The Xbox ROG Ally X is here, and Microsoft just changed the handheld game. Built in partnership with ASUS, this new Xbox handheld takes everything we loved about the original ROG Ally and gives it that true Xbox DNA — from Game Pass integration to better performance and battery life.
In this review, I break down the specs, design, and performance, plus give a little background on how we got here — from ASUS’s first ROG Ally to Microsoft stepping in and making this a true Xbox experience on the go.
We’ll test it across big titles like Doom: The Dark Ages, Gears Reloaded, Street fighter 6 and Forza Horizon 5, see how it handles Xbox games as well as games from other connected game stores. , and find out if this is the best handheld gaming device of 2025.
Specs
*AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme
*24GB LPDDR5X RAM
*1TB NVMe SSD
*80Wh Battery
*Xbox Optimized Software
*Enhanced Cooling
If you’ve been waiting for a true Xbox handheld — one that brings Game Pass, PC power, and console polish together — this might just be the one
► Chapters:
00:00 – Intro
00:32 – Price Overview
00:50 – Hardware Features
04:10 – Software & UI
08:12 – Gaming Performance
08:16 – Black Myth: Wukong Gameplay
08:50 – Doom: Dark Ages Gameplay
09:09 – Forza Horizon 5 Gameplay
10:14 – Shadow of the Tomb Raider Gameplay
10:31 – Gears of War: Reloaded Gameplay
11:01 – Marvel Rivals Gameplay
11:43 – Speaker & Sound Test
13:10 – Battery Life Test
14:36 – Areas for Improvement
16:16 – Is It Worth the Price?
17:02 – Conclusion
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Gear
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Check out more Booredatwork:
1) Google STADIA vs Project xCloud: https://youtu.be/edHJNnZcLjo
2) Samsung CHG 90 49-inch ULtrawide: https://youtu.be/bbN2Yi6paXc
3) The First iPhone X Hands-On Experience: https://youtu.be/KPYe5343jdQ
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Be sure to comment below, your feedback is what we look for. Thanks for watching!
#xbox #ROGALLYX
In this review, I break down the specs, design, and performance, plus give a little background on how we got here — from ASUS’s first ROG Ally to Microsoft stepping in and making this a true Xbox experience on the go.
We’ll test it across big titles like Doom: The Dark Ages, Gears Reloaded, Street fighter 6 and Forza Horizon 5, see how it handles Xbox games as well as games from other connected game stores. , and find out if this is the best handheld gaming device of 2025.
Specs
*AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme
*24GB LPDDR5X RAM
*1TB NVMe SSD
*80Wh Battery
*Xbox Optimized Software
*Enhanced Cooling
If you’ve been waiting for a true Xbox handheld — one that brings Game Pass, PC power, and console polish together — this might just be the one
► Chapters:
00:00 – Intro
00:32 – Price Overview
00:50 – Hardware Features
04:10 – Software & UI
08:12 – Gaming Performance
08:16 – Black Myth: Wukong Gameplay
08:50 – Doom: Dark Ages Gameplay
09:09 – Forza Horizon 5 Gameplay
10:14 – Shadow of the Tomb Raider Gameplay
10:31 – Gears of War: Reloaded Gameplay
11:01 – Marvel Rivals Gameplay
11:43 – Speaker & Sound Test
13:10 – Battery Life Test
14:36 – Areas for Improvement
16:16 – Is It Worth the Price?
17:02 – Conclusion
►►►SUBSCRIBE for more - http://bit.ly/SubscribeToBoored
Gear
Nanlite Pavotube: https://geni.us/jT0nA
Sony A7III: https://geni.us/ykmf
Tamron 28-75: https://geni.us/9wsOvq
Amazon: https://geni.us/EKZfH
B&H Affiliate Link: http://goo.gl/A4jaVM
Check out more Booredatwork:
1) Google STADIA vs Project xCloud: https://youtu.be/edHJNnZcLjo
2) Samsung CHG 90 49-inch ULtrawide: https://youtu.be/bbN2Yi6paXc
3) The First iPhone X Hands-On Experience: https://youtu.be/KPYe5343jdQ
Follow BooredatWork on social media:
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Booredatwork/?fref=ts
Twitter - http://twitter.com/booredatwork
Periscope: Booredatwork
Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/booredatwork/
Pinterest- http://pinterest.com/booredatwork/
Here’s where you can find more of the Boored family on Youtube!
