ROG XBOX ALLY
I have come to the conclusion that I now have to purchase technology, specifically handheld consoles, second hand, a very conscious decision, and a decision that has been forced upon me due to present state of, firstly, RAM prices and now storage prices affecting the excessive prices of new handheld consoles, for example below, just for comparison past and present of the Steam Deck pricing:
Release Date Price Steam Deck OLED 512GB 16/11/2023 £479 Steam Deck OLED 1TB 16/11/2023 £569 Steam Deck OLED 512GB 25/07/2026 £649 Steam Deck OLED 1TB 25/07/2026 £779 So, just the other week while passing Cash Converters I stopped to have a nosey in the window, as I do every time I pass Cash Converters which is then usually followed by saying “let's just have a quick look inside”, on this occasion they had an Asus ROG Xbox Ally and I couldn't resist. So the money is handed over and I take my new toy home.Well you would think I would rip the packaging open and setup and play for hours, not the case. I opened it, did all the setup that was needed and then put it back in its box and put it away, that was weeks ago. Today I thought I'd pick it up again to see why I originally bought it and this time I played a couple of my favourites games for a while, Quantum Break and Alien Isolation both of which I could play for hours on end but the battery won't allow.I thought I'd do a quick specification check and comparison with two other Windows handhelds I have:
Asus Anbernic Ayaneo Model ROG XBox Ally Win600 Ayaneo 2 Release October 2025 July 2022 December 2022 OS Windows 11 Windows 10 Windows 11/Linux CPU Ryzen Z2 Athlon Silver 3050e Ryzen 6800U GPU Radeon Radeon RX Vega 3 Radeon 680M RAM 16GB LPDDR5 16GB DDR4 16GB Storage 512GB NVMe 1TB M.2 2242 1TB PCIe 4.0 Display 7" 5.94" 7.02” Resolution 1920x1080 16:9 1280x720 16:9 1920x1200 16:10 SD Slot 1 microSD x 1 microSD Wi-Fi Wi-Fi 6E Wi-Fi 5 Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.4 4.2 5.2 Battery 60 Wh 9000 mAh 50.25 Wh As you can see the ROG XBox Ally stacks up quite well between the three of them, however it does fall behind on storage space compared to the other two but this is fixable if you have a little money, time and patience. The Asus ROG XBox Ally is also a little heavier than the other two, at 670g compared to Ayaneo 2 being 647g and the Anbernic Win600 being 493g.Once all the setup is complete and I'm actually using the Xbox dashboard I can say I am very impressed and it is very easy to navigate and you will never need to see Windows ever again on the ROG Xbox Ally. Not having to use Windows makes this feel a lot more like a dedicated handheld console, almost, I would think, very Steam Deck like.I won't lie to you, not all PC/XBox games are compatible due to not necessarily being optimized for handhelds but there is a built in compatibility program that notifies you if a game is compatible before you install and there are also performance indicators to state "This game should play well" (≈30 FPS) or "This game should play great" (≈60 FPS). So I now have a handheld that is compatible with most Windows 11 PC games and Xbox console games.Playing games is just as smooth as playing games on an Xbox, if you were to cut an Xbox controller in half and fit in a screen between the two halves with controls that are as enjoyable to use as any official Xbox controller.There is also the ability for game streaming using a Game Pass subscription, this gives you access to hundreds of games without having to install any. Should you wish emulation is also a possibility, something I haven't tried and probably won't, using EmuDeck which gives you access to dozens of retro games machine and thousands of games.It is unusual to find a handheld that can be upgraded and I will definitely be upgrading the storage as I think 512GB, in this day and age, for a Windows handheld is a little shocking and I do have a 2TB NVMe drive available an Acer FA200 PCle M.2 SSD, I have even bought myself a set of screwdrivers with prying tools STREBITO Mini Electric Screwdriver Set, 67 in 1 Electric Precision Screwdriver. I'm not certain if the RAM can be upgraded but as it comes with 16GB of RAM which is the same as an Xbox Series X I don't think there is a need.I can think of one thing I would like and that would have been a full size USB port, such as the one on the Anbernic Win600, this may sound mad but there are low profile USB flash drives that would aid in increasing storage space if you don't fancy opening up a handheld.Would I recommend the Asus ROG Xbox Ally?That's a yes but a rather rocky yes as I think the 512GB NVMe drive is a big let down, although this is fixable and I will be upgrading the hardware which is a bit of an expense, especially in this day and age with the ever growing price of RAM and storage. What I would say if you want to get hold of one is to shop around a lot.Is it the best Windows handheld?Probably not, however it is probably the best Windows handheld I own. Gaming sessions may be a little shorter due to the weight of the console. On doing a quick search you may find on many sites that the ROG Xbox Ally is listed as one of the top five, not necessarily the best but damn close.Follow and comment belowMichael
