Asus has beaten Nintendo Switch 2 to the punch with its next generation ROG Ally gaming handheld. And yes, it is the Xbox handheld we’ve been waiting for to take on the Steam Deck.
Teased just now, we’re seeing hints of an updated design, upgraded storage and new internals (possibly the AMD Ryzen Z2 chipset).
Let’s take a look at what Asus announced, and see whether it’s a shoe-in for a spot on our best gaming handhelds list.
Our little robot friend is cooking something up...#ROG #ROGALLY #PlayALLYourGames #NextLevelGaming pic.twitter.com/nDG7rlEIhHMarch 31, 2025
Xbox Series Ally
pic.twitter.com/ONZpeEmNkaMarch 31, 2025
We reported on Microsoft working with Asus to create an Xbox handheld set to rival the Steam Deck, and it seems like “Project Kennan” is this device, as Xbox responded to the X post with a side-eye.
We're not 100% sure whether this will be a full Xbox OS system, as none of the codename "Project Bayside" work is shown.
This could be a Windows 11 machine with maybe an Xbox-themed launcher along with the game bar. To be honest, given my frustrations with trying to use Windows on a tiny screen, anything like this is an improvement!
More of everything
The Omni robot is typing away busily at its desk, and the screen shows four key things. These tease an increase in on-board storage, a boost to battery life, faster speeds (courtesy of AMD Ryzen Z2 I'm assuming), and a "fresh look!"
This is then topped off by both the ROG Ally and the ROG Raikiri Pro controller flying into the machine (another Xbox collab tip-off). Could this redesign bring that trademark Xbox button with it? Let's see!
We’ll find out more soon
No official announcement on date is made, but based on previous launches, we're anticipating more news at either Computex 2025 or Summer Games Fest.
Hopefully there, we can get answers to our burning questions about what will be powering this handheld, everything else about the internals and exactly what this new UI will look like.
But what will it cost? Well, to put my tin foil hat on, I’m guessing $799. And my reason is simple — I anticipate Asus will keep the ROG Ally X around and cut the price of that to $699, so the next gen Ally can enter at that $799 price.
And if we see the price of the first ROG Ally with Z1 Extreme go down even further, this could be one of the best buys of the summer given the work Asus has done to update it to this point — pending tariff impact of course.
But this is all we know (and are predicting) for now! Keep it locked on Tom’s Guide, as we find out more about this handheld on the run up to release.
More from Tom's Guide
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- I played 5 games on an RTX 5070 vs RTX 5070 Ti gaming PC — is it worth paying extra?
- I love my ROG Ally, and these 5 simple tweaks help me game longer
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