It’s been more than a year since we got to review ASUS ROG’s upgrade of their handheld in their ROG Ally X and again we’re back with another one. This time, we’re going to review the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X! This device is a special one since ASUS finally partnered with Microsoft, optimizing the gaming handheld to run with Microsoft Game Pass. But is it even a good gaming machine? Did ASUS learn from its past mistakes to finally release a gaming handheld that would rival the likes of a Steam Deck? Get to know more with this review!
| ROG Xbox Ally X | |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen™ AI Z2 Extreme Processor 2.0GHz (24MB Cache, up to 5.0GHz, 8 cores, 16 Threads); AMD XDNA™ NPU up to 50TOPS |
| GPU | AMD Radeon™ Graphics |
| Display | 7-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) 16:9 IPS-level Glossy display sRGB: 100% Adobe: 75.35% Gorilla® Glass Victus™ Gorilla® Glass DXC Touch Screen (10-point multi-touch) Refresh Rate: 120Hz Brightness: 500 nits AMD FreeSync™ Premium (Variable Refresh Rate) |
| Memory/Storage | 24GB LPDDR5X-7500 / 1TB PCIe® 4.0 NVMe 2280 |
| Dimensions | 29.0 x 12.1 x 2.75 ~ 5.09 cm (11.42″ x 4.76″ x 1.08″ ~ 2.00″) |
| Product Page | https://rog.asus.com/ph/gaming-handhelds/rog-ally/rog-xbox-ally-x-2025/ |
The above are but basic specs for the ROG Xbox Ally X. If you wish to see the other, more humble version, check the ROG Xbox Ally landing page.
| Games | Preset | Average | 1% | 0.1% | Notes (Score, etc.) |
| Assassin’s Creed Shadows | Low | 28 | 22 | 20 | 100% Render Scaling |
| Dota 2 | Best Looking | 45 | 31 | 28 | – |
| Metro Exodus: Enhanced Edition | High | 27 | 15 | 14 | – |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | High | 47 | 24 | 16 | – |
| Total War: Warhammer 3 | High | 32 | 24 | 22 | – |
| Space Marine 2 | Low | 27 | 21 | 13 | – |
| Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 | Medium | 37 | 30 | 17 | – |
| Games | Preset | Average | 1% | 0.1% | Notes (Score, etc.) |
| Assassin’s Creed Shadows | Low | 22 | 17 | 13 | 100% Render Scaling |
| Dota 2 | Best Looking | 43 | 29 | 19 | – |
| Metro Exodus: Enhanced Edition | High | 22 | 13 | 12 | – |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | High | 41 | 26 | 17 | – |
| Total War: Warhammer 3 | High | 27 | 20 | 15 | – |
| Space Marine 2 | Low | 17 | 13 | 10 | – |
| Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 | Medium | 30 | 23 | 21 | – |
If you’re after maximum graphics and eye-watering visuals, you best get a desktop PC or a formidable gaming laptop for that. The ROG Xbox Ally X is made for handheld gaming, meaning you get a smaller battery pack bundled with hardware that can maximize that small power on the go. It’s a gaming PC yes, but compromises were made to ensure that it can be something you can carry with your hands.
For games such as Hades, Zomboid (if you can manage the UI), Hollow Knight, the ROG Xbox Ally X is a great way to play those games as they do not require that much in terms of processing. As shown in the graphs and tables above, the device struggles with modern titles such as Space Marine 2, making it a slog to play even when plugged in.
The above games were played in modest settings. If you wish to get a bit more frames out of the ROG Xbox Ally X, you can tone the settings a bit and use a lesser 720p resolution. To make the experience smooth, you can capitalize graphics settings such as Dynamic Resolution and Frame Generation.
These benchmarks are meant to measure the device’s performance relative to other peoples’ machines. We plugged in a mix of CPU & GPU-intensive tests and other ones that measure the performance of both at the same time.
3DMark Fire Strike Extreme is designed for multi-GPU systems and future hardware generations. In addition to raising the rendering resolution, additional visual quality improvements increase the rendering load to ensure accurate performance measurements for truly extreme hardware setups.
3DMark Firestrike Extreme but more demanding. Incredibly taxing to the system as the benchmark tests how your PC can render in 4K (3840 x 2160).
3DMark Time Spy is a DirectX 12 benchmark test for Windows 10 gaming PCs. Time Spy is one of the first DirectX 12 apps to be built the right way from the ground up to fully realize the performance gains that the new API offers.
3DMark Port Royal is the world’s first real-time ray tracing benchmark for gamers. It shows you how well your PC handles ray tracing effects in real-time.
