Microsoft has confirmed its partnership with ASUS’ ROG division on a new gaming handheld device, the ROG Xbox Ally, set to release this holiday season. The two variants, ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, will initially be available in multiple regions including Australia, Canada, and Europe.
The Xbox Ally will feature an AMD Ryzen Z2 A Processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage, while the more powerful ROG Xbox Ally X will have a AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor, 24GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. Both devices will run on Windows 11 and support gameplay from various PC storefronts including Battle.net and Steam.
Game Pass integration is expected to be available, as well as support for the Xbox Play Anywhere initiative, allowing users to play games with synced progress across multiple devices. Microsoft has also partnered with Roblox to make its game playable natively on a handheld device for the first time.
The ROG Xbox Ally features a dedicated physical Xbox button and a full-screen Xbox user interface, while also supporting accessibility features from Xbox consoles and PCs. The devices will be equipped with microSD card readers and HD haptics, including hall effect analog triggers in the base model and impulse triggers in the more powerful X variant.
Both systems have similar dimensions but weigh significantly more than some competitors like the Nintendo Switch 2 and Steam Deck. They are expected to output video to TVs or monitors via USB-C ports with support for DisplayPort 2.1 and Power Delivery 3.0. Pre-orders and details on pricing will be announced soon, marking Microsoft’s first official move into gaming handhelds.
Source: https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/rog-xbox-ally-handheld-gaming-devices-are-real-and-coming-this-holiday-171550555.html