Last year, ASUS and Microsoft teamed up to release the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X. The handheld gaming PCs were Microsoft’s first real push into the space, debuting a new full-screen Xbox interface to help bridge the gap between PC and console-style gaming experiences. The higher-end Xbox Ally X was particularly well received, with multiple outlets crowning it the best Windows-powered gaming handheld of the year.
Now, Xbox and ASUS are back with an even higher-end Xbox Ally handheld: the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X20. The X20 features the same AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor and 24 GB of LPDDR5X memory as last year’s Xbox Ally X, along with a great new OLED display, a sleek transparent plastic shell, updated controls, and more. After gaming on the thing for a couple of weeks, I’m really impressed — but Windows is an iffy handheld OS, and the X20’s $1,300 price tag may be a tough sell for everyone but the perfect target audience.