The Xbox Ally is already a decent device, but what if it was even BETTER?
Last year, I collected together the various Xbox Ally roadmap hints from ASUS, Microsoft, and other sources to offer a glimpse at what 2026 will look like for the device. We know that Microsoft is gearing up enable the Xbox Ally X’s AI NPU this year, maybe even this quarter, enabling boosted super resolution features that could improve battery life without impacting performance. We’re also getting some sort of AI-led game clip and social sharing feature, and Microsoft is also iterating on improving the Xbox PC app — with hints of a big redesign coming down the pipeline too.
- Enhancement: Added the ability to remap Gaming Copilot and Push-to-Talk under the “Action” section of the keymap configuration menu.
- Enhancement: Improved Extreme Standby Mode logic to enhance Modern Standby accuracy. (Requires BIOS v317 or later).
- Bug fix: Fixed an issue where the ACSE UI could extend beyond the screen at 900p resolution.
- Bug fix: Fixed a stability issue that could cause a BSOD when using Xbox 360 controller emulation.
Microsoft’s Gaming Copilot is an interesting one. When you hold down the library button on the Xbox Ally right now, it calls up Gaming Copilot and turns on your microphone. You can communicate with the service, asking it for tips and tricks based on what it can “see” on your gaming screen. Sometimes it works pretty well, but only if the data exists on the web for it to reference.
For big games and easy information, it can be a decent reference, but for less-popular games and more granular information, it often just tries to make things up. Today’s AI models have a notorious flaw where they refuse to say “I don’t know” for some reason, which isn’t exactly useful in these kinds of scenarios. Microsoft’s Gaming Copilot also spends a long time greeting the user and being overly familiar and expressive, which is cute at first, but frustrating when you’re just looking for quick information. I’ll probably write a deeper article on Gaming Copilot soon, because I do think it could eventually become something more useful – but it doesn’t really work if AI puts all guide writers out of a job… where will the information come from? I don’t think investors really care about these kinds of long-term existential questions, though.
In any case, you can turn the whole thing off now. You can already remove it from the Xbox Game Bar, but removing its default mapping from the Xbox Ally means you’ll no longer call it up by accident, as I’ve done on occasion. I’m also happy that the Armoury Crate UI will scale below 900p now, since before it would get cut off.
The Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X are fantastic devices despite some flaws with the Xbox Full Screen Experience and the Xbox PC app in general. It has become a pillar of my gaming life, and I can’t recommend them both enough. I’ve been playing Final Fantasy 7 Remake via Xbox PC on the Xbox Ally for review recently, and I don’t think they’ll mind me praising its performance and optimization there. It runs flawlessly at 30 FPS even on the lowest power setting, making it a big winner for handheld battery life.
The Xbox Ally base model is currently on sale too, and is in my view, incredibly underrated, particularly for indie games and 2D titles and the like.
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