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Can you believe it's been an entire year since we published our initial review of the ROG Xbox Ally X here at Pure Xbox?! That was all the way back in October of 2025, and 12 months later, I'm happy to report that I'm still using the Xbox Ally X on a literal daily basis, although I've certainly changed the way I interact with the device during that time.
What started out as a novelty for playing AAA games on the go has inevitibly turned into something a bit different - the honeymoon period has very much worn off, and now I've settled into a rhythm where I use the ROG Xbox Ally X for certain things, and stick to my Xbox Series X for others.
So, let's dive into this a little bit, shall we? For this one-year overview, I'm not going to go over the entire feature set of the Ally X, but instead focus on how my relationship with the handheld has evolved since it first landed in my hands.
For what it's worth, my impressions of the actual hardware of the ROG Xbox Ally X are pretty much the same as they were a year ago. It still feels great in the hands (albeit slightly heavy at times), the buttons, analog sticks and triggers are showing no obvious signs of wear, and I've only had one issue along these lines over the past 12 months - the d-pad started randomly scrolling upwards for no reason. I couldn't figure it out for a few days, and then I just randomly pressed hard on the d-pad and circled around a few times, and it's never given me a problem since.
It's still one of the most comfortable handhelds I've ever owned, even despite the extra weight. It makes such a difference to have the Xbox-style controller handles on the back of the device, to the point where I much prefer to play indie games on the Ally X versus something like my Switch OLED, aside from the slightly better screen on the latter.
As for things like battery life, thermals, noise and any signs of dust buildup, I again haven't noticed any major changes between last year and this year. I think it does get a little bit louder now, but obviously that depends on what kind of games you're playing and the amount of power you're pushing. Personally, I think playing on a "Performance" profile as opposed to a "Turbo" profile is the sweet spot for thermals, noise and battery life, and the result is a quiet system that pushes out relatively cool air for the most part. No complaints in this area from me.
To give you an idea of how I use my Xbox Ally X, the vast majority of my time has been spent with it in docked mode as a Windows PC - most of my Pure Xbox articles over the past year have been written on the device. That was never really the plan, but I quickly discovered that not only was it more powerful and speedy than my previous desktop PC, but its compact form factor made it feel really appealing and adaptive for wherever I want to do my daily work. As long as there's a monitor, I just need the Ally, a dock, a keyboard and mouse to get cracking.
Of course, I still play a lot of games on it as well, and this is where things have changed quite a bit over the past year. My initial feeling was that I wanted to play a ton of AAA Xbox titles on the Ally X for the novelty factor, but over time, I began to favour the Xbox Series X for those graphical powerhouse titles, whereas I'd much prefer to play AA and indie games in handheld form. In other words, the Ally X obviously can't compete for graphics and frame rate versus the Series X, so I'd rather get the most out of those games on a dedicated home console. For everything else though, I generally prefer being able to sit in bed or cosy up on the sofa with them.
That might sound like a negative when it comes to the AAA titles, especially as games continue to get more and more demanding in the years ahead, but you can play most of them just fine if you're willing to make visual sacrifices - even the recently released Gears of War: E-Day is a perfectly good experience on the Ally X. For me though, I look at this device as more of a complement to my existing Xbox console that allows me to pick and choose how I want to play - with all of this being aided by Xbox Play Anywhere support for thousands of games, along with the recent launch of Xbox Backwards Compatibility for PC.
In terms of the software experience, I still don't think it's got to the place that I hoped it would, but it's certainly improved in various ways over the past year. The Ally X definitely isn't a device that acts exactly like an Xbox console — you need to be comfortable with at least a bit of tinkering and the various quirks and glitches that come with any Windows PC — but once you're over the initial teething issues, I'd say it becomes relatively easy to navigate.
I like some of the newer features, such as Default Gaming Profiles that are optimised for specific games, various improvements to make docking easier and more effective, and the ability to add games and apps manually to the Xbox PC launcher. All of these lead to a more user-friendly experience without a doubt, and cut down on the number of instances where you'll find yourself going "ugh, why do I have to jump through hoops to make this work?".
On the whole, I'd still rather boot up an Xbox Series X and jump into a game without any faff whatsoever, but let's be realistic - the ROG Xbox Ally X is a PC after all, and I'm more than happy to navigate a slightly more awkward and unpredictable interface to take advantage of the additional benefits that a Windows PC can offer.
In a nutshell, the ROG Xbox Ally X isn't something that I've become increasingly disappointed about over the past 12 months. In fact, I'd say it's probably the most useful "Xbox" device I've ever owned, serving as both a gaming handheld and a Windows PC for my daily tasks. The idea of paying £899.99 for a new one still makes my eyes water, but refurb versions seem to be popping up here and there, so you can bring that cost down a little bit.
Obviously not everyone has that kind of money to spare, and in that case it might be worth looking into the standard white Xbox Ally model instead. Or, if you're willing to push the boat out, the new Xbox Ally X20 is based on the Ally X but includes a bigger OLED screen along with a few other quality of life improvements. For me though, I don't really see a need to upgrade, and I still feel like the current model still has many, many years of life left in it.
In some ways, the ROG Xbox Ally X feels like a product of a bygone Xbox era - a time when Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond were shaping their own kind of direction for the brand that was quickly halted when Asha Sharma took over - but to be fair, Sharma has hinted recently that the "Project Helix" generation could include some kind of new portable device as well. Regardless of what happens in the future, I'm just so glad the Xbox Ally X exists right now, and aside from native support for console games, it's pretty much everything I'd ever hoped for in an Xbox handheld.