- Microsoft's custom ROG Xbox Ally X Windows 11 full-screen experience is still holding back gaming performance
- The SteamOS clone, Bazzite, offers almost a 30% performance increase across several games
- It's still early days for the ROG Xbox Ally X, but Microsoft may have a long journey of future optimizations
There's no doubt that the ROG Xbox Ally X has joined many of the internet's lists of the best handheld games consoles, regardless of the controversy surrounding its price. However, Microsoft's custom operating system has failed to close the gap to a fierce competitor in game performance.
As highlighted by TweakTown, the ROG Xbox Ally X offers faster game performance on Bazzite (a SteamOS clone) than Microsoft's Windows 11, specifically in the new 'full-screen experience' mode, showcased by handheld enthusiast Cyber Dopamine on YouTube.
Microsoft's custom version of Windows 11 for the ROG Xbox Ally X was built to be handheld-friendly by reducing background processes to free up more RAM for games. While this has improved performance compared to the standard version of Windows 11, it has not yet caught up to SteamOS.
In Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, the ROG Xbox Ally's Windows 11 maintains an average of around 47 fps at 17W (TDP/power consumption). Switching over to Bazzite, Cyber Dopamine saw a jump up to around 62fps with a higher projected amount of battery remaining. That's a 27% performance boost, and similar uplifts are evident in other game tests like Hogwarts Legacy (showcased below).
At the very least, a dual-boot Windows 11 and Bazzite setup (or SteamOS if officially supported) seems to be the best way to go, because Valve's SteamOS still has the disadvantage of not supporting a wide range of popular multiplayer games due to anti-cheat, notably EA's Battlefield 6.
Regardless, games that are supported on Linux will run much better on the ROG Xbox Ally X, and that's a huge factor in favour of Valve's OS, and a setback for Microsoft, especially when considering its $999 / £799 / AU$1,599 price that has already left some consumers steering far away.
Analysis: I'm still not very confident the custom Windows 11 will match SteamOS
As I expected, the new full-screen Windows 11 experience doesn't step close enough to Valve's SteamOS in terms of game performance, and while the former still has a long way to go in terms of further optimizations via updates, I don't have much confidence that it will ever fully close the gap on SteamOS.
Games with anti-cheat not running on Linux are one of the main reasons why I haven't switched to SteamOS on my main desktop gaming PC, and it's painful to realize that users like me could be missing out on extra performance that's held back due to Windows 11's annoying and unwanted background processes.
Some consumers feel it's too little too late for this new full-screen experience to genuinely compete with SteamOS or even, in this case, its clone, Bazzite. It feels as though it's only a matter of time for more gamers to make the switch to Linux, and I believe once the anti-cheat compatibility is resolved, it may be game over for Microsoft and Windows 11.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.
➡️ Read our full guide to the best handheld games consoles
1. Best overall:
Nintendo Switch 2
2. Best for PC gamers at & under 1000:
MSI Claw 8 AI+
Steam Deck OLED
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.