ASUS ROG Xbox Ally Review

I’ve always wanted an ROG Ally. It makes sense to own one since it can play most, if not all, of your games on the go. Alternatively, you can also use it for work since it runs on Windows. Anything you can install on a laptop or PC is possible on it.

It was a good combination of work and play. There was just one major issue – the battery life. It didn’t really last long enough to play on the go. It’s a similar story when you need to work. No doubt it was far from perfect. It wasn’t exactly that affordable too.

If you’d like to learn more about our feedback on the original ROG Ally, we’ve conducted a comprehensive review, which you can find on the Yugatech website.

Today though, we’re looking at the updated version of ASUS’s handheld gaming console – the ROG Xbox Ally. With a similar starting price to the older ROG Ally, is it worth it to upgrade to this newer model? Well, let’s find out.

Design and Construction

At first glance, you’ll think that the ROG Xbox Ally looks almost identical to the ROG Ally of before. You still get the same 7-inch touchscreen display at the center and an almost identical button layout as before.

You have the left analog and the D-pad on the left side, while on the right side there’s the A B X Y buttons along with the right analog. It’s a similar story for the bumpers, triggers, and even rear shortcut buttons.

The speaker locations are the same, on the bottom side of each corner. The quick action buttons are in the same place, too, but you’ll notice the addition of the Xbox button.

In terms of the design of the ROG Xbox Ally, it also gets rid of the boxy design of the OG ROG Ally and Ally X. Instead, the edges are now shaped similarly to those of a controller, making it easier to hold while playing.

It’s a minor design change that makes a huge difference in terms of the feeling. My hands no longer get tired when I’m using the ROG Xbox Ally to play outside since it feels identical to holding a big controller. With that, you can play for longer without having to worry about your hands getting tired.

For reference, I was able to play for almost an hour before I needed to find a table because my arms were getting tired of holding the ROG Xbox Ally up. It isn’t exactly the lightest handheld gaming device on the market afterall.

The ROG Xbox Ally weighs 670 grams, which is almost a 70-gram increase compared to the original ROG Ally. If you get the ROG Xbox Ally X, that one is even heavier weighing 715 grams. But at least your hands won’t hurt anymore.

As you would expect, the ports of the ROG Xbox Ally are the same as before. ASUS did get rid of the proprietary PCIE port similar to the ROG Ally X, and instead, you get two USB-C ports still located at the top. At the same place, you’ll find the volume rocker and the power button that doubles as a fingerprint sensor.

If you’ve ever used the ROG Ally, you’ll definitely feel right at home since everything is where they’re supposed to be. At the same time, the new controller-like handles improve ergonomics and comfort.

Display and Multimedia

While there are changes to the design of the ROG Xbox Ally, the display is very much the same as before. It’s still the same 7-inch touchscreen IPS panel with a 1080P resolution, 500 nits peak brightness, and a 120Hz refresh rate.

I have no complaints about the display itself since it works decently. It’s clear and the colors are quite accurate, similar to what you’d expect on an IPS panel. The touchscreen has minimal lag as well, making it easy to go through the menu. Not to mention it’s protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ for those who have butter hands.

Whether you’re browsing the net or playing games, you’ll definitely enjoy them on the ROG Xbox Ally. It’s very much balanced to ensure that the games look great without overstressing the hardware.

Still, I can’t help but think that ASUS could have improved the display further. For reference, its competition like the MSI Claw 8 AI+, the Lenovo Legion Go, and the Nintendo Switch 2 have larger displays.

It’s not like ASUS can’t make the screen of the ROG Xbox Ally larger either. There are still thick black borders all around the screen. Make them a bit thinner, and you have a larger display to work with.

Performance and Benchmarks

Under the hood, the ROG Xbox Ally packs the new AMD Ryzen Z2 Processor with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB of M.2 storage. If you want a more capable chipset, the ROG Xbox Ally X uses the more powerful Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme Processor with 24GB of RAM.

I know what you’re thinking. 512GB isn’t really enough if you plan on playing a lot of games on this handheld, and you’re right. I only installed Genshin and Tokyo Xtreme Racer on the ROG Xbox Ally, and it quickly ate up a bunch of the space already.

