Finally, an Xbox take on the Steam Deck
Upcoming Xbox Ally X and Ally may offer the best Windows handheld gaming experience
So, the plan was to try out SteamOS on an ROG Ally X handheld, and write about my experience, even though the Asus handheld gaming console is not officially supported. Valve had recently released its gaming operating system for the Legion Go S, and also gave some tips on installing SteamOS on other devices. For those who want to try, there are excellent guides out there that are simple enough to follow even if you know zilch about Linux.
Of course, in the midst of testing and ironing out the issues — only the touchscreen was working after the initial SteamOS installation — Microsoft and Asus revealed the ROG Xbox Ally X and Ally handhelds. These two new handhelds offer an immersive Xbox full-screen experience akin to what you get with SteamOS. While they appear similar to the original ROG Ally handhelds, there are some design tweaks, such as the addition of the Xbox button and contoured handgrips inspired by the Xbox wireless controller.
Microsoft also claims to have optimised Windows 11 for a handheld console experience by tweaking the Xbox PC app and the Game Bar on the ROG Ally handhelds. More importantly, Microsoft says it has modified Windows to “minimise background activity and defer non-essential tasks”. If that means no more annoying Windows notifications, and fewer background processes that result in better battery life, I’m all for it. There’s no pricing info yet about the Xbox Ally handhelds, though they will arrive in time for the holidays at the end of the year.
I’m eager to try out these Xbox Ally handhelds. But not just because of the modifications made by Microsoft. During my testing of the original ROG Ally X, it actually performed better than I had expected in terms of battery stamina. In Hades 2, with the screen set to maximum brightness and 720p resolution, the battery dipped by around 20% after an hour using the Silent profile (13W).
The ROG Ally X had the same dip of 20% battery after an hour of Hades 2 in SteamOS at similar settings (720p, max brightness, 10W TDP). So there’s every chance that the Xbox Ally X will actually improve on this, given the tweaks made by Asus and Microsoft, not to mention the previously unannounced AMD Ryzen Z2 A chip that will be powering these new handhelds.
Besides battery life, the actual experience of using SteamOS on the ROG Ally X is definitely superior to Windows. It feels really smooth and responsive. And you don’t have to mess around with OneDrive pop-ups and fiddling with tiny fonts while setting up the Ally X in the first place.
But as someone who has neglected his Steam library for console gaming in recent years, I had to purchase Hades 2 in order to properly test the ROG Ally X. Personally, an Xbox Ally X with my Xbox Game Pass library looks like the best option currently if I’m getting a gaming handheld.
Of course, the Xbox Ally handhelds aren’t the only portable consoles in the picture. The Nintendo Switch 2 will be coming out later this month in Singapore, and there are also rumours of a Sony PlayStation handheld in the works. Exciting times for fans of gaming on the go.
This week, we checked out a Razer mouse that’s suited for both work and play, a Honor Android tablet with LTE connectivity, and a compact fan from Shark that can be detached from its base, and is powered by a built-in battery.
The Razer Pro Click V2 combines the brand’s distinctive gaming aesthetics with ergonomic features that are suited for right-handed users. It has a nice resting area for your thumb, and feels more comfortable than gamer-focused mice that have a flatter curvature. It also has an unusual AI feature: Razer's AI Prompt Master that lets you use LLM models such as ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot to help you rewrite text, summarise, or compose an email.
While it may be the more affordable of the two Android tablets that Honor launched recently, the Honor Pad X9a is lacking in performance, and feels sluggish to me. Sure, you may save around S$200, and the X9a does have LTE connectivity — unlike the Honor Pad V9 — but I think it doesn’t offer enough value.
Banish the terribly warm weather with the Shark FlexBreeze Cordless & Portable Fan (S$279), which delivers a powerful breeze despite its compact form. It comes with a built-in battery that can last up to 24 hours at the lowest speed setting. And you can even detach it from its base, and use it as a portable desk fan.