I tested Xbox’s powerful — and heavy — new handheld

During a series of face-to-face Xbox demos at the Summer 2025 Game Fest, I got the chance to play Gear of War: Reload The company’s upcoming handheld: Rog Xbox Ally X. The 7-inch screen looks gorgeous. The game’s remaster is amazed at screens of any size (I played it on a larger TV screen). But unfortunately, what’s most noticeable about the Rog Xbox Ally X was how tired my forearm was after 20 minutes of play. Gear of War Remastered.

The handheld console is designed to be a tightrope walk. If I’m playing at home, I want a device that is powerful enough to compete with my TV and gaming PC. If you’re relaxing on a sofa playing Switch 2 or steam deck, you need a reason not to reach for the remote and instead play the game on TV. For me, a handheld console needs to be bright enough to feel really portable. do not It competes directly with TVs and PCs. So, you need to split the difference between being powerful enough to run modern AAA games and looking better compared to TV, but not so powerful, so you need to weigh your travel bag.

It doesn’t matter what matters more than anything. where I’m playing it, the handheld should be kept comfortably for hours at a time. The original Nintendo switch was completely fine. It will take years before you realize its tiny weight (though you may notice how few modern AAA games it can run). On a steam deck, I might feel its weight much faster and impressive processing capabilities apart. And if it’s the case with the Rog Xbox Ally X – well, I haven’t played it long enough to definitely know it, but I kept it and played the game for about 20 minutes, and it was already a problem even for that short time.

Let’s talk about Rog Xbox Ally X Specs

The Xbox Ally comes in two versions, like the Xbox Series X and the S console. There are small ones and big ones. As the proud owner of the Xbox Series S (I love calling it “Baby Xbox”), you’ll probably be fine with the smaller Xbox Ally. But the main reason I’m saying is that it’s actually weight. Let’s enter the numbers.

It was comforting for me to look into all these numbers after the Xbox event. Because I didn’t feel like I was imagining the Rog Xbox Ally X as the heaviest thing I’ve ever had. Once you reach this holiday season, you will be the heaviest handheld on the market. (I spoke to an ASUS representative at the Xbox event and told him my concerns about its weight, but I’m totally aware that it’s probably too late to change it.

What’s interesting about this is that it may not actually bother many other people who are not me. This is a rather subjective issue, and I think it’s a bit gendered too. There were many other reporters at the event. Most of them were men. I’ve heard many of them praise the way the Xbox handheld felt in their hands – “Like an Xbox controller.” I cannot oppose it. It’s in the right form and I feel absolutely comfortable in terms of size and layout. But I wonder: Did anyone of those people notice the weight? Or is it just a problem for someone of my height?

The thing is, people of my height are actually playing video games. And I play a lot of them in handheld format. I say about 50% of my time on the big screen and the remaining 50% is handheld. I’m still in LA for summer Game Fest, but the first thing I’m trying to do when I get home tomorrow night is to open two boxes of switches and play. Mario Kart World – Probably in handheld mode. Also, although the Switch 2 is heavier than its predecessor, I think it’s quite reassuring to me how light it feels compared to the Xbox handheld I tried yesterday.

ROG Xbox Ally X’s Windows OS Inside

That said, there are many things that are very impressive about the Xbox Ally. Unlike steam decks, I use Windows and I don’t want to hear what I’m saying that Linux users are reading this, but it’s so familiar that it would be the preferred operating system for most people.

Over the years I was able to run quite a few games on a steam deck that wasn’t necessarily intended to run natively on that device, but it required serious tweaks. In contrast, Xbox Ally has Steam and Battle.net icons that you can click on, as well as a Discord integration. I can say there’s not much tinkering about it taking to get the Blizzard game to work properly on my steam deck, and it’s very easy to play different games there.

The Xbox handheld is clearly designed with power in mind. It’s heavy as there are plenty under the hood that helps make the game look great. It certainly also helps compete with steam decks, especially as handhelds are increasingly indicating their age. Putting all of that together, even the same year as Switch 2 could be an impressive holiday launch.

But every time I think about this device entering my home, I think about how my arms started to hurt as I was playing the steam deck for hours in a row. I’m thinking about sometimes having to put my arms on a pillow. Still, it’s not the right corner at all, it’s annoying. Most buyers don’t even know until they get the device, but if they’re like me in terms of size and arm strength, that’s what they’ll notice first as soon as they take it out of the box. Microsoft just hopes that it will bring that device back into that box and lead to slapping the return label.