Ready for a $1,000 handheld gaming PC? Asus’ ROG Xbox Ally X set to find out.
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I do have to wonder if any of the marketing research bothered to note that Valve's success was not just due to SteamOS being a better experience than Windows on a handheld (which MS might have addressed, we'll see), but also the fact that the Steam Deck is cheap.
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I have to believe tariffs are part of the high price, but even then, oof. No thanks. I'm not dropping a grand for a gaming handheld, not when that same grand could get me an iPhone + accessories that does far more than play games. Or heck, a budget gaming laptop for that matter.
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Looks like I'll be sticking with my original Ally. It feels like an absolute bargain now, having got what was leading edge in 2023 for less than half what they're asking for this.
Remember when new tech came out it used to take the outgoing item's price and the old one was discounted? The pure greed is exhausting.
Remember when new tech came out it used to take the outgoing item's price and the old one was discounted? The pure greed is exhausting.
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Yeah, I could just about stomach 300€-400€ for a gaming handheld, but above that I'd just save up and buy a proper gaming laptop.
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Price is crazy, and it looks like the low-end model isn't really a performance improvement on the Steam Deck in any way.
I don't see these selling much, but I'd be surprised if Microsoft is expecting them to, and I will welcome them pushing Windows 11 to be better for gaming and handhelds.
I don't see these selling much, but I'd be surprised if Microsoft is expecting them to, and I will welcome them pushing Windows 11 to be better for gaming and handhelds.
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I don't really understand the market for ultra power and expensive handhelds. I've always owned a handheld since the GBA (and played my brother's GBC before that) because it was small and easy to carry around. As much as I love the Switch line, even the Switch Lite is too big to really take out of the house very comfortably, and if I did most of the games I'd play on it would be non-graphically intense games that were easy to pick up and play, or the boring grindy bits of games I wanted a nice TV and speakers because of better production values. I feel like you'd get a lot more mileage from something like a Steamdeck and streaming a desktop (I assume most handheld PC gamers have a decent desktop at least) or streaming to a phone from the cloud.
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I'd be more than willing to pay $1k USD for an improved Steam Deck with better specs.
But not this Windows device. Fuck Microsoft.
But not this Windows device. Fuck Microsoft.
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I would like to get one of the higher tier ones but not at that price point not in this economy.
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To be fair, ROG Xbox Ally X also does far more than play games. It's pretty much a mid-spec gaming laptop in a weird shape.
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I can see myself getting a ROG Xbox Ally X and using it as my only computer. Hook it up to a Thunderbolt dock connected to a display, mouse and keyboard at home, disconnect it and play games on the go. That would more than justify the asking price.
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Why would I need two of them for co-op? Just connect two external controllers to it (via Bluetooth or whatever). Same as I would with a gaming PC or laptop.
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I keep looking at these handheld units, I love how most of them look and I feel like they'd play well with the games I enjoy. The software is where it used to be bad (I've owned a few since the Windows XP days), the situation is much better now, and it's great to see them going mainstream.
The simple truth is that I don't have enough time to play games on these, so I keep passing. And still reading every single article about them. Maybe one day!
The simple truth is that I don't have enough time to play games on these, so I keep passing. And still reading every single article about them. Maybe one day!
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Hello everybody,
I do not intend to buy this at that price. It is too much money.
Kind Regards,
Gary
I do not intend to buy this at that price. It is too much money.
Kind Regards,
Gary
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Pretty sure this price blew up because of tariffs - Microsoft had to jack up the prices of the Xbox Series X again.
For the price of this you could get a Steam Deck and a Switch 2. That's just crazy.
For the price of this you could get a Steam Deck and a Switch 2. That's just crazy.
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More performance is nice 'n all, but I think OEMs are greatly missing the point.
This is first and foremost a PORTABLE gaming device. You can cram in it as much crazy performance as you want, if your battery life barely allows you to do a 1 hour session, you are already on the wrong path.
The Steam Deck did a phenomenal job with that - more than sufficient performance, with good enough battery life...packaged under a very affordable price tag.
Got my Steam Deck (LCD 512GB model) in late September 2023.
My main desktop PC was purchased in January 2024, custom built by me: Ryzen 7 7700X, 32GB DDR5@5600 and a RTX4070.
Despite the desktop PC clearly being able to wipe the floor with the Steam Deck, I still prefer gaming on the Deck. I'm not talking about streaming games to it, I run them on the deck itself and so far I am yet to come across a game that I would consider unplayable on it. The only times I ever play something on my desktop PC is when I feel the battery life on the Deck cannot last a proper 2+ hour gaming session. Hell, even recent titles like Silent Hill F run perfectly fine on it.
This is first and foremost a PORTABLE gaming device. You can cram in it as much crazy performance as you want, if your battery life barely allows you to do a 1 hour session, you are already on the wrong path.
