Xbox just announced their first ever handhelds – the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X

The Sunday of not-E3 is renowned as Microsoft’s time to shine. It’s fair to say that recent years haven’t quite set hearts racing, no matter how good Xbox output like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Avowed have been, so it’s a welcome surprise to find that Xbox haven’t just rolled out a few smart-looking trailers, with the earth-shattering announcement that they’re set to release the very first Xbox handheld. It’s not even just one, with the ROG Xbox Ally and the ROG Xbox Ally X providing two different tiers of Xbox handheld. This is a great day for Xbox gamers.

The quickest among you will note that the ROG Ally is a thing that already exists. ROG’s Ally, and it’s more powerful follow-up the Ally X, are PC handhelds that have spent the last few years competing with Valve’s Steam Deck for portable PC gamers’ hearts. There’s a very strong argument to say that they’re the better option, though they’ve been hamstrung by Microsoft’s own Windows platform which was never made specifically for a handheld format.

The ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X are the best of both worlds, the partnership between the two companies giving you access to your entire Xbox library as well as opening up the world of PC gaming to you as well, including all of the PC based stores like Steam and the Epic Game Store.

The Xbox Ally and Ally X have had some obvious physical changes made to them over ROGs older versions of the Ally, most noticeably in the extended, and presumably far more ergonomic hand grips. The Steam Deck’s comfort levels were the last bastion of defence that Steam Deck owners had over Ally owners, and we can’t wait to see if the Xbox Ally and Ally X trounce them, becoming the most comfortable PC handheld out there.

They’ve got some pretty impressive specs under the hood. Both have AMD processors, with the Xbox Ally toting an AMD Ryzen Z2 A Processor, alongside 16GB of RAM and a 512GD SSD. The Xbox Ally X meanwhile has a Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor as well as a massive 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. They’re both going to be serious gaming machines – the original Ally has been a fantastic option, with a less powerful chipset, so we can’t wait to see how the new pair will perform.

Both have 7″ 1080p full HD screens, with a 120Hz refresh rate, and Freesync Premium onboard, which should mean everything will look super smooth and bright.