It’s the vacation season, and maybe you’re planning to give (or obtain!) a ROG Xbox Ally or ROG Xbox Ally X. To assist get you enjoying as shortly as attainable, we’ve up to date our information to one of the best ways to get began along with your model new handheld.
Congratulations on selecting up your new ROG Xbox Ally or ROG Xbox Ally X! Whether or not you’re a handheld gaming veteran or simply getting began, you’ve joined a rising and vibrant neighborhood of gamers who admire the pliability of Home windows and the facility and ease of use of Xbox within the palm of your fingers. Whilst you in all probability picked up your Xbox Ally to dive proper into your favourite video games (we share a few of our handheld favorites right here), you’ll shortly uncover that these handhelds supply super flexibility to personalize your gaming expertise. That will help you hit the bottom operating, we’ve pulled collectively some must-know ideas to take advantage of out of your new Xbox Ally.
If you happen to’re simply setting your gadget up, try the informative information at Xbox Support for step-by-step directions. Of notice: Don’t skip the choice to arrange the fingerprint reader; unlocking your Xbox Ally with only a contact is quick and feels a bit bit magical. As soon as setup is full, you’ll boot up immediately into the immersive Xbox full display expertise, a purpose-built gaming expertise.
Prepared to go? Right here’s a number of useful pointers.
Navigating your Xbox Ally
Grasp the Menus: The Xbox Ally provides you a number of methods to discover what you’re trying for— you should utilize the d-pad, joysticks, shoulder and face buttons to make picks, or just faucet the responsive touchscreen immediately. As an example, to attain the all-important Recreation Bar settings menu, you possibly can press the Xbox button and hit the precise bumper, or just swipe from the left fringe of the display towards the middle. Swapping between apps? Lengthy press the Xbox button or swipe up from the underside to entry the Process Switcher, making switching between apps and video games seamless.
Get Aware of Command Middle: ASUS Command Middle is now built-in into Recreation Bar, providing you with prompt entry to many superior options to personalize your expertise, each inside and outdoors of video games.
For a extra expansive set of superior settings and customization choices, you can even launch the full-featured Armoury Crate SE proper from this overlay.

Meet Gaming Copilot (Beta) — Your Private Sidekick: You may entry Gaming Copilot on the Xbox Ally, the place it gives suggestions, ideas, and insights once you want them. To get began, lengthy press the Command Middle button to open the Gaming Copilot widget in Recreation Bar, and full the onboarding expertise. After that, if you need to examine your subsequent achievement or get recommendation for a troublesome boss combat with out leaving your sport, lengthy press the Library button after which launch to begin your dialog with Gaming Copilot.

Play What You Need
Browse Your Video games Library: Now it’s time to discover some issues to play! Head to the Library by urgent the devoted Library button above the precise thumbstick to discover video games you already personal, in addition to these out there with Recreation Move, and titles playable through the Xbox Cloud Gaming. Observe: you possibly can choose a couple of class at a time; highlighting Owned and Installable permits you to buy groceries in your personal closet for video games that play natively in your Xbox Ally. Wanting for one thing new? You’ll discover the Retailer on the left rail as nicely.
Entry Your Video games, From Main PC Storefronts: With the aggregated gaming library, you possibly can simply add your titles from main PC storefronts to your library, to see all of your video games in a single place. All you’ve to do is head to the My Apps tab in your Library, and choose the PC storefront you need to set up.

If you happen to don’t see your required launcher, open Edge (additionally positioned in My apps), navigate to the shop’s web site, and obtain it.
Play Wherever—Together with Offline: Handheld freedom means you’re certain to play in locations with out WiFi. Whereas many titles work finest on-line, most single-player video games run nice with out a connection. Earlier than you journey, check your video games offline, pre-download any updates or DLC, and be sure you’re signed in. For detailed offline setup, see our information: Play games in offline mode on Windows | Xbox Support. And should you’re flying, don’t overlook to change to airplane mode to save battery and keep away from interruptions.
Personalizing your Setup
Play Your Means Utilizing Accessibility Options: With the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, the Xbox expertise and Recreation Bar have been optimized for handheld use, bringing alongside acquainted accessibility options from Xbox consoles and Home windows 11 PCs. Most visible, cognitive, and sensory accessibility options could be discovered by deciding on the Profile & Settings icon within the higher left of the display, deciding on Settings, then Accessibility. Enter accessibility settings, together with on-screen keyboard, enter customizations, and the power to re-map your Xbox Ally’s buttons are present in Armoury Crate SE.
Join Exterior Controllers: Pair Xbox Wi-fi Controllers to your Xbox Ally similar to you’d with a PC. Flip in your controller, maintain the Pair button, and look for the join notification. Missed it? Open the Recreation Bar, navigate to Settings > Bluetooth > Handle gadgets, choose Add gadget > Bluetooth, and comply with the prompts.
And don’t miss the intelligent element: contained in the underside of your Xbox Ally field lid, you’ll discover a light-weight, sturdy paperboard stand—excellent for holding your Xbox Ally whereas charging or enjoying with an exterior controller with out blocking the display. This pairs nicely with the subsequent function:
Docking for the Massive Display screen: The Xbox Ally–is your excellent gaming companion once you’re on the go, and once you’re at dwelling it supplies much more choices to play. It’s straightforward to join an exterior monitor or TV for a bigger, much more immersive expertise . Merely join your Xbox Ally immediately to a monitor or TV or to a dock through the USB-C port,. For optimum efficiency, it’s finest to use “Second Display screen Solely” to match your TV’s decision and refresh price.
Customise the Joystick Ring Lights: The Xbox Ally’s colourful lights surrounding the thumbsticks are one in all its defining visible thrives, however typically it’s your decision to dim them for a red-eye flight or should you’re enjoying in darkish room. To regulate them, open Armoury Crate SE and choose Lighting to change how they pulse, or flip them off fully.
Keep up to date: The Xbox Ally you’re taking out of the field is just the start line. Final month, we shared updates to the ROG Xbox Ally handheld expertise, together with Default Recreation Profiles (Preview) which routinely steadiness body price (FPS) and energy consumption for 40 supported video games, Recreation Save Sync Indicators, which provide you with real-time affirmation that your progress is uploaded to the cloud, in addition to different enhancements to ship a smoother, quicker, and extra dependable expertise. Xbox and ASUS will proceed to add new options and performance to improve your expertise, which we’ll share over time. To make sure you’ve at all times received the newest updates, there are two locations you’ll need to examine from time to time.
Home windows OS Replace:
- Open Recreation Bar > Settings Widget > Extra Settings > Open Home windows Settings > Home windows Replace
- Set up all updates and restart your gadget when prompted
Replace Armoury Crate SE:
- Open the Command Middle
- Choose “Open Armoury Crate SE”
- Choose Replace Middle > Examine for Updates > Replace All
We are able to’t wait to see the place your new Xbox Ally or Xbox Ally X takes you. Whether or not you’re having fun with handheld gaming on the sofa or setting excessive scores on the go, the following pointers will assist you to get essentially the most out of each session.
