Xbox has a lot to show off at Gamescom this year. We’re most interested in the new ASUS ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X handhelds, which have now been discussed in more detail; the leaked October 16 release date has also been confirmed. Interestingly, official pricing is yet to be announced despite a last-minute rumor, so let’s instead turn our attention to why you might want to buy one.

Representatives from Xbox and ASUS sat down at Gamescom to talk about everything that makes the latest version of the Ally so great. At first glance, the new handhelds look like a solid upgrade to the original ROG Ally and Ally X, notably featuring more ergonomic controller-style grips and latest-gen AMD Ryzen Z2 processors.

Senior Product Manager Lead at Xbox says the new Ally and Ally X have three big features

“This has been a huge collaboration between ASUS, Xbox, and Windows. So we really thought about what makes playing on Xbox so unique, and how could we bring those elements together with what makes Windows 11 so great for PC gaming. And that really led to – from my perspective – three big features”

Dominique Gordon, Senior Product Manager Lead, Xbox

Xbox full screen experience

The Xbox experience has been tailored for handheld. As soon as you turn on the Xbox Ally or Xbox Ally X, you are launched directly into the Xbox full screen experience, which is designed to make Windows 11 more lightweight. This collaboration with Windows defers “a bunch of processes” while you’re gaming to optimize the system; this includes ditching processes such as the desktop and taskbar to free up memory for your game to utilize.

Splitting the Xbox full screen experience and the Windows desktop presents a solution that is much more akin to SteamOS, which has ‘Gaming Mode’ and ‘Desktop Mode’ separately.

Aggregated library

The aggregated library keeps all your games in one place. Since it’s a Windows machine, Xbox knows there isn’t one single game launcher/marketplace that people use, so the Xbox Ally detects all your installed games from different storefronts and makes it easier to navigate between them.

Play Anywhere

Xbox says it has “invested deeply” in the Play Anywhere feature, and it really ties in to the brand’s ‘This is an Xbox’ marketing campaign. There are now over 1,000 games that support Play Anywhere, so you can bring your progress, saves, and achievements from your Xbox console or Windows PC to the Ally seamlessly.

“These three features, to me, are what make the Xbox Ally so special,” adds Dominique.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.