ROG Xbox Ally: Xbox has officially confirmed the launch date for its new handhelds — the ROG Xbox Ally and the ROG Xbox Ally X. Both devices will hit the market on October 16, 2025, as announced at the Gamescom event in Germany. Alongside the reveal, Xbox also highlighted game compatibility for the handhelds, with titles set to be optimised for the new devices.

According to reports from Dealabs, the ROG Xbox Ally is expected to be priced at $549, while the more powerful ROG Xbox Ally X could retail at $899 in the United States. Microsoft, however, stopped short of confirming global prices at Gamescom, pointing to “macroeconomic conditions” as the reason for holding back.

ALSO READ: Google Pixel 10 Series Keeps AI In Focus: All The New AI Features Google Introduced This Time

Specs and differences

The new ROG Xbox Ally X comes in black and is designed with 1080p gaming in mind. The standard Xbox Ally, available in white, targets 720p gameplay. Both models feature a 7-inch 1080p display carried over from Asus’s earlier ROG Ally lineup, with a 120 Hz refresh rate and VRR support.

Under the hood, the Xbox Ally is powered by an AMD Ryzen Z2 A processor, paired with 16GB LPDDR5X-6400 RAM and 512GB of M.2 2280 SSD storage. The more advanced Ally X gets a performance boost with AMD’s Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme chip, 24GB RAM, and 1TB SSD storage.

Game compatibility focus

Xbox is also introducing a new compatibility system for handheld players: Handheld Optimised and Mostly Compatible categories.

“We have worked with game studios to test, optimise, and verify thousands of games for handheld compatibility, allowing users to jump into the game without having to tweak settings or requiring only minor adjustments,” said Roanne Sones, CVP of gaming devices and ecosystem at Xbox.

Titles marked as handheld-optimised will display correct icons, controller inputs, and resolution in full-screen mode. Games in the mostly compatible bracket may need small in-game adjustments for smoother play. To make this clearer for players, Microsoft will also label games with a Windows Performance Fit indicator.

Windows on handheld

Both devices will ship with the Xbox full-screen experience, an interface Microsoft has tailored to make Windows handheld-friendly. This setup hides the desktop by default but lets players access it via the Xbox Game Bar when needed.

ALSO READ: Apple Might Be Opening A New Store Soon In This City! It Could Align With The iPhone 17 Series Launch

The company is also working on improving docking capabilities for the Ally lineup. “A seamless, high-performance setup that supports big-screen gaming, Auto SR, intuitive controller pairing, optimised display output, and more” is what Microsoft is aiming to do, Sones added.