🏆 Review score: 4.5/5
🏅 Editor’s Choice Award
✅ Pros
🎮 Asus has perfected the ROG Xbox Ally X with a bigger 7.4-inch OLED screen
📺 The new ROG Nebula HDR display adds 1,400-nit HDR brightness and 600-nit SDR brightness with Dolby Vision support
🔋 Longer battery life thanks to the OLED screen and cooling improvements
🕹️ Directional inputs upgraded with Gulikit TMR thumbsticks and a transforming D-pad
🔴 Rounder buttons, more tactile bumpers, and longer impulse trigger pulls
📸 Action button replaces the Library shortcut for quick screenshots and gameplay recording
❌ Cons
🤑 $300 more expensive than the already pricey $999 ROG Xbox Ally X
📉 Performance lags behind Intel Arc G3 Extreme handhelds
The Shortcut Review
The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 is the OLED gaming handheld I’ve been waiting for. It fixes the biggest issue that prevented the original Asus ROG Xbox Ally X from being a perfect gaming handheld: its aging screen.
All the while, Asus has tweaked every little control, added TMR thumbsticks, given this limited-edition handheld a spiffy transparent shell, and improved battery life, all for a $300 premium that brings the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 to $1,299. That’s a hefty bill that somehow seems reasonable in our age of RAMageddon, but Intel has introduced some truly powerful gaming handhelds that deliver 10-20 more fps, but you have to buy an even more expensive $1,799 MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ to get that higher level of performance.
While this handheld can’t deliver the highest frame rates and I have to lower the quality settings, I find myself reaching for the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 more often since I started reviewing it. The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 has absolutely captivated me with its OLED display. It renders games with far more contrast, bringing them to life in a way a regular LCD screen can’t. I find myself stopping to admire the skyboxes in Forza Horizon 6 and Red Dead Redemption 2, something I’d normally only do on my full gaming setup with a 4K TV or gaming monitor.
The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 demands one of the highest premiums we’ve seen on gaming handhelds so far, but it delivers a premium experience for the price.
Full Review
📺 OLED at last. The new OLED screen is INCREDIBLE. 1,400-nit HDR brightness, 600-nit SDR brightness, pitch-black blacks, Dolby Vision support, and a slightly larger 7.4-inch display, too. The new ROG Nebula HDR display is beautiful to look at, especially for 2D platformers with dimly lit, atmospheric environments like Hollow Knight: Silksong and Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
The higher brightness makes playing games with this handheld outside actually feasible as I can see the screen in bright conditions. And there’s less glare, not no glare like with the Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro and iPad Pro OLED, thanks to the new Corning DXC Anti-Reflection coating on the display’s new Gorilla Glass Victus screen.
↔️ Bigger and better display. On top of being OLED, Asus’ new display panel is also a tiny bit bigger at 7.4 inches. 0.4 inches isn’t a size bump, but it spreads the pixels out a bit, so I don’t have to squint as hard to see things on the ROG Xbox Ally X20. I just wish the extra screen space added another row of vertical pixels, but the screen resolution is still 1,920 x 1,080.
One last upgrade this new display offers is FreeSync Premium Pro. VRR already helped the Asus ROG Ally X stand out from other gaming handhelds, and now AMD’s version is even better, with native HDR support and Low Framerate Compensation when FPS dips below the 48-120Hz range. This lets me play more games at 30fps or lower with fewer noticeable frame drops.
💨 Left in the dust. Unsurprisingly, the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 performs nearly identically to its non-OLED predecessor. On the one hand, that is good because the original ROG Xbox Ally X was one of the most powerful AMD Z2 Extreme-powered gaming handhelds. However, since then, Intel Arc 3G Extreme gaming handhelds like the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ and Acer Predator Atlas 8 have delivered 10 to 20 more frames per second in most games.
🔋 Optimized battery life. The only field the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 has improved in is battery life. The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 lasted almost an entire extra hour longer than the original handheld. This is largely thanks to the OLED screen, which doesn’t require a constantly on backlight, and two added cooling vents, which lets this handheld ramp down its fans more often.
AMD and Windows have also introduced a new game-optimized power mode that auto-tunes performance to energy savings on a per-game basis. While it’s handy, I would appreciate a way to override to tune it, so I can choose to run games at 60, 45, or anything beyond 30fps.
🫥 Transparent shell. Transparent electronics are just better. That’s the rule, and it’s especially true of the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20. It looks immaculate, and you can appreciate the circuitry within, vibration motors whirr to life, and how hard the fan is spinning to keep the system cool. I also love the gold accents and the classic Xbox logo with a green glow. The controller handles also have an added rubber texture inspired by the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller.
🕹️ TMR sticks and a new D-Pad. The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 has a new pair of Gulikit TMR thumbsticks that have been drift-proof so far in my week-and-a-half of testing. TMR sticks are an upgrade over even the Hall Effect sticks on the new MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, with a bit more resistance to emulate traditional thumbsticks.
➕ Transform and rollout. If you’re more of a D-Pad person, that’s also been upgraded with a transforming gimmick. Twisting the D-Pad switches it between four-way and eight-way input, a useful feature for playing 2D platformers or fighting games. Asus has also made subtle improvements to every control with rounder buttons, firmer shoulder bumpers, and longer travel on the impulse triggers. There’s also a new shortcut button that replaces the redundant library button, allowing you to take screenshots and record game clips with a quick press and/or hold.
🌬️ Improved cooling. Asus hasn’t changed any internal components of its limited-edition handheld, but it has improved the cooling. The most visible change are two added ventilation strips along the top of the ROG Xbox Ally X20. Internally, Asus has also rearranged the ROG Xbox Ally X20’s layout to improve heat dissipation.
Should you buy the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20?
✅ Yes, if…
📺 You want the OLED gaming TV experience on the go
💪 You want to play more games on a handheld and at higher settings
🎮You love the feel of the Xbox controller
🔋 4-7 hours of battery life on a gaming handheld is a must
❌ No, if…
📈 The highest frame rates are paramount for you (get the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ instead)
🟰 You already own an Asus ROG Xbox Ally X, this is a purely visual upgrade with a few performance improvements
Kevin Lee is The Shortcut’s Creative Director. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam