Six months ago, when I first got my hands on the ROG Xbox Ally X courtesy of ASUS, I assumed it was going to become like an Xbox Series X in my hands — a system I would use basically in the same kind of way as my main Xbox console, while also perhaps taking advantage of the likes of Steam and other PC storefronts from time to time.
Now, as I sit here in April 2026, the way I've been using the Xbox Ally has definitely surprised me in more ways than one. Has it replaced my Xbox Series X? Definitely not. Do I use it the same way as my Xbox Series X? Definitely not! But in many respects, it's become the most important gaming system that I own, and often for unexpected reasons that I hadn't anticipated back in October of last year.
So, let's do a six-month review on this thing, shall we? I've got a lot of positives and a few negatives to share about the ROG Xbox Ally X, and it's certainly that a device that's shaped my gaming and professional life in recent months.
I think when you first look into a device like the Xbox Ally (and certainly when I first reviewed it), it's only natural to hyper-focus on aspects such as performance and battery life. How many frames can you squeeze out of it? How much can you extend the battery life? How does it compare to all of these other systems that are out there?
Once you've settled down and lived with it for six months, it feels like none of that matters as much anymore — at least in my case. Truth be told, there have only ever been a handful of times where I've run out of battery, often because I'm regularly docking it and leaving it plugged in, and the battery life is pretty decent anyway unless you're really trying to squeeze the most out of it. No complaints here about the battery, it's perfectly adequate.
Performance-wise, instead of hyper-focusing on the device's potential, I've kind of just settled into a feeling of what works best on it. You can run major AAA games on the ROG Xbox Ally X and often reach 60FPS through upscaling technologies (or sometimes even without them), but I've been surprised to find that I'm not really playing those games on the Ally. If I'm in the mood for a recent AAA release, I'm still prioritising my Xbox Series X on a big TV with a specially optimised 4K version for my console. It's obviously nice to have access to these games on the go, but I assumed I'd want to curl up on my sofa with these major AAA titles more often than I have — instead, the Series X still takes priority in these situations.
However, if I drop down to AAA games that are perhaps a few years old (such as Final Fantasy 7 Remake, for example), or indie and AA games, that's where the Xbox Ally becomes my favourite way to play. Again, this is where the feeling comes in — I know that I can play these games on a lower power setting (meaning less battery use and basically no fan noise), reach 60FPS or higher with ease, and still get a fantastic-looking image. The original Nintendo Switch felt like magic when first switching from docked to handheld mode, and when it comes to games like these that require very little tinkering, it's a similar feeling going from the Xbox Series X or S to the Xbox Ally.
I can already envision some people saying "just get a Switch 2" or "just get a Steam Deck" in response, and you could make that argument without a doubt, but there are other reasons why I'd personally want to prioritise the Xbox ROG Ally over those two devices. Since I got the Ally in October of 2025, I've played native Xbox PC games around 75% of the time, and that's due to both the Xbox Play Anywhere and PC Game Pass programs. Xbox Play Anywhere is constantly filling up my library with Xbox PC versions (and it's convincing me to buy certain games over others), while Xbox Game Pass is dishing out amazing games on a weekly basis right now.
And of course, I have the ability to exit out to Windows on the Ally. In fact, here's the most unexpected thing about my ROG Xbox Ally X use so far — it's become my main PC. Every morning, I walk into my office, I plug the Ally X into a dock (with a monitor connected to said dock), and then I work on Pure Xbox for eight hours per-day on it. It never makes a noise, it never gets anything more than warm, and it handles everything I throw at it on a day-to-day basis. Then, when I'm done, I can boot up Steam and play something like Retro Rewind or Dispatch, or load up an emulator and play some of my (legally purchased!) retro games... the sky's the limit.
In fact, the sheer possibility here is quite overwhelming at times. I'd tinkered with modding PC games in the past before I acquired the ROG Xbox Ally X, but I hadn't truly comprehended how much I could improve so many of my most beloved titles. I've been playing this thing called YARG which is a Guitar Hero / Rock Band game that allows you to create and import custom tracks, and it's become the ultimate Guitar Hero game that I always wanted. I just dock the Ally to my TV, plug in the Xbox Riffmaster, and it's an absolutely wonderful experience.
