Microsoft has officially confirmed the launch date for the ROG Xbox Ally lineup of gaming handhelds in collaboration with Asus. The lineup’s two models, ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, will launch worldwide on October 16. The announcement was part of the Xbox Game Showcase at Summer Game Fest.
Here is everything official we know about these new collaborative gaming handhelds from Xbox and Asus so far.
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ROG Xbox Ally X Features
The Xbox is marketing the new ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X gaming handhelds as devices built to help you play games anywhere. It does not matter if you wish to play games installed locally or want to stream through cloud gaming; the new devices are projected as a one-stop solution.
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One of its unique features is the Xbox full screen experience that will appear right after you power on the gaming handheld. It will show your recently played games at the top, so that you can jump right in. You will see other details related to the Xbox Store, like featured games, new arrivals, special deals, etc. The team has further made modifications to minimize background activities and defer non-essential tasks. It is done to ensure that more and more system resources are assigned to gaming.
The ROG Xbox Ally handhelds have a dedicated Xbox button to open the Game Bar overlay from Windows 11 instantly. This will make it quick to reach home, access your library, chat with friends, launch games, and access ROG Armoury Crate SE. Microsoft is also touting Copilot Gaming (beta), an AI-powered gaming companion to help you improve skills and get contextual help like solving in-game puzzles.
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Players will get an aggregated gaming library experience that will pull games purchased from the Xbox Store and other digital storefronts like Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG Galaxy, Battle.net, etc. It will be like a universal hub for all your video games, regardless of the store you purchased them from. This is something that should make a lot ot of gamers happy.
Since this gaming handheld is in collaboration with Xbox, players will be able to take advantage of Xbox Play Anywhere. This means all your progress and unlocked achievements will be synced across devices on supported games.
Xbox Handheld Compatibility Program
Xbox has introduced the Handheld Compatibility Program to help players discover video games optimized for the gaming handheld. This is similar to Valve’s Steam Deck Verified program for games fully optimized for the Steam Deck.
The team worked with gaming studios to test, optimize, and verify numerous gaming titles to check if they are compatible with the handhelds. Xbox says players will see Handheld Optimized or Mostly Compatible tags on video games that have been tested so far. The first tag means a game is fully optimized and needs no tweaks from your side. The second tag represents that while the game is compatible, you may need to do a few tweaks here and there for the complete handheld experience.
Additionally, some titles will show the Windows Performance Fit indicator tag: Should play great or Should play well. This tag is to help you get the assurance that the game will have no performance issues running on your device. This is the same as how it works for games on PCs.
ROG Xbox Ally X Specifications
| ROG Xbox Ally X | ROG Xbox Ally | |
| Display | 7-inch Full HD IPS panel with 120Hz refresh rate, 500 nits brightness, AMD FreeSync Premium VRR, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, and DXC Anti-reflection | 7-inch Full HD IPS panel with 120Hz refresh rate, 500 nits brightness, AMD FreeSync Premium VRR, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, DXC Anti-reflection |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme | AMD Ryzen Z2 A |
| RAM | 24GB LPDDR5X-8000 | 16GB LPDDR5X-6400 |
| Storage | 1TB M.2 SSD | 512GB M.2 SSD |
| I/O Ports | 1x USB4 Type-C with DisplayPort 2.1 / Power Delivery 3.0, Thunderbolt 4 compatible 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with DisplayPort 2.1 / Power Delivery 3.0 1x UHS-II microSD card reader 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack | 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with DisplayPort 1.4 / Power Delivery 3.0 1x UHS-II microSD card reader 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.4 and WiFi 6E | Bluetooth 5.4 and WiFi 6E |
| Battery | 80Wh | 60Wh |
| Operating System | Windows 11 | Windows 11 |
| Accessory Included | 65W charger and Stand | 65W charger and Stand |
ROG Xbox Ally X Availability
The ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X will be available for purchase starting October 16 in the following regions:
- Australia
- Belgium
- Canada
- Czech Republic
- China (Xbox Ally X only)
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Hong Kong
- Italy
- Ireland
- Japan
- Malaysia
- Mexico
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Taiwan
- Turkey
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Vietnam
Xbox will announce the availability of new gaming handheld consoles for other Asus ROG Ally markets like Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Thailand later. Players from China will be able to get their hands on the ROG Xbox Ally in early 2026.
ROG Xbox Ally X Price and Pre-orders
Unfortunately, Microsoft and Asus are currently silent about the ROG Xbox Ally X and ROG Xbox Ally pricing and pre-order details. The team says they will share these details in the “coming weeks”.
