(Asus)
Asus is introducing a new ROG Xbox Ally gaming handheld that adopts an OLED screen and even augmented reality glasses.
At Computex, the company debuted the XBOX Ally X20 bundle to help mark the 20th anniversary of Asus’s ROG PC gaming brand. The handheld is based on last year’s model, ROG Xbox Ally X, but adds a whole range of new premium features.
(PCMag/Matthew Buzzi)One of the biggest changes is how it ditches the IPS screen for an OLED display that promises better visual quality. The max brightness can now reach 1,400 nits, up from 500 nits. The screen has also been bumped up from 7-inches in size to a slightly larger 7.4-inches.
But even with the OLED panel, Asus is promising the handheld can offer a more immersive gaming experience by incorporating AR glasses from XReal. The glasses use microOLEDs that when worn can project the equivalent of a “171-inch” virtual screen at 4 meters away, while offering a 240Hz refresh rate.
(Asus)On the downside, the XReal R1 Edition glasses need to connect to the gaming handheld over a cable. Still, Asus sees it as a way for the Ally X20 to offer a home theater-like experience, despite the product being a portable device.
(Asus)The other enhancement is TMR (tunnel magnetoresistance) joystick controllers, meant to be more precise, and resistant to thumbstick drift, a problem that can appear over gradual wear-and-tear. The handheld also drops the solid black color, for a “translucent black chassis with a vibrant gold internal structure,” the company says. You can check out our hands-on below:
There’s no word on when the Xbox Ally X20 bundle will be released or for how much. But we suspect it’ll be very expensive, especially since Asus is calling it a “true collector’s item.” The current ROG Ally X costs $599 for the 16GB, 512GB model, and then $999 for 24GB, 1TB model. Meanwhile, the ROG XReal R1 glasses are set to launch next month for $849.
(PCMag/Matthew Buzzi)
(PCMag/Matthew Buzzi)The upcoming X20 model sticks with AMD’s Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor, and will pack 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. But Asus noted it tweaked the hardware’s cooling. “OLED panels are more sensitive to heat than traditional LCD displays, so the thermal solution on the ROG XBOX Ally X20 has been redesigned to channel more airflow directly to the APU and help keep surface temperatures on the display as low as possible,” the company said.