The ROG Xbox Ally has been the star of the show from an Xbox perspective at Gamescom 2025, and people have been getting hands-on with it for the first time over the past few days – with lots of previews cropping up on the web.
So, we thought’d we’d pause for a moment and see what they’re saying! You’ll find lots of things on YouTube about it as well (Cyber Dopamine’s video is up above – a particularly interesting one), but we’ll focus primarily on the written previews in this article.
Here are some of the latest ROG Xbox Ally previews from Gamescom 2025:
“It’s clear that Microsoft and Asus have thought of everything heading into the launch, and while it’s way too early to definitively confirm their greatness (that will come with a full review), they left a fantastic first impression.”
“The real area where it needs to impress is performance, and luckily, the Xbox Ally is starting strong. Again, the showroom model prevents me from accessing Armory Crate, so I can’t see if anything like Turbo mode or CPU Boost is engaged. A quick peep into the game’s settings reveals light usage of AMD FSR 3, while the game [Hogwarts Legacy] runs at what appears to be a stable 60fps at 1080p. However, some instances of movement on my broom did throw a few screen tears my way. Nothing too distracting, but enough to consider further tweaking with the game’s fidelity options.”
“Asus already had a gaming handheld with solid foundations, but Microsoft’s involvement has given the ROG Ally X some welcome extra polish. Even at this early stage, I can tell the more controller-like shape and impulse triggers have helped free more of the console experience from your TV than either of the OG Ally machines managed.”
“After having used so many gaming handhelds, it feels like this one isn’t really an upgrade over some options which were released on the market earlier this year or even some of those that hit shelves last year. Games looked great, and I didn’t get any choppy frames, but it didn’t feel like that step up from the previous Asus ROG Ally X that I was really expecting.”
“For me, I feel as though the ROG Xbox Ally X could act as a replacement for my increasingly unused Xbox Series X – and that’s why I so want one. As I increase Nintendo Switch 2 use, this new Xbox console prospect is looking most alluring.”
“I was impressed with how the device delivered in tests with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 and Forza Horizon 5. Both looked sharp, and Forza in particular stood out with its sweeping vistas that are usually suited to much larger screens, but there was more than enough real estate here to enjoy it anyway. After getting acclimated, I was sucked in just like I would be on a console or PC.”
The impressions are generally very positive for the ROG Xbox Ally at Gamescom 2025 so far, then, although that’s not to say there aren’t a few grumbles – The Escapist’s writer clearly wasn’t as impressed as they’d hoped to be.
If we sum it up as a whole though, it sounds like there’s a lot to be excited for when the Xbox Ally lands on October 16th, both in terms of the standard model as well as the more premium “X” model.
To finish off, we’re going to leave you with a handful of social media posts that we’ve spotted over the past few days with more impressions and direct footage of what you can expect from the two devices.
