 subs in my household and I just wasn't willing to give them $720 a year for a subscription service. Suffice to say, I dropped to the lowest tier until I decide whether or not I'm just going to drop them al together... And I've been there since day 1, back over 20 years ago.

@canaryfarmer

This isn't competition. Two completely different markets.

The Switch 2 as of today has already outsold the Xbox Rog Ally X's lifetime sales and probably by a factor of at least 3 to 1.

PC handhelds are a very niche market.

Definitely not worth $1000, plus has no real exclusives like the Switch 2 has.

For that price you can buy a Switch 2 and a Playstation 5 which would be money better spent.

If only it was a Nintendo console, I could easily look past the $999 price tag. As it is, looks like total waste of money.

@AgentGuapo I’ve been disappointed with every Asus product I’ve purchased in the last 10 years. I expect this would be no different. I have no intention of buying Asus anymore.

@Deljo Source? I doubt it.

The review I read didn't even mention that this new "Windows Gaming Experience" still can't suspend games on sleep and let you instantly restart them when you wake the device. That's an essential feature for a handheld device, if you ask me.

It's something Nintendo did with the DS 20 YEARS AGO and Microsoft still can't get there OS to do it?!

That makes that $1000 device worthless, especially in comparison to the Switch and Steam OS devices that you can purchase for hundreds of dollars cheaper and actually use them for PORTABLE gaming.

@SBandy1 Look, I didn't even know what this thing was until now. I saw a handheld gaming system, the Switch is also that (tho not exclusively obviously). There is always room for different companies to learn things from each other in regards to what works, what doesn't, what can be tweaked and modified and buffed, learning what a gamer base responds well to, what gets them upset. That's what I meant.

@RazzBerryPie I have literally never heard that term before

@canaryfarmer

Fair enough.

@The_Nintendo_Pedant Relax! Xtra Xposure to X’s Xclusively Xpands your lexical Xperience!

A thousand bucks for IPS without micro dimming should be actually illegal in 2025.
Tolerable on the NS2, but that costs less than half.

The Ally X is absolutely worth the money, but that depends on one's having the money in the first place. It may be worth the money, but that's a third of my monthly income; I can't afford that.

If you can't actually put games into standby, that is wild.

I'm not really sure who this is supposed to be for. Most PC handheld users swear by a Steam Deck, and I don't see how it would appeal to Xbox users since it's a PC/Non-Console experience and can't play console exclusive Xbox games. And as others have pointed out, it has no sleep mode, which is antithetical to the idea of a handheld device.

uh.....I've read several reviews today and they've largely been saying that this thing is a mess. I've seen nothing I'd describe as "glowing".

wait 1k and still no oled. jesus.

Gotta say - loving the more tempered, fanboy-less response in these comments lol
The games industry has become an oft-bleak environment with predatory corporations more often than not... So it's nice when we're at least all civil with each other!

Similar sentiment to everyone from me - awesome that it runs so well! Not going to be for me - but even if it ran better than the Switch 2 at a lower price, I still wouldn't be the target demographic (Mostly play 1st Party Nintendo & Indies).

Neat, all the same!

Feels weird to hear good news regarding XBox right now.

@The_Nintendo_Pedant maybe if it was from the right person xxxx

After Xbox started naming their systems weird I stopped caring couldn't tell what the newest systems names were.... I had a easier time telling that the wiiu was different from a Wii vs whatever Xbox did.

All in all I hope handheld consoles take of Nintendo needs hard competition and stuff to push them. Nintendo shows they get successful and starts getting lazy and money hungry. They don't try

This is just another Rogue ally with Xbox stamped on it.
would wait till the reviews are in before you buy it.

@BaldB3lper78 I put the + to cover it. 😄

My PC and my Mac didn't cost as much as this does on its own.

And investing in Xbox when Series X are being pulled and rumors of them backing out of consoles, true or not, seems like a dumb idea right now.

Couple that with seeing how quickly the first Asus ROG dropped in value, I'll wait.

Also, Cyberpunk plays at 39 fps with RTX off, low graphics, on the high end model.

That really makes the Switch 2's performance pretty impressive especially considering how much cheaper the device is.

