Xbox is at a crossroads. While the PlayStation 5 and Switch 2 continue to gain popularity, multiple price hikes for the Xbox Series S and X have killed their momentum. And with several big box retailers like Costco deciding to drop Microsoft’s console from their shelves, the current-gen Xbox may be dead in the water. So what should the company do?
Microsoft’s most straightforward option would be to simply punt the end of the Xbox's lifecycle, regroup and come back strong with a brand new console in a year or two. On the flipside, the company could follow in Sega's footsteps after the untimely demise of the Dreamcast and become a cross-platform game publisher with a large stable of first-party studios. However, there's a third route that could fill the gap between now and whenever the next Xbox arrives that could potentially expand its reach to a whole new segment: Give handheld gaming a go.

Engineering and building a new portable gaming device isn't cheap or quick. So instead of doing everything itself, Microsoft teamed up with ASUS to create the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X — a pair of Windows 11-based portable gaming PCs enhanced with Microsoft's DNA. And while it's too early to say if these handhelds will help save Xbox itself, they're more than solid portables that could have a big impact on portable gaming going forward.
Editor's note: This review is focused on the ROG Xbox Ally X, primarily because that's all we have at the moment. However, the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X share many features including the same basic design , display, button layout and software (the only difference is their color). That said, the base Xbox Ally has less impressive specs as it comes with a slower AMD Ryzen Z2 chip, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage and a smaller 60WHr battery. It’s also a touch lighter (1.48 pounds vs 1.58) and has a lower price of $600 instead of $1,000.
Design and display: The Xbox goes portable




Sam Rutherford for Engadget


When you look at the ROG Xbox Ally X, it might appear as if ASUS bolted larger grips to its previous handheld — the Ally X — and called it a day. However, the company says the Xbox Ally was redesigned from the ground up, in large part to include a number of signature features that will make Xbox faithful feel right at home. This includes things like the classic ABXY button layout, Impulse triggers with tons of travel and, of course, the requisite Xbox home button. Then smack dab in the middle of everything is a 7-inch IPS LCD screen.
Speaking of the display, ASUS picked a FHD IPS panel with a 120Hz refresh rate that appears to be the exact same screen used on the Ally X. While it doesn't deliver pure blacks like you'd get from OLED, contrast was still surprisingly good. With a brightness of 500 nits (the one on our review unit was actually a touch higher at 510 nits), this display delivers almost everything you want without feeling like you need to upgrade to something like the huge 8.8-inch OLED panel on the Lenovo Legion Go 2.




Sam Rutherford for Engadget


Around back, there are two customizable paddles while the top edge houses a fingerprint reader and all of the Xbox Ally X's connectivity: two USB-C ports, a microSD card reader and 3.5mm audio. Notably, while both ports support charging and display capabilities, the one furthest to the left is also Thunderbolt 4 compliant. This means it has enough bandwidth to support external GPUs like ASUS' recently updated XG Mobile graphics dock.
Ultimately, the ROG Xbox Ally might not look all that different from ASUS' previous handhelds, but between its buttons, triggers and those big new grips, it really does feel like you're holding a portable version of Microsoft's console. Even without Hall Effect sensors, the Xbox Ally X's joysticks are tight and responsive, while the triggers offer a ton of travel. The only thing I wish ASUS and Microsoft had paid a little more attention to is the handheld's haptics, which are fine, but they’re a far cry from the expressive rumble motors you get from a DualSense controller or the Switch 2's Joy-Con.
Performance: Flagship handheld power




Sam Rutherford for Engadget


As the higher-end model in ASUS and Microsoft's new joint handheld lineup, the ROG Xbox Ally X features a AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip with 24GB of memory (which is shared with its GPU) and 1TB of storage that can be expanded via microSD. However, thanks in part to the new full-screen Xbox experience, Microsoft tweaked a number of the handheld's background processes and services for the first time on a Windows 11-based handheld. The result is a slightly more optimized device even when compared to its closest rivals.
In Cyberpunk 2077 at 1,920 x 1,080, medium graphics and FSR set to performance, the ROG Xbox Ally X hit 62.1 fps while plugged in and set to its max 35-watt Turbo mode. That's almost five fps higher than what we got from the Lenovo Legion Go 2 (57.5 fps) when its s

Read Original

The Media Hub: The Kings Ark™