ROG Xbox Ally X review: A step toward a portable Xbox but it’s still a work in progress | Technology News

Is that a dealbreaker? Or should you invest Rs 1,14,990 in this portable console? In this in-depth review, I will explain everything including my experience with the high-end Xbox Ally X and help you decide if it’s worth it.

What: ROG Xbox Ally X | Price: Rs 1,14,990

Before you jump in, you need to know a few things: I got to review the Xbox Ally X – the model priced at Rs 1,14,990 in India and around $1,000 in the US (excluding local state taxes). This version features a 7-inch 1080p LCD display with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, an AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip, 24GB of memory, and an 80Wh battery. In comparison, the standard Xbox Ally comes with an AMD Ryzen Z2A processor, less memory, a smaller battery, and reduced storage (512GB SSD instead of 1TB).

Since Microsoft only sent me the Ally X for review, I can’t speak directly to how it compares in performance to the standard model. But what I can say is that the Ally X is pricey at Rs 1,14,990, significantly more expensive than both the Steam Deck OLED ($549) and the Nintendo Switch 2 ($450). Both these consoles are not available in India officially but can be purchased via third-party dealers.

Great ergonomic but meant for adults

The Xbox Ally X feels comfortable in my hands, but it’s still quite large and chunky. It’s heavy and thick, after all, devices like these need proper ventilation. It’s also not made from premium materials, and doesn’t match the portability of the Switch 2, which may have grown slightly in size but still maintains the same width as the original Switch.

It features a 7-inch 1920×1080, 120Hz LCD panel. (Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)

Weighing in at 715 grams, the Ally X is one of the heavier handhelds on the market. That means I need to buy a case just to store and travel with it. I wish the Ally X were a bit lighter, smaller, and more portable.

If you ask me, it almost feels like someone took a cheap 7-inch tablet and slapped controllers onto the sides. That said, the Ally X does feel well-made, though it lacks the premium, luxury-console feel I expected from a device that costs over a lakh.

The controls are built into each side of the screen. As I mentioned earlier, they may look a bit odd at first, but they are actually the most comfortable built-in grips I have used on any handheld. In fact, both thumbsticks feel solid and responsive. While the face buttons are a bit plastic-y, the triggers on top feel excellent.

One thing I closely observed after reviewing the Xbox Ally X is that its basic design template is more or less the same as other handheld PCs on the market. That’s fine but considering Microsoft’s heavy involvement in the project, I expected a bit more differentiation. With the Xbox name attached, the final product could have stood out in a bigger way.
I am not saying I expected the Ally X to be like the Switch 2, but if you think back, Sony managed to produce some of the finest handhelds ever- and even then, they succeeded in creating a unique aura around their devices, despite going up against Nintendo. I especially loved the PlayStation Vita and the PSP Go. They were great examples of just how superior Sony’s industrial design was at the time.

Weighing in at 715 grams, the Ally X is one of the heavier handhelds on the market. (Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)

In comparison, when you hold the Ally X, it doesn’t feel like something a kid could easily use, something Nintendo has always nailed. The Switch 2, or even the original Switch, has a smooth, almost delicate feel to it. It feels comforting, precise, and thoughtfully designed to appeal to a wide range of users, especially kids and elderly.

The display, meanwhile, is good – if not the best. It features a 7-inch 1920×1080, 120Hz LCD panel, and I would say it’s still sharp, bright, and colourful. Some might complain about the lack of an OLED display, but LCD panels have improved a lot over the years. However, if I had one complaint about the display, it would be the large bezels around the edges, something that really should have been avoided in 2025.

The controls are built into each side of the screen. (Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)

The speakers, on the other hand, are excellent. I was playing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and not only did the visual details shine on the 7-inch screen, but the sound truly impressed me. Part of me was super happy. I have never heard that level of audio quality from a handheld before. Loud, clear, and superbly balanced, Asus has managed to fit an impressive little sound system into the Ally X that can rival even some conventional speakers.

New modified Windows OS but feels unfinished

Setting up the Xbox Ally X was simple, just like setting up a Windows PC. After all, these are handheld gaming PCs at their core. What’s new with the Ally X, however, is a dedicated full-screen Xbox experience, which Microsoft is making a big deal about.

Inside the Ally X is a full-blown Windows 11 operating system, the same OS that powers millions of home computers and one you might already use. But layered on top is a brand-new Xbox experience that mimics both the Xbox console interface and the Xbox app on PC.

Although I have used Windows-powered handheld PCs in the past, I never liked the interface, or rather, the interface itself felt broken, which ended up undermining even the best hardware on the market. It was disappointing.
This time around, however, Microsoft seems to have learned from its past mistakes (sort of). What it has introduced is an Xbox skin layered over the familiar Windows experience. Think of it as Microsoft’s take on Steam’s Big Picture Mode, which is the default interface on the Steam Deck. The first thing I saw after booting up the handheld was the new full-screen Xbox interface, which serves as the default UI and takes you straight into the Xbox environment. The idea is to organise all your PC games from various launchers into one easy-to-navigate menu, letting you switch between them just as you would when tabbing across the Xbox console dashboard.