OnBoored: http://www.youtube.com/c/OnBoored
BooredFemme: https://youtube.com/user/Booredfemme
Booredgamer: https://www.youtube.com/user/Booredgamers
Be sure to comment below, your feedback is what we look for. Thanks for watching!
#xbox #ROGALLYX
Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00This is the Xbox ROG Li-X. So let's talk about it.
00:16So I've had this device for about a week and there's a lot to talk about here.
00:20I'm going to be spending more time, so I also will be doing like a month of this device or travel with it,
00:26something just to see how it works on the road, because that's where you spend time with devices like this.
00:32Now, we know the price point is a thousand bucks, $9.99, and you can argue either way whether it's worth it or not.
00:38But I've been using devices like the Air Neos, the Flips, which are like $1,400.
00:42So there are expensive devices out there, but there's also a cheaper version with the Xbox ROG Li that is at a lower price point.
00:50Now, that being said, this device has a very unique and different look and feel to it.
00:57So let's start with the hardware.
00:59Hardware of this device is interesting because it does look very similar to the original Ally or Ally X.
01:06You look at them, it kind of does, but it doesn't, right?
01:09Because you've got those grips on the side that are very, very pronounced.
01:15Those grips, of course, remind you of a controller and fit really comfortable.
01:18As you look at the hardware and especially looking at the side, it really looks like a controller.
01:23And then you pan around and you're like, okay, it's a portable gaming console.
01:27But it packs in a lot of performance and a lot of good stuff in there.
01:32We've got the new Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor.
01:35We also got up to 24 gigabytes of RAM, which is a lot and also very useful while you're gaming.
01:41Now, this device has a terabyte of storage and we also have a 7-inch, 1080p display, 120 hertz.
01:47Of course, what we definitely need for gaming.
01:50Now, the physical nature of the hardware itself.
01:53Of course, you've got your thumbsticks on either side that have that light-up ring, ROG lights.
01:58You have your D-pad that accentuates well.
02:00And trust me, when you're playing Street Fighter and doing Hadook games, as you can see, it is really smooth.
02:05I like it.
02:06Above the D-pad is your Xbox button, your command center button, and of course, your share button.
02:12Below that is speakers.
02:14And boy, you've got to wait to listen to those speakers now.
02:28Now, let's continue with the hardware.
02:29On the right-hand side, we have the XYB buttons.
02:31Now, something you should talk about with the Ally X, which continues here, is that distant travel from your right thumbsticks to your XYB buttons.
02:38Very short.
02:39Very good for moving to those buttons whenever you need to.
02:43Now, of course, you have your other menu buttons here.
02:45At the top side, you have, of course, your triggers.
02:47Your right trigger, right bumper.
02:49Power button that has a fingerprint sensor.
02:51Headphone jack.
02:52Micro SD card slot.
02:53Volume rocker.
02:55You have fan vents.
02:56You've got, of course, two USB Type-C ports.
03:00And a leading indicator.
03:01And, of course, your left and right triggers.
03:03At the back of the device, you have bumpers.
03:07Now, when you look at the device, it still feels very familiar.
03:10And we look at the history tree from the original Ally to the Ally X.
03:15And then the Xbox ROG Ally X.
03:17You can see a lot of hardware similarities here.
03:19Internally, you also see that the motherboard has been reworked for all those components I mentioned.
03:26And also, giving you more flexibility in there.
03:30Now, as you hold this device, the one thing you realize is it's very comfortable.
03:34It's definitely heavier than the Ally X.
