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Just picked up anROG Xbox Ally or Ally X? In this episode of Setup Essentials, @Paul shares must know settings, apps, and gaming stores to get the best performance and value of this gaming handheld. No… the ROG Xbox Ally does not play Xbox games, but there are many Xbox games also available on PC, and many ways to play them including from Xbox Play Anywhere, Cloud Gaming, and other 3rd party stores like Epic Games, Steam, and more.
So if you want to know how to what games you can play, the best performance settings, and other must know setup for the ROG Xbox Ally, this tutorial has you covered!
So if you want to know how to what games you can play, the best performance settings, and other must know setup for the ROG Xbox Ally, this tutorial has you covered!
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TechTranscript
00:00The Xbox ROG Ally X is one of the hottest gaming handhelds that you can buy right now.
00:05So if you're considering picking one up or you just got one, in this episode of Setup
00:09Essentials, I'm taking you through all the new hardware and software upgrades and some
00:13really, really important gaming features and settings that you'll want to know to get the
00:17most out of your new device.
00:18By the way, in this video, I'm using the ROG Xbox Ally X, the more powerful version, but
00:23this guide still applies to the base ROG Xbox Ally.
00:26Either way, if you're still trying to decide between the two and you haven't seen our full
00:30review yet, we strongly recommend the more powerful Xbox Ally X for its higher performance, better
00:37battery life, as well as higher storage.
00:40Whichever one you own, you should know that both of these devices are still Windows handheld
00:45at the end of the day, but they still open the new Xbox full screen experience out of
00:50the box, which lets you access your games and game settings much more easily.
00:55Think of this as a gaming focus hub that helps you avoid many of the annoyances with Windows
00:5911, especially poor touch controls that aren't optimized for smaller screens like the seven
01:05inch display.
01:05It also turns off many of the usual Windows bloat processes that are happening in the
01:10background that are known for eating up precious system resources when all you really
01:14want to do is play your dang game.
01:16Some of our tests have shown that the Xbox full screen experience can actually help the
01:20ROG Ally X sometimes get about two to five extra frames per second in certain games.
01:25Is that life changing?
01:26Maybe not, but who's going to say no to free performance?
01:29All right.
01:30So once you finish the initial setup process, you'll be loaded into the new Xbox full screen
01:34experience.
01:35And then by default now, the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X will boot into this mode.
01:39So let's get a little bit more familiar with it.
01:42Now if you're coming from an Xbox console or you've used the Xbox app on PC recently, the
01:47layout here should look pretty similar.
01:49You can navigate using the physical controls, but I find touch to be a lot easier.
01:53The homepage will show you the most recently played games at the top.
01:57Below it, you'll see a list of featured games, a list like handheld optimized titles.
02:02There's a search bar at the top.
02:03Then when opened up, we'll also show you what games are trending if you need a little inspiration.
02:08On the left column, you'll find shortcuts for Game Pass, Microsoft's Netflix like subscription
02:13for over 400 plus games, which you can download and stream for one monthly fee, but more on
02:18that in a little bit.
02:19Below that, you'll find the library shortcut, which shows you a list of games that you already
02:24have locally installed, are available to install, or that you can stream from the cloud.
02:29From the screen, if you click on the My Apps tab, you'll find other game stores like Epic
02:33and Steam, and I'll walk you through how to use those as well.
02:36But back on the left, the cloud shortcut shows you 100 plus console games that you can also
02:42stream over the internet with no download required, and this is included with all Xbox Game Pass
02:47subscriptions.
02:48The bag shortcut is the Xbox Store page, where you can buy new games or browse the catalog of
02:53free ones.
02:54If you're subscribed to Xbox Game Pass like I am, you'll notice that many of these games
02:58are already included with your membership or are on sale.
03:01Then we find three small icons at the bottom.
03:04The bell shows you your notifications, such as updates and new game announcements.
03:09The people one are for your Xbox friends and chats.
03:14And the last one, believe it or not, this is supposed to look like an Xbox.
03:18Here you can access your real Xbox if you own one, and you want to stream games directly from
03:23your home console.
03:24And then finally, at the very bottom, you'll see your install and update queue.
03:28There's a lot to like with the new Xbox full screen experience.
03:31And while this is debuting on the Xbox ROG Ally, it is not an exclusive feature.
