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ROG Xbox Ally X20 Is Out Today: OLED, Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme, $1,299

ASUS's 20th-anniversary Xbox Ally adds a 7.4-inch OLED, 24GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. Here's how it compares on paper to my original Legion Go, and where SteamOS stands.

By Vet, VetTV Handheld

There’s a new premium Windows handheld on shelves. ASUS announced that the ROG Xbox Ally X20 is available to buy starting today, October 15. I don’t own one, so this is a news roundup, not a review.

Price and availability

  • Standalone: $1,299 (ASUS press release). The ASUS Store lists it at $1,299.99.
  • Bundle: $2,499. It includes ROG XREAL R1 Edition 20 gaming AR glasses, a custom dbrand Killswitch case and a Pelican Protector case. (Tom’s Hardware lists it at $2,499.99.)
  • Tom’s Hardware says it’s sold at the ASUS Store and Best Buy. When I checked, the ASUS eShop US listing showed it out of stock.
  • ASUS says the existing ROG Xbox Ally ($599) and ROG Xbox Ally X ($999) stay on sale at their original prices.

Specs

From ASUS’s product pages:

  • Display: 7.4-inch FHD (1920×1080) OLED “ROG Nebula HDR” touchscreen, 120Hz, FreeSync Premium Pro with a 30–120Hz VRR range, 600 nits SDR / 1400 nits HDR, 100% DCI-P3, Dolby Vision, VESA DisplayHDR True Black 1400. ASUS says it adds two HDR modes, HDR Native and HDR Vivid.
  • Processor: AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme, with 8 cores and 16 threads at up to 5.0GHz, plus an NPU rated at up to 50 TOPS.
  • Memory: 24GB LPDDR5X-8000.
  • Storage: 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 2280 SSD.
  • Battery: 80Wh, plus an updated cooling system.
  • Controls: Tom’s Hardware notes TMR joysticks, a transforming D-pad that switches from 4-way to 8-way, and rubberized grips. ASUS says the sticks use contactless sensors to prevent drift.
  • Design: a translucent black shell with a gold internal frame, celebrating 20 years of ROG.

Tom’s Hardware points out that the processor is the same as in the $999 ROG Xbox Ally X. The extra $300 mostly goes to the OLED screen, the new controls and the anniversary design.

On paper: vs. my original Legion Go

I own the original Lenovo Legion Go. Here’s how the two compare on spec sheets only (Legion Go figures from Lenovo PSREF):

  • Screen: The Legion Go has a larger 8.8-inch 2560×1600 IPS at 144Hz with 500 nits. The X20 has a smaller 7.4-inch 1080p OLED at 120Hz, but with much higher HDR brightness and OLED’s perfect blacks.
  • Chip: Ryzen Z1 Extreme on the Legion Go vs. the newer Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme on the X20.
  • RAM: 16GB LPDDR5X-7500 vs. 24GB LPDDR5X-8000.
  • Battery: 49.2Wh vs. 80Wh.
  • Storage: The Legion Go uses a smaller M.2 2242 SSD; the X20 uses a full-size 2280.
  • Price: The Legion Go launched at $699.99, according to Lenovo’s store listing.

The Legion Go still wins on screen size and resolution, and it has detachable controllers. The X20’s big advantages are the much larger battery, more RAM and the OLED.

Does SteamOS run on it?

Nobody has tested SteamOS on the X20 specifically yet, and ASUS ships it with Windows. What sources say is that Valve’s SteamOS 3.8 added controller, TDP and speaker-audio support for the ROG Xbox Ally series, which is classed as “enhanced support.” That means it installs and runs, but it’s not certified “Powered by SteamOS” like the Steam Deck or Legion Go S. My original Legion Go is in the same enhanced-support tier.

Because the X20 shares the same chip, SteamOS will probably behave much like it does on the Ally X. But the new OLED panel and the new controls are untested, so I wouldn’t assume HDR, VRR or the transforming D-pad work properly under SteamOS until someone tries it.

My take

$1,299 is a lot for a handheld whose chip is the same as last year’s. But an 80Wh battery and a proper HDR OLED are real upgrades. For SteamOS fans, I’d wait for testing first.

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Sources

#rog-xbox-ally#asus-rog#handheld-gaming#xbox#steamos

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