After almost two weeks of using the ROG Xbox Ally, I am convinced that it has the potential to shake up the x86 market in a way we haven’t seen since the Steam Deck. This isn’t a situation where we’re looking at an amazingly powerful new chip, or drastically improved efficiency or battery life.

In a lot of ways, the individual parts and components of the Xbox Ally are pedestrian. They’re things we’ve seen before, and in some cases, things we’ve seen cheaper on other devices. So why do I think the Xbox Ally matters so much? It all comes down to the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

ASUS ROG Xbox Ally | AmazonASUS ROG Xbox Ally X | Best Buy

Starting With The Base

The base model Xbox Ally isn’t a quantum leap in handheld gaming when it comes to performance or price. The lower-tier Xbox Ally costs roughly the same as the Steam Deck OLED and has roughly comparable performance and specs. If you wanted to go with the 512MB LCD Steam Deck, then you would be looking at something half the price of the base Xbox Ally.

The ergonomics of the Xbox Ally are impressive. I thought it was a gimmick literally until the moment I held the device in my hands, and then I changed my mind. It is one of the most well-balanced and comfortable experiences I have ever had with a handheld in general, let alone a large X86 device with a 7” screen. Still, I don’t think ergonomics alone are enough to change the market, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see 3rd party grips for the older Ally X model that try to emulate the Xbox Ally.

Is the battery life amazing on the Xbox Ally? Well, yes and no. With a 60Wh battery, the Xbox Ally is 20 watts higher than the LCD Steam Deck and 10 watts higher than the OLED Steam Deck. Couple the larger battery with the de-Windowsification© of Windows 11, and you get the Xbox Full Screen Experience, and you are looking at even more battery life. But the Full Screen Experience is available on other Windows devices, so you could ostensibly throw it on the 2024 Ally X and get even more efficiency from its 80Wh battery.

Why the ROG Xbox Ally Matters

So all things considered… Why do I think the Xbox Ally (and Xbox Ally X) are going to change the face of x86 handhelds? Two words: Brand Recognition. I talked about this briefly at the end of my first look video, but I’ve had people asking me about this thing in public since I left New York. When I was at the airport, I put the sealed Xbox Ally box in a bin at the TSA checkpoint. There was a guy eyeballing it hard at the front of the line, and by the time I was putting my belt back on, both he and a lady agent came over to take another look.

I think the first guy must have gotten called back to his actual job, but the other agent started asking questions. “What is that? Is it a portable Xbox? What does it play? How much is it?” I don’t know if answering a TSA agent’s questions violated my NDA, but I didn’t want to go to jail, so I told her all about it. Her immediate response was that she needed to buy one for her son. $600 was apparently no barrier for her being a Christmas hero and reclaiming her TV.

Since I had less than a week with the Xbox Ally before the video was due, I took the thing with me everywhere, and I got more questions on this handheld than I ever did with other devices. I don’t know if it’s the wing grips, the Xbox branding, or even people sneaking peeks at the Xbox UI, but I had friends and total strangers asking me about it. Without fail, they all took the $600 price fully in stride for what they perceived to be a portable Xbox, and I was not expecting that.

Specs Don’t Matter (To Most)

After some time watching other reviews where people rightfully pointed out the price-to-performance issues of the Xbox Ally line compared to other x86 devices, and after even more time using this in public and getting more questions, I realized that the niche gamer perspective doesn’t really matter.

Rob and The Phawx might be technically correct in their extended benchmarking sections, but I don’t think the casual consumer base cares. They see an Xbox handheld that costs about the same as the Xbox Series X, and they think it’s cool that it’s portable like a Switch, because the casual consumer base doesn’t know what a Steam Deck is.

Is the Xbox Ally the New Steam Deck?

Although it is inevitable that there will be “in the know” people having a Lee Carvallo’s Putting Challenge situation under their Christmas tree this year, I really think a ton of people will come into the hobby through the Xbox Ally, and that influx of new users will hopefully drive innovation and price cuts.

A lot of people remember the console wars of the early ’90s as fighting at recess about Sonic vs. Mario or the Genesis vs. the Super Nintendo, but the impact of the actual marketing battle was significant. From 1991 through 1992, Sega of America dropped the price of its console by almost 50%, and in doing so, forced Nintendo to do the same. In the midst of this battle for market share, innovation spiked, the ESRB was created, and video games darted into the CD-ROM era.

Do I think the ROG Xbox Ally is going to drop the average x86 handheld price by 50% in the next two years? Maybe not, but more users entering the space is a net win for everyone in the hobby. I could be wrong, my wife tells me I’m wrong ten times a day, but the fact that ASUS already sold out on pre-orders makes me think I might be right.

ASUS ROG Xbox Ally | AmazonASUS ROG Xbox Ally X | Best Buy

What did you think of this article? Let us know in the comments below, and chat with us in our Discord!

This page may contain affiliate links, by purchasing something through a link, Retro Handhelds may earn a small commission on the sale at no additional cost to you.