03:37Microsoft has already announced that they'll officially be rolling out this feature to more
03:40handhelds with future Windows 11 updates, which I think is great news.
03:44But if one of the main reasons that you wanted to buy or upgrade to the ROG Xbox Ally is
03:50that
03:50you might not necessarily need to.
03:52And speaking of great news, we have lots of other awesome gaming content and setup essential
03:56guides taking you through all the new features and settings on the tech that you love.
04:00So be sure to stay subscribed for Windows Drop.
04:03Sticking with the full screen experience, it also has its own built in multitasking with
04:08a quick game and app switcher that you can access by swiping from the bottom of your screen
04:12or long pressing on the Xbox app from the left, which will open the app switcher view.
04:18You can now cycle between your open apps and games and use a touch screen to click on the
04:22one that you want, or you can select or close them using the A or X buttons.
04:27At the bottom, you'll also notice a shortcut to enter the Windows desktop.
04:31You'll see a notification recommending that you use a mouse or keyboard here because the
04:35experience is not optimized for touch screens.
04:38Believe me.
04:38Remember, this is still a Windows device and you can use this like a computer if you ever
04:43need.
04:43But it is a good idea to use your peripherals if you respect your sanity.
04:48And here you'll get the usual Windows 11 experience, which you might already be familiar with, which has
04:52your icons on your desktop, the start menu, and access to all your other Windows 11 apps
04:57and folders, which aren't available through the Xbox full screen experience.
05:02Once you're done, you have a couple ways to get back into the Xbox full screen experience.
05:07From the taskbar at the bottom, which you may need to swipe up to show if it's disappeared,
05:11you should see the Xbox icon.
05:14You can click this to open it up.
05:15You can also press the Xbox button and select it from the quick shortcuts there.
05:22Now that we're in the Xbox app, you'll probably notice, however, that there's a new icon on the top
05:26right of your screen for Xbox full screen.
05:29When you click on it, you'll be asked how you want to open it.
05:32Select start now to quickly go to the full screen experience.
05:35But because we just accessed that Windows 11 desktop, all those extra processes and bloat
05:41are now running in the background of our device.
05:44And it could take a hit to performance and battery efficiency over time.
05:48So if we want to take advantage of the more streamlined Xbox full screen experience that we
05:52began the video with, we now have to completely restart the device so that it moves straight into
05:56the experience without the additional desktop running in the background.
05:59Honestly, it's kind of lame that you have to completely restart the device each time.
06:03But to be fair, most people probably won't be jumping back and forth as much.
06:08And I bet good money.
06:09We might even see a software update in the future, which makes this process a little easier.
06:15All right.
06:16Before getting into your games, which I know you're excited for,
06:18let me quickly share a few other really important functions
06:21and settings that you'll need to know on the ROG Xbox ally.
06:25Pressing the Xbox button once opens the game bar.
06:28This is a quick menu widget interface to access some important features.
06:32The homepage that you start in shows your most recently played games and opened apps.
06:37Using the right and left buttons or using touch controls, you can navigate to the other pages.
06:42The one on the right has quick settings, including volume, brightness, Wi-Fi and battery,
06:48as well as more advanced settings available at the bottom.
06:50The next page has your Xbox friends and your chats.
06:56Next is the audio mixer if you want to control volume for individual apps or switch your output device.
07:03Capture is where you can take screenshots or screen recordings.
07:10Then there's the performance widget to see your system resources.
07:18There are also a few other tabs that you'll find to the right,
07:20but they're mostly for customizing things a little bit more.
07:22So you don't need to worry about them as much.
07:24Now, you may have noticed that I skipped over the very first tab.
07:28Actually, if we press the ROG Armory Crate button here, this opens what they call the command center.
07:35Here we find some really important settings.
07:38Operating mode changes the power of the device, with silent drawing the least amount of power,
07:44giving you longer battery endurance.
07:46This is fine if you're playing less demanding games and you want the best battery life.
07:51When you're on battery, the max power mode that you can get is 25 watts.
07:55But actually, if you plug this into a charger, you can unlock its full 35 watt mode for even more
08:01performance.
08:02Just make sure you're using a 65 watt or faster charger to support this.
08:06I also found it's useful to add a couple other quick access control modes for customizing and
08:12calibrating the lighting effects and brightness of your joysticks, as well as a pop-up keyboard for
08:18the times when it doesn't want to automatically open.
08:21Now, even though most things are going to be a bit more touch optimized in this experience,
08:25there's still a good chance that you'll run into apps or games where you'll need to access
08:29the on-screen keyboard on the ROG Xbox Ally.
08:33In addition to using the command center method that I just showed, you can also press the
08:38right back paddle and the D up in order to open it.
08:41Now you can type in whatever you need and then close up the keyboard when you're done.
08:47This is the number one setting that you need to change on the ROG Xbox Ally.
08:51By default, the power button at the top will fully turn off the device.
08:56Why would they do that?
08:57I can't tell you the amount of times that I've accidentally shut this off mid-game when all I
09:02really wanted to do was put this to sleep.
09:04So if you're like me, you probably would prefer if this was set to a sleep mode.
09:08So here's how to change that.
09:10Open game bar, settings, window settings, power and battery, power button controls,
09:19and set both the plugged in and on battery settings to sleep or hibernate.
09:24Now you can quickly suspend the device and resume your games from the power button.
09:29It's absolutely crazy that this is not the default setting, but now you know.
09:33But speaking of bugs, the ROG Xbox Ally is still a pretty new device and it's consistently getting
09:39better, but it does still occasionally have some issues. And you want to definitely make sure that
09:43you've got the latest software running. So here's how to update the ROG Xbox Ally.
09:48For your Windows 11 updates, open game bar, settings, more settings, open windows settings,
09:59windows update. Install all the updates and restart the device when prompted.
10:06In addition to this though, there are also driver and component updates,
10:10which you might only find in the Armory Crate app. And even though this device is only a few weeks
10:16old, a number of updates have fixed annoying bugs and made this feel even quicker and more responsive.
10:21So don't forget to check on these periodically. But now that I've gone over all these important
10:26settings, let's get into the games. There is a lot of controversy over whether or not this is a true
10:32Xbox. So what games can you play on the ROG Xbox Ally? For starters, this does not play Xbox games.
10:39This is a PC and it plays PC games. The good news is that many Xbox games, especially newer ones
10:46are
10:46also on PC, but not all of them. So make sure you check compatibility first, which you can do by
10:51opening
10:52any game in the Xbox store, scrolling down to the playable on section, which shows you what devices
10:57it's compatible on. You'll find a lot of the big name games like Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty and
11:03Forza.
11:04Keep in mind that most of the Xbox games you won't be playing on the Xbox Ally X are usually
11:10older
11:11Xbox titles, including some Gears of War sequels, the Fable trilogy and also Halo 5. But let me know
11:17what games you're playing most and if they're compatible on the ROG Xbox Ally or if you feel like
11:22something's missing out. Tied in with that, there's Xbox Play Anywhere. Xbox Play Anywhere is both a
11:27godsend and a curse. Here's why. There are over a thousand games in this catalog, which you only
11:33have to buy once digitally from the Xbox store and that lets you play it on all Xbox consoles,
11:39PCs and handhelds at no additional cost. The progress goes with you so you can pick up where
11:44you left off on one device and continue it on another. If you ask me, this is pretty great,
11:48but there are some important caveats. No, Xbox Play Anywhere does not apply to physically purchased
11:55games. It is only for digital copies that you buy from the Xbox store. There are also a number of
12:01games that while available on both the Xbox and PC version of the Xbox store are not part of the
12:08Xbox
12:08Play Anywhere catalog. And that includes big titles like Final Fantasy 15. You can scroll to the details of
12:14any game in the Xbox store to see if it is an Xbox Play Anywhere title. Don't get me wrong,
12:20Xbox Play Anywhere is still an awesome deal and it keeps adding new titles all the time,
12:25but you should always double check before you buy your next game to make sure it's compatible with your
12:29device. But the ROG Xbox Ally X isn't just limited to games from the Xbox store. You can find the
12:37supported stores in library, my apps. The new Xbox full screen experience makes things even easier as
12:44you'll be able to download and launch most popular game storefronts including Battle.net,
12:49Epic Games, GOG, Steam, and Ubisoft right from the library page without needing to switch to the
12:55Windows 11 desktop. For the first time opening them, you will need to download, install, and log in,
13:01but afterwards you should be able to quickly access your library of games or even purchase new ones from
13:05those stores. You can install PC games just like you would on any other Windows device. Sometimes these
13:11stores have better sales, free game promos, or for example, like Batman Arkham Knight,
13:16some games that you can't even buy from the Xbox store. So if a game's not available in one store,
13:21be sure to check the others because you might find it or even a better deal. And here's what's really
13:25cool. Once you install those games from those stores, you'll be able to find them along with your
13:30other games in the Xbox game library. They'll import with their game icons and show you what store you
13:35downloaded them from. Granted, the game cards from other stores don't look quite as pretty as the Xbox
13:40ones, but you can launch into these games directly and start playing right away. But let me know what
13:45you think of the new game library. Even though the Xbox Ally X is a PC and can't natively play
13:53every
13:53Xbox game, Xbox Game Pass subscribers can still access console exclusives like UFC 5 and Skate 3
14:00through Xbox Cloud Gaming. And even for games that are also available on PC too, this is a great way
14:05to
14:06quickly try out new games without waiting for large downloads, playing more demanding games that may
14:10not run as well on handhelds, and even saving battery as you're just streaming these games.
