Microsoft has announced the first Xbox handheld – the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X both developed by Asus.

Announced during today’s Xbox Games Showcase, the handheld can play games natively and stream via the cloud.

More than just a rebranded regular ROG Ally with a larger battery, improved grips, and an Xbox button (replacing the Armory Crate button), the new system revamps how the OS operates for gaming.

As a result, it reduces Windows 11’s idle power consumption by around two-thirds – vastly improving battery life and efficiency. Additionally, it can shut down all processes that aren’t related to gaming automatically – freeing up to 2GB of RAM to help boost gaming performance.

The new Windows 11 features are, for now, going to be exclusive to these devices but will be coming to regular ROG Allys towards the end of 2025 and to other PC gaming handhelds in 2026.

Specs are as follows:

ROG Xbox Ally – AMD Ryzen Z2 A Processor, 1080p 7” touchscreen, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD upgradeable storage, 60Wh battery, 670g weight

ROG Xbox Ally X – AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme Processor, 1080p 7” touchscreen, 24GB RAM, 1TB SSD upgradeable storage, 80Wh battery, 715g weight

As with a regular Ally, both devices are able to run Windows games purchased via PC through Xbox, or from Battle.net, GoG, Ubisoft Connect, and Steam.

The ROG Xbox Ally X however is using the new AI Z2 architecture announced at CES 2025, the newer silicon essentially doubling the CPU & GPU power of the Steam Deck. The screen is 1080p/120Hz VRR & Freesync but sadly NOT an OLED – just an IPS LCD screen.

Both handhelds are due for release Holiday 2025 in most major markets including 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 the United States.

Source: Windows Central