Fortunately, there is a microSD card slot, and there’s no need to worry about it frying your card this time. That’s been addressed since the ROG Ally X came out. But if you want to upgrade the internal drive, it is possible to do so as well.

In terms of performance, it’s a bit more capable than the original ROG Ally. Some games that were previously running on low can now be set to medium on the ROG Xbox Ally. The frame rates are more stable this time around. For reference, all games were run in Turbo mode.

On Tokyo Xtreme Racer, the game ran on medium really smoothly on medium graphics at 120FPS. There wasn’t any lag or framerate drop at all, even when I was driving through traffic at high speeds. I tried running it on a higher graphic setting, but I started to experience framerate drops already.

As for Genshin Impact, it was able to run the game smoothly at the highest graphic settings available. Whether exploring the world or farming artifacts, there’s no FPS drop at all. It’s more than adequate for continuing the story rather than just doing dailies.

All-in-all, you can run newer titles on the ROG Xbox Ally, but you will have to set your expectations. This is still a handheld gaming device afterall. So don’t expect the highest graphics settings when playing. But for what it outputs, it’s more than great.

As for the benchmarks, you can check them out below.

Geekbench 6
CPU Single – 1301
CPU Multi – 4460
GPU Vulkan – 18589

CrystalDiskMark 
Read – 3230.69 MB/s
Write – 2129.86 MB/s

OS, Apps, and UI

The one thing that made the ROG Ally versatile is the fact that it runs on Windows 11. The ROG Xbox Ally is very much the same. But instead of loading up Windows, it now boots up to Xbox UI.

It’s not exactly the easiest to use, and you will need to take some time to play around with it. But when you do, you can quickly get around to accessing your games. Even if you use other apps to install the games like Steam, it will still pop up on the UI. The quick access button also makes it easy to go to where you want to be.

Press the Xbox button, and you can even access Steam too. Steam’s Big Picture mode works, but you do need to tinker with the settings to get it working. But do note that at the time we tested this out, the ROG Xbox Ally had yet to be released.

When you’re done playing and want to use the ROG Xbox Ally like a laptop, swipe up from the bottom, and easily switch to Windows mode. From here, it works just like any Windows laptop. You can even pair a mouse and keyboard to make life easier.

Even without pairing an external keyboard and mouse, the UI is very controller-friendly. There are even shortcuts on the keyboard which are mapped to a specific button on the controller side of things.

Battery

One of the weakest links of the ROG Ally was its battery. It only packed a 40Wh battery pack, which didn’t really last that long especially when you’re playing games. On the ROG Xbox Ally, it’s now bigger, packing a 60Wh battery pack.

The increase might seem small, but the battery life increase is quite significant. Before, you would easily drain the battery by an hour when playing in Turbo mode. Now, it takes almost two hours before running out of juice.

I suspect the new Xbox UI plays a big part too, as it can close all the background apps that aren’t necessary. But that assumes you will focus solely on playing games.

Even with the larger battery and longer life, I still recommend bringing the charger with you just in case. It’s not that big of a charger either since it’s only a 65W USB-C power brick. Alternatively, you can just bring a powerbank and cable with you.

Conclusion

All-in-all, ASUS made some serious improvements to the ROG Xbox Ally as compared to the original ROG Ally. At the same time, it still retains all of the looks and gamer feel of the original handheld device.

With a new processor, it can now run more graphic intensive games. The battery lasts a lot longer too. If only ASUS fitted a larger screen or even an OLED one, it would be even better. Well, the only benefit of it retaining the display as before is that the price didn’t go up by much.

The ROG Xbox Ally starts at PHP 36,995, and it already comes with 3 months of free Xbox Game Pass subscription. If you find the performance of the standard Xbox Ally lacking, the X variant retails for PHP 56,995 featuring a more powerful chip and a larger 80Wh battery.

So far, though, what do you think of the ROG Xbox Ally? Would you cop it or choose a different handheld console for roughly the same price? Better yet, would you stick the ROG Ally or Ally X if you already own one? Whatever the case, share your thoughts in the comments below.

What we liked:
Improved battery life
Better ergonomics
More affordable price tag

What we didn’t like:
Same IPS screen
Small storage