The ROG Xbox Ally X actually took the crown from the Steam Deck
by James@th3brinkEvery handheld for the last three years has been called a "Steam Deck Killer." I've written about that title getting slapped on devices that had no business wearing it. So I don't say this lightly - one of them finally did it.
The ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X has knocked the Steam Deck OLED off the top of the recommendation list at PC Gamer, Tom's Hardware and Engadget. For the first time, the answer to "what handheld should I buy" is a Windows machine instead of Valve's.
What changed
Windows handhelds have always had the same problem - great hardware trapped behind a desktop OS that was never built for a 7-inch screen and two thumbsticks. You'd boot up, get dumped onto a Windows 11 desktop, and start poking at tiny buttons with your fingers. The Steam Deck won not because it was more powerful, but because SteamOS actually felt like a console.
The Ally X finally fixes the software side. It was one of the first two handhelds to ship with the Xbox Full Screen Experience - a controller-friendly shell that boots you straight past the Windows 11 desktop (the desktop is still there if you go looking). Microsoft has since rolled it out to other Windows handhelds, but the Ally is where it landed first. And the honest catch: the Deck didn't get worse, it got expensive - Valve's May hike pushed the OLED to $789 and $949, and that is what moved the crown. You turn it on and you're in something that feels like an Xbox, not a laptop that lost its keyboard. That's the whole ballgame. That's the piece every Windows handheld was missing.
Under the hood you're getting AMD's new Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme with RDNA 3.5 graphics - so the muscle was already there. Pairing that power with software that doesn't fight you is what pushed it over the top.
The specs breakdown:
- AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme, RDNA 3.5 integrated graphics
- Xbox Full Screen Experience out of the box (no desktop wrestling)
- $999.99 for the X model
- A cheaper non-X ROG Xbox Ally for people who don't need the top tier
The elephant in the room
A thousand dollars.
That's the catch, and it's a big one. The Ally X earning the crown doesn't mean it's the value pick - it means it's the best pick if money isn't the deciding factor. And in a year where the RAM shortage has hammered every piece of gaming hardware, a grand for a handheld is a real gut check.
If your budget is the priority, the Steam Deck is still the smarter buy - and the non-X Ally exists specifically to catch people who want the Xbox experience without the full $999 hit. The Deck didn't get worse. It just got out-classed at the top end by a machine that costs a lot more.
So which one should you actually buy?
Quick gut-check, because "best" and "right for you" aren't the same thing:
- Want the outright best handheld and money isn't the deciding factor? The ROG Xbox Ally X. It's the new top dog for a reason.
- Deep in the Xbox ecosystem or Game Pass? The Xbox Full Screen Experience makes this feel like a portable Xbox. That's a real pull if that's your library.
- Budget is the priority? The Steam Deck is still the smarter spend, and the cheaper non-X Ally exists to split the difference.
- You just want the console-like simplicity? SteamOS still does that beautifully - the Deck didn't lose that fight, it just got out-muscled at the very top.
Where this leaves Valve
Interesting spot. There's no Steam Deck 2 announced for 2026, and the read from most people watching is that we're probably looking at 2027 or later before Valve responds. Meanwhile SteamOS is expanding onto more third-party devices from Acer, Dell, and others - so Valve's strategy looks less like "win with our hardware" and more like "put SteamOS everywhere."
That's a fine long game. But right now, today, the crown moved. The ROG Xbox Ally X is the handheld to beat, and the thing that finally did it wasn't a faster chip - it was Microsoft shipping software that treats a handheld like a handheld.
Took them long enough.
Where to grab them
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