3DMark Steel Nomad is a cross-platform, non-raytraced benchmark for high-end gaming PCs and Macs. It uses the DirectX 12 API on Windows.
Benchmark Score: 5,477
Cinebench leverages the same powerful 3D engine found in the award-winning animation software Cinema 4D Release 20 to accurately evaluate CPU rendering performance capabilities across various systems and platforms.
Extreme performance and stability test for PC hardware: video card, power supply, cooling system.
The Blender benchmark Score is a measure of how quickly Cycles can render path tracing samples on one CPU or GPU device. The higher the number, the better. In particular, it’s the estimated number of samples per minute, summed for all benchmark scenes.
wPrime is a leading multi-threaded benchmark for x86 processors that tests your processor performance by calculating square roots with a recursive call of Newton’s method for estimating functions. It then uses an iterative calling of the estimation method a set amount of times to increase the accuracy of the results.
Includes updated CPU workloads and new Compute workloads that model real-world tasks and applications. Geekbench is a benchmark that reflects what actual users face on their mobile devices and personal computers.
Although it unfortunately announced an increase to its prices, Microsoft Game Pass is still a great way to get into PC gaming. With the amount of the games in its catalog, you’ll have a good amount to play with to maximize your monthly payment. It’s also great that the ROG Xbox Ally X is made for this purpose and it’s incredibly easy navigating the menus and choosing the games you want to play. It’s buttery smooth and choosing a game is just selecting, downloading, and waiting for it to fire up.
Also, if you’re into EA and Ubisoft games, Microsoft Game Pass is a great way to play them. This includes previous multiplayer titles and also incredibly popular ones from years back. So in terms of gaming catalogue, you’re all set for months and even years with Microsoft Game Pass.
It’s quite great that the Armoury Crate in the ROG Xbox Ally X is a tad bit better than its desktop counterparts. Armoury Crate is a built-in ASUS app that allows the user to tweak and have an overall view of what’s happening in the system. It’s pretty great when it works but horrendous and a occasionally temperamental on desktop PCs. Thankfully, such is not the case here and ASUS actually did take a good amount of time fine-tuning the software side of their handheld.
You can also use the Armoury Crate to map key bindings, tweak the power settings, and turn additional settings on/off.
The ROG Xbox Ally X can be a gaming PC. Well, because it actually is one. Although it’s a handheld, you can plug in a USB-C hub to it to so you can plug in a monitor, a mouse, and a keyboard. With those attached, it can be played as a stationary PC, making it easier for games that require mouse like strategy games, MOBAs, and FPS titles. This also makes it a mobile gaming station as you can pack a keyboard and a mouse with you. However, if you do actually plan on doing that with the ROG Xbox Ally X, there’s something out there built for exactly this purpose: a gaming laptop.
Well, it’s pretty obvious that the latest one is the best iteration. That being said, the ROG Xbox Ally X packs the latest hardware to give players a true on-the-go gaming experience. It’s significantly more powerful than the ROG Ally and marginally so with the ROG Ally X. The hardware of the ROG Xbox Ally X has enough juice in it to run most modern titles, more so with older titles that are three years and above older.
However, if you already have the ROG Ally X from 2024, it’s best not to upgrade to this one just yet. The performance benefits are not significant and you’re better off waiting for the next iteration. Yeah, it’s more comfortable on the hands but performance-wise, you’re not getting a lot.
It’s also worth noting that the design incorporates more of the Xbox controller look, making it more comfortable in the hands and in prolonged gaming session. This ergonomic design comes at a cost as it the ROG Xbox Ally X is bulkier and with the grips more pronounced than the previous models. It’s not as bag-friendly as the previous models and you’d have to look for a wider case for it.
It’s a well-made device and undoubtedly a great way to enjoy your backlog titles. Sure, you won’t have enough power for graphics-intensive, modern titles that released yesterday, but you do have enough to manage adequate frame rates without having to sacrifice much in terms of portability and graphics fidelity. I recently enjoyed playing games like Sekiro and Ace Combat 7 on this one, playing without any hiccups in performance and on my bed! Take that for relaxation! All in all, a great piece of hardware, the ROG Xbox Ally X is a great machine for those looking to have a decent gaming experience with relaxation and mobility in mind.
The ROG Xbox Ally X is available in the Philippines and can be purchased either online or in-store. The ROG Xbox Ally X is priced at PhP 56,995. For its other, less endowed sibling, the ROG Xbox Ally, is has an SRP of PhP 36,995.
For more information about the ROG Xbox Ally X, you can visit the official product page.
If you prefer gaming laptops, check out the ROG Strix G16 2025 Review or the Lenovo Legion 5 Gen 10 Review for alternatives.
