The console war has basically come down to two things: exclusivity and reach. Where Sony is still banking on exclusivity with its PlayStation console, Microsoft has embarked on a kind of “guerrilla warfare,” so to speak. For those who have been living under a rock, Xbox gaming is no longer limited to Xbox hardware. You can play Xbox games on a PC, on Fire TV, on Android devices, in web browsers, and, more recently, even on smart TVs. And now, it has arrived on handheld consoles too. Folks, meet the ROG Xbox Ally Series handhelds.
Built in collaboration with Xbox, these two machines—the standard ROG Xbox Ally and the more muscular Ally X—pack the full Xbox experience into a handheld form factor. They run on Windows 11, fire up straight into Xbox UI, and let you jump between Game Pass titles and Steam mods like a caffeinated multitasker.
The Ally X features an AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor, 24 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD, and an 80 Wh battery. The standard Ally offers a Ryzen Z2 A chip, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, and a 60 Wh battery. Both sport 7-inch 1080p displays at 120Hz and a design that finally gives your thumbs a reason to celebrate.
Launching holiday 2025 in select markets with pricing to be advised. Meanwhile, you can learn more HERE and also start saving up because my guts say it ain’t gonna be cheap. I could be wrong (hopefully!).
Images: ASUS.
