ASUS ROG Ally X Review: The Best Windows Handheld Gaming Console, But There’s a Catch!

Handheld gaming consoles have seen a resurgence since the introduction of the Steam Deck in 2022. Last year, we tested the ASUS ROG Ally, which in our view delivered an excellent balance between performance and comfort to offer an optimal handheld gaming experience.

However, the ROG Ally wasn't without its drawbacks, battery life being chief among them. The ASUS ROG Ally X may not offer a generational upgrade over the ROG Ally, but more of a successor aimed at writing a few wrongs. After putting the ROG Ally X through its paces, here's our thoughts on ASUS's latest handheld Windows gaming PC.

PROS

• Impressive Performance and Twice the Storage
• Fast & Responsive Display
• Improved Design with Comfortable Grips
• Excellent Battery Life for a Windows Handheld

CONS

• No Graphics Upgrade
• Much More Expensive Than the Original Ally
• Full Potential Limited by Windows UI

Design

The ROG Ally X takes its design cues from the original Ally. However, the chassis has seen some significant upgrades. The larger battery inside, makes for a thicker console, although the rounded grips on the side ensure a comfortable grip. Additional air intake vents have been added, although the number of heat pipes has been reduced to cut down on weight.

The ROG Ally X weighs 678 grams as compared to the original Ally coming in at 608 grams. The Ally X has also gotten a big thicker thanks to that larger battery. The two macro keys at the back have been downsized to avoid accidental presses, while both the bumpers and triggers are now larger.

Additionally, the ROG Ally X's chassis is now offered in all black as opposed to the white case of the original Ally. The most impressive aspect of the ROG Ally X's design is its ability to double the battery size, while only bumping up the weight by around 70 grams. Otherwise, the overall gaming experience felt similar to the ROG Ally.

Display & Audio

The screen remains unchanged on the ROG Ally X. It features the same 7-inch Full HD (1080p) IPS LCD panel with a 16:9 aspect ratio and a 120Hz refresh rate. Asus claims that the display features a peak brightness of 500 nits and supports 100% sRGB colours. Additionally, the GameVisuals option allows you to choose from different colour modes, depending on the title you are engaged in.

It isn't as fancy as the Steam Deck OLED or the Lenovo Legion Go, but the overall experience good considering most games won't be playable on 2K resolution. The panel was also easily visible outdoors and I didn't have any trouble using it when on the move. The touchscreen on the ROG Ally is protected by a layer of Gorilla Glass Victus.

The ROG Ally features dual front-firing speakers with Smart Amplifier tech to keep audio clear above fan noise. With Hi-Res Audio and Dolby Atmos support, the speakers deliver loud, crisp, and rich sound without distortion. It also includes built-in mics with AI noise cancellation for seamless in-game chats.

Performance

The ROG Ally X gets a marginal upgrade in performance, now coming with 24GB of LPDDR5 RAM as opposed to 16GB on its predecessor. It is worth noting that the memory here is shared between the AMD Ryzen Extreme's CPU and GPU, so it isn't much of an upgrade. AMD's FSR 2.1 tech also aids with upscaling video resolution to offer a better gaming experience.

We tested a few titles on the ROG Ally X (Turbo Settings 30W)and here are the results:

• FIFA 24 - 60fps (Medium) at 1080p
• Wild Hearts - 25fps (Low to Medium) at 1080p
• Forza Horizon 4 - 85 fps (High) at 1080p
• Crash Bandicoot - 40fps (Recommended) at 1080p
• God of War - 50fps (Low to Medium) at 1080p

The ROG Ally X offers a maximum TDP of 25W when operating on battery, which did cause performance to see a slight dip of about 10%. We also ran a Geekbench 6.0 test, which saw the Ally X score 2500 points in the single-core test and nearly 12000 points in the multi-core test when powered through the AC adapter.

The ROG Ally X also comes with double the storage at 1TB (Type-2280 M.2 SSD), which is essential considering the size of the latest AAA titles. While ASUS has reduced the number of heatpipes, the air intake vents and fan blades have been increased to improve heat dissipation and ensure the Ally X stays cool under pressure, preventing throttling.

Battery Life

One of the biggest improvements to the ROG Ally X is the addition of a larger battery at 80Whrs, which is double the size of the cell on the ROG Ally. The Ally X delivered over two hours of battery life when playing FIFA on medium settings at 1080p resolution. Moreover, this was while testing the console in Turbo Mode.

If you turn off the LEDs, switch the graphics to low, drop the resolution, and switch to Performance mode, you should get around three hours of gaming. Battery life plays a critical role in making or breaking a handheld gaming console and the larger 80Whr battery on the Ally X has just taken battery life from unacceptable to nearly respectable.

Other Features

The ASUS ROG Ally X offers a vast array of ports, including two USB Type-C ports, one of which offers USB4 speeds to plug it into any external eGPU. However, this means ASUS has ditched the proprietary xGM Mobile port for the XG Mobile eGPU found on the original Ally. Additionally, the Ally X retains the volume and power buttons on the top. Lastly, there's a headphone jack and microSD card slot on the top as well.

Wireless connectivity options on the Ally X include Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. Moreover, the power button also doubles as a fingerprint reader. The Ally X runs on Windows 11 Home. However, it is ASUS's Armoury Crate software on the Ally X that stands above the competition.

Armoury Crate was developed with convenience in mind. It ensures easy access to the Ally X's features, making it easy to customize settings or controls, change performance modes, monitor performance, and more. You can dive into our ASUS ROG Ally (Review) for an in-depth look at the Armoury Crate and just how convenient it makes the Windows handheld experience.

The Catch!

The ASUS ROG Ally X comes in at Rs 89,990, which is close to the original price of the first ROG Ally. But that's not the case anymore as you can now get the ASUS ROG Ally for just Rs 39,990 on Amazon. So are the ROG Ally X upgrades worth it? Yes and No!

The answer is a bit mixed. While the ROG Ally X does introduce features that make it a more practical and versatile handheld gaming console, these changes are relatively minor. The improvements don't represent a significant generational upgrade, so paying twice the price of the original ROG Ally may not feel entirely justified.

Verdict

The ASUS ROG Ally X is a solid refinement over its predecessor, tackling some of the original Ally's biggest issues, particularly battery life. With its larger 80Whr battery, extended storage, and additional design tweaks, ASUS has worked to create a more robust handheld gaming PC that feels good in the hands and performs admirably.

The subtle performance improvements and 24GB of RAM add a bit more power, although the gains are marginal. The decision to drop the proprietary eGPU port may be divisive, but it does make the device more versatile.

However, while the Ally X isn't quite a revolutionary upgrade, the balance of improvements-most notably in battery life-help it stand out in the growing field of handheld consoles. For gamers looking for a Windows-based handheld that's comfortable, versatile, and capable, the ROG Ally X is an appealing option, even if it's still slightly outpaced by the competition in display quality and some performance aspects.