My ROG Ally

Posted On: April 02 2026

Written by Julian Lopez

Introduction

Dear T,

Last time we met I’m sure you noticed how I was lugging around my backpack. We were so wrapped up in our conversation that I didn’t get a chance to show off what I was lugging around with me! There were three gadgets I had with me that I wanted to show off. For now, I’ll be discussing just my gaming handheld, my ROG Ally.

To clarify, this isn’t one of the “Xbox” branded Ally models. This was the very first ROG Ally released in 2023, but despite its age it handles modern-ish games super well! Most of the games I play are either a decade old / indies / or retro (GOG is amazing for retro PC games), but for the few recent games I’ve played via Game Pass it’s handled them well.

I cannot understate the versatility of this handheld. Basically 90%+ of games I am remotely interested in playing I can run on it, and on the back of a bus as well! There are plenty of PC games that don’t have controller support of course, but for those I can just plug the Ally into my USB-C dock at home and use the monitor/keyboard/mouse set up I have at home.

I got suuuuuper lucky and managed to get a barely touched refurbished unit (everything was still in its packaging!) for $400 at my local Best Buy. Within a matter of weeks the price went up by a hundred bucks. By January, they no longer were selling them! It’s a shame but kinda makes sense that they’d want to push the newer Xbox Ally handhelds. My Ally might not have the same power/features as those units, but it more than made up for it in raw bang for the buck!

Another thing I have to admit is just how great of a conversation starter it is. I am not exaggerating when I say that I was asked twice today what it was! I’ll admit, it felt awesome to explain and just what it’s capable of in addition to the mods I’ve done.

The Mods I’ve Performed

Magnetic D-Pad

As embarrassing as it is to type, one of my main motivations in getting this handheld was so I could stay addicted to Hollow Knight Silksong on the go. It’s a pretty challenging game that requires precision inputs (especially in Act 3), so playing with a D-Pad is a must. Unfortunately, the Ally ships with something that can be best described as a “Slide-Pad”. Usable, but far from ideal.

Thankfully, someone came up with the brilliant idea of making a 3D printed adapter for the Xbox Elite controller’s magnetic D-Pad to the Ally that works perfectly! As it turns out there are multiple color options available on Amazon that are of various sizes and colors. The hard part is having to nearly fully disassemble everything, but once you’ve done so it’s a piece of cake. The difference in precision I have in platformer made this soooooo worthwhile!

Xbox Face Buttons

Unlike the other mods I’ve performed, this one was solely for aesthetics. The face buttons that the Ally comes with aren’t bad, but I couldn’t help but find their colors weird. Thus I decided to order face buttons that look like an Xbox controller but with a glitter effect. The effect is visible when you view the buttons at an off angle, but not head on.

Overall I feel kinda meh on this one. The Etsy shop I ordered from had other more colorful/artsy designs I regret not getting. The one’s I went with aren’t bad, they’re just not great.

eGPU Port Cover

Unlike the latest revisions of the Ally, the original one swapped a USB-C port for a proprietary eGPU port that I (along with practically everybody that owns one) will never use. A major nuisance for me was how it’s physically similar enough to the nearby USB port that I’d often accidentally attempt to plug things into it.

$5 from a materials cost perspective is probably a rip off for this cover, but I feel it’s well worth it in terms of how well it resolves my issue with the eGPU port. I genuinely believe that most all owners should start with this before moving onto the more difficult mods.

2TB SSD

From day, one I always wanted to increase the amount of storage my unit has. The intended method is to use the microSD card slot, however due to a poor thermal design it’s practically guaranteed to burn out. Thankfully, it’s pretty easy to swap the SSD, but the issue there is the form factor.

Like the Steam Deck, the original ROG ally uses an M.2230 SSD. This is an uncommon form, factor, but readily available at a slight markup…. in a normal market. Due to the AI craze, by the time I saved up enough to purchase an SSD all the good options were either out of stock or nearly doubled their MSRP!

Fortunately, I was in luck. About two years prior I had purchased a 2 TB Intel (I believe they’ve sold off their storage division since) M.2280 SSD for use in my server. I use hard drives to store all my data and only used it as a boot device, so I never used up more than 20 GB. Thus I was able to swap the drives via an adapter made specifically for the Ally. It’s wayyyy jankier than I’d like (I had to put washi tape over the power connecter) but haven’t had any issues with either the fit (after cutting a bunch of plastic out of the backplate) or thermals.

Planned Mods

I’m pretty content with my ally right now. However, there are just two final tweaks I’d like to perform before I can call it perfect: switching out the battery for a higher capacity and getting a proper case. These are both pretty self-explanatory, but in the case of the battery it is worth noting that this ally does not have a great one to begin with. I play mostly indie/retro(GOG is amazing for these)/emulated games so often I’m able to stick to the lowest power/performance mode, but even then I can only eke out 1.5-2 hours if I’m lucky. This isn’t an issue for me while I’m home, but while commuting this could be such a big boon.

