THIS IS AN (ARTICLE ABOUT) XBOX
Gabriel Meng, Director of Product, Gaming at Asus ROG, tells Vince Pavey all about the ROG Xbox Ally consoles and the plans for them going forward
ROG has already made multiple iterations of the ROG Ally without involvement from Microsoft. What makes this one in particular an Xbox? From day one, we chose Windows because it gives players the ultimate freedom — the ability to play all games. Fundamentally, Windows was a productivity driven OS, and ROG invested in bringing advancements like Armoury Crate SE to support a controller-friendly gaming application for a more console-like experience. Our developments allowed for the aggregation of games, better defined settings, and unlocked the necessary customization and features to support Windows Handheld gaming. Still, there were aspects that would require Microsoft’s involvement
to truly bring the device to the next level — Xbox and Windows brings ease of use through the new Full Screen Experience (FSE), Task Viewer, and supports simplicity in gaming by automating features and bringing together all parties, including developers, in to working on our hardware and software experiences. We are both committed to continue to develop features for our device, just as ROG has for the Ally series with every respective launch. This really is an Xbox handheld experience powered by ROG.
How involved were Microsoft on the design side of things? I think there was some talk about them helping out with the ergonomics, and obviously there have been improvements in Windows 11. Microsoft was very involved in the design of the ROG Xbox Ally series, as a close partner we both saw the opportunity to improve upon the existing handheld form factors by honing in on the ergonomics of the iconic Xbox controller.
38 | MCV/DEVELOP December/January 2026 From there, we really allowed our ideas to bounce off each other in
every way — details from the lettering for ROG XBOX, to the shape of the buttons, to adding impulse triggers (in the ROG Xbox Ally X), to defining the experiences those buttons would invoke. We integrated features and ideas both in hardware and software, such
as our collaboration between the Xbox App and Armoury Crate SE, Command Center and Game Bar.
What’s the performance bump like between the ROG Xbox Ally X and the ROG Ally X, if you had to put a percentage on it? Thanks to the new AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor, and our build improvements to support its new 35W cap, including improved thermals, there is a significant bump in peak performance, up to 10-15%. However, the real gains are in the 10-20W power thresholds, where
our Silent and Performance modes where we are seeing up to double the battery life when setting games to 30 or 60 FPS caps. The ROG Xbox Ally X has an amazing balance of performance between modes when compared to the previous generation, and really empowers gaming at Silent and Performance Modes over needing to reach into Turbo Mode.
There’s been a lot of discussion online about the prices of both units. When designing one of these handhelds, how are you deciding upon the specs and the prices? ... and how important is finding the right price- to-performance ratio? We understand that pricing is directly tied to affordability, enjoyment, and value — in gaming, it’s about getting the right hardware to play
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