03:37But it's also well-balanced because of the design here.
03:40What I do like about it is the fact that when you hold it, it feels like you're holding the controller.
03:46So, it's easier to actually game for longer periods of time because it rests comfortably in your hands.
03:53That is something that's very key.
03:55I'm not a fan of the small remappable buttons at the back.
03:59I wish they were a little bit bigger.
04:01But they're fine and they don't really get in the way.
04:03At least that's for me there.
04:04So, that's the hardware.
04:05The hardware piece is nice.
04:07It's solid.
04:07You've got a big 80-watt-hour battery in there.
04:10But what about the software?
04:11This is one of the biggest things with gaming on Windows portable handhelds.
04:16We have the Steam Deck, for instance, which has SteamOS.
04:20We know how it looks like.
04:21It's a very smooth process.
04:23Microsoft has done something very different here.
04:26They have the new Xbox full-screen experience with a stripped-down version of Windows.
04:31Now, you can still access Windows whenever you want to.
04:34But once you launch your device, you get into these Xbox and Squares.
04:38And right here in this experience, you've got a couple of things that you can navigate through.
04:42You can go to your home.
04:44You can go to Game Pass itself to, of course, either download games from Game Pass, stream if you want to.
04:49And then you have your library of games.
04:51Here you see all the games that are installed in your system from the Xbox library or Game Pass, as well as also from third-party stores.
04:59This allows you to navigate to my apps, where you find games from Battle.net, Epic, GOG, Ubisoft, EA, Steam.
05:10I have a lot of my games on Steam, so I love the fact that this is here.
05:14And this is very key.
05:15Now, you've got other options like Play Later, which you can navigate to, so on and so forth.
05:19But from here, you can launch Steam directly, or you can launch your games from Steam.
05:25So if you look back, you can see I have games like Cyberpunk that are on Steam.
05:29I have Black Meeple Kong that's on Steam.
05:31I have Battlefield 6, which for whatever reason, I couldn't play.
05:35Don't know why, but I probably just need an update on that.
05:38That's probably what it is.
05:39So, sorry, no Battlefield 6 here.
05:40But I have a ton of games on Steam that I can play, which is very nice.
05:45So I do like that about it.
05:48Navigating through the screen and menu is very simple.
05:51You can do it via touch.
05:52You can also do it via the buttons and the controller.
05:54And that works well, because A is for accepting, B is to go back, yada, yada.
05:59You get the idea.
06:00Now, the Xbox button.
06:02Its functionality there brings up something quite interesting and also very similar.
06:07It's an overlay that takes you to an option where you have your recently played games,
06:11and you can jump back into those games.
06:13Usually three games are listed.
06:14You can go into your library, and it also has a list of your stores below.
06:18Stores you use the most.
06:19In my case, it's been Xbox, Steam, Epic, and of course, Command Center.
06:26Now, from here, you can toggle back and forth with, of course, the D-pad.
06:30And then going back to the Command Center, which you can also access through the Command Center button.
06:35That gives you a lot of the command features that you'll find.
06:38Now, you've noticed here that this now feels less of Windows experience, a little bit more customized for the handle itself.
06:44So, this Command Center is something that allows me to go ahead and go to the highest TDP performance at 25 watts.
06:53Or I can go down to silent.
06:55I can also have a raw or real-time monitoring if I want to.
06:59Turn on FPS limiter.
07:02Go down to 720p if I need to, depending on the game.
07:05And also have my FPS show up on top.
07:07So, very simple, very easy.
07:09And then you can navigate through a couple more options.
07:12You do have your settings where you can go into the settings for, of course, the device, your Xbox Social, your audio controls, and, of course, screen recording.
07:23And then you also have a performance media built in here as well.
07:27As a gallery, there's also gaming co-pilot.
07:29So, if you need to actually get some of that help in terms of levels you're stuck in, you can do that too.
07:34So, that stuff is there.
07:35So, you can see that the software is improved.
