It’s coming. In an announcement on the official Xbox blog, Microsoft and ASUS detailed their new handheld collaborations, the ROG Xbox Ally and the more powerful ROG Xbox Ally X, on October 16th, 2025. These handhelds promise a seamless, console-like Xbox experience, backed by a customized and streamlined version of Windows 11, and the new unified Xbox for PC app.
The ROG Xbox Ally sports the much-hyped AMD Ryzen Z2 A processor, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 60Wh battery. The true star of the show, however, is the ROG Xbox Ally X. The Ally X will have the latest AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme CPU, 24GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a larger, 80Wh battery for longer play. Both models have a 7-inch, 1080p, LCD display with FreeSync Premium and a 120Hz refresh rate.
The killer feature of the ROG Xbox Ally series is the aforementioned Xbox user experience. Based on a lean version of Windows 11, the new Ally devices will offer an experience akin to Steam Big Picture mode, bringing your games from all storefronts (and Game Pass) to a unified launcher and forgoing most non-gaming background tasks in favor of performance. Additionally, there is a dedicated Xbox button allowing players to access an enhanced Game Bar to browse their library, launch games, and access Xbox Live features.
In the game library, Microsoft will finally allow players to have a platform-agnostic frontend, integrating Xbox, Game Pass, and most PC storefronts (Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store, etc). Cherrypicking another Steam Deck nicety, they also announced a Handheld Compatibility Program, certifying games as “Handheld Optimized” or “Mostly Compatible”. The more powerful Ally X will leverage its NPU with AI features like Automatic Super Resolution (Auto SR), which will upscale games and create AI-generated highlight reels.
Microsoft is putting a lot of eggs in this basket. It’s still an ugly device, but its offerings go a long way toward bringing a SteamOS-like experience to Windows Handhelds, and its competitive price point is sure to make it a big seller. Stay tuned for the inevitable updates and future review, and let us know in the comments if you think this is enticing enough to convince yourself that it actually looks kinda cool when you really stop and look at it.
The thing I wonder though, is can it play Xbox games?
Yes, it runs the Xbox gamepass. But it’s running Windows 11 under the hood, and you can access the Xbox gamepass on any PC already (so that doesn’t really mean anything). As being able to use gamepass doesn’t mean you can play Xbox games. I can’t exactly play TimeSplitters Future Perfect on my Windows computer, but I can play it on my Xbox One or on an Xbox Series.
So what I want to know is, can this handheld that has “Xbox” in the name, play Xbox games.
Or is it just using Xbox as a meaningless brand, and it’s actually a Windows handheld.