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The ROG Xbox Ally is $599 — $100 greater than the Nintendo Switch 2 that we already stated was slightly dear in our assessment. And that’s earlier than I even had the prospect to spit my morning espresso out at seeing the ROG Xbox Ally X is $999.
Gaming handhelds are getting pricier, and this isn’t even the worst offender ( you, $1,349 Lenovo Legion Go 2). But a thousand {dollars} for an ultraportable simply appears loopy to me. Did you recognize that for the value of 1 ROG Xbox Ally X, you may purchase three Steam Decks?
Obviously I’m comparing apples to oranges here. One is a handheld that launched back in 2022, and the other is coming out in just a few weeks. But they may be closer than you think — let me explain.
There are levels to this
It is slightly difficult by the actual fact these are simply two of the very best Windows gaming handhelds I’ve examined. Turns out whenever you take away the load of Windows 11’s background duties, you unlock quite a lot of efficiency headroom.
As I’ve talked about earlier than, the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X include the Xbox Full Screen Experience — greater than only a UI overhaul, it doesn’t run any of the background duties required for Windows 11 desktop mode. In my time testing, this noticed an uplift in body charges throughout most of the AAA titles I jumped into.
Then there’s the ergonomics, which with inspiration taken from the Xbox controller, makes these probably the most comfy handhelds I’ve gripped. Oh, and in a 1-up over the Steam Deck, you get help for all of your gaming libraries right here — not simply Steam. Sure, there are Linux-based workarounds, however out-of-the-box it is method simpler on the Ally.
Everything lined up, and I had quite a lot of enjoyable with each of them. They are good, however are they a thousand {dollars} of “good?” In this financial system, that’s a query I’m much less certain about, however when you’re bought on the thought of this, be my visitor — preorders are open.
Where to purchase ROG Xbox Ally in U.S.
Where to buy ROG Xbox Ally in U.K.
Silicon similarities
Oh, you’re still here? That means you’re a little more skeptical like I am. Well, let’s go a little more granular, and start with the Ryzen Z2 AI Extreme. Of course, while I can’t speak for the NPU side of things, which looks primed to help with some AI super resolution trickery, we do have a basis of comparison here in the MSI Claw A8 with the non-AI Z2 Extreme.
Because they have the same APU specs minus that NPU: 8 cores/16 threads, a 16-core GPU with RDNA 3.5 and a TDP of up to 35 watts. On paper, we saw an effective 25-30% uplift in frame rates over the Z1 Extreme. At the top end, the upgrade is a little more clear cut.
But that’s when the Ryzen Z2A of the ROG Xbox Ally comes in, and when I say the specs “4 cores/8 threads, and 8 RDNA 2 GPU cores” you may be thinking that sounds familiar? Well, it is, because these are the same specs as the Steam Deck’s custom AMD APU — only difference being that the Ally can reach a higher wattage.
You see? They’re more similar than you think, and I don’t think it’s the best idea to charge $200 more than your competition for that.
Settings tweakers
But it could be even more problematic than that, because of the one thing we gamers love to do on PC: tweak settings. Yes I’m saying that sarcastically, but nothing scratches that satisfying itch more than being able to find a zen-like balance between fidelity and frames.
Nothing scratches that satisfying itch more than being able to find a zen-like balance between fidelity and frames.
In PC gaming handhelds, that puzzle becomes a little more complicated, as it’s not just fidelity and frames, but it’s also performance per watt too. You want the game to look pretty, run smoothly, and not murder your battery life in under 30 minutes.
And when it comes to tweaking, the Steam Deck is still one of the best at low wattages. You may be wallowing in low graphics settings, but it’s always surprising to me how good low settings games can look. God of War Ragnarok still looks epic, Forza Horizon 5 still runs impressively smoothly, and even something like Indiana Jones can run north of 40 FPS.
However, that’s before even talking about indie games — the kinds of titles that are perfect for handheld gaming, like Silksong, and these barely cause any pressure on the Steam Deck. And all of this performance (and maybe a few percent more) is what you’ll probably get on the ROG Xbox Ally… Why is that worth an extra $200?
Z1 Extreme could be the power user cheat code
What if you wanted that extra headroom? Yes, the Ryzen Z2 AI Extreme looks set to give you up to 30% extra frames in your games over Z1 Extreme, but what happens when that Xbox Full Screen Experience comes to every Windows gaming handheld?
It’s clear this has been key to some of those performance improvements I saw when playing on the ROG Xbox Allies, and Microsoft has said it will be coming to others (we know this seeing it pop up in the insider preview of Windows 11 25H2).
To me, that brings the Z1 Extreme back into play, as it could revitalize the frame rates here. And for users, that could mean the original ROG Ally for its cheaper price could be the one to buy.
Obviously, all of this is pre-review of the new Xbox handhelds (keep it locked to Tom’s Guide for those). But my initial impressions are that you could get better bang for your buck by being smarter with your handheld buy here.
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