I'm at Gamescom right now, previewing new Switch games and getting up close and personal with exciting hardware, namely the ROG Xbox Ally. Asus' brand-new handheld PC is an odd concept for me, as the current ROG Ally Z1e and ROG Ally X are still quite young. What attracts me to the Xbox Ally is the decision to reduce bloatware and offer a SteamOS-style experience. Valve's dashboard is far cleaner than any of the Windows portable consoles by a mile. Can the Xbox Ally solve that?
While the showroom model prohibits me from tearing into the nitty-gritty side of the console, I can speak to its performance and overall feel. The demo of choice is Hogwarts Legacy, and it's immediately apparent how crisp it looks on the Xbox Ally's display. I still wish Asus would offer an OLED model, but the jump to 500 nits is noticeable. Shadows in the darkness of Hogwarts' grounds contrast beautifully on the display, and retaining support for 120Hz is always a bonus in my book. Aside from this, there's nothing too different from its predecessors on the display front.
The real area where it needs to impress is performance, and luckily, the Xbox Ally is starting strong. Again, the showroom model prevents me from accessing Armory Crate, so I can't see if anything like Turbo mode or CPU Boost is engaged. A quick peep into the game's settings reveals light usage of AMD FSR 3, while the game runs at what appears to be a stable 60fps at 1080p. However, some instances of movement on my broom did throw a few screen tears my way. Nothing too distracting, but enough to consider further tweaking with the game's fidelity options.
Heat dissipation seems to be improved, too. The ROG Ally Z1e can run pretty warm at times, especially when I'm pushing with FPS games like The Finals. With the model seemingly on at all times on the Gamescom floor, it didn't appear to be struggling with the extended playtimes. I'm curious whether this applies to the lower-spec model, which is absent from Asus' booth in Hall 8.
@pockettactics Our first impressions of the Xbox Ally @gamescom are in, and despite the high price, we may be sold 💸 #Xbox #ROG #Handheld #Gaming #Gamescom
At a glance, the gamer-fication of the ROG Ally's form factor seems silly. In my hands, though, I don't care about it, because the feel is a considerable leap forward. I use a thicker grip case with my ROG Ally Z1e, but the new controller-style aesthetic here eliminates that need. Although I only had around twenty minutes with Xbox Ally, my hands didn't start to give me those all too familiar Nintendo Switch pains.
What will make or break the Xbox Ally, though, is the price point. It is clear that Asus and Microsoft are aiming for a more casual market here, rather than players who love to tinker with the finer details of their Steam Deck or Lenovo Legion Go, so hopefully the price will reflect that and won't exceed the norm for Steam Deck alternatives.
We're covering all the latest news from Gamescom here on Pocket Tactics, so make sure you follow us on Google News to stay up to date, and hop in our Discord server to share your thoughts. While you're here, you can catch up on everything from Gamescom's Opening Night Live showcase, including Cult of the Lamb's Woolhaven DLC and my thoughts on Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight's treatment of Zac Snyder's DCEU.