It was all the way back in late 2020 that we did a little feature on unboxing the Xbox Series X, so we may as well do the same thing for the ROG Xbox Ally X, right? Nothing too crazy - let's just have a look inside and see what we get!
So, the first thing you'll be greeted with is this very nice-looking box. The ROG Xbox Ally X comes in black and the standard ROG Xbox Ally in white, but they're basically the same thing. For what it's worth, it was sent to us in a ridiculously oversized cardboard box - that'll probably be the same for everyone who orders directly from ASUS.
You may recall that the Xbox Series X came in some quite fancy packaging featuring the words "Power Your Dreams", but it's unfortunately not the same situation here. You certainly don't get the "wow" factor like you did with the Series X - it's just some basic information about how the charger works, and then the handheld itself.
The ROG Xbox Ally X is protected with a firm plastic film that actually requires a bit of work to pull off (unless I was just too impatient to do it elegantly), and then you're basically ready to go. Unlike many new electronics, I found there was no charge at all in the device when receiving it, so it required plugging in straight away.
You do also get a manual and some warranty information in a little black box, as seen below.
At the top of the box, you'll find a surprising addition (or at least, I thought it was) - a makeshift stand! It feels like it's made from hard polystyrene or something, and I wouldn't make it a long-term solution, but it does the job perfectly well.
And then finally, you've got the charger. It's been reported that the ROG Xbox Ally doesn't come with a charger in some European countries, but it clearly does here in the UK, and my experiences with it have been very positive so far.
I haven't done a full-on test in terms of how long it takes to go from 0% battery to 100% battery, but it seems to be somewhere around the 90-minute mark. It appears to charge very quickly up to about 50% as well - that probably only takes around half an hour to reach.
So, there you go! There's your little informal unboxing of the ROG Xbox Ally X. If you're keen to grab one for yourself, we've got a pre-order guide to both the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X elsewhere on Pure Xbox, but just keep in mind that stock is a little hard to come by for the "X" version as things stand.
Don't forget to check out our full review of the ROG Xbox Ally X as well, in which I've gone into way more detail on how the device performs and whether it's ultimately a good handheld or not. Spoiler alert... I think it's awesome!