We’re been hearing rumors for what feels like an eternity about Microsoft working with ASUS’ ROB division on a gaming handheld device and we got confirmation during the Xbox Games Showcase at Summer Game Fest. There are two variants of the handheld: the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X.
Microsoft didn’t reveal pricing, but the handhelds are coming this holiday. Details on how much the systems cost, pre-orders, accessories and more are coming soon, the company said. The Xbox Ally will initially be available in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and, shockingly enough, the US.
The Xbox Ally is powered by the AMD Ryzen Z2 A Processor, and has 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage. The Xbox Ally X is the more powerful model. It has a AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor, 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. They each have a microSD card reader, so you won’t need to worry about shelling out for proprietary storage options to have extra space for your games.
The two models seem to have the same screen, a seven-inch 1080p, 16:9 display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 500 nits of brightness. They both boast “HD haptics” and have a dedicated Xbox button.
The Xbox Ally has hall effect analog triggers, while the Xbox Ally X has “impulse triggers for enhanced control.” It sounds a little like Microsoft and ASUS are taking a page out of the PlayStation DualSense playbook there. Anyway, both of the Xbox Ally systems have two assignable back buttons and 6-axis IMU — a fancy way of saying that they’ll probably have gyro controls.
The ROG Ally devices run on Windows 11, naturally. Both models come with a charging stand. Microsoft has designed a full-screen Xbox user interface for the handhelds.
Xbox head Sarah Bond says that every game included in the showcase will be playable on the Xbox Ally, but didn’t make clear whether all of those would run natively on the devices. The reveal trailer also included a notable focus on Hollow Knight: Silksong, for what it’s worth.
This story is developing, refresh for updates…