Yeah, but it doesn't have Game-Key Cards. 10/10, Day-One Buy.

@The_Nintendo_Pedant I know. Give me an "h" or maybe a "w."

@canaryfarmer Xceptionally Xuberant Xplanation.

_{...Xylophone.}

Windows on handheld PC = bad, I'd just install Steam OS lol

For over double the price it expects you to fiddle endlessly with every individual title forever. No thanks, the Switch 2 works out the box.

"Switch 2 look like somewhat of a bargain by comparison, priced at... £449.99 in the US"

I forgot all about that time we in the USA got taken over by England 😄

$1000 to deal with Windows and ASUS bloatware? No thanks.

More handhelds mean more support for lower end hardware, so I'm not complaining. None of these things are really threatening the Switch 2's niche, so hopefully they can all mutually benefit by giving third parties more reason to build their games with scalability in mind.

Does ign have eyes this is so ugly! History books it’s a copy of a concept.

According to Nvidia the Switch 2 is more powerful though can't see that.

Not interested with any XBOX machine after XBOX 360.
OG XBOX and XBOX 360 are the best from Microsoft.

@The_Nintendo_Pedant I forgot you were getting a Steam Deck! Happy Belated birthday, how are you enjoying it?

Having a steam deck, switch olds and switch 2 is enough portable gaming for me

For the price of Ally X you can buy a Switch 2 and a Steam Deck together with both of which you'll be able to play practically everything on the market rn AND you'll still have a nice chunk of change left for games.

There are some great improvements, but it still doesn’t entice Xbox gamers whose digital library is still locked to the console. Not all Microsoft games were part of the console and PC bundle since it depends when you bought them. After their next console, Xbox users who don’t have a second home will have to make some choices for their next purchase. I don’t think the console side of Xbox will be around for another decade.

I was eyeing one to replace my Steam Deck, but between the price, the recent MS nonsense, and my Deck still working fine, I opted to pass.

If it had included the ability to play all my past XB Original, 360, and Xbone games tied to my MS account though, natively on the device, I probably would've jumped immediately into a few rounds of Harmony of Despair.

Is the Switch 2 a bargain by comparison to the new XB handhelds? Probably, but still really lame that the Switch 2 didn't come with a proper glass screen and hall effect sticks on the joycons.

I can only assume the battery life is terrible.

For that price I’d definitely expect an oled screen, damn

@Jhena Well said. I share those sentiments regarding my gaming life.

it is a pc handheld not a console..

I guess many people fail to understand that someone looking at a device like this isn't choosing between a Switch 2 and Rog Xbox Ally X, but between a Rog Xbox Ally X and a $2k-$3k gaming PC/laptop.
The Steam Deck’s also starting to fall behind with the newest games, so it’s kinda out of the comparison at this point.

What’s annoying me is everyone is acting like this thing is something new. the ROG isn’t new and PC gaming handheld certainly isn’t new. Xbox branding on it isn’t gonna change anything. It’s also for a completely different market. It can’t really be comparable to standard console gaming because at the end of the day this is a Windows device. The steam deck is really the only thing that could possibly hold a comparison but regardless, for whatever reason, people are constantly seeing this device as some brand new revolutionary thing that has never been done before

And people were complaining about Switch 2 is expensive 😒

@AndrosEGD Sorry for not knowing everything going on in the PC & handheld scene.

I have both the Switch 2 and the ROG Ally X. As a largely handheld gamer, I like the idea of having two machines on the go that basically can play every game on the market between them.

At its price, I dont think it has mass market appeal though. Only time will tell how things play out.

“ Switch 2 is frankly a bargain by comparison”

That may be true but unfortunately there isn’t $&!? to play on it that is Switch 2 specific. What you spend on a handheld PC you make up for in cheaper games so really when comparing prices against a Switch 2 honestly they kinda level out…

Mine comes tmw and itll do well next to the switch 2 and ps portal(via ps5 pro)

Is it expensive? Yeah. Is it worth it? Only time will tell. Will it be better than the turd that is the steamdeck? No doubt.

One thing I dont expect from it though is to replace the switch 2. Atleast not in my home. Nintendo has something special in the simplicity factor, whether its in design or in the games themselves.

