Asus ROG Xbox X20 review

Last year, Asus and Xbox teamed up to release the Asus ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, and the latter is still one of the best handheld gaming PCs on the market right now. Not only is the Xbox Ally X great at playing games, but even with the RAMpocalypse, the price of the Xbox Ally X hasn't gone up, and it's still priced at the $999 it was in October 2025.

While the Xbox Ally X is an incredible little device, its relatively small display is bested by the Lenovo Legion Go 2 and the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ - even though they're much more expensive. But Asus chose ROG's 20th anniversary to update the Xbox Ally X with an OLED display, taking the handset to a whole new level.

With a better display and new chassis, it costs $1,299 more, but if you've got the cash, the extra $300 is totally worth it.

The Xbox Ally X20 has a sleeker chassis and a much nicer OLED display, but it's similar in performance to the Ally X under the surface, with no real difference in specs. AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme with 24GB of RAM and 1TB SSD is still rocking. It shouldn't be too surprising that performance is largely the same, with Cyberpunk 2077 running at 42fps at 1080p with FSR set to Quality, compared to 43fps from the Xbox Ally X with the same settings.

In 3DMark, performance also matches. The Xbox Ally X20 scored 598 points on the Steel Nomad test, compared to the original Xbox Ally X's 602 points, which is within the margin of error. In Time Spy, the X20 scores 4,030 points compared to last year's model's 4,016 points – also nearly identical performance.

Of course, since OLED displays are a little more efficient than your standard LCD screen, the Xbox Ally X20's battery is a little better than its predecessor. I started at 100% battery, played Cyberpunk 2077 until the X20 died and lasted 2 hours and 43 minutes with all stock settings. That makes it the longest-lasting handheld I've tested, beating the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ at 2 hours and 14 minutes and the Xbox Ally X at 2 hours and 34 minutes. You only get an extra 10 minutes of battery life, so it's not exactly groundbreaking, but it's an improvement.

If you already have an Xbox Ally X, it's not worth upgrading to the X20 based on specs alone. But the star of the show is the improved OLED screen.

While I still love the original Xbox Ally X, the display has always been a problem for me. In many games, especially over time, I found myself having to look at the screen in dark scenes to figure out what was going on. Likewise, in games like Monster Hunter Rise (which I've unfortunately only recently become fond of), the original Ally X's screen isn't great at rendering bright colors from the screen as well as the OLED display.

For a long time, this left me daily driving a Lenovo Legion Go 2, which has its own issues. I have very small hands, and there are times when I strain my thumb to hit all the buttons. Plus, with all the screens and buttons built into Joy-Con controllers like the Legion Go 2, it's easy to accidentally hit something and trick the game into thinking you're playing with a keyboard and mouse, even for a second. But since the screen is so good, I just use it, and it's become one of the default ways to play games in bed, whether it's running locally on Legion Go 2 or streaming through Moonlight.

After spending a few days with the Xbox Ally X20, I put the Legion Go 2 back into storage. The X20's screen is smaller, but it's much easier to hold for long periods of time, which makes it a perfect tie for me. Plus, the transparent screen makes it easier to see everything on the screen, so having less real estate there doesn't make much of a difference.

While the new OLED display stands out, the Xbox Ally X20 also features a new translucent chassis that evokes the design of gadgets from the 90s. It looks great, even if I prefer the simple beauty of the original black. The menu buttons are now solid gold, apparently the standard color for "anniversary" or "celebration" versions of tech products, and other buttons, such as the volume rocker and all standard controller inputs, are black.

The more interesting point is the D-pad. Asus has worked on a converter pad that you can pull out and rotate to turn it from a classic pad with four directional buttons into a concave version similar to what you'd find on Xbox Elite controllers. Many controller manufacturers offer this option, but it's usually handled by having a removable D-pad instead of one that can be changed. If you prefer one type of pad, you can set it that way, but really, I'm fiddling with it because of the satisfying click whenever you pull it out and turn it around.

The sticks have also been updated from the standard Xbox Ally X sticks to the new TMR sensors on the X20. Day to day, the difference hasn't been noticeable to me, but it means they should last longer without wood drift. This is especially important in a device where, if the controller breaks, you can't easily replace the controller or its components without taking the whole thing apart.

Unfortunately, it still runs Windows

Just like any handheld device, what really holds the Xbox Ally X20 back from greatness is the software. Windows 11 is still a pain to use with a controller, and while the Xbox Full Screen Experience alleviates many of the problems, there are still some definite problems.

In the few days I've spent with the Xbox Ally X20, I've run into one particular problem over and over again: If I try to drag the screen up to go to another window, the controller crashes. It acts as if the Xbox button is held down, meaning that pressing any button is read as a shortcut, or opening the keyboard, pulling up the task manager, or some other silly behavior. It's bad enough when I try to navigate my library, but when I try to pull up the guide in the browser and switch it back and forth, it renders the X20 unusable until I restart it.

To be fair, the original Xbox Ally X also had issues with the Full Screen Experience at launch. But this was when it was brand new, and none of the issues were as toxic to the experience as the controller being unusable. I've been able to work around these issues in the X20's UI by avoiding the touchscreen as much as possible, but that's not something I should do with a $1,300 device, especially when it's basically just a chassis and screen upgrade.

This is something that future updates should be able to fix, but in the meantime, I'd recommend ditching Windows and installing SteamOS or Bazzite unless you really want to use it for Game Pass or Call of Duty games.

Looking at the PC version of the Nintendo Switch 2 and seeing the $1,299 price tag will put some people off making the leap, but I'm still surprised that the handheld is as affordable as it is. The Xbox Ally X20 has almost the same specs as the Lenovo Legion Go 2, except with 8GB less RAM, but costs $700 less at the time of writing.

It's not hard to look at PC gaming hardware this year and imagine Asus could have raised the price even more, given the vastly improved screen and the addition of TMR joysticks. Just look at the $1,049 Steam Machine or even the 4-year-old Steam Deck that Valve dropped for $789 back in May. Compared to the Xbox Ally X20 Z2 Extreme, 24GB RAM and 1TB SSD, the old RDNA 2 Steam Deck GPU, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD for nearly $800 doesn't sound like much at all.

Importantly, Asus also isn't discontinuing the existing Xbox Ally X, which is still a $999 handheld despite the price hikes that have hit nearly every other tech product this year. I keep bracing myself for when it looks like Asus will raise their prices, but that hasn't happened yet. Now Asus is releasing a new version of the Xbox Ally X, but with an OLED panel and TMR for $1,299. The upgrade could be a bit cheaper, but it's hard to think of a single handheld gaming PC with an OLED display that's better value right now.

The Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X were already the best value handhelds this year, and Asus is expanding the lineup with a relatively affordable OLED model. The X20 has some software features that I've come to expect from a Windows handheld, unfortunately. However, if you've got the cash, it's also hard to imagine a better handheld gaming PC you can buy right now without needing a $2,000 machine.