ASUS may be close to releasing its first Xbox-branded handheld gaming PCs – the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X.

An Amazon product page has set off a new wave of anticipation. As Gizmochina recently reported, a listing for the ROG Xbox Ally appeared on the page, along with the tagline ‘#playAllYourgames’.

There were also specs, revealing that the ASUS handhelds will boast a 7-inch touch screen display with FHD resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. It will hit 500 nits at peak brightness.

Internally, the new handheld will be equipped with the AMD Ryzen Z2 APU. There’s 16GB of (energy-efficient) LPDDR5 RAM, and 512GB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage. It runs on Windows 11 and has a 60Wh battery pack.

The new handhelds were first unveiled at the Xbox Games Showcase on June 8.

At that time, Roanne Sones, Xbox’s CVP of Gaming Devices and Ecosystem said, “Because these handhelds run Windows, you have access to games you can’t get elsewhere, so you can enjoy the full freedom and versatility of PC gaming – download games from your favourite storefront, run apps like Discord, watch your favourite streamers on Twitch, and play with your favourite mods – all straight from the Xbox experience.”  

The Nintendo Switch will soon be facing fresh competition

Handheld PC gaming has surged in recent years, with Valve’s Steam Deck, Lenovo’s Legion Go and a wave of Windows-based rivals driving demand.

A fully Xbox-branded model from ASUS could jolt the category, boosting Microsoft’s portable gaming profile and giving ASUS a first-mover edge in a market that’s growing fast.

It’s expected that the new handhelds will be available in mid-October.