It has been less than a week since the ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X handhelds were released. They became available to pre-order on September 25 and were later released on October 16. ASUS and Microsoft took their sweet time to reveal pricing, previously saying it was undecided, before finally revealing $999 and $599 price tags for the Ally (non-X) and Ally X, respectively.

The hefty cost, particularly for the flagship model, drew criticism from fans, and in Xbox Ally reviews, but Microsoft says ASUS had the most control over deciding the “ultimate prices”. The handheld is ASUS’s design after all, fashioned with Xbox branding and features, powered by AMD’s latest Ryzen Z2 processors.

ROG Xbox Ally pricing was decided by ASUS, not Microsoft

Xbox president Sarah Bond was interviewed by Variety following the launch of the new gaming PC handhelds. She confirms that the pricing was ultimately decided by ASUS, not Microsoft.

“We looked at, how do we create multiple options for people? And it really was Asus, because this is their hardware. That is all of their insight into the market, into the feature set, into what people want, to determine the ultimate prices of the devices.”

Sarah Bond, President of Microsoft, via Variety

Even despite the high price tag, Bond says the company saw “overwhelming demand” for the Xbox Ally handhelds. It sold out on the Xbox Store, and the official ASUS store, too. This has instilled some confidence in the final pricing. Bond says “I feel really good about the value that we're giving gamers for the price, based off the reception to the hardware”.

Xbox is still working on hardware

Microsoft has previously said it is “actively investing” in new hardware. And now, Bond has reiterated the same message. In the interview with Variety, the Xbox president makes it clear that Xbox isn’t canceling its next-gen hardware. Whether a fully in-house handheld is part of those plans remains to be seen, however.

“We are 100% looking at making things in the future. We have our next-gen hardware in development. We've been looking at prototyping, designing. We have a partnership we've announced with AMD around it, so that is coming. What we saw here was an opportunity to innovate in a new way and to bring gamers another choice, in addition to our next-gen hardware. We are always listening to what players and creators want. When there is demand for innovation, we're going to build it.”

Sarah Bond, President of Microsoft, via Variety

Despite the delay on the rumored first-party Xbox handheld, the ROG Xbox Ally is a good substitute for now, but don’t rule out a proper Xbox handheld further down the line. Microsoft are keen to call the new ROG Ally an Xbox, but for the many people that continue to associate Xbox with games consoles, the Xbox Ally seems misleading. It’s still a handheld PC, just like the original ROG Ally and Ally X, and the Steam Deck before them.

Regardless, ASUS and Microsoft will continue to improve the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X post-launch. We recently highlighted three big features hitting the Windows handhelds in the coming months.

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.