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Skip to main content Tom's Guide Newsletters View Profile Search Tom's Guide You May Like I love the MSI Claw A8, but its price proves PC handhelds are officially going off the rails — here's why Where to buy ROG Xbox Ally X and ROG Xbox Ally — pre-orders are now live Asus ROG Xbox Ally X vs Lenovo Legion Go 2 vs MSI Claw A8: Which next-gen gaming handheld should you buy? 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Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Future) The ROG Xbox Ally is $599 — $100 more than the Nintendo Switch 2 that we already said was rather pricey in our review. And that’s before I even had the chance to spit my morning coffee out at seeing the ROG Xbox Ally X is $999. Gaming handhelds are getting pricier, and this isn’t even the worst offender (looking at you, $1,349 Lenovo Legion Go 2). But a thousand dollars for an ultraportable just seems crazy to me. Did you know that for the price of one ROG Xbox Ally X, you could buy three Steam Decks? Obviously I’m comparing apples to oranges here. One is a handheld that launched back in 2022, and the other is coming out in just a few weeks. But they may be closer than you think — let me explain. You may like I love the MSI Claw A8, but its price proves PC handhelds are officially going off the rails — here's why Where to buy ROG Xbox Ally X and ROG Xbox Ally — pre-orders are now live Asus ROG Xbox Ally X vs Lenovo Legion Go 2 vs MSI Claw A8: Which next-gen gaming handheld should you buy? Valve Steam Deck: was $399 now $319 at store.steampowered.com The Valve Steam Deck mostly delivers on its promise of allowing you to play PC games on the go. While it has been outclassed by some of its rivals, it's still a great system for this price. This entry-level model packs a 7-inch LDC screen, a custom AMD APU, 16GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage. There are levels to this ROG Xbox Ally X Hands-On: This Changes EVERYTHING - YouTube It is a little complicated by the fact these are easily two of the best Windows gaming handhelds I’ve tested. Turns out when you remove the weight of Windows 11’s background tasks, you unlock a lot of performance headroom. As I’ve talked about before, the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X come with the Xbox Full Screen Experience — more than just a UI overhaul, it doesn’t run any of the background tasks required for Windows 11 desktop mode. In my time testing, this saw an uplift in frame rates across many of the AAA titles I jumped into. (Image credit: Future) Then there’s the ergonomics, which with inspiration taken from the Xbox controller, makes these the most comfortable handhelds I’ve gripped. Oh, and in a 1-up over the Steam Deck, you get support for all your gaming libraries here — not just Steam. Sure, there are Linux-based workarounds, but out-of-the-box it's way easier on the Ally. Everything lined up, and I had a lot of fun with both of them. They are good, but are they a thousand dollars of “good?” In this economy, that’s a question I’m less sure about, but if you’re sold on the idea of this, be my guest — preorders are open. Sign up to get the BEST of Tom's Guide direct to your inbox. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Where to buy ROG Xbox Ally in U.S. Xbox: check stock Best Buy: check stock Amazon: check stock Walmart: check stock Newegg: check stock Asus: check stock Where to buy ROG Xbox Ally in U.K. Xbox: check stock Amazon: check stock Argos: check stock Currys: check stock Asus: check stock Silicon similarities (Image credit: Tom's Guide) Oh, you’re still here? That means you’re a little more skeptical like I am. Well, let’s go a little more granular, and start with the Ryzen Z2 AI Extreme. Of course, while I can’t speak for the NPU side of things, which looks primed to help with some AI super resolution trickery, we do have a basis of comparison here in the MSI Claw A8 with the non-AI Z2 Extreme. Because they have the same APU specs minus that NPU: 8 cores/16 threads, a 16-core GPU with RDNA 3.5 and a TDP of up to 35 watts. On paper, we saw an effective 25-30% uplift in frame rates over the Z1 Extreme. At the top end, the upgrade is a little more clear cut. But that’s when the Ryzen Z2A of the ROG Xbox Ally comes in, and when I say the specs “4 cores/8 threads, and 8 RDNA 2 GPU cores” you may be thinking that sounds familiar? Well, it is, because these are the same specs as the Steam Deck’s custom AMD APU — only difference being that the Ally can reach a higher wattage. You may like I love the MSI Claw A8, but its price proves PC handhelds are officially going off the rails — here's why Where to buy ROG Xbox Ally X and ROG Xbox Ally — pre-orders are now live Asus ROG Xbox Ally X vs Lenovo Legion Go 2 vs MSI Claw A8: Which next-gen gaming handheld should you buy? You see? They’re more similar than you think, and I don’t think it’s the best idea to charge $200 more than your competition for that. Settings tweakers (Image