As someone who primarily plays on Xbox, I was cautiously optimistic about it ROG Xbox Companion X. The idea of being able to take my Xbox library on the go was very appealing, but more than that, it would be a convenient way to play online co-op and multiplayer games with my wife in the same room without having to get another Xbox console and drag out another TV. I was surprised by the absurd $1,000 price tag for the ROG Xbox Ally X, but figured, in the long run, I'd still get enough use out of it to justify the cost. That may still be the case, but so far, the ROG Xbox Ally X has given me serious buyer's remorse.
The ROG Xbox Ally X is presented as an Xbox handheld, when it clearly isn't. The ROG Xbox Ally X is a ROG Ally with Xbox branding slapped on it and a built-in Xbox “full-screen experience.” It looks like it's aimed at Xbox fans, but it really isn't. If you're someone who has built up a large library of games on Xbox consoles, don't make the mistake I did and pick up the ROG Xbox Ally X so you can access that library on a handheld without resorting to cloud streaming.
ROG Xbox Ally X is not a true handheld Xbox experience
Despite owning games like Kingdom Come: Redemption 2 and Border 4 On Xbox, I can't download them to my ROG Xbox Ally X. Instead, I have to stream them through the cloud. since Border 4 The split-screen experience isn't ideal, I was hoping to use the handheld to play on my own screen while my wife could stick with the TV. Cloud streaming works well most of the time, but there's no denying that the experience could be more stable good If I was able to download an Xbox game I own onto an Xbox-branded handheld. It also means I can't play many of my Xbox games on the go, which is one of the main reasons I got the handheld in the first place.
Another game I hope to play on my ROG Xbox Ally X Mass Effect: Legendary EditionSophisticated collection of originals Mass Effect Trilogy that brought classic games to modern platforms with spruced up graphics and other improvements. I own Mass Effect: Legendary Edition On Xbox, but aside from that, the game is available through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, so I figured, of course, there would be no interruptions here. The catch is that while the ROG Xbox Ally X is effectively a handheld PC running Windows, you can only download the PC version. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. This requires an additional download of the EA app, and means I can't access my console saves. Now, I can stream the console version Mass Effect: Legendary Edition Through the cloud, but again, that kind of defeats the purpose of the handheld.
From a technical standpoint, the ROG Xbox Ally X is a powerful machine that performed brilliantly in almost every game I tested. There was an old Steam game I tried to load that caused the system to crash, but otherwise it's been smooth sailing so far. It's a well-built machine with impressive performance, but the problem is that it doesn't serve the purpose expected of an Xbox-branded handheld, and that's incredibly disappointing.
In the future, I expect to get more use out of the ROG Xbox Ally X, mainly thanks to Game Pass. The Xbox Game Pass November 2025 lineup has games where the ROG Xbox Ally X will come in handy when it comes to co-op play, e.g. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and its 4-player co-op campaign and the upcoming co-op survival game voidtrainWhich sounds like a lot of fun. I'll eventually get my money's worth, but if you're a big Xbox gamer and see the ROG Xbox Ally X as a proper handheld version of that experience, you'll be sorely disappointed.
- brand
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Xbox / ROG
- operating system
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Windows 11 Home
- processor
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AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme Processor
- Performance
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7” IPS, 500 nits, 16:9, 120Hz refresh rate, FreeSync Premium, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus + DXC anti-reflection
- resolve
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FHD 1080p
- Original release date
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2025