I love football / soccer games as well, and PES 2021 (which is sadly now delisted) has developed a reputation for becoming one of the most amazing football games ever thanks to its modding community — again, it works great on the Ally. You could install Star Wars Genesis on there, or Fallout London, or basically any mod you want. For those who have never really looked into the world of modding, there are so many amazing examples to find, but the downside is that you may never want to go back to the Xbox console versions of these games!
So, yeah... I started out my ROG Xbox Ally X journey assuming that I'd use it like an Xbox Series X in my hands, and in some ways that's true, but it's ended up expanding way more beyond that. I'd say that I'm probably 50/50 in terms of which system I'm using more than the other right now, and thanks to the likes of Xbox Play Anywhere and Game Pass, they certainly complement each other nicely. Owning both systems doesn't make one of them feel redundant, but rather allows you to curate your Xbox experience based on the game and the situation.
I realise I've talked a lot about games here, but my thoughts on the other stuff haven't really changed that much over the past six months. The dashboard (known as the Xbox full-screen experience or "Xbox Mode") is serviceable and gets the job done, but it's also not that visually enticing and can be quite laggy and janky at times. To Xbox's credit, they have added some neat features — I absolutely love that you can add any game or app to your Xbox library now, as it prevents you having to exit out to Windows for certain things — but it's still not an interface that I'm particularly keen on. I assume it's going to get an overhaul again soon though, especially with Xbox's Project Helix console on the horizon (which will seemingly have dashboard parity with the Ally).
The feel of the system in the hands is still fantastic. It's probably the most comfortable handheld I own (I have a PSP, New 3DS, Evercade Super Pocket and Nintendo Switch OLED), with the two grips nestling into my palms as I play games. The weight of the device can start to feel a little draining during long gaming sessions, but as long as I'm resting it on a knee, or a cushion, or just something to help ease the pressure, it's not an issue. I'd rather play on this and deal with the extra weight than play on the Switch OLED and suffer a lack of grip.
I think the only real irritation I have about the ROG Xbox Ally X at this point is when I'm trying to use it like a dedicated Xbox console and it throws PC stuff in my face. When I boot it up, I'm greeted with a clunky Windows login screen rather than something specific to Xbox. When I load a game on Steam from the Xbox launcher, I'm sometimes faced with pop-ups like Spotify and the Epic Games Store when I haven't asked for them. When I've got it docked on my TV and realise that I need to switch between gamepad controls and mouse controls to make something work (like adjusting emulator settings, for example), I feel like I'm jumping through hoops to make something happen.
With all of that said, I do feel like the grumbles are getting less and less over time as I become more accustomed to how the ROG Xbox Ally X works. It can feel a little jarring at first going from a dedicated console to a PC in your hands, but as you start to learn a few tricks and recognise the patterns of how different storefronts and Windows-based features behave on the device, you gain knowledge of how to wield it more effectively. At this point, I feel like I can navigate those occasional quirks with relative ease.
For me, the question is no longer whether the ROG Xbox Ally X is a good handheld or not — I think it's brilliant and I'm hoping to try out the base white version soon and see how it compares — but how effectively Team Xbox will be able to integrate the Windows 11 "Xbox Mode" interface and all the potential issues that come with it into a dedicated Xbox console like Project Helix. With the ROG Xbox Ally, I expect to have to navigate the challenges of Windows to a degree, but it's a whole different ballgame when you're talking about a home console.
Anyway, those are my thoughts on the ROG Xbox Ally after six months. There's a lot more to come for the device in 2026, including the major rollout of Auto Super Resolution technology at some point this month, which I'll hopefully take a look at for Pure Xbox in the near future. I'm really enjoying my time with this handheld so far, and I'm very intrigued about how it'll handle Forza Horizon 6, Fable, Halo: Campaign Evolved and Gears of War: E-Day later in the year, as well as whether it'll get native support for Xbox backwards compatibility (along with PC in general) as rumoured. Whatever happens, there's going to be a ton of amazing games to play on the Ally in 2026 and beyond!