credit: Tom's Guide) But it could be even more problematic than that, because of the one thing we gamers love to do on PC: tweak settings. Yes I’m saying that sarcastically, but nothing scratches that satisfying itch more than being able to find a zen-like balance between fidelity and frames. Nothing scratches that satisfying itch more than being able to find a zen-like balance between fidelity and frames. In PC gaming handhelds, that puzzle becomes a little more complicated, as it’s not just fidelity and frames, but it’s also performance per watt too. You want the game to look pretty, run smoothly, and not murder your battery life in under 30 minutes. And when it comes to tweaking, the Steam Deck is still one of the best at low wattages. You may be wallowing in low graphics settings, but it’s always surprising to me how good low settings games can look. God of War Ragnarok still looks epic, Forza Horizon 5 still runs impressively smoothly, and even something like Indiana Jones can run north of 40 FPS. However, that’s before even talking about indie games — the kinds of titles that are perfect for handheld gaming, like Silksong, and these barely cause any pressure on the Steam Deck. And all of this performance (and maybe a few percent more) is what you’ll probably get on the ROG Xbox Ally… Why is that worth an extra $200? Z1 Extreme could be the power user cheat code (Image credit: Tom's Guide) What if you wanted that extra headroom? Yes, the Ryzen Z2 AI Extreme looks set to give you up to 30% extra frames in your games over Z1 Extreme, but what happens when that Xbox Full Screen Experience comes to every Windows gaming handheld? It’s clear this has been key to some of those performance improvements I saw when playing on the ROG Xbox Allies, and Microsoft has said it will be coming to others (we know this seeing it pop up in the insider preview of Windows 11 25H2). To me, that brings the Z1 Extreme back into play, as it could revitalize the frame rates here. And for users, that could mean the original ROG Ally for its cheaper price could be the one to buy. Asus ROG Ally: was $649 now $615 at Walmart AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme has more cores, a more recent generation of graphics architecture, and is an all-around better performer. It’s closer to the Z2 Extreme than you think, and you can just spend an extra $15 over the less powerful Ryzen Z2 A of the ROG Xbox Ally and get this system. Obviously, all of this is pre-review of the new Xbox handhelds (keep it locked to Tom’s Guide for those). But my initial impressions are that you could get better bang for your buck by being smarter with your handheld buy here. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button! More from Tom's Guide MSI Claw A8 review: Ryzen Z2 Extreme dominates, but at what cost? Netbooks are back, baby! And that’s not even the weirdest part of this gaming handheld hybrid I went hands-on with the Lenovo Legion Go 2 — I love the OLED panel, but I’m worried about the price Today's handheld gaming PC deals Nintendo Switch 2 $24.99View Deal See all prices Asus ROG Ally X $1,529View Deal See all prices $9.13View Deal See all prices Valve Steam Deck 256GB $443.92View Deal See all prices Lenovo Legion Go $689View Deal See all prices Lenovo Legion Go S $690.39View Deal See all prices Lenovo Legion Go S SteamOS $649.99View Deal See all prices Valve Steam Deck OLED 512GB $659.98View Deal See all prices MSI Claw 7 AI+ $999View Deal See all prices MSI Claw 8 AI+ A2VM $999View Deal See all prices We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices Jason England Social Links Navigation Managing Editor — Computing Jason brings a decade of tech and gaming journalism experience to his role as a Managing Editor of Computing at Tom's Guide. He has previously written for Laptop Mag, Tom's Hardware, Kotaku, Stuff and BBC Science Focus. In his spare time, you'll find Jason looking for good dogs to pet or thinking about eating pizza if he isn't already. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. I love the MSI Claw A8, but its price proves PC handhelds are officially going off the rails — here's why Where to buy ROG Xbox Ally X and ROG Xbox Ally — pre-orders are now live Asus ROG Xbox Ally X vs Lenovo Legion Go 2 vs MSI Claw A8: Which next-gen gaming handheld should you buy? Lenovo Legion Go 2 price rumor is what we all feared — ROG Xbox Ally X looks to be a cheaper bet I review gaming handhelds for a living — and these are the 3 I would buy with my own money ROG Xbox Ally gaming handheld prices leak, and your wallet might weep Latest in Handheld Gaming Where to buy ROG Xbox Ally X and ROG Xbox Ally — pre-orders are now live Asus ROG Xbox Ally price and preorder date leaked by UK retail employee — and it's not as expensive as we thought Forget Nintendo Switch 2 — get the LCD Steam Deck for $80 off right now MSI Claw A8 review: Ryzen Z2 Extreme dominates, but at what cost? Netbooks are back, baby! 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