It's risky to invest in Xbox hardware these days.

@AllBLK It’s just a PC though if it did get abandoned then there would likely be a version of Steam OS made for it. Windows has had better backwards compatibility over time than any console. (16 bit apps worked on 32 bit Windows 10).

@canaryfarmer oh don’t kid yourself you know that they ROG ally has already been out and the Lenovo Legion go and the steam deck. Especially if you’re following this website all of those items have been talked about and reviewed even by the people that wright here. Also, what’s the point in pulling the victim card you can also just not reply. Acting like you’re ill-informed is sad. You’re literally on a gaming news website so I know you know more than you’re putting out.

#DropThePrice

Honestly, I wouldn't wanna play PC and Xbox games on a system that would give me a lesser fun experience than my gaming PC. I like to play at 4K 120hz with all bells and whistles cranked up. A handheld Xbox can't do that for me. As for handheld gaming while i'm away from home, the Switch 2 gives me a good experience and those Nintendo games aren't on my PC so that console has purpose.

I am going to buy 10 of these things, gaming devices have been appreciating in value lately so in two years I will double my money.

Steam Deck wasn’t competition for the S1. This certainly won’t be competition for the S2.

Looks even worse compared to the Steam Decks that were going pretty low on sale recently.

I mean, yeah, this is marginally more powerful, but not $600+ more powerful. At least in my opinion.

At that price point, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is by far the better cop.

@TKundNobody kinda of have it...

This thing costs $1,299.99 CAD, there's no way I would ever pay that much for an Xbox handheld which already has a weak library of games. Great for people who are interested in it but this is a hard pass for me, if I was gonna spend that much I'd rather just get myself a high end gaming PC.

I have the original Ally X and found out about the lack of proper standby after I bought it. I removed Windows and installed an OS named Bazzite that's like Steam OS, and now it works great. Highly recommended. Windows and handhelds are not a good mix.

Ok, sure, it’s a PC and not a console…but I just don’t see how you can brush past the price with this yet completely dismiss the switch 2 solely due to its price (which isn’t even that bad).

@StewdaMegaManNerd Especially when the Switch 2 can do some things better than the XAX.

I started reading the review on Eurogamer (a site I enjoy) and it was so meandering that it quickly lost me. The first paragraph is just the author describing his reactions to his own questions about the handheld, including an attempt to get the reader to imagine the noise he made while reacting. It was... a less than compelling start, haha.

The biggest marketing push for the ROG Ally Xbox was a Silksong trailer during (not E3) summertime. Which people probably forgot about because Silksong already came out on other platforms already over a month ago, and almost nobody's gonna play it on this device unless it's through Steam or GamePass.

@BrokenCiv Huh? You call @Arawn93 biased and then basically agree with their assessment that these devices (Steam Deck/ROG Ally) are not competitors of the Switch.

As for WHO is saying they are competitors, watch basically any YouTube reviews of the Steam Deck from the last few years and you'll find myriads of internet commentators depicting them as direct competitors.

I agree they aren't competitors and I have a Steam Deck myself, but it's obvious Arawn93 is referring to an oft-repeated, tired, stupid narrative about how the Steam Deck or any number of other handheld devices are going to replace or "kill' the Switch.

@Member_the_game switch 2 is not cheap

That thing does look cool but not $1000 cool. With $1000 it must be able to natively play the entire Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Steam library in addition to having an OLED screen, 2tb of storage, 32gb ram, a handle so to be able to play Playdate games naturally, a paddle so to be able to play Pong naturally, and a portable grill oven so I could cook my roasted chicken while I'm playing. Now that's $1000 worth of feature for a powerful hungry player, not this Ally crap which is just another ROG Windows device that'll likely failed once its Tesla style battery explode or get infected by malware in less than 2 years.

Pretty sure you can buy an Xbox sticker for less than a dollar. Just slap that bad boy on anything and boom, you got an Xbox.

In all seriousness, I don’t see Microsoft duking it out in the console space for much longer.

@timschel

Correct it isn't cheap, but this thing is astronomically expensive..... whether what you get for your money is worth it, is a different discussion.

