Microsoft's new pair of Xbox gaming handhelds may be a hit with reviewers but there's no getting away from the premium price of the devices. The starting price for the ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X wasn't announced until very late in the day and when it did, it was an astonishing $599 and $999, respectively.
Speaking to Variety, Xbox President Sarah Bond has defended those astronomical price tags, saying: “I feel really good about the value that we’re giving gamers for the price, based off the reception to the hardware.”
Bond explained that Microsoft gave Asus, which made the hardware for the systems, free rein to set the prices.
"We looked at, how do we create multiple options for people? And it really was Asus, because this is their hardware," she said. "That is all of their insight into the market, into the feature set, into what people want, to determine the ultimate prices of the devices."
According to Bond, at least, the pricing hasn't dented the demand among early adopters with the $999 Xbox Ally X pre-orders selling out on the Xbox Store last month. Bond also said the systems are selling "really quickly at a number of other places around the world.”
Whether or not the value proposition from Asus and Xbox is enough to sustain the Xbox Ally remains to be seen. During testing, we found the gaming experience on Xbox's lesser device was similar to what you can get on a vastly cheaper Steam Deck. In fact, the two machines have almost the exact same processing power, but opting for the LCD Steam Deck is $200 cheaper.
That being said, the more expensive Xbox Ally X blew us away with its performance and ergonomics. One sore point for a handheld costing nearly a grand is the lack of an OLED screen. But if it's raw performance and intuitive controls you're after, the Xbox Ally X nails it.
Of course, Bond's comments are only one side of the story. It would be interesting to hear from Taiwanese manufacturer Asus on how the pricing was arrived at. I expect there were some intense discussions around Asus HQ on how much the Xbox branding would contribute to the final price of the device. While Asus has its own brand recognition among gamers, it's not on the same playing field as Microsoft's Xbox juggernaut.
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