07:39Now, one thing you notice in the software is you can swipe from the very bottom of your screen while you're in a game or in the Xbox full screen experience.
07:48And then you get into this multitask menu where you can see different options and things that are available.
07:53And you can basically X out of them if you choose to or go into that piece of software.
07:59So, that part is nice.
08:01I do like that.
08:02And, again, it's a very seamless process.
08:04Yes, I mentioned you go into Windows.
08:06And it's fine.
08:08It works well.
08:09It's not a problem.
08:10I like the fact that it's still there.
08:12Gaming.
08:13Let's look at the gaming performance of a few games we played.
08:15And let's start off with one that is pretty beefy.
08:19Black Miffle Kong.
08:19Right?
08:20Black Miffle Kong.
08:21You can see the settings on screen.
08:22I was able to run this at around 50 frames per second.
08:26Really solid.
08:27Played well.
08:28Very smooth.
08:30And the one thing you'll notice, and I'm going to tell you, is that this thing runs really cool.
08:36That is one thing you're going to notice with every single game I play.
08:39Holding the system, I did not get any discernible heat whatsoever.
08:43You can see the temperatures on screen, of course, for the CPU while it's actually playing.
08:49There's also the GPU as well.
08:51Then moving over to another game that I enjoy playing, Dune, The Dark Ages.
08:55We're getting a solid 67 frames per second playing at Ultra, by the way.
08:59So I could have definitely got more, but being able to go over 60 FPS and playing at Ultra with this.
09:05So it looks good.
09:051080p.
09:06Very, very nice.
09:08I definitely like it.
09:10Now, color me impressed with Forza Horizon 5.
09:13Forza Horizon 5 really plays well on the system.
09:17We do have some really great FPS performance.
09:21You can see the settings on screen.
09:22What I like about Forza is when you're driving through the open world, you're getting up to about 93 FPS, which is great.
09:28Very beautiful looking game.
09:30And then when you go into a race, like a specific race here, average I was getting between 75 and 77, which is also nice.
09:36You've got a nice range and really good performance here with the system.
09:40And one thing you'll notice here is, before we get to other games, is that while you're going through the Xbox Store, it tells you what games work well with the system.
09:50It has this little icon that you can see that says, that is green, that says this will play well in your system.
09:57And then sometimes it's maybe a light green, which means it will play your system, but you might have to do some tweaking.
10:04So I love that about it.
10:06With Forza Horizon, I didn't tweak anything.
10:08I just went and looked at the settings.
10:09They already done that for me.
10:11I was able to play, and it played really, really well.
10:14Now, playing a game that has done pretty well for my benchmarking is Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
10:19Here, I was able to put it at the settings you see on screen, and gets about 67 frames per second.
10:25Again, solid, played smooth, and temperatures ran rather cool.
10:31As a big Gears fan, I cannot wait for E-Day, but of course, Gears Reloaded is here, and this is really optimized for the system here.
10:39Playing Gears at the settings you see on screen, able to get a very good solid 84 frames, sometimes even 90.
10:46Been navigating the world, looks great.
10:48I love the fact that this game was remastered, and seeing it here on screen looks absolutely gorgeous.
10:54But being able to play it on the device, on the go, getting 84 frames per second, is the much better feat in my mind.
11:01And finally, a game that a lot of people love to play is Marvel Rivals.
11:05Marvel Rivals, settings on screen, played really well.
11:09Got about 75 frames per second, sometimes peaking up to 80, 85 frames per second, which is great.
11:14But 75 was the average for here, and it showed, it played well, smooth, great gameplay.
11:21Now, one thing I'll have to tell you guys about gaming on here is that you're going to enjoy the experience.
11:27You have enough RAM to do what you need to do.
11:29The Z2 Extreme Processor does well, and some of you asked for benchmarks, honestly, there's no need.
11:35You know what the Z2 Extreme Processor does now, but I wanted to see just how it handled the games on here.
11:41And that part was really nice.