But from where I'm sitting, for virtually the same amount of money I could buy myself a Switch 2 and a digital PS5.

I don't know about you but I know which I'd rather have.

@canaryfarmer republic of gaming

@Arawn93 he's just most likely trying to justify his own purchase

While I've never been a game pass guy, the huge increase in cost it just had really hurts the value of this as well I think

@TKundNobody it can do very easily.

Hate to be pedantic, this ain't nintendo related. So, uh, why?

Switch 2 - $500

Everyone: NINTENDO IS SATAN!!!

Handheld PC with an Xbox themed front end app - $1000

Everyone: Eh, it’s a little pricey

@mikegamer good question. I guess the only reason is that they have to compare it against Switch 2, just to show that the latter seems affordable — but even that’s misleading, since they’re ignoring the cost of every single game. In the end, it’s really like comparing apples to oranges.

@Switching you gotta be trolling right? 😭

"Switch 2 is frankly a bargain by comparison"

Delusion at its best... The ROG Ally is a full computer... It can emulate switch 1 and 2(soon). Did i mention its a full computer, not just a proprietary console...

@NolandC You hit the nail on the head though. It’s a PC which means it comes with all the jank and quirks that come with the Windows experience. Great if you want flexibility and more power, not great if you want something that’s just plug in and play with no fuss and that’s half the appeal of a console.

Handheld PCs are great but they’re niche and these Xbox ones aren’t going to change things especially at the price points they’re selling them at.

@SirLink apples to oranges honestly; Windows is objectively awful for mobile gaming efficiency. Batocera and SteamOS are far more efficient for gaming.

@larryisaman handhelds in North America are niche in general they're designed for an Asian market that spends most of their time on transit. In NA It's great for kids, being dragged around by their parents, not much else. As an adult I would rather the flexibility, if windows is an issue for you, you could always try linux.

@NolandC Switch is the 2nd best selling console of all time so…no. Handhelds aren’t a niche thing especially not in NA.

And I’ve had a Steam Deck since launch. It’s a great device, but the amount of technical headaches it’s given me versus any console I’ve owned in the past is enough for me to give pause when recommending one to other people. I’d really only recommend it to people I know who already have PCs and are happy dealing with PC gaming in general. As an adult I’d prefer things to just work, hence why I’ve barely used my Deck since getting a Switch 2 (in fact it won’t even boot properly because it was powered off for so long even after charging it, once again another frustration of it not being a dedicated console).

@mikegamer probably so, but there's no way to install games from the MS Store on linux at the time being.

So much unnecessary salt in this comment section. You all are literally making a salt mine out of nothing.
(These comments are hard-line proof that the console wars were never over.)

@kmtrain83 for the “simpler times” experience the Playdate console may be a good option. It is pricey though for what it is (probably due to it being produced by a small company at relatively low volume).

I think if I pick up a non-Nintendo platform in the future it would likely be a Windows PC or Windows PC handheld. I have a MacOS laptop but the selection of games on Steam for Mac is quite limited and generally overlaps a lot with Switch. People love the SteamDeck but I have some concerns about the selection still being limited or having issues due to the translation layers involved.

@SirLink therefore the xbox brand is useless and overpriced

@mikegamer useless and overpriced just because of Windows? As a very long time Linux user and advocate, that claim does not convince me at all.

@SirLink Windows is bloatware and not efficient for battery in portable game consoles. Xbox branding is also BS as it adds more price to something you can get for cheaper.

@mikegamer well, saying that Windows is bloatware is a bit of a harsh judgment for a system with an architecture that's actually quite secure and well-designed for the machines it’s intended to run on. That said, yes — it does come with a lot of bloatware, often introducing unsafe parts, unfortunately. On the bright side, it's totally possible to remove most of it.
About the Xbox brand, it makes sense as long as they're selling dedicated gaming hardware. Otherwise, yes, there are definitely cheaper ways to play games.

@SirLink The Xbox brand just jacks up the price and rips people off, how anyone can think it's a good idea is beyond me

@Anti-Matter Valid take

For this price you can buy a Switch 2 + Steam Deck and have much more for your bucks.