The Ally X comes with a dedicated Xbox home button. (Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)

The Ally X comes with a dedicated Xbox home button. Press it, and it pulls up a crossbar where you can quickly access shortcuts to recently played games, main storefronts, and launchers (since this is a Windows handheld, you can also download PC game launchers like Steam, Epic Games Store, and Blizzard’s Battle.net), all of which run well. It also gives you access to a range of settings menus and gameplay capture tools to tinker with. Hold the Xbox button down, and it will bring up all the currently active windows on the device. You can toggle between them using the touchscreen or the bumper buttons and quickly close any window by holding down the “X” face button.

I feel the user interface isn’t smooth as it should be; rather, it feels cluttered. It’s far from, snappy and doesn’t offer an easy way to navigate. Microsoft is touting the new Xbox experience as the biggest selling point, but the interface doesn’t feel optimised for handhelds. I still believe a gamer-friendly version of Windows isn’t quite working. I hope Microsoft takes this feedback seriously, especially since a lot depends on how successful the Ally X is, given the company plans to ship a modified OS to other PC gaming handhelds in early 2026.

That being said, the Ally X is a great example of how Microsoft envisions a system that blurs the boundaries between PC, Xbox, and cloud-based gaming with seamless cloud saving across all platforms. The Xbox Play Anywhere programme is still a strong concept, and it’s been implemented well. It’s great to pick up a game and play it anywhere whether on a PC, the Ally X, or an Xbox Series X. If you have a device that gives you access to Game Pass, a subscription service that offers a massive library of classic titles like Halo, Gears of War, and Fable and sure shot hits like Call of Duty, the Ally X becomes the best Game Pass machine. Period.

Hold the Xbox button down, and it will bring up all the currently active windows on the device. (Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)

My main issue, which I have mentioned earlier, is that the interface just doesn’t click for me. The so-called “Xbox full-screen experience” feels like a half-baked approach. It sits somewhere between a traditional console OS and a PC app, and at times it feels awkward. You can’t help but wonder why certain elements are designed to work with a controller or touchscreen, instead of being purpose-built ground up for a handheld device. Sometimes the sizing is off, and the interface lacks basic functionality like the ability to view and manage the console’s storage or easily manage internet connections. Sure, Asus includes its separate Armoury Crate device management app, which can be launched with a single button press. But as a whole, the overall experience doesn’t feel right. The Switch’s interface, by comparison, is far more responsive and smooth, something I can’t say about the Ally X. It’s a shame Microsoft still hasn’t figured out how to create a compelling, cohesive interface for a handheld.

A console-like gaming performance

I believe Microsoft can still fix certain elements of the interface through software updates, and I remain hopeful. But as a handheld gaming PC, the Ally X performs incredibly well, there’s no second-guessing that. I spent hours playing games like Doom: The Dark Ages and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4, and they ran smoothly with no visible stutters or freezes and consistently maintaining good frame rates.

Both thumbsticks feel solid and responsive. (Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)

I can say the same for other Asus-made handhelds that came before the Ally X, or even other Windows-based gaming handhelds like the Lenovo Legion Go. Remember, these are Windows-powered handheld PCs, which means they function much like your home computer, just designed for gaming in a portable form.

And because they run Windows, they can play virtually any PC or indie game, both new and old, though getting them to run sometimes requires a bit of tinkering. There’s a familiarity to the system that PC gamers will instantly recognise. In comparison, devices like the Ally X function quite differently from something like the Switch 2, which is designed to just work right out of the box, exactly how Nintendo intended. There are always downsides to Windows-based PC handhelds, and frankly, no device is perfect.

The Ally X faces stiff competition from both the Steam Deck OLED and the Nintendo Switch 2. (Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)

The battery life is great (coming in at 80Wh, more than the ROG Xbox Ally’s 60Wh) for a PC handheld. It ran straight close to 6 hours, depending on the game.

So, should you buy the Xbox Ally X?

After spending days with the Xbox Ally X, I come to conclusion that although it is disguised as a console, it is not a console but a Windows PC and it plays Windows PC games. It won’t play your library of Xbox games natively, unless they also have PC versions compatible with Xbox Play Anywhere. And neither Microsoft nor Asus is trying to hide it. The Xbox Ally X (for which Asus loaned me the unit) is a powerful handheld PC but at a price of Rs 1,14,990, it’s quite a nice product. For mainstream consumers, there is an Xbox Ally which costs Rs 69,990.

My biggest takeaway is that the Xbox Ally X still feels like an unfinished, wannabe console-like handheld gaming device built on the Windows operating system. There’s a small demographic that might be interested in the Ally X, but the experience I was hoping for as the first Xbox-branded handheld is missing. I still believe the hardware is solid, but it’s the software that lets it down. Xbox’s future may not lie in traditional home consoles, but in something like the Ally X. However, right now, Windows as an operating system is both its greatest strength and its biggest weakness.

As for the competition, the Ally X faces stiff competition from both the Steam Deck OLED and the Nintendo Switch 2. While the latter two are very different devices, there’s still some overlap in their target audiences.