Xbox Ally Handheld Console to Launch This Year From Microsoft

Xbox will launch two new handheld gaming devices, ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, this holiday season.

The products are made in collaboration with ASUS and described as combining “the power of Xbox with the freedom you expect from Windows.”

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“When you power on your Xbox Ally, you’ll boot directly into the Xbox full screen experience, a new feature optimized specifically for handheld gaming,” according to Xbox’s announcement for the handheld Ally devices, which was made during the Xbox Games Showcase live presentation Sunday. “With new modifications that minimize background activity and defer non-essential tasks, more system resources are dedicated specifically to gameplay. That means more memory, higher framerates, and a fully immersive experience for players—all made possible by the versatility and freedom of Windows.”

The devices will have a dedicated Xbox button, contoured grips and accessibility features that are already established on Xbox consoles and Windows PC.

Xbox says pricing, release date, accessories and pre-order details for the Ally and Ally X will be announced at a later date.

Additionally, Microsoft’s “Roblox” will be available within the new devices, marking the first time the platform has been playable natively and optimized for gaming handhelds.

Per the description for the Ally, “The Xbox Ally offers great value for anyone looking to take their favorite games wherever they want to play, whether it’s ‘Clair Obscur: Expedition 33,’ ‘Gears of War: Reloaded,’ ‘Lies of P,’ ‘South of Midnight,’ or many more. It’s powered by the AMD Ryzen Z2 A Processor—balancing performance and power consumption to maximize battery life without sacrificing gameplay quality—16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage.”

Separately, the Ally X “offers more for players looking to get the best level of performance and visual settings from their favorite games on a handheld.” According to the specs, the device “features the AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor—allowing us to power the latest AI features as they are introduced— double the storage to have more native games at your fingertips, and 24GB of high-speed RAM that more demanding games crave. The Xbox Ally X also features impulse triggers for more immersive play.”

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