The ASUS ROG Ally X Is Still the Best All-Around Portable Windows Handheld for Most Players (Review)

Portable gaming has come so far in such a short amount of time. It feels like just yesterday when I was dreaming of being able to play a 3D game on a handheld device. And here I am in 2025, playing The Witcher 3 on the couch. While the Steam Deck may have been my first foray into the world of portable PC gaming, I’ve had the privilege of checking out plenty of other devices from other companies. While some haven’t been the best that I’ve experienced, the ASUS ROG Ally X just seems to be getting better with age. Anything I’ve thrown its way, it can handle like a champion. It’s wild that something this powerful can also be this size.

Graphical Fidelity Is One Thing, but the ROG Ally X Is Also a Workhorse on the Battery Front

The idea of a portable PC handheld like the ROG Ally X is… well, portability first and foremost. Being able to take your gaming library on the go, wherever you may be. Some devices that I’ve tested last, at most, an hour and a half when not hooked up to AC power. But, if I’m planning on going on a trip, I want to have something that will make it the whole way and then some. While the ASUS ROG Ally X is an incredibly powerful machine, its massive 80w battery makes gaming on the go a breeze.

I’ve said this before, and it bears repeating: I play a lot of House Flipper 2 with my wife. It was one of the games that I used to generally test the battery life of any handheld gaming PC. Something like the AyaNeo Air 1S can eke out roughly 2 hours of playtime, and the Lenovo Legion GO S caved in after roughly an hour and a half. The ROG Ally X, on the other hand? It was nearing 3 hours of playtime before I even thought to check the battery, only to find out that I had more than a quarter left. I was already impressed, but this blew my mind.

Portable consoles have never been known to have the greatest battery life. My first console, the Nintendo Game Boy Color, could push along for around 10 hours or so before I needed to swap out the batteries in the back. So, considering that this monstrous piece of tech can last for 3+ hours playing intensive 3D games? It literally feels like the future is unfolding before our eyes.

The Asus Rog Ally X Is Also Comfortable To Hold for Long Play Sessions Without Feeling Too Heavy

While the ASUS Rog Ally X looks like it would be massive, it’s rather light in the hands. And for the specs you get, it’s surprising to see that ASUS could fit all of that into a shell this size. A 7-inch, 1080p display with a 120hz refresh rate, paired with up to 24GB of RAM, puts it into a comfortable position in the handheld market. There are a few other handhelds that can tout this kind of power, but they don’t have the specs to back it up. Here? It was like an all-you-can-eat buffet of power and portability.

Even a year after its initial release, it may have been overtaken by only one other Windows-based PC. Beyond that, the only competition it’s faced up to this point has been the Steam Deck. However, the ROG Ally X easily trounces that on the power front. And if you’re savvy enough, you can swap Windows 11 for SteamOS, making the ROG Ally X even more powerful than it already is.

Coming in at roughly 1.5 pounds, the ROG Ally X is also easy to hold onto for longer gaming sessions. Weighing roughly the same as the Steam Deck and coming in a few ounces lighter than the Lenovo Legion GO S, it’s one of the most portable options available. Compared to the Nintendo Switch, however, the ROG Ally X is almost double the weight of the hybrid console produced by Nintendo. On a power-to-weight scale, there’s nothing that can really come close to the ROG Ally X.

ASUS ROG Ally X Technical Specs

ROG Ally X Details	ROG Ally X Technical Specifications
Display	1,920×1,080-pixel IPS, 100% sRGB, 500 nits, 120Hz/60Hz, FreeSync Premium, Gorila Glass Victus
CPU	3.3GHZ AMD Z1 Extreme
Graphics	Integrated AMD Radeon 780M
Memory/RAM	24GB LPDDR5x-7600
Storage	1TB M.2 2800 (Upgradeable), microSD
Networking	MediaTek MT7922 Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 Connection
Ports/Connections	X2 USB-C, DP 1.4, PD 3.0, Combination Audio
Operating System	Windows 11
Weight	1.5 Pounds
Dimensions	28.0 x 11.1 x 2.47 ~ 3.69 cm (11.02″ x 4.37″ x 0.97″ ~ 1.45″)

Even at Its Current Price, There’s Nothing Quite Like the Rog Ally X on the Market

Right now, there’s only one other portable PC that can compare to the ROG Ally X on a pure spec sheet, and that’s the MSI Claw 8 AI+ A2VM. But, seeing as that handheld is impossible to find at the moment, alongside its larger frame and heftier price tag, the ROG Ally X strikes a chord between affordability and useability. I would feel comfortable using the ROG Ally X as a standard PC, plugged into a dock, and still feel like my purchase would be justified.

Adjustable TDP can help push the most out of the Ally X. Even at the maximum TDP settings, it’s still whisper-quiet and provides a couple of hours of portable gaming bliss. Regardless of what I threw at it, I was able to continue playing for much longer than I would have expected. Compared to the original ROG Ally, this is a massive improvement on every feasible front.

If you’re in the market for a Windows Handheld, you can’t do any better than the ROG Ally X. It’s a workhorse, a powerhouse, and everything in between. It’s the perfect complementary piece for indies as well as the most up-to-date games. Being able to jump into Helldivers 2 and have it run on a handheld at good frame rates? It’s something I could have never imagined, yet here we are.

Verdict: Strongly Recommended

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The ASUS ROG Ally X is available for purchase now. A sample was provided by ASUS for the sake of review.