Thanks to its new OLED screen, the new Asus ROG Ally X20 offers a much better gaming experience than ever before, even though the Ryzen Z2 Extreme cannot match the gaming performance of the Intel Arc G3 Extreme.
Andreas Osthoff (translated by Andreas Osthoff), Published 🇩🇪
We have just reviewed the new Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 gaming handheld. The highlight is the new OLED screen, which delivers visibly superior image quality compared with the previous model's IPS panel.
In addition to increased brightness (over 600 nits with SDR content and up to 1400 nits in HDR mode), the OLED display supports a refresh rate of 120 Hz as well as VRR ranging from 30 to 120 Hz. Despite the significantly improved image quality, gaming battery life has not been reduced. Depending on the selected performance mode, you can still expect two to four hours of battery life when playing demanding titles.
Last year's Asus ROG Ally X was already among the most comfortable gaming handhelds on the market thanks to its pronounced controller grips. Asus has largely retained the chassis design for the X20, but the backs of the grips now also have a light rubber coating, making it even more comfortable to hold and providing a better grip.
There are also improvements to the joysticks and controls. The buttons now provide even more tactile feedback, and the D-pad can be switched between four-way and eight-way operation. The new TMR sticks also eliminate the problem of stick drift.
The gaming performance of the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme, however, is somewhat disappointing, as this processor was already used in last year's model. Gaming performance is still good, especially at low power limits. However, Intel offers a faster handheld processor with the ARC G3 Extreme – at least in theory. The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ is currently practically the only gaming handheld that uses this Intel processor. This model is also hard to find and significantly more expensive than the Ally X20, making it unlikely to appeal to most users.
AMD also only announced FSR 4.1 yesterday, and the Ryzen Z2 Extreme is among the supported chips, which should deliver significantly improved graphics quality alongside performance gains. We will try out the new FSR 4.1 as soon as possible. All further information is available in our in-depth review.
I grew up with modern consumer electronics and my first computer was a Commodore C64, which encouraged my interest in building my own systems. I started working as a review editor for Notebookcheck during my dual studies at Siemens. Currently, I am mainly responsible for dealing with business laptops and mobile workstations. It’s a great experience to be able to review the latest devices and technologies and then compare them with each other.