Software

When I first got this unit it ran vanilla Windows 11 which was a terrible experience (probably why it was returned in the first place). Since then I’ve installed the “Xbox Full Screen Experience” (amazing naming from Microsoft) which acts as a launcher for games from Xbox/GOG/Steam/EGS/Ubisoft. It also apparently prevents quite a bit of Windows bloat from loading on boot (I hate OneDrive), but I’m uncertain of the efficacy of this.

Something that’s been a great to have is “Xbox Play Anywhere” which lets me buy the game once and then play it on both my Ally and my Series S. Practically all new Game Pass games have this, however I’m trying to avoid subscriptions in my personal life, so I just prefer to buy these games outright. A decent chunk of indie games that I’m interested in have this feature though, And it’s really nice gaming for a bit on the Metro and picking up from where I left off on my TV.

That said, updates are always a pain and require at least two hours. This is still fundamentally a Windows 11 device, so Windows Update, ASUS BIOS updates, Microsoft Store, and AMD GPU drivers separately and manually up to date. Having a centralized place to click an “Update” button is an understandably difficult challenge, but is direly needed. As of writing this, I’m not certain if I have my Ally completely up to date.

Additionally, just for certain Xbox marketplace games (Rain World was the worst one), I’ve had issues with not being able to run games at all after installing them. There are workarounds but they both shouldn’t be needed and aren’t always effective. Even Ubisoft Connect works better than the Xbox PC app in this regard!!

The worst issue for me though is how when I’m offline (typically when I’m commuting via LA Metro), I can’t play most of my Xbox games due to not being able to sync/load my player profile. Ironically, this is pushing me towards purchasing my games on other marketplaces! (GOG seriously doesn’t get enough love for how all their games are DRM free and avoid this online connection BS.)

Emulators

Retroarch is my go to emulator and the one I have the most experience with. Thus I feel kinda mixed since there is practically no difference running games via it on my Ally, Series S, or hacked Switch. The games/shaders/UI all looked and behaved the same between them all. The only difference I could find was with BSNES HD (a SNES emulator focused on accuracy that can run patched games in widescreen) which ran at full speed on the Ally while it struggled elsewhere.

However, where the Ally truly shines is in more demanding consoles. PCSX2 runs PS2 games near perfectly (the issues I ran into were software ones I suspect) which struggled on everything else I tried it on. What really blew me away was PS3 emulation. Several years ago I tried running RPCS3 on my desktop gaming PC (RX 480 + i5 6500) but could barely get above 10fps in LittleBigPlannet. On this newer yet portable hardware I can get a near locked 60FPS! I’m sure the bulk of that is from software optimizations that have occurred in the years since, but part of me wonders how much that difference is due to the Ally’s newer architecture and raw power!

What was equally exciting and mixed was my experience emulating Nintendo Switch games. I have MK8 Deluxe and other Switch games boxed on my bookshelf so I feel fully justified in running just those games here. As of roughly a year ago, Nintendo sued the emulator Yuzu out of existence. I didn’t fully agree with their method of fundraising, but for Nintendo to do this doesn’t sit well with me. That said, the exe still exists online and can run most pre-2023 games with no problem. Unfortunately, shader compilation stutter is a big problem when first running a game, but after a couple of laps in MK8 it mostly goes away. Other than that performance is solid at 60fps and 1080p.

Conclusion

I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but recently Microsoft had a controversial “This is an Xbox” marketing campaign that pushed the idea of devices such as my Ally as a full-blown Xbox. I can understand the pushback against it, but at the same time I really do think of my ally as a portable Xbox. The software’s certainly not perfect, but compared to the portable gaming options from a decade ago it’s simply an incredible experience.

Compared to a Nintendo Switch, I strongly prefer my Ally due to the level of customization I can have with it. However, for your average gamer, I’m not sure if I can recommend they get an ally over a Switch or even a Steam Deck. I actually view the Steam Deck as not a great option due to most major multiplayer games not being playable in Steam OS, and the lack of third-party marketplaces (I really care about having EGS and GOG). The Switch is certainly a lot more underpowered compared to the Ally, which really does make a difference in this modern era of Unreal Engine 5 games. That said, the thing both of these platforms have going for them is their polish, which the “Xbox Full Screen Experience” is in dire need of right now.

Apparently the next-gen Xbox (rn it’s called “Project Helix”) is gonna be very similar software-wise to my Ally. Rumors (and Microsoft?) say it’ll have the same UI and third-party marketplaces which could be incredible for a home console. Having Steam alone would be nuts since you could play the God of War or Spiderman games on an Xbox! This is all contingent on the polish being good enough for your average console gamer. I’m 50/50 if Microsoft can pull this off in time. That company’s ability to screw things up is almost unrivaled…

Hopefully the next time I see you in person you’ll be able to try it out and evaluate it for yourself. I’ll be sure to bring it along to our next meeting!