ROG Xbox Ally: release window, specs, features, and more

Between the Switch 2, the Steam Deck, and even the PlayStation Portal, handheld gaming is bigger than ever. Despite having some amazing games on the Xbox Series X and S, console sales this generation have been lackluster at best. Xbox has made a lot of gambles to try to stay competitive, such as Game Pass and making the biggest acquisition in gaming history with Activision Blizzard, but the question still remains how it will manage to regain its foothold in the industry after falling so far behind. One idea that has been teased many times concerns a dedicated Xbox handheld device that has many fans intrigued. After tons of rumors and speculation, Xbox finally revealed a dedicated Xbox handheld made in partnership with ROG. We don’t have all the details just yet, but we can fill you in on all the latest information available for the ROG Xbox Ally.

ROG Xbox Ally release window

The ROG Xbox Ally was officially revealed during the Xbox Games Showcase 2025 and given a release window of holiday 2025. That generally means somewhere between October and December, but we will keep this post updated as soon as a specific date is given.

ROG Xbox Ally specs

The ROG Xbox Ally is based on the ROG Ally, but is an upgrade over the last version. Just like there is the Xbox Series X and S, there are also two versions to pick from: the ROG Xbox Ally X and ROG Xbox Ally. The X will be the slightly more powerful version, but here’s a full breakdown of how the two compare, taken directly from the official Xbox website.

ROG Xbox Ally price speculation

The big piece of information missing from the ROG Xbox Ally reveal was the price. However, based on the previous ROG Ally price points and the specs of these new models, we can make an educated guess as to how much we expect these handhelds to cost.

Starting with the ROG Xbox Ally X, this model is about on par with the last ROG Ally, which costs $800. However, with slightly better internals, that could raise the price even beyond that. Normally, console makers could be willing to sell a console at a loss and try to make up for it with software sales, however, Xbox itself isn’t making this handheld. It isn’t as likely that Asus will take a hit on the price, so we suspect $800 to be the minimum the ROG Xbox Ally X will end up costing at launch.

As far as the regular ROG Xbox Ally, the weaker processor and less memory and storage could cut the cost down fairly significantly. We might be looking at a price range between $600 and $700, but again, this is pure speculation.

ROG Xbox Ally features

While Xbox opted to partner with Asus to make the ROG Xbox Ally instead of building its own from the ground up, this handheld will still have all the features you would expect and more.

Unlike the previous ROG Ally handhelds that launched directly into a Windows 11 UI, the ROG Xbox Ally will take you straight to the Xbox GameBar, where you can instantly access games from Game Pass, Battle.net, Steam, and more without having to mess around with a virtual desktop. This will make it far more approachable to the average player who wants as few barriers between starting up a handheld and playing their games. If you are a power user who wants to tinker with settings and perhaps do things with the handheld it wasn’t technically designed to do, that is still an option.

Beyond all your PC storefronts being available, Xbox Cloud gaming will also be available if you want to stream games rather than download them.