'This is the Ally 2, 100%': Asus says the ROG Xbox Ally is a bona fide successor to the first two handhelds, but the originals will still get new Xbox features

My recent hands-on time with the ROG Xbox Ally, Asus and Microsoft's joint handheld gaming PC, had me impressed. So it might not be all bad news that Asus is considering this handheld to be the ROG Ally 2 that many have been asking and waiting for. Though given we don't know pricing, yet, I can't say for sure.

Earlier, I spoke with Whitson Gordon, Senior Manager of Content Marketing at Asus. He confirmed that the new Xbox-collab handheld is the real McCoy, the successor to the ROG Ally and ROG Ally X:

"We've had some people asking, 'Okay, so you have the Xbox Ally. When does the Ally 2 come out? This is the Ally 2. 100%. That I can say with absolute certainty: This is the successor to the Ally and Ally X."

Don't panic if you're a current Asus ROG Ally or Ally X owner, though, because you'll still get long-term support:

"Now we're not leaving Ally and Ally X users out in the cold, if you already have those devices. We'll eventually be bringing some of those Xbox experiences to those devices … They're not going to roll out at the exact same time, but they will come to those devices soon. So those devices will still get updates, they'll still be supported, they'll even get some of the newest features, but the Xbox Ally X is the way forward."

I'm not sure exactly what those Xbox experiences and features will entail, but if it's anything to do with the new half-Xbox half-fully-Windows OS Microsoft has cooked up for the handheld, that could be good news. Emphasis on "could", as I only had 15 minutes with the ROG Xbox Ally, but I did find the new system to be intuitive and pretty seamless.

Plus it's always nice to be given full access to the OS rather than only the new stripped back and more efficient fullscreen gaming mode. We don't have to be coddled, but we can be if we want, and we are by default.

When the ROG Ally X stops being sold you'll also presumably have to get on board with the new grip design on the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X. I was very impressed with that, too.

I was curious whether Asus sees that design as continuing beyond the Xbox ROG Ally and into future handhelds. I asked Gordon to get his crystal ball out, but he didn't want to speculate so far ahead in part because "user feedback drives a lot of what we do."

The new ROG Xbox Ally X should last a while, anyway, given it's running the Ryzen Z2 Extreme, the latest and greatest handheld-specific APU from AMD. Admittedly this isn't a completely groundbreaking chip, but it should offer a jump in efficiency and at least a little extra performance.

Gordon says Asus recognises efficiency as being particularly important to handheld PC gamers, and he reckons the ROG Xbox Ally meets this user desire:

"So the ROG Xbox Ally has a 60 watt-hour battery, which is bigger than the original Ally, and the ROG Xbox Ally X has an 80 watt-hour battery. And then both of those chips are really efficient, especially at lower wattages."

That's certainly been the prevailing impression of the Ryzen Z2 Extreme so far: Not revolutionary, but good for ekeing out more performance at more moderate wattages, even if memory bandwidth might be an issue. Or, of course, matching Z1 Extreme (for example) performance with the Z2 Extreme at a lower wattage than the former.

We'll have to see how it all pans out, and as I say, much will depend on those price tags. Comfy design, a more powerful top-end model, and a new OS are all great, but they mean little if the price isn't right. It'll certainly affect whether I think this is a successor worthy of sacrificing the original ROG Ally X for.