Xbox’s New $1,299.99 Handheld Is Real and Pre-Orders Just Opened

Thirteen hundred dollars. That’s the entry price for the newest piece of Xbox hardware, and it’s the cheap option.

ASUS and Xbox have opened pre-orders for the ROG Xbox Ally X20, a handheld gaming PC arriving October 15. The standalone model runs $1,299.99 in the U.S. The bundle runs $2,499.99. You can order either now through the ASUS website or at Best Buy.

What the extra $1,200 actually buys you

The ROG Xbox Ally X20 Bundle throws in ROG Glasses, a dbrand Killswitch and a custom Pelican Case. That’s the full loadout, and it’s priced accordingly.

The standalone unit gets you the handheld and nothing else. Both ship the same day.

It’s a 20th anniversary flex

ASUS built this thing to mark two decades of Republic of Gamers, which formed in 2006. The design leans hard into nostalgia.

“The ROG XBOX Ally X20 is an evolution and a celebration of everything that made the original ROG XBOX Ally special,” the product description reads. “Featuring translucent black plastic for the chassis, it harkens back to a distinct era of gaming that veterans will remember fondly. This translucence also offers a peek under the hood to the revamped high-performance cooling system and incredible handheld silicon from AMD, with just a hint of the gold-accented internal structure.”

Translucent plastic. Somewhere, a Game Boy Color is nodding.

“Crafted exclusively for the 20th anniversary of the formation of the Republic of Gamers in 2006, this special edition ROG XBOX Ally X20 is sure to look incredible in any collection,” the description continues. “Gamers can pick their perfect loadout and celebrate 20 years of ROG.”

The hardware upgrade that matters

Price aside, this is a real step up from the previous ROG Xbox Ally. The headline change is a 7.4-inch OLED panel.

If you have the money sitting around, go for it. Consoles aren’t trending cheaper, and at the current rate the PlayStation 6 and Xbox Project Helix are going to cost a small fortune too.

This isn’t the next-gen Xbox

Worth being clear about what this is and isn’t. Xbox Project Helix, the actual next-gen hardware Microsoft has confirmed, is still in development. The X20 is a premium handheld PC, not that.

All of it lands during Xbox’s 25th anniversary run, a stretch that’s brought new hardware, exclusive releases, games and layoffs. Quite a birthday.