14:15So long as you have a good internet connection, the experience here can be pretty solid.
14:20All Game Pass subscribers have access to unlimited cloud gaming, but only those in the ultimate tier,
14:25which yes, I am a part of, get access to the highest resolution of 1440p streaming and the ability to
14:31stream other supported games that they already own, which aren't included in Game Pass like Baldur's
14:37Gate 3 or even Cyberpunk 2077. So if you want that extra performance on the go, this can help a
14:44lot.
14:45Something to think about as you debate spending either $999, $1499, or a whopping $29.99 a month,
14:52respectively, at the time of this video. Now, if you've already watched my iPhone 17 Pro gaming experience
14:57video, you'll know that I am obsessed with another cloud gaming service called NVIDIA GeForce Now.
15:03It's similar to Xbox Cloud Gaming, but has two major advantages. First, it has much better
15:08performance, especially when you're connected to a fast LAN internet cable. Compared to Xbox Cloud
15:13Gaming, the visuals and latency are way better. And yes, I often forget I'm streaming these games,
15:18even when playing fast paced titles like Call of Duty Black Ops 6 and Overwatch 2. This is because
15:23GeForce Now uses more powerful hardware to stream the games that you own from other storefronts,
15:28using up to RTX 5090 performance with near zero latency to a bunch of supported devices, including
15:34Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and even TVs. Yes, this is another subscription that you'll need to pay for,
15:40but there is actually a free tier that you can try that plays your games at lower settings
15:45with one hour game limits. But if there's one thing that this has showed me,
15:49this is probably the future of all gaming, so long as you have a great internet connection.
15:54And like I've already shown a lot throughout this video, the ROG Xbox Ally X isn't just great
15:59for playing on the go. It also doubles as a really awesome mini desktop gaming PC.
16:03If you want to play your games on a bigger monitor or TV, you're going to need a few accessories.
16:09Most important is a USB-C dock so that you can connect to another display with HDMI
16:13or other accessories like peripherals or external storage using USB.
16:17I'm using my Razer handheld dock Chroma here because I'm a sucker for RGB lighting and it
16:23syncs with my other Razer peripherals. Speaking of which, for competitive shooters and other games,
16:28you're probably going to want a solid mouse and keyboard setup. Personally, I've been using the
16:32Razer Basilisk V3 Pro and Deathstalker V2 Pro because again, RGB, but chances are you may already have
16:40a really solid combo at home that you can pair with Bluetooth or connect with USB on the dock.
16:45And let's be honest, just because this is a handheld with Xbox-like controllers, it doesn't mean that
16:49you shouldn't also pair this with a real Xbox controller, especially when you're playing with an
16:53external display. The standard Xbox controller that you probably already own works great,
16:58but for shooters, I really love my Scuf Instinct Pro, which has a better grip,
17:03programmable back buttons, and an instant trigger switch. So those are my must-have accessories for the
17:08ROG Xbox Ally. But what are yours? All right, so I know I have gone over a lot, but by
17:16now,
17:17you should be very, very familiar with the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X. If you found this video helpful,
17:23be sure to like and subscribe for more setup essentials. And let me know in the comments
17:27if you already owned or are planning to get the new Ally or Ally X, or if you have any
17:33other tricks or
17:33must-change settings. I'd love to hear those too. You can find us everywhere at Tom's Guide,
17:38and you can also follow me to see what other cool tech that I'm reviewing. And until the next one,
17:41I'll catch you later.
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