11:43And that part was really nice.
12:13Let's go.
12:43Let's go.
13:13Let's go.
13:14Let's go.
13:15Let's go.
13:16Let's go.
13:17Let's go.
13:18Let's go.
13:19Let's go.
13:20Let's go.
13:21Let's go.
13:22Let's go.
13:23Let's go.
13:24Let's go.
13:25Let's go.
13:26Let's go.
13:27Let's go.
13:28Let's go.
13:29Let's go.
13:30Let's go.
13:31Let's go.
13:32Let's go.
13:33Let's go.
13:34Let's go.
13:35Let's go.
13:36You're really impressed, you might feel, so it's good.
13:37For a Windows device, chef's kiss.
13:39Beautiful.
13:40sleep and coming back the next day and seeing like oh my battery is still there for a windows device
13:47chef's kiss beautiful i love that now the other half that you're going to see is battery life
13:53while gaming it is quite impressive it is very impressive especially even on 25 watts tdp being
14:02able to game for quite a bit i like that it was solid all the way through i think a lot of people
14:08will like this in terms of the hours they're able to play i was getting closer to about three hours
14:14or so and again it all depends on what game you're playing but you're going to enjoy the battery life
14:20on this you have longer gameplay sessions with it and with the tdp balance on here where you can go
14:26down to force 15 uh for just you know some light gaming i think people are gonna like it honestly
14:34battery life on this thing is good i'm quite impressed so it seems like i've sung a lot of
14:38praises for this device but there are some things that a bit quirky that i would love to see
14:43improvements now the software is the first thing software is very good and this is a huge step for
14:48windows still not there yet and microsoft has said they are still working to make it improve it get it
14:56to those next steps and that's something i want to see one i feel is the interface the interface is good
15:02and works well but i still feel like it's more of a desktop interface for a device that's more of a
15:07portable device i would like to see bigger tiles bigger views honestly microsoft go back to the
15:13tiles that you had for of course uh windows metro design i love that it was great i think it will
15:20work well here giving you just a bigger view of the games and once you making you want to just jump
15:26into the games i mean even the tiles at the very beginning in the featured section like like look at
15:32look at that right there i want to jump into that that i'd love to see but that being said there's
15:37still some finickiness with windows where in the fact where you turn on a game say for instance on
15:41steam like blackmail kong you do have to accept you know there's a windows feature which is something
15:47that i wish wasn't here and i know it's a windows device just because it takes away from that seamless
15:54experience but if you're playing games from the xbox store that doesn't happen right so that's not there
16:00another thing also is the fact that it doesn't come with the case i mean it's 999 there's no case
16:08yes the original ally didn't have a case yes the ally x didn't have a case but come on i would love
16:13that accessory there to me that's something that that'd be nice and needed now the big question here
16:18is that is it worth it at a thousand bucks yes it is i say that because the performance
16:27really put things into perspective the software was really solid and smooth and yes it's more
16:34expensive but i do have a device like the aneo flip 1s which is more powerful and also more expensive
16:42so put into perspective i think the price point while being high i think this device is absolutely
16:49worth it i think gamers will like it gamers who want to be on the go and have something that can give
16:54them good performance that's the key thing not just being able to play the games but good performance
17:00while the game would be quite impressive so at the end of the day i like the device i think it's solid
17:06i can't wait to travel with this i've got a long trip coming up at the end of the month so i'm going
17:10to be traveling with this and gaming with this on the go but i got to tell you this thing runs pretty cool
17:17it's impressive it's absolutely impressive i'm running on 25 tdp i also want to use this
17:21use external gpu that has a 1590 how would that work with this connected to like a monitor back
17:27there that would be great so anyway if you have any questions in the comments let me know if you're
17:31thinking of picking this up and you're on the fence honestly yeah it's worth it but doesn't mean you have
17:36to spend the money for it there also is the xbox rog ally which is all the device at 720p this 1080p
17:44gaming does it well and it's worth it
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