Weak Asus ROG Xbox Ally X supply leaks suggesting Microsoft doesn't have lot of confidence in handheld console

The Asus ROG Xbox Ally and the Xbox Ally X are Microsoft’s first handheld gaming consoles under the Xbox branding. As such, gamers were hoping that the machines would deliver a console-like gaming experience without any Windows jank that tends to plague portable Windows gamers. For the most part, the ROG Xbox Ally and the ROG Xbox Ally X deliver on these promises, as the new Xbox full-screen gaming experience provides a seamless and snappy gaming-focused UI.

However, the hardware of the ROG Xbox Ally X and, in particular, the ROG Xbox Ally leaves a lot to be desired. For instance, the performance of the Ryzen Z2 Extreme, while better than the Ryzen Z1 Extreme, is not anything impressive. The Ryzen Z2A inside the ROG Xbox Ally is much worse.

There is also the issue of pricing. The Asus ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X are not value champs, as the former offers underwhelming value for $599 while the latter’s $999 price tag might be hard to swallow.

So, it won’t be surprising if the Xbox Ally portable consoles don’t sell well. Microsoft potentially knows this, as Moore’s Law Is Dead claims that the launch supply of Asus ROG Xbox Ally and the Ally X is pretty tight.

Per a “Major US Retailer” source of MLID, the supply of the ROG Xbox Ally X is comparable to the RTX 5080, with hundreds of units in stock “company-wide”. This supply, however, is allegedly “not even remotely close” to what other console launches have enjoyed. The ROG Xbox Ally X stock situation looks even worse when we consider that MLID’s source doesn’t expect any “steady resupplies” for the Xbox Ally X.

Interestingly, there seems to be more stock of the standard ROG Xbox Ally, but “nobody really seems to want that mode”. This is not surprising, as the ROG Xbox Ally is powered by a much weaker Ryzen Z2A APU.

Long story short, the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X is not a bad console by any means. We gave the console a “Good” 86% rating in our review. If you want a Windows handheld gaming console and are comfortable spending $1000, you should pull the trigger now on a ROG Xbox Ally X before stock dries out.

On the other hand, Intel’s new Panther Lake APUs are reportedly much more powerful than the Ryzen Z2 Extreme in terms of graphics performance. So, it might be worth waiting a few months, maybe till CES 2026, to see if we get any Intel Panther Lake-based gaming handheld consoles.

Buy the Asus ROG Ally with Ryzen Z1 Extreme on Amazon