When the Asus ROG Ally debuted last year, it came with a few caveats. While gaming performance was solid, battery life was not. And while the design and build quality stood up to the competition, thermal management was not. While Asus’ handheld was certainly a positive entry into the space, it had significant limitations that prevented it from truly challenging the big players. The ROG Ally can be an alternative to the Steam Deck, but it’s never a replacement.
Now, a year later, Asus is back with yet another gaming handheld. The Asus ROG Ally X debuted on June 2, just before Computex Taipei. This portable gaming PC seeks to address the ROG Ally’s glaring shortcomings with tweaks and improvements across the board. The upgrades are small, but meaningful. The handheld’s battery capacity (80Whr) is significantly improved over the original (40Whr), it also has more memory and storage, and is said to have better cooling than the ROG Ally. There are other changes that make the handheld an overall better choice.
Two days after its release, the Asus ROG Ally X was on display at the company’s booth on the Computex floor, where Gadgets 360 had the chance to spend some time with it. From our brief early hands-on experience, it’s hard to tell how the increased specs translate into real-world performance gains, but first impressions can carry a lot of weight. What strikes you first is the new color scheme of the ROG Ally X, which, ironically, is less conspicuous. Now jet black, the handheld gaming PC blends in with its competitors (Steam Deck, MSI Claw A1M, Lenovo Legion Go, etc., all of which are black). The original Ally’s white color scheme conveyed a unique aesthetic, even if it was prone to getting dirty on your hands.
ROG Ally X is unobtrusive with its black color scheme
The ROG Ally X follows the design of its predecessor, with the front remaining largely unchanged. The 7-inch full-HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) IPS touchscreen display refreshes at 120Hz and delivers up to 500 nits of brightness. The D-pad features a more prominent design and a new matte finish that Asus says is more tactile. The face buttons are the same, but the company claims they’re “more resilient.” The Taiwanese company has also equipped the handheld with a new joystick module that is said to offer better control when aiming, a smoother feel and improved durability.
Looking at the side and back of the console, the changes become more apparent. Due to the larger battery, the Asus ROG Ally X is slightly thicker than the ROG Ally, increasing to 1.45 inches from 1.28 inches on the previous model. The grip handle is rounder and plumper, and the new handheld is more ergonomic. I picked up and played with both the Ally X and the original Ally at Computex, and the new handheld feels a bit beefier and more sturdy in the hand. It’s also slightly heavier. But it’s impressive that Asus managed to keep the weight of the new handheld down to 678 grams (the standard Ally is 608 grams) despite the larger battery and handle. The shoulder buttons have also been updated, with a wider, more ergonomic trigger, while the rear buttons are smaller to prevent accidental presses. These changes definitely improve the feel of the portable PC in the hand.
Asus ROG Ally X fits ergonomically in your hand
But the bigger changes are under the hood. With a 40Whr rated battery, the ROG Ally didn’t last more than two hours when playing demanding PC titles. That low-power battery was perhaps its biggest drawback, preventing it from being a truly portable handheld. The ROG Ally X makes up for that with an 80Whr battery that should enable longer gaming sessions. Playtimes aren’t yet clear, and Asus hasn’t provided details on battery performance, but that should become clear once the device arrives and a full review is completed.
The handheld’s memory has also been upgraded, with the ROG Ally X getting 24GB more RAM and a faster 7500MHz speed, with 16GB of that allocated to the system and 8GB to the GPU. This could improve overall gaming performance, but we don’t expect any huge improvements as the Ally X runs on AMD’s Ryzen Z1 Extreme Zen 4 platform with RDNA 3 graphics, the same as the 2023 ROG Ally. The new handheld also comes with larger storage out of the box, a 1TB SSD that supports the more common M.2 2280-sized drives rather than the 2230 standard used in the ROG Ally.
Port locations have also changed, with Asus ditching its proprietary XG Mobile port in favor of two USB Type-C ports, one of which supports Thunderbolt 4. Asus claims it has also redesigned the handheld’s cooling system. The ROG Ally X uses a smaller fan, which leaves more room for the larger battery but improves airflow. Asus claims it’s around 24% more than the previous model. This also claims to reduce touchscreen temperatures by up to 6°C. This is a welcome change, as the 2023 model struggled with thermal management. But the real thermal performance will only become apparent after extended use.
The port location has been changed, and ROG Ally X now comes with two USB Type-C connectors.
The big thing that held the Asus ROG Ally back, and hurts new models too, is the OS. The ROG Ally X comes with Windows 11, which, while flexible and versatile, offers a clunky and unintuitive touch interface for the touchscreen. Sure, the OS lets the handheld act like a pocket PC with a controller attached, but it pales in comparison to Steam Deck’s SteamOS, which offers a smoother, console-like UI. However, Asus has now included a new version of its Armoury Crate SE software, promising a more customizable interface and a game library with easier navigation.
At Computex, Gadgets 360 tried out games like Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon, Palworld, and Tekken 8. The titles ran smoothly, and we didn’t encounter any overheating issues during our brief use of the handheld. This was in contrast to our hands-on experience with the Zotac Zone, another new handheld announced at Computex. Zotac’s Windows-based portable crashed and showed signs of overheating while running Horizon Forbidden West. We’ll go into more detail about the gaming and thermal performance of the new Ally X in our in-depth review, but considering the improvements brought to an already excellent handheld, the ROG Ally X might be the easiest to recommend among its Windows-based peers.
ROG Ally X is limited by the Windows OS
However, upgrades also come at a cost. The Asus ROG Ally X is priced at $799 (roughly Rs. 66,700), a $100 increase over the Z1 Extreme version of the 2023 model. The price in India is expected to be announced closer to the launch, which Asus says is expected later this year. While all the upgrades bring meaningful improvements, it would have been nice to see an OLED screen added as well. But considering the price, it seems that Asus has made all the right choices for a mid-life refresh of the handheld. The verdict can wait until the detailed review, but the ROG Ally X has impressed those of us who have had the chance to use the handheld hands-on. It may not be a true successor to the 2023 model, but it looks like it has succeeded.
Disclosure: ASUS sponsored our correspondent’s flights and hotel for the event in Taipei.