Asus ROG & Xbox Unveil Rival Handheld

The ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X were just unveiled during the Xbox Games Show at Summer Game Fest 2025! Here's everything we know so far.

Xbox Ally Announced as Collaboration With Asus ROG at SGF 2025

Launching Later This Year!

During the Xbox Games Showcase 2025, Microsoft revealed two new Xbox-branded handheld devices developed alongside Asus. Called the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, these portable systems merge Xbox and Windows into a more console-like experience. And yes—midway through the presentation, one of them was seen running Hollow Knight: Silksong. That’s right. It’s real. It exists. It was playable.

Born from the Microsoft-Asus partnership under Project Kennan, both devices were designed with a single goal: to deliver a unified interface built for handheld gaming. Each system boots directly into a full-screen Xbox dashboard, featuring your game library front and center—including titles from Game Pass, Steam, Epic Games Store, Battle.net, and more.

The white Xbox Ally appears to be the more affordable model, designed for 720p gameplay with AMD’s Ryzen Z2 A chip, 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and a 512GB SSD.

In contrast, the black Xbox Ally X targets higher performance, supporting resolutions from 900p up to 1080p. It features AMD’s Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme chip—which includes a 50 TOPS NPU—alongside 24GB of faster RAM and a 1TB SSD. All of this is displayed on a 7-inch 1080p 120Hz screen.

According to Microsoft's Shawn Yen, the guiding principle behind this generation is that "efficiency is our superpower." The Ally X includes an 80Wh battery—one of the largest in any handheld—while the base Ally gets a 60Wh cell, a 50% increase over the original ROG Ally. Combined with a streamlined Windows 11 that cuts down on background processes, the goal is extended battery life and smoother gameplay.

One of the most exciting moments of the presentation, however, was the appearance of Silksong—met with gasps from viewers online. Between better hardware, a console-grade interface, and the inclusion of Silksong, the handheld PC market is heating up. Your move, Steam Deck.