After months of leaks and teases, Microsoft has finally announced the ROG Xbox Ally at the Xbox Games Showcase. This is a handheld gaming PC that’ll be running on a version of Windows 11 designed to be more usable on, well, a handheld.
Microsoft announced two versions of the Xbox handheld, the Xbox Ally and the Xbox Ally X. The latter of which is powered by a new AMD handheld processor, the AMD AI Z2 Extreme. The non-X variant is powered by the Z2 A and will be much less powerful. What’s interesting about the Ally X is that it’s powered by a chip with a built-in NPU capable of 50 TOPs of AI performance, which will technically make it a Copilot+ laptop in handheld form. Just in time for Microsoft to work Copilot into the Xbox App.
Just like the Asus ROG Ally X that came out in July 2024, the Xbox Ally X will have a 1080p display with a 120Hz refresh rate and VRR support through Freesync Premium. We don’t know if it’s the exact same display, but even if it is, the new Ally will have a gorgeous screen.
For the Xbox Ally X, Microsoft has also tuned its software to work better on handheld devices. When this handheld ships sometime this year, it’ll boot straight into a new handheld-focused version of the Xbox App. Unlike the version of the app that exists right now, the redesign will serve as a central launch hub that connects all of your PC games libraries, such as Steam, Epic Games, and whatever else.
Microsoft hasn’t revealed an official release date, but has suggested that the Xbox Ally X and Ally will launch during the holiday season. No pricing has been revealed either, but given that it has similar specs to the ROG Ally X, you can expect a price around $799.
Under the Cover
Handheld gaming PCs have been getting steadily more popular ever since the Steam Deck launched back in 2022. The main thing that’s been holding the Windows handhelds back is how much the operating system sucks to navigate with a controller and a touch screen. Manufacturers like Lenovo and Asus have been trying to engineer ways to make their devices more usable – with Lenovo even licensing out SteamOS for its latest handheld.
Since Microsoft is working directly with Asus on the Xbox Ally X, it’s taking the opportunity to make the device a lot more useable – hopefully, at least.
The first part of this is having the handheld launch directly into that revamped version of the Xbox App, but that’s only part of the story. Microsoft is also tweaking the operating system at large to optimize the system for gaming.
You see, Windows 11 is kind of a bloated mess these days, and while I totally expect Microsoft to push Copilot, it still runs a lot of background tasks that are unnecessary if you’re just using the device as a gaming machine. For instance, you probably don’t need an always-on news widget that’s constantly updating in the background.
Now, the big question is going to be whether or not Microsoft will allow other Windows-based handhelds to access these operating system updates. Either way, huge things are cooking for handheld gaming PCs this year.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
