Xbox handheld leaks in new "Project Kennan" photos from the FCC — plus an ASUS ROG Ally 2 prototype with early specs

The United States FCC just inadvertently leaked Xbox's partner handheld with ASUS, known as Project Kennan.

We exclusively revealed Project Kennan a few weeks ago, describing how the ASUS ROG Ally-like PC gaming handheld sports some Xbox influence, notably in the grips, and should come with deeper Xbox integration over its regular ASUS ROG Ally counterpart.

Thanks to the United States FCC (via VideoCardz), it seems photographs of the device have leaked.

The FCC leak seems to showcase two models, one is most likely the ASUS ROG Ally 2, with the white exterior, the black model is most likely Project Kennan, which I'm told is currently being tested at Microsoft HQ rather openly as we speak.

The black model appears to have a dedicated Xbox button on the upper left side, although it's lacking paint, an unmistakable "X" engraving can be seen. Personally, I was hoping the design would err a little closer on the Xbox side, but these are ASUS devices first, after all.

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These devices are almost certainly running "full fat" Windows 11, although Microsoft may debut new gaming-oriented features at Build 2025, set for May 19. The electronics fair at Computex is also set for May 20, which seems like a logical event for ASUS to debut these new devices.

If one had to guess, Microsoft and ASUS may hold separate reveals on May 20, with one focusing on new dedicated Xbox gaming features for Windows 11 PC gaming handhelds, and the other focusing specifically on the ROG Ally 2 and its hardware.

The Xbox ASUS ROG Ally won't be able to run all of your Xbox console games. That functionality will likely come with the tried and true Xbox handheld Microsoft is working on, likely for 2027, according to our best information.

It will, however, run everything on the Microsoft Store for Xbox Play Anywhere, which, thanks to PC Game Pass, has seen a large uptick in support in recent years. It will also run everything on Steam, Epic Games Store, and practically any other PC game imaginable within reason.

Xbox handheld specs hint at a powerful bump

We don't yet know the official specs of Kennan or the ASUS ROG Ally 2, but they should at least be as powerful as the excellent ASUS ROG Ally, perhaps with improved battery efficiency and optimization that bring it closer to the even better ROG Ally X. For now, the leaks hint at AMD's Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor running at 35W max for Kennan.

Last week, Microsoft debuted a new "Xbox PC" soft branding when discussing the reveal of Gears of War: Reloaded, which Windows Central understands to be how Microsoft now refers to Xbox's PC efforts internally.

This new Xbox-ified ASUS ROG Ally could be the first device to sit under the new "Xbox PC" branding, although Microsoft also has a "designed for Xbox" branding that it often uses for partner devices, typically for Xbox headsets alongside Xbox controllers and the like.

The elephant in the room, however, is price. With the United States' ongoing tariff war against prominent manufacturing nations like China, I'm not entirely expecting this device to be cheap, or even affordable for most people.

It'll be interesting to see how it lands price-wise. Microsoft itself raised the base price of Xbox consoles just last week.

I would expect that now that these very dusty images have leaked, ASUS and Microsoft may seek to show off prettier renders soon. Until then, what do you think? Hit the comments.