I’m a confessed convert to Windows-based gaming handhelds, triggered by ASUS’ ROG Ally. Eventually, after a wild journey to the costly fringe with MSI’s Claw 8 AI+, I spotted that Valve’s in any other case legendary Steam Deck simply wasn’t highly effective sufficient to occupy my downtime anymore.
This is not a Windows 11 vs. SteamOS debate, by the way in which, because the Linux-based distro nonetheless presents extremely interesting advantages for novice PC players and fans, notably if you begin digging into expanded forks like Bazzite.
Both Jen and I live in the United Kingdom, where the Xbox Ally X carries a £799.99 GBP price tag at Currys (round $1,073.58 USD, as of September 29). It’s barely lower than I anticipated, contemplating the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is still £899 on the similar retailer (Currys might be our closest equal to Best Buy), and I had braced for an inventory round £900.
Now, to be crystal clear: I am not implying that the Xbox Ally X is an “affordable” device, nor am I comparing it to the $399 $319.20 Steam Deck — that may be ludicrous. These two handhelds is perhaps in the identical class, however they are not in the identical worth bracket.
The Xbox Ally X hasn’t modified my appreciation for the Steam Deck, both. If you have not tried handheld gaming earlier than, and also you’re tentative about spending your cash on considered one of these uncommon PCs-disguised-as-consoles, then Valve nonetheless has the perfect deal in PC gaming. My 512GB Steam Deck served me nicely.
On the opposite hand, I’ve beforehand performed my Steam Deck virtually each night for a few years. I turned fairly acquainted with a handful of video games that ran completely on its comparatively restricted {hardware} — Balatro dominated my time in particular, another one to blame Jennifer for — but other obsessions bogged it down.
In particular, the resource-gathering evenings of co-operative Viking action in Valheim with my partner were awful on the Steam Deck. To be fair, it was only bearable on the ASUS ROG Ally and its AMD-based Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip when I used the $7 Lossless Scaling app, but it ran perfectly fine on the Intel-based MSI Claw 8 AI+.
I’m convinced the more expensive [handhelds] are quite tempting, at least compared to the average desktop gaming PC.
That, and multiplayer games of Rematch were far better on the higher-tier handhelds than the Steam Deck, and I found myself pushing my luck with more demanding games that were far beyond the realms of Valve’s more budget-friendly option.
Still, after handing off the ROG Ally to Zac Bowden for Xbox full-screen experience testing, I’m convinced the more expensive models are quite tempting, at least compared to the average desktop gaming PC. That, and it feels as though some AAA games overestimate what the most common rig actually looks like, so optimizing for handhelds shouldn’t be so far-fetched.
|
Item | Most popular | Change |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 11 | +0.49% |
| RAM | 16 GB | -0.04% |
| Intel speeds | 2.3 GHz to 2.69 GHz | +1.13% |
| AMD speeds | 3.7 GHz and above | +0.17% |
| Physical CPUs | 6 cpus | +0.52% |
| Video card | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 | +0.46% |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1080 | +0.07% |
| Hard drive | 1 TB | +1.31% |
Steam isn’t the de facto authority in PC gaming, but it certainly offers one of the broadest sample sizes when it asks gamers to submit their specs for its monthly hardware survey. At the moment, the average rig is reasonably modest, or at least slightly below mid-tier in comparison to the components on sale today.
A 6-core CPU with 16GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 GPU with 8GB of VRAM running at 1080p is, frankly, quite close to what I’d consider a budget build. Presuming I would pair an RTX 40-Series graphics card with a processor of the same era, then an AMD Ryzen 5 7600X would definitely suffice.
Even a single stick of 16GB DDR5-6000 MT/s RAM would be particularly “future proofed”, later pairing a second module for 32GB and getting closer to what I’d consider a “normal” amount of memory.
Naturally, this kind of hardware in a properly-cooled desktop PC will perform better than a handheld, but this first point is more about arguing for AAA game optimization than any direct comparisons.
The heroes at PCPartPicker make this sort of preliminary (and imaginary) PC construct potential, however once more, this does not embrace any form of enter peripherals or a display screen — each of that are constructed into the Xbox Ally X. Nevertheless, it pushes the overall worth over $1,000, which hints on the common PC gamer’s spending.
So, if the Xbox Ally X is only a transportable PC (which it’s), and it is constructed by ASUS ROG, the identical producer who already made the perfect effort of wrangling Windows 11 right into a handheld format with third-party and first-party apps, just like the ROG Ally X, then I do not discover it laborious to simply accept the worth tag.
That is, the worth tag that we, the lime-enjoying Brits, can take pleasure in (tax included), for the Xbox Ally X at launch. What may occur to the MSRP by way of tariffs or any other Xbox console-like price hikes, I can’t say for sure — but it’s incredibly tempting right now. I can’t say that about the white Xbox Ally and its less-powerful AMD APU, but I’m frankly struggling to understand why that model exists in the first place.
Ultimately, the Xbox Ally X is like a refined, ergonomic variant of our most highly-rated handheld, and it’s priced reasonably close (if slightly below) the most common desktop PC configuration in the world. Which, in theory, should mean that upcoming games should target a reasonable minimum specs requirement — unless they’re Borderlands 4.
It isn’t cheap, but it’s fair for what it is. If I didn’t have a wedding to pay for, I’d have ordered it already. Must stay focused.
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