ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X hit the streets October 16

Asus says the first Xbox-branded handheld gaming PCs will hit store shelves starting October 16, 2025 and they'll be available in the US, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East at launch.

The company isn't quite ready to announce how much the ROG Xbox Ally or ROG Xbox Ally X will cost or when you'll be able to pre-order one though. So there are really only two bits of official news this week: the launch date and the fact that Asus is showing off the handhelds at its booth at the Gamescom 2025 show in Germany this week, giving the public the first chance to go hands-on with the upcoming handhelds. Unofficially though? It looks like prices will start at $550 for the ROG Xbox Ally and $900 for the ROG Xbox Ally X.

Asus and Microsoft first introduced the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X in June. At the time the companies only said they'd be available in time for the 2025 holiday season, so it's nice to know that you'll be able to start your holiday shopping in October, I guess.

What I find more interesting is that while the names suggest these could just be Xbox-branded versions of existing Asus ROG Ally handhelds, they really are new devices with updated physical designs and a different set of processor options.

The entry-level ROG Xbox Ally has a Ryzen Z2 A processor that's similar to the chip that powers the Steam Deck. That could make this model a budget option optimized cloud gaming and some native games.

Meanwhile the new ROG Xbox Ally X is a premium model with a Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme chip that would have been one of the highest-performance processors in a handheld… if GPD hadn't gone and stuffed a Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor into the GPD Win 5.

But GPD sacrificed an internal battery in order to accommodate that chip, instead opting for an external battery pack that can be attached to the back of the handheld. So maybe it's still accurate to say that the Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme is one of the most powerful processors for handheld gaming PCs that have integrated batteries.

ROG Xbox Ally ROG Xbox Ally X ROG Ally X ROG Ally (Z1 Extreme) ROG Ally (Z1) Display 7 inches1920 x 1080 pixels120 HzFreeSync PremiumGorilla Glass Victus500 nits 7 inches1920 x 1080 pixels48 – 120 Hz variable refresh rate Processor AMD Ryzen Z2 A4 x Zen 2 cores / 8 threads AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme3 x Zen 5 + 5 x Zen 5c / 16-threadsUp to 5 GHz50 TOPS NPU AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme8 x Zen 4 CPU cores / 16 threads9 – 30W TDP AMD Ryzen Z16 x Zen 4 CPU cores / 12 threads9 – 30W TDP Graphics 8 x RDNA 2 compute units 16 x RDNA 3.5 compute units 12 x RDNA 3 compute units 4 x RDNA 3 compute units RAM 16GBLPDDR5X-6400 24GBLPDDR5x-8000 24GBLPDDR5-7500 16 GBLPDDR5-6400 Storage 512GBM.2 2280 1TBM.2 2280 1TBPCIe 4.0 NVMeM.2 2280 512 GBPCIe NVMeM.2 2230 Ports 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C1 x 3.5mm audio1 x microSDXC card reader 1 x USB41 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C1 x 3.5mm audio1 x microSDXC card reader 1 x USB41 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C1 x 3.5mm audio1 x microSDXC card reader 1 x ROG XG Mobile Interface with USB 3.2 Gen 21 x 3.5mm audio1 x microSDXC card reader Wireless WiFi 6EBT 5.4 WiFi 6EBT 5.2 Battery 60 Wh 80 Wh 40 Wh Dimensions 291 x 122 x 51mm 280 x 111 x 24.7 – 36.9mm11″ x 4.4″ x 1 – 1.5″ 280 x 111 x 21.2 – 32.4mm11″ x 4.4″ x 0.8 – 1.3″ Weight 670 grams 715 grams 678 grams1.49 pounds 608 grams1.34 pounds OS Windows 11Xbox full screen experienceAsus ROG Armory Crate Windows 11Asus ROG Armory Crate (game launcher & settings) Price ? ? $800 $700 $500 (down from $600 at launch)

Aside from the hardware upgrades, the Xbox team has been working with Asus to optimize software for these handhelds. In addition to a new Xbox full screen experience, the

They've been working "with game studios to test and optimize thousand o PC titles for handheld compatibility," through a new Handheld Compatibility Program that's similar to Valve's Steam Deck Verified program. Games will be able to see badges indicating if titles are "Handheld Optimized" or "Mostly Compatible."

Asus says Microsoft's Xbox team "is also bringing advanced shader delivery" to the handhelds, which "allows the Xbox app to preload a game's shaders during download, so supported games will launch up to 10x faster, run more smoothly, and use less battery on first play" with supported titles.

And if you're wondering why the Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip needs an NPU, Asus says that new AI features are coming in early 2026, including Automatic Super Resolution upscaling, and an option to automatically capture gameplay video to create Highlight Reels.

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