The Steam Deck did a phenomenal job with that - more than sufficient performance, with good enough battery life...packaged under a very affordable price tag.
Got my Steam Deck (LCD 512GB model) in late September 2023.
My main desktop PC was purchased in January 2024, custom built by me: Ryzen 7 7700X, 32GB DDR5@5600 and a RTX4070.
Despite the desktop PC clearly being able to wipe the floor with the Steam Deck, I still prefer gaming on the Deck. I'm not talking about streaming games to it, I run them on the deck itself and so far I am yet to come across a game that I would consider unplayable on it. The only times I ever play something on my desktop PC is when I feel the battery life on the Deck cannot last a proper 2+ hour gaming session. Hell, even recent titles like Silent Hill F run perfectly fine on it.
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It might seems like a minor thing, but the fact that it has such an absurd and unwieldy name was always a red flag to me. It suggests there's nobody senior enough involved with the clout to knock heads together and come up with a better branding, or they simply don't believe in the project enough to care. And this price suggests the same: Nobody's in a position to make a strategic decision that these specs at this price simply don't make sense.
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I can't be the only person who regularly follows gaming hardware news, but still needs a table like the one in the article to figure out which ASUS handheld device is being written about any time a ROG Ally is mentioned. The naming convention they've adopted is so bad it almost seems like it's intentionally confusing.
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Depends on the game. A lot (citation needed) of PC games do coop only online... not coincidentally requiring multiple purchased copies of the game.
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I can't imagine they'll sell many. That's price is in a weird spot where it's cheaper to buy a console and decent TV, or a regular handheld and 10 AAA games.
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i was never really in the “the Switch 2 is overpriced!” Camp, and now I’m feeling increasingly good about it.
Do the switch and the steam deck remain the cheapest handhelds? I guess the chart includes all of the major players?
If Valve can get the various heavy kernel anti-cheat games to come to some kind of agreement that enables them on Linux, Microsoft is going to start facing some real alternatives in the gaming world.
Do the switch and the steam deck remain the cheapest handhelds? I guess the chart includes all of the major players?
If Valve can get the various heavy kernel anti-cheat games to come to some kind of agreement that enables them on Linux, Microsoft is going to start facing some real alternatives in the gaming world.
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You know, I'm happy with mine but when I woke up I never thought I'd say "makes the Switch 2 look like a good deal"
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Price concerns aside, the longevity of 1080p has been astonishing, huh? From higher-end of normal (paired with 720p) starting around the turn of the century, to the go-to for hand-helds now (and not even that weird on laptops).
It’s such a mundane little thing but I can’t think of many things in tech that have been a sort of “go-to conventional setting” for so long.
It’s such a mundane little thing but I can’t think of many things in tech that have been a sort of “go-to conventional setting” for so long.
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They’re all too heavy for my weak wrists unfortunately. And the battery life is too poor.
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If I had to pick between that, a $449 Switch 2, or a $549 OLED Steam Deck and years of an accumulated Steam library with ~20% of a confirmed compatible library...i'm sorry but this is a no brainer. Steam Deck or Switch 2 every time.
Life comes at you fast. Money slips out of your fingers even faster.
Life comes at you fast. Money slips out of your fingers even faster.
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It's interesting to see how people react to the $1k pricing for this, but just shrug at the $1k+ pricing for an iPhone.
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$1000? Pretty small fry for anyone who's been following the GPD Win 5.
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/ha...f-it-blows-todays-handhelds-out-of-the-water/
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/ha...f-it-blows-todays-handhelds-out-of-the-water/
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Yes, but you see, people need a $1k phone to connect with the world and labubus (whatever the fuck those are). People don't need a $1k gaming handheld.
Also they can easily finance a $1k phone through the three carriers.
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If you think that this is expensive, wait until you see the prices of the next generation video game consoles. The days of selling them at a loss are over.
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The Xbox site is sold out of pre-orders for the Ally X when I checked this morning. I had to pre-order the Ally X from Best Buy and they had a queue and a warning that they were nearly sold out.
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That's an interesting position, given that for $50 more than a Steam Deck OLED you could have a ROG Xbox Ally with guaranteed compatibility with every Steam game you own (because it runs Windows, not Linux+Proton) and an APU a generation newer.
I feel like you guys are shitting on this just because it's "Microsoft". These prices aren't unreasonable given the competition. We're talking about fully-capable Windows PCs here, not devices that have somehow been "cut down" to only do "gaming".
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That Ryzen Z2 Extreme package puts this weird place price/performance wise. I feel that $1000 is fair pricing for what is on offer, keeping in mind portability, bleeding edge, and performance between the current handhelds and something like a mid-range gaming laptop, but I also don't know who they think this is for...
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