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With a splashy presentation at Gamescom 2025, the Microsoft and Asus partnership could yield its fruit in less than a month.
Image: Microsoft
The Asus ROG Xbox Ally, the handheld that pairs Asus hardware with Microsoft branding, is certainly… something. It’s Microsoft’s big play to counter the Steam Deck in the exploding handheld gaming PC space, to say nothing of trying to expand its Xbox brand beyond consoles and leverage the Game Pass subscription. But when will you actually be able to buy one, and for how much?
Aside from a vague 2025 release date, we don’t know much. But we do know that the ROG Xbox Ally and its more powerful X variant will be on public display at Gamescom 2025, a trade show in Germany taking place in late August. According to leaks from French tech site Dealabs (via VideoCardz), the Xbox presentation on August 20th will include an opening salvo of pre-orders for the Asus handheld.
The alleged price, at least for the moment, is €599 (about $690 USD) for the ROG Xbox Ally and €899 (about $1,030 USD) for the ROG Xbox Ally X, though who knows what tariffs and local variables might do to relative prices. That said, it would put the new Asus handhelds in around the same price bracket as other Windows-based portable gaming PCs, though considerably more expensive than the older Steam Deck. And taking Microsoft at its word that these Windows-based gadgets are, indeed, Xboxes, it would make the ROG Xbox Ally X the most expensive Xbox console by far.
But the ROG Xbox Ally is not a console, or an Xbox, at least by the purest definition. It’s running Windows 11, though Microsoft isn’t too keen on advertising that. To be fair, these new handhelds are getting semi-exclusive interface and performance tweaks to make gaming and basic tasks easier on a small touchscreen, something of a pain point for nearly all of these Ryzen-based devices. The tweaks will be available to other Windows handhelds starting in 2026.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he's the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop "battlestation" in his off hours. Michael's previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he's covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he's always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.
Recent stories by Michael Crider:
Image: Microsoft
The Asus ROG Xbox Ally, the handheld that pairs Asus hardware with Microsoft branding, is certainly… something. It’s Microsoft’s big play to counter the Steam Deck in the exploding handheld gaming PC space, to say nothing of trying to expand its Xbox brand beyond consoles and leverage the Game Pass subscription. But when will you actually be able to buy one, and for how much?
Aside from a vague 2025 release date, we don’t know much. But we do know that the ROG Xbox Ally and its more powerful X variant will be on public display at Gamescom 2025, a trade show in Germany taking place in late August. According to leaks from French tech site Dealabs (via VideoCardz), the Xbox presentation on August 20th will include an opening salvo of pre-orders for the Asus handheld.
The alleged price, at least for the moment, is €599 (about $690 USD) for the ROG Xbox Ally and €899 (about $1,030 USD) for the ROG Xbox Ally X, though who knows what tariffs and local variables might do to relative prices. That said, it would put the new Asus handhelds in around the same price bracket as other Windows-based portable gaming PCs, though considerably more expensive than the older Steam Deck. And taking Microsoft at its word that these Windows-based gadgets are, indeed, Xboxes, it would make the ROG Xbox Ally X the most expensive Xbox console by far.
But the ROG Xbox Ally is not a console, or an Xbox, at least by the purest definition. It’s running Windows 11, though Microsoft isn’t too keen on advertising that. To be fair, these new handhelds are getting semi-exclusive interface and performance tweaks to make gaming and basic tasks easier on a small touchscreen, something of a pain point for nearly all of these Ryzen-based devices. The tweaks will be available to other Windows handhelds starting in 2026.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he's the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop "battlestation" in his off hours. Michael's previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he's covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he's always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.
Recent stories by Michael Crider:
