ROG Xbox Ally X

I've been working on a custom launcher that gives Windows a console-like experience, inspired by Xbox OS and SteamOS. I've always loved the UI of the Xbox Series, so I wanted to bring that same smooth and cohesive feeling to Windows. I've always found it surprising that Microsoft doesn't use the same Xbox OS interface inside the Xbox app, since it feels so polished on console. With FSE mode and a custom launcher, the whole experience finally feels much closer to that seamless console experience. In this video, I start playing in handheld mode on my ROG Xbox Ally X, then dock it to my TV and instantly continue the same session using a paired Xbox controller. My launcher automatically manages TDP, refresh rate, and handles sleep/resume behavior so Windows plays nice with the game, you can switch between handheld and docked modes as smoothly as on a real console. It even works great as an Xbox Portal, letting you stream and play your console library remotely or from the cloud. It's not Xbox OS/SteamOS, but I'm really happy with how it feels. This is almost an Xbox UPATE: Thanks so much for the amazing reception! 🙏 Since many people wanted to try it, you can download it here: 🔗 [https://zendeck.app](https://zendeck.app) Please note: this launcher is still in active development and may contain bugs. I’ve mainly tested it on my **Legion Go** and **ROG Xbox Ally X**, so other devices might behave differently or even crash in some cases. All builds are digitally signed with a **Personal Verified** **certificate** for safety.

This is my opinion on these two handhelds. Ergonomics the Xbox ally x takes the win. There's no doubt about it. The controller feel on this thing is amazing. Paired with d brands Killswitch it's perfect. Legion go 2njust has a silicone case from Amazon since no one really makes a protective case for it like dbrand. Triggers I prefer the ally x. They just seem more quality the feel that is. Like more sponge like in a way? More resistance? Joysticks are pretty even for me don't prefer one over the other. The d pad same thing I don't play mortal Kombat anymore so don't really have a preference for d pads. Legion go has a win for the track pad. It's actually really nice sensitive and works. Button layout is better on ally x for my hands the placement is perfect. I almost have to bend my thumb awkwardly to use the right joystick on the legion go. The screens... Legion go 2 has the best screen I have ever seen on a handheld like absolutely blows anything out of the water. I calibrated HDR properly and it's just mind blowing how this screen pops. The bezels are SIGNIFICANTLY smaller on the legion go 2. 144hz vrr free sync 1200p OLED. What more could you ask for in a handheld. The "joycons" are sick they do their job. Fps mode works well and isn't uncomfortable to use. Do I need it? No but a nice perk. Built in kickstand a bonus. All handhelds should have one. I have experienced significant more bugs on the legion go 2. Joycons not working only touch does. Lenovo menu freezing not working. Waking out of sleep mode not working. Maybe that's a windows thing? But I've experienced little no no issues on the Xbox ally x. I did dual boot the ally x with bazzite and it's made it and even better handheld. I plan to do the same on the legion go 2 and give it a shot. They're both awesome handhelds they really are. You just need to pick your poison. Ergonomics over display. I really do feel if the ally x had an OLED display it would crush the handheld market. It checks every box for me except the display. If anyone has any questions lmk! Hope this helps people trying to make the decision. I highly recommend getting the best buy total tech membership. 45$ a year and you get 60 day returns no questions asked. That's ample time to decide on a purchase this expensive.

I grew up playing on consoles. You turn them on, pick a game, and play. When I bought my first PC handheld (Windows-based, mid-2024), I was honestly surprised by how different the experience was. In-game graphics settings, resolution, TDP, scaling, driver features… it felt like I had to tweak everything before I could actually play. I initially built AutoPilot just to handle things like TDP and performance automatically. But I quickly realized that wasn't enough — most of the friction was still in the in-game settings. That's how AutoPilot+ was born. I own an Xbox Ally X, and I originally assumed things like default game profiles or Gaming Copilot would actually modify in-game settings automatically. They don’t. AutoPilot+ detects the game and the handheld you're using, applies recommended in-game settings, configures resolution and AMD GPU features (like RSR or AFMF when supported), and then launches the game. The goal is simple: pick a game and play, while AutoPilot handles the rest. Instead of searching YouTube or Reddit for the "best settings" every time, this also opens the door to sharing and reusing community-tested game profiles directly through the launcher. This video shows the same game running on different handhelds, using the same flow — just recommended profiles applied automatically.

I'm new here so I'm not sure if this has been brought up. A little background about myself. I started pc flipping as a side gig about 2-3 months back so I do know quite a bit about hardware. Getting into the story, I made quite a bit of money earlier this week from some pc sales and I thought I'd spend a little to reward myself and I wanted to buy a portable handheld PC(steam deck/ally/legion go etc). I did some research, and basically for all the used 1st gen handheld pc gaming devices, they go for about 400usd or so in my market(before haggling), so I was trying to get a deal for about 320usd or less. I kind of narrowed down to the rog ally z1 extreme mainly because of the upgradable battery to 80wh(which cost about USD$40) effectively doubling the battery life which is kind of what I was going for. The rog ally x didn't have much more of an upgrade other than mainly the 24GB of RAM instead of 16 but I already have a powerful Playnite PC hooked up with my TV with an rtx 3080, so I wasn't going to play the most demanding games on it and wouldn't need 16GB of shared vram + system ram. I managed to score a deal of just about USD$316 from someone. After using it for a day or 2 I did more research into it. I realized the rog xbox ally which was released last year was actually a step down(in performance) from the rog ally z1 extreme released in 2023. The rog ally z1 extreme with 80wh battery has longer battery life than the steam deck, and lenovo legion go, much more powerful hardware than the steam deck and msi claw. Taking the same hardware, it would cost USD$1000 if you were to buy a laptop of similar spec and I know for sure it would cost about USD$600-700 for a desktop equivalent(which doesn't use a battery + in conservative prices) in the used market with the insane prices of DDR5 RAM right now. Not to mention, it last longer than an equivalent gaming laptop on battery. This is literally a powerful computer for just about usd$300-400 in the used market which you can game on. It's just insane when the tech youtubers are showing of budget gaming PC builds that are $600 when you can literally buy the rog ally z1 extreme for $320, hook it up to a monitor, connect a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and you get yourself a pretty decent gaming PC. Not to mention you can just bring your rog ally along to a meeting, hook it up to a projector or TV with a wireless presenter and you can do a presentation instead of a much bulkier laptop that doesn't even have as long of a battery life. Lastly, I think armoury crate is pretty comprehensive with how much you can control the battery and performance of the rog ally and manage your game library. TLDR: - ROG Ally Z1 extreme is an incredible value - it beats all its competitors in value - it beats all its variants in value - it beats desktops and laptops of equivalent specs in value - it has longer battery life than most laptops and smaller than a laptop while being able to game on it I honestly hope ASUS doesn't see this, so that they can continue to put out products of such value. If you don't own a rog ally right now, I highly recommend it. I will be spending some time optimizing it to give it more battery life and performance and likely be playing games like d2r, palworld, rotk 8 remake, jrpgs, emulated games on it. I'll leave the super demanding games with Ray tracing like black Myth, cyberpunk on my PC instead. Glad to be part of this community.

🏆 Owner Review Scorecard: ROG Xbox Ally X wins: ✔ Ergonomics ✔ Software Experience MSI Claw 8 AI+ wins: ✔ Build Quality ✔ Buttons Quality ✔ Ports ✔ Screen ✔ Speakers ✔ Performance ✔ Fan Noise 🤝 Tie: ✔ Battery Life I own both, but which one would YOU pick? ↓ Let’s discuss ↓