There seems to be a lot of handheld gaming PCs now and in recent years, what used to be a niche and expensive market has become mainstream, with various devices available for purchase at major retailers such as Best Buy in the US and Curry's in the UK. Today, gamers have many options, and the newly released ROG Ally X, a Windows-based handheld gaming computer by Asus, is one of the new devices to join the growing list of such machines. But as brands attempt to balance cost with functionality and performance, many of them fall short of expectations. But Asus seems to have found the right balance with their latest device and hit all the important points that others missed. We've been testing the ROG Ally X for the past few weeks and simply put, it's probably the best Windows-based handheld gaming PC you can get right now.
The Asus ROG Ally X is an all-black portable PC powered by Windows 11, with a crisp, 120Hz, 7-inch Full HD glossy display. In fact, it's an upgraded version of the original ROG Ally from 2023 – a popular device that sold, but with problems like broken memory card slots and poor battery life. Asus has made a lot of tweaks and quality of life upgrades to their new device to address the issues of the original, so what was once a great option has become great. The biggest and perhaps most anticipated change is the battery of the Ally X: at 80 Wh, the new battery is double the capacity of the original, which theoretically means longer play time on the new device. In our use, this is true, but it also depends on how you use the console – your game settings, screen brightness, and the games you play. In some cases, we even noticed that the Ally X's battery performance was even better, like in retro console emulation. We also noticed that the battery performance was consistent from full to empty with no noticeable drops in performance even when it was close to empty – meaning the same strong in-game performance at battery levels as low as 10% (that's where we usually go). -plug) compared to when the battery is still full.
The increased RAM is a big help in the new device. The Ally X has 24GB of fast LPDDR5X RAM as standard, an 8GB upgrade from the original's 16GB of slightly slower LPDDR5-6400 RAM, and the difference is noticeable. Everything runs smoother and switching between games and apps (even with some games running in the background while starting others) is really seamless with Ally X. As expected, the addition was helpful and noticeable. RAM in graphically demanding games, where graphics rendering is faster and frame rates are consistent while playing (in situations where the original Ally stuttered).
The original Ally comes in two versions with major CPU differences – the lower-tier AMD Ryzen Z1 or the more powerful AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme. Asus chose to use the latter for the Ally X and it's true, “if it ain't broke.” We had high expectations for the Z1 Extreme because of our use of the original Ally, but to our surprise, the shine of the CPU was even better in the Ally X. Among the titles we tested and ran smoothly (with some tweaked settings) were Red Dead Redemption 2, Forza Horizon, Cyberpunk 2077, Starfield, and the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 beta, all ran smoothly at full resolution with consistent frame rates in the 50-60fps range.
But, ROG Ally X excels not only in “triple A” PC titles. If you love emulation, you're in luck, because it can handle almost all emulators. We ran most of the popular emulators for consoles, including the Nintendo Switch, and played flagship titles like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and others on the higher-frame Ally X rates compared to its native performance on the Switch. We were also able to play PlayStation 3 games, one of the most difficult to emulate, using the RPCS3 emulator with some settings tweaks. It's a really special feeling to have your PS3 library with you everywhere.
Another improvement Asus has made to the Ally X is comfort. The Ally X has improved ergonomics due to a subtle but effective change in the shape of the back of the unit. The new shape provides more space for your hands and there is absolutely no chance of discomfort using it – even during sessions that last several hours. It should also be mentioned that the Ally X is slightly heavier than the Ally – 678 g (1.49 lbs) compared to 608 g (1.34 lbs) – but due to its redesign, we didn't notice it too much. (Speaking of which, we thought it would be more than 70 grams heavier than the original when we heard that the battery was twice the size.) The new fans on the Ally X are generally quiet, even audible at high game settings, but seen we had good performance because it rarely got too hot.
Among the various quality of life improvements that Asus has made to the Ally X, the most useful ones for us are the second USB-C port (which replaces the ROG XG mobile port), the improved D-Pad which now provides inputs in eight directions, and the redesigned M1 and M2 buttons that are smaller and less likely to be accidentally pressed. Onboard storage has been increased from 500 GB to 1 TB, and given the size of games today, it's nice to have that extra storage capacity built-in. Even better, the Ally X uses 2280 M.2 NVMe SSDs, unlike the 2230 M.2 NVMe drives in the original Ally; the 2280 SSDs are more widely produced and the larger capacity is cheaper, so if you plan to upgrade the stock 1TB drive to larger storage, it's cheaper than the original Ally.
While the new ROG Ally X is nearly perfect in the current state of handheld gaming PCs, it comes at a price. The device retails at £799 GBP ($799 USD), higher than the retail price of the original Ally; while this is to be expected (due to the upgrades made by Asus), the original Ally models (both the Z1 Extreme version, which has almost the same specs as the Ally X, and the cheaper Z1 version) have dropped in price significantly since release the Ally X. So, depending on what you really need from a handheld, the original Ally might be enough. But fair warning, the updated 80 Wh battery on the Ally X is a game changer – once you've tried it, you probably won't want to go back.
Gaming has changed a lot over the years, and it's still changing. What once separated console gamers from PC gamers was the plug and play nature of the former, but as interest in portable gaming PCs like the Asus ROG Ally X has increased, prices have dropped and the performance capabilities of the devices have increased. this. Manufacturers are not only focused on hardware, but also on custom-built operating systems or applications (such as Asus' Armory Crate) that facilitate the launch of games with just one click, so it seems that there is no longer an advantage consoles to PCs.
There was a point a few years ago where handheld gaming might have been consigned to video game history, but now, it's one of the most popular ways to play. Moreover, the computing power we can carry in our pockets is truly amazing. Think: even the most basic smartphone today can do the things you needed a powerful computer to do a few years ago. While Asus's ROG Ally X isn't quite in the "pocketable" category, the simple fact that it exists shows where the video game industry is headed: basically, it's a high-end PC with built-in 1080p high -resolution display in a form factor that isn't too big on the Nintendo Switch – small enough to carry anywhere, but powerful enough to play most of your AAA games library.
The Asus ROG Ally X brings performance and quality of life upgrades to the company's flagship handheld, and is arguably the best handheld gaming PC at its price point on the market today. It is now available for purchase from Asus at a price of $799, showing that handheld gaming devices are not just a crazy dream but a viable option for gamers today.
