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Here’s When You Can Buy the OLED Xbox Ally Handheld You’ve Always Wanted

The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 comes at a higher price, but not an obscene markup considering current handheld prices.
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That beautiful, translucent version of the ROG Xbox Ally X—finally sporting a more vibrant OLED screen—won’t cost you nearly as much as many have feared due to RAM prices. It will still carve a mighty chunk from your wallet.

At Gamescom, Asus declared the next version of the Xbox Ally X, named the Xbox Ally X20, will arrive on store shelves Oct. 15. And here’s what you really want to know: it will cost you $1,300. That’s $300 more than the previous-gen Asus ROG Xbox Ally X, though the new version does come with a few standout additions—most notably a larger, 7.4-inch OLED display.

Asus originally planned to ship its X20 edition—named for the company’s 20th anniversary festivities—with a pair of ROG XReal R1 Edition 20 AR glasses. Thankfully, the company is now breaking them up so you can buy them separately or bundled for $2,500. Those glasses aren’t cheap by themselves at $850, though you could still save money if you simply buy both an original Ally X and the glasses separately. The only reason you’d go for both is if you have a Goldfinger level of fetish for shiny metallic coloring.

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The X20’s D-pad can swap between a standard directional and a dish-shaped directional pad. © Kyle Barr / Gizmodo

Even with the cool translucent shell that makes me ache for my translucent purple Game Boy Advance, the real reason you buy this device is the improved screen. The older 7-inch LCD display on the original ROG Xbox Ally X did the job. It just didn’t look as fantastic as Lenovo’s Legion Go 2 with its 8.8-inch OLED screen. Now, that Legion Go 2 costs $2,000, so the $1,300 X20 seems like a bargain if all you want is a high-powered and pretty handheld.

I’ve already wrapped my grubby palms around the ROG Xbox Ally X20 at Computex 2026, and while it’s not a huge upgrade from the original, it is stacked with small improvements that clearly make it a better handheld. Even ignoring the OLED display, Asus added textured grips to the back of the controller, refined the Ally’s thermal management, and adjusted the side of the device and face buttons so the “B” button doesn’t sound too proud against the edge anymore.

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Asus adjusted the thermals on the ROG Xbox Ally X20 to better handle the heat from the OLED display. © Kyle Barr / Gizmodo

This kind of innovation worked well for Valve when it transitioned from the original Steam Deck to the Steam Deck OLED in 2023. The later model was not only prettier, but the improved internals also led to longer battery life and battery thermal management. Then again, that was in the era when new devices like that cost $550 compared to the original’s $520 for the same amount of storage. A Steam Deck OLED with a comparable 1TB of storage now costs $950.

We’ll see for ourselves how well the Asus ROG Xbox X20 stacks up later this year. Asus’ latest darling for mobile gaming is based on the same AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip as the previous version. It will compete against other Intel-based handhelds launched this year, like the $1,800 MSI Claw 8 EX AI+. The Intel Arc G3 chip indeed offers better performance than the AMD processor, but for $500 less, I wouldn’t blame anybody for jumping for the prettier device.

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