Asus ROG Xbox Ally X just won a prestigious accolade from Time – and I’m not sure how
Not a worthy winner
🤷♂️ The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X has received a “best invention of 2025” award from Time magazine before its release
🤔 Despite the accolade, the device is essentially an upgraded Asus ROG Ally X with minor additions and a new chip
💰 Its high price point ($999.99) makes it one of the most expensive portable handheld PCs
👉 While it can play Xbox games available on PC or cloud, it doesn’t offer full Xbox library access or backward compatibility, making Microsoft’s claims about player choice somewhat misleading
The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X and its less powerful sibling, the ROG Xbox Ally, are set to release in less than a week. But even though the handhelds aren’t even out yet (at least not for everyone), Microsoft has shared that they’ve already won an accolade from Time magazine.
The thing is, though, the award from Time is part of its “best invention of 2025” roundup. And I’m sorry – as great as the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X has the potential to be – I don’t think it’s worthy of the recognition.
Let’s be honest. The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X is, almost unashamedly so, an Asus ROG Ally X with grips added on. Yes, there’s the addition of the Xbox guide button and the promise that performance will be improved thanks to the new Z2 Extreme chip and a streamlined version of Windows. But this isn’t an impossibly thin iPhone Air, is it?
Nor is it a Nintendo Switch 2 – something that’s much more of an engineering marvel than the ROG Xbox Ally with its slim form factor, magnetically attaching Joy-Con 2 controllers, and the option to use them as a mouse.
Plus, this thing costs $999.99. That makes it one of the most expensive portable handheld PCs on the market (dwarfed only by the Lenovo Legion Go 2).
Also, the quote from Microsoft’s president of Xbox experiences is worth scrutinizing. He says, “It would have been easy mode for us to make another walled garden, but players wanted to be able to play their games regardless of where they came from.”
Despite the insistence from Microsoft, the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X isn’t an Xbox. Yes, you can play Xbox games that are available on PC or through the cloud. But you can’t access your entire Xbox library that you’ve amassed over the years, or enjoy backward compatibility like on Xbox consoles.
Is the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X likely to be a compelling handheld for gamers? Sure. But please, let’s not get ahead of ourselves and call it one of the best inventions of the year.
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Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. He also runs a retro gaming YouTube channel called Game on, boy! Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.