The Xbox Ally X is a bargain, actually — ASUS and Microsoft's gaming handheld is a better deal than Steam's most popular desktop PC

I'm a confessed convert to Windows-based gaming handhelds, triggered by ASUS' ROG Ally. Eventually, after a wild trip to the expensive fringe with MSI's Claw 8 AI+, I realized that Valve's otherwise legendary Steam Deck just wasn't powerful enough to occupy my downtime anymore.

This isn't a Windows 11 vs. SteamOS debate, by the way, as the Linux-based distro still offers incredibly appealing benefits for novice PC gamers and enthusiasts, particularly when you start digging into expanded forks like Bazzite.

No, this is a self-therapeutic attempt at justifying a purchase of the new Xbox Ally X, a co-operative stab at the ultimate gaming handheld from ASUS ROG and Microsoft. My colleague Jennifer Young already ordered the Xbox Ally X, and it's primarily her that I'll blame for my temptation. Here's why I think the price is fair.

Both Jen and I live in the United Kingdom, where the Xbox Ally X carries a £799.99 GBP price tag at Currys (around $1,073.58 USD, as of September 29). It's slightly less than I expected, considering the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is still £899 at the same retailer (Currys is probably our closest equivalent to Best Buy), and I had braced for a listing around £900.

Now, to be crystal clear: I am not implying that the Xbox Ally X is an "affordable" device, nor am I comparing it to the $399 $319.20 Steam Deck — that would be ludicrous. These two handhelds might be in the same category, but they aren't in the same price bracket.

The Xbox Ally X hasn't changed my appreciation for the Steam Deck, either. If you haven't tried handheld gaming before, and you're tentative about spending your money on one of these unusual PCs-disguised-as-consoles, then Valve still has the best deal in PC gaming. My 512GB Steam Deck served me well.

On the other hand, I've previously played my Steam Deck almost every evening for a couple of years. I became quite familiar with a handful of games that ran perfectly on its comparatively restricted hardware — Balatro dominated my time in particular, another one to blame Jennifer for — but other obsessions bogged it down.

In particular, the resource-gathering evenings of co-operative Viking action in Valheim with my partner were awful on the Steam Deck. To be fair, it was only bearable on the ASUS ROG Ally and its AMD-based Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip when I used the $7 Lossless Scaling app, but it ran perfectly fine on the Intel-based MSI Claw 8 AI+.

That, and multiplayer games of Rematch were far better on the higher-tier handhelds than the Steam Deck, and I found myself pushing my luck with more demanding games that were far beyond the realms of Valve's more budget-friendly option.

Still, after handing off the ROG Ally to Zac Bowden for Xbox full-screen experience testing, I'm convinced the more expensive models are quite tempting, at least compared to the average desktop gaming PC. That, and it feels as though some AAA games overestimate what the most common rig actually looks like, so optimizing for handhelds shouldn't be so far-fetched.

Steam isn't the de facto authority in PC gaming, but it certainly offers one of the broadest sample sizes when it asks gamers to submit their specs for its monthly hardware survey. At the moment, the average rig is reasonably modest, or at least slightly below mid-tier in comparison to the components on sale today.

A 6-core CPU with 16GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 GPU with 8GB of VRAM running at 1080p is, frankly, quite close to what I'd consider a budget build. Presuming I would pair an RTX 40-Series graphics card with a processor of the same era, then an AMD Ryzen 5 7600X would definitely suffice.

Even a single stick of 16GB DDR5-6000 MT/s RAM would be particularly "future proofed", later pairing a second module for 32GB and getting closer to what I'd consider a "normal" amount of memory.

Naturally, this kind of hardware in a properly-cooled desktop PC will perform better than a handheld, but this first point is more about arguing for AAA game optimization than any direct comparisons.

The heroes at PCPartPicker make this kind of preliminary (and imaginary) PC build possible, but again, this doesn't include any kind of input peripherals or a screen — both of which are built into the Xbox Ally X. Nevertheless, it pushes the total price over $1,000, which hints at the average PC gamer's spending.

So, if the Xbox Ally X is just a portable PC (which it is), and it's built by ASUS ROG, the same manufacturer who already made the best effort of wrangling Windows 11 into a handheld format with third-party and first-party apps, like the ROG Ally X, then I don't find it hard to accept the price tag.

That is, the price tag that we, the lime-enjoying Brits, can enjoy (tax included), for the Xbox Ally X at launch. What might happen to the MSRP via tariffs or any other Xbox console-like price hikes, I can't say for sure — but it's incredibly tempting right now. I can't say that about the white Xbox Ally and its less-powerful AMD APU, but I'm frankly struggling to understand why that model exists in the first place.

Ultimately, the Xbox Ally X is like a refined, ergonomic variant of our most highly-rated handheld, and it's priced reasonably close (if slightly below) the most common desktop PC configuration in the world. Which, in theory, should mean that upcoming games should target a reasonable minimum specs requirement — unless they're Borderlands 4.

It isn't cheap, but it's fair for what it is. If I didn't have a wedding to pay for, I'd have ordered it already. Must stay focused.

Premium handheld

ROG Xbox Ally X (2025): $999.99 at Best Buy

The premium Xbox Ally X is a Windows device that offers an AI Z2 Extreme processor 24GB RAM, 1TB SSD, and has a 7-inch FHD display that reaches up to 120Hz.

✅ Perfect for: Anyone looking to get the best handheld gaming PC experience.

❌ Avoid if: You don't need these hefty of specs, or would prefer a budget-friendly Steam Deck.

👉 See at: Best Buy (US) | Currys (UK)

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