ASUS ROG and Microsoft partnered to create the Xbox Ally X. Powered by a Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor and sporting a 7-inch IPS display with 120Hz and VRR, the gaming handheld can handle AAA games in the palm of your hands.
Zack Nelson, also known as JerryRigEverything, recently tore down the Xbox Ally X. While your gaming handheld is unlikely to face open flames, knives, or boxcutters like the one in Nelson’s video, his content always provides insight into how devices are constructed.
The Xbox Ally X — and its more affordable sibling the Xbox Ally — feature quite a bit of plastic. Nelson highlights the balancing act between keeping the cost of a gaming handheld down and using durable materials:
“The rest of the buttons and the directional pad are made with a hard plastic along with every other piece of exposed material. It’s all plastic, even around the dual USB-C ports, volume buttons, vents, microSD card slot, headphone jack, and fingerprint scanning power button.
And like, yeah, game controllers have been plastic for decades, but they have also never cost $1,000 before, so I’m rather torn on the material choice.”
The ROG Ally X already starts at $899.99 and has increased in price since launch, so making it even more expensive could put the console out of reach for shoppers.
A middle ground for gamers is to get the Xbox Ally X and add a layer of protection, such as dBrand’s Killswitch. We recently reviewed the Killswitch for the ROG Ally and Ally X (non-Xbox versions), and the accessory earned a 5/5.
It offers an extra layer of protection and adds rubberized grip and a kickstand to the device. An optional Travel Cover adds even more protection by covering the screen and sticks. dBrand also sells Killswitch cases for the Xbox Ally X and Xbox Ally.
A holiday sale cuts the price of the “Ultra” dBrand Killswitch to $64.80. For that price, you get the case, a kickstand, a skin, a travel cover, stick grips, and two screen protectors (though you have to elect to receive the latter).
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