Is Microsoft's first ever handheld Xbox console worth the wait?

For almost two decades, rumours have swirled about a handheld Xbox console to rival Nintendo and PlayStation.

Now, it’s finally here. The ROG Xbox Ally has been released worldwide, putting an end to the speculation.

It works natively with Xbox’s Game Pass subscription service out of the box, meaning members will start off with hundreds of games in their library.

But its big trick is that it’s really a portable computer running Windows, meaning most digital PC games people already own will work too – so long as they don’t need a keyboard and mouse to play.

It’s capable of running most modern games at a decent resolution, although all that tech doesn’t come cheap. The handheld costs £499, or £799 for the more powerful ROG Xbox Ally X.

I’ve had my hands on the console for the past week and my experience has been positive – though the hardware certainly has its hiccups.

So, has it been worth the wait?

You may not be surprised to hear it feels like a handheld Xbox.

The controller that makes up each side of the screen is comfortable to hold. Both thumb sticks have a solid feel to them, and though the face buttons are a bit plastic-y for my taste, the triggers on top of the machine feel great.

So far so good – but what about the games?

The first thing I did with the device was boot up something known for its vibrant colours – 2019’s Persona 5 Royal – to see how good the screen looks.

Personally, I thought it looked fantastic.

Tech nerds like me may have had concerns that Microsoft went for an LCD display rather than the top-tier OLED displays.

In English, that means this portable Xbox doesn’t have the best screen available on the market, which may seem like a questionable decision considering the price.

But LCD displays have gotten significantly better in recent years, and while it may not have the most vibrant colours possible, I was pretty blown away by how good Persona 5’s deep reds looked on the handheld screen.

The game played well too, with no visible stutters or freezes – though this is surely to be expected for something that doesn’t have the same graphical demands as modern titles.

Remember, this isn’t like buying a game for the Nintendo Switch 2, where you can expect things will work out of the box.

This is much more like buying a game for your home computer.

In other words, you don’t know for sure whether a game will work or not.

It’s definitely a mark against the handheld, though it’s something PC gamers have been used to for years.

As much as this is a handheld Xbox, it could also be described as a portable computer running Windows – all the downsides of PC gaming are present here, but so are the upsides.

For example, Baldur’s Gate 3, which is known for being particularly demanding at times, proved a challenge for the device on higher graphics settings, but because it’s a PC game I could play around with the graphics settings to make it run smoothly.

The handheld performed admirably with modern games that don’t require the best graphics – as you would expect for the price.

For example, I had no issues running some of this year’s biggest games such as Hades II, Blue Prince and Hollow Knight: Silksong.

The device also worked well when playing older games – a similar experience I had to the Steam Deck when that launched in 2022 – but funnily enough, my biggest problems came getting some of them to start.

For example, I couldn’t get 2001’s Sonic Adventure 2 to work properly because of compatibility problems.

Thankfully, the handheld runs Windows 11 – so I knew how to fix the bug.

The ROG Xbox Ally has got a massive library of potential games – many of which you may already own – thanks to being a portable PC.

But this thing was really built for Game Pass, Xbox’s subscription service for games.

Game Pass gives access to a massive history of classic games such as Halo, Gears of War and Fable, as well as modern titles including Call of Duty.

With many of these games, you don’t need to download to the device – you can stream them over the cloud.

Of course, if a game is being streamed from a Microsoft server somewhere, it isn’t asking too much of the device to power it – meaning you can get some spectacular graphics from modern games like Modern Warfare 3 on the handheld.

Meanwhile, there are subscription services from EA and Ubisoft also bundled into Game Pass Ultimate, giving you access to yet more games from the off.

Still, despite Game Pass being front-and-centre on the device, it is not a requirement.

Remember, this system is running Windows 11. That means any game made for PC is going to work here – even if it takes a bit of fiddling to make it run properly.

The harsh reality is that this is not 2001 anymore, when the rumours first started.

Handheld PCs are no longer a rarity, and neither are handheld games machines.

Nintendo has cornered the market with the Switch – one of the best-selling consoles in history – and its Switch 2 has only improved what made the original great.

Sony has its own alternative product in the space, the PlayStation Portal, which can stream games from a connected PlayStation 5, and from the cloud too.

And critically, Microsoft’s new device comes three and a half years after Valve entered the PC gaming handheld market with the Steam Deck.

There’s no question the ROG Xbox Ally compares well to many of these rivals in the space – but at the price point, you’d expect it to.

Unfortunately, the very thing that makes the Xbox Ally X stand out compared to its rivals – the fact that it natively runs Windows – is at the same time its biggest tension point.

On the one hand, it allows for some fun things. It was entertaining to bring up Copilot while playing a game and ask for advice on what to do next – and to be told in a conversational way to talk to a character on-screen in front of me.

But you have to deal with Windows, which was hardly developed with a games console in mind. I had to sit and wait for several updates to install before I could even play the thing – hardly every child’s dream on Christmas morning.

Simply put, it’s lacking that bit of extra polish you might expect at a premium price.

But I do think the people Microsoft is targeting with this product are hardly going to be turned away by a lack of polish. Especially as it has no real impact on the games.

The question is whether the allure of Game Pass on-the-go is going to be enough to justify the price of admission.

If the goal was to make something that feels like a handheld Xbox, Microsoft has certainly delivered on its promise – but has it come to market too late?