The 'Xbox Ally' and 'Xbox Ally X' are super-charged PC gaming handhelds from ASUS, coming later this year — Kennan revealed!

We exclusively revealed Project Kennan a few months ago, and now we know the real name, specs, and everything else you need to know.

Previously known as Project Kennan, Microsoft and ASUS today revealed the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, two super-charged PC gaming handhelds powered by AMD's new Z2 Extreme and Z2-A chips, promising boosted performance and battery life for the form factor.

In perhaps even bigger news, the Xbox Ally will also sport a new version of the Xbox app for Windows 11, which adapts the OS specifically for PC gaming handhelds. The Xbox Ally will still be full Windows under the hood, but, in early testing, the Xbox app in full screen mode seems to use only a third of the total idle power consumption of typical Windows. Microsoft also says they can free up to 2GB of RAM for gaming performance with these new features.

Here's what we know so far about the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X.

Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X specs

I'm not sure why they didn't call it the "Xbox Ally S," but it seems as though this will be the more affordable of the two options. It doesn't have as much storage, uses a less powerful chip, and has 16GB of RAM, but it's most likely designed to be more of a mass market offering. We don't know exactly how powerful the Z2-A is yet, but Microsoft and ASUS say its designed for power efficiency, and also has features designed to leverage future AI technologies like frame generation and NPU-assisted upscaling.

I suspect the Xbox Ally "S" (I'm calling it that I don't care), is going to be best leveraged against well-optimized 3D games but perhaps mostly 2D games, although that's pure speculation as of writing. Even the Z2 Go in the Lenovo Legion Go S is quite performant even for AAA 3D games, albeit with compromises. We'll have to wait and see exactly how this chip performs in practice. Previous leaks peg the Z2-A at hitting 6 to 20w range, which might not be enough to push some AAA games to their "high" settings at 60 FPS, but wattage only tells part of the story here.

The Xbox Ally X was described by Microsoft and ASUS as being a "premium" option, so I'm thoroughly expecting this device to exceed $1000 at retail. Indeed, we don't know the price of either device yet, but with tariffs impacting supply chains on tech, don't expect the final price to be pretty.

In any case, the Xbox Ally X should be a true performance powerhouse, like the ROG Ally X before it. Powered by the next generation Z2 Extreme, pushed to the max we should see some truly incredible performance out of this handheld. It'll hopefully be quite exciting to benchmark when the time comes. Previous leaks suggest this chip will go all the way to 35w, beating the 30w of the Z1E ROG Ally. Microsoft said that games like the upcoming Gears of War: Reloaded run at a completely stable 1080p 60 FPS on this thing, giving a AAA console gaming experience.

ASUS ROG with a bit of Xbox design flair

The Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X are unmistakably "ASUS ROG" in their design, complete with the angles and ROG branding here and there. Microsoft and ASUS have worked hard to implement some Xboxxy flair here and there, though.

The Xbox Ally "S" as I'm calling it has Xbox branding textures throughout the colorway, and both devices use the Xbox font on the ABYX buttons, and share triggers and joysticks with standard Xbox controllers. Both devices also have an angular Xbox button ensconced on the top left, underlining the partnership.

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of this device, when it initially leaked, was the bulky-looking grips. This was clearly done for ergonomic reasons, as the overall height of the device has been retooled to make it easier to reach for all the bumpers and triggers — leveraging Xbox's design knowledge. Microsoft and ASUS explained to us that the balance of the device has been improved significantly over the previous versions of ROG Ally, designed for long-term use without creating fatigue. The grips were designed so that your index and middle fingers could be used for bumper and trigger access, leaving your ring and little fingers to stabilize the device in your hand. Speaking of which, both devices also have back buttons for additional inputs.

Arguably the biggest "Xbox" touch here is the software, which is a massively upgraded experience, from what I can tell.

A massively enhanced Windows 11 gaming experience

Perhaps an even bigger headline here than the Xbox Ally itself is the fact Windows 11 and the Xbox app are unique to this device here (for now), with exclusive features that massively enhance performance and reduce OS overheads. I'm told that eventually, the new Xbox app and Windows 11 gaming features will eventually roll out to other devices like the Lenovo Legion Go (starting in early 2026, Microsoft says), but they will be exclusive to the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X while they are developed and refined.

Microsoft's goal with Windows 11 on the Xbox Ally is to make it so you can navigate as much of Windows as possible without using the touch screen or a keyboard. It's unclear if this is a separate ring to regular Windows 11, but it certainly seems like it is from what I can tell.

On the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, you can get through the lockscreen on Windows 11 using the controller, which is a first for Windows. But it gets better once you're actually in.

With the new Xbox app, you can set it into full screen mode like Steam for the first time. But this isn't merely cosmetic. When running in full screen mode, the Xbox app will disable all Windows 11 processes, even the Desktop, reducing the amount of idle / standby power consumption by one third. Furthermore, it'll free up to 2GB of RAM and send that right into your games. Microsoft says these benefits are still early days ahead of the platform's holiday 2025 launch window, and there should be greater improvements to speak of down the line.

While the Xbox app in full screen cancels out some of Windows 11's mouse and keyboard-style traditional functionality, it won't reduce the ability to multi-task. Despite shutting down the Desktop in this mode, you will still be able to launch apps and programs from the new Xbox Game Bar. A new alt tab interface will let you scroll through those apps too, whether it's YouTube via Chrome or Edge, or Discord itself, without having to move into the Desktop environment.

This is quite a huge deal for Windows 11, as it's not hard to envision how this new mode could eventually extend to other types of devices, from tablets to television sets (... and phones?!). But it is very early days yet. Microsoft was keen to stress that they envision even bigger performance savings with these features as they are further developed.

It's not quite an Xbox handheld, but we're getting there

The elephant in the room is that, indeed, this is still a PC gaming handheld at the end of the day. For Xbox fans, that means the vast majority of your actually Xbox games won't run on this thing, unless they support Xbox Play Anywhere. There is a ton of Xbox Play Anywhere games out there now, but the vast majority of AAA games or hit indies skip Xbox PC entirely, disregarding Xbox Play Anywhere completely. But obviously, the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X can still use Steam and Steam Big Picture mode full screen as well, in addition to other stores like GOG and Epic Games.

Either way, this is the first step towards the dream of having a true Xbox handheld that can run all of your Xbox games. I suspect more and more games will open up to Xbox Play Anywhere as Microsoft continues to push its Xbox PC storefront as another option for PC developers next to Steam, given that Microsoft gives developers 88% of the revenue from their games, over Steam's 70%.

The platform work Microsoft has done for Windows 11 here is incredibly exciting for the category in general, especially as SteamOS on devices like the Steam Deck has pushed Microsoft to really improve the experience for gamers and consumers in general. The versatility of Windows remains its super power, but all that power comes at a cost — and that cost is, well, power. If these new enhancements to Windows 11 can boost battery life and performance in ways that it seems SteamOS can, what we have here is a dream PC gaming handheld that leverages the full versatility of Windows without its performance compromises.

... Providing the price is right, of course. Prep your wallets, gamers.