Microsoft has just announced the already-leaked new handheld gaming device, the ROG Xbox Ally, which is officially confirmed to be in collaboration with ASUS. The handheld leaked last month across two models: a black one and a white model.
Microsoft showcased both of these new devices. The black model is confirmed to be called the ROG Xbox Ally X, while the white model is simply the ROG Xbox Ally.
The two devices, of course, aim to deliver an “Xbox Play Anywhere” approach to the market across PC hardware. Microsoft says it is overhauling the Xbox App, Game Bar, and Windows itself in order to deliver a portable console-like experience in the ROG Xbox Ally.
While Microsoft was originally working on its own dedicated Xbox console handheld, it was reported last week that the company was putting it on hold in order to refine the Windows experience for PC handhelds, and the result is this new hardware that Microsoft can use as a testing ground in the market.
The ROG Xbox Ally will feel as console-like as possible. Even booting it up, the handheld will load into its own Xbox full-screen experience that focuses on the Xbox App, Game Bar, and a dedicated launcher for all your PC games. This includes all PC games, including Steam, Epic Launcher, installed games, and more.
So there is clearly a heavy drive to make this an Xbox experience without the bloatware of Windows. However, the device will still run Windows, but the majority of the launch features and apps that usually launch with Windows simply won’t load.
“When the player boots into the full-screen experience there is a whole bunch of Windows stuff that doesn’t get loaded. We’re not loading the desktop wallpaper, the taskbar, or a bunch of processes that are really designed around productivity scenarios for Windows.”
Microsoft says that the ROG Xbox Ally devices will essentially run a streamlined version of Windows, and features that aren’t needed simply won’t launch. Early tests on the handheld have seen about 2GB of memory being freed on the product when disabling the system apps and features that aren’t needed on the device.
The ROG Xbox Ally will also come with its own version of Valve’s Steam Deck verified programme. Players will be able to see what games are optimised for the hardware, so there won’t be any confusion about what games run. .
We’ll share more on these portable devices once we learn more. The range is expected to launch this “holiday” season.
ROG Xbox Ally: powered by the AMD Ryzen™ Z2 A Processor – balancing performance and power consumption to maximize battery life without sacrificing gameplay quality – 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage.
ROG Xbox Ally X: features the AMD Ryzen™ AI Z2 Extreme processor – allowing us to bring new experiences to life including greater frames-per-second, sharp visuals and increased intelligence – double the storage to have more native games at your fingertips, and 24GB of high-speed RAM and 1TB of SSD storage.
