I love this era of handheld gaming PCs, but it could use a little more oomph. Granted, the portability of these devices limits the level of power they can provide. But if you’re sitting in bed or on your couch, there might be a solution.
The Nintendo Switch paved the way for the best handheld gaming devices, and the Asus ROG Ally built upon that path for the PC handhelds to follow. The Asus ROG Ally X is by far our favorite among those available today.
Leave it to the Asus ROG team to deliver a wonderful yet ridiculous invention, the ROG XG Mobile eGPU, which was just announced at CES 2025. A highly portable external laptop GPU that you can connect to a cheap notebook and get premium-level graphics.
But why connect it to some random laptop when you could connect it to a handheld gaming PC like the Asus ROG Ally X? What would that look like, and how much would that even cost? Let me explain why this may be a fantasy come true for some gamers.
A match made in Asus
While Asus may not have intended for the ROG Ally X and the ROG XG Mobile to be paired together, they actually come out at a relatively decent price.
The latest ROG XG Mobile can be outfitted with up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090, which costs $2,199. Now, that’s a little too steep for me; however, the RTX 5070 Ti model comes in at $1,199. Still pricey, but not terrible. If you combine that with an Asus ROG Ally X, you’ll land around $2K. Some premium gaming laptops with that kind of GPU cost around that price, except they aren’t nearly as portable.
But how exactly is that going to work? Well, the Asus ROG Ally X supports a Thunderbolt 4 port, which is perfect because the ROG XG Mobile connects via a Thunderbolt 5 port. Now, you may experience some performance throttling there, but it shouldn’t be significant, considering Thunderbolt 4 is still quite fast.
As far as the physical setup goes, it’s not too dissimilar to the Nintendo Switch. The ROG XG Mobile comes with a neat little stand, and it also has a hinge to stand on its own. You could place the XG Mobile on your nightstand and game comfortably in bed or on the couch with the Asus ROG Ally X, making for a powerful home gaming companion. The XG Mobile comes in at 8.19 x 6.1 x 1.17 inches and weighs less than 2.2 pounds, so it won’t take up much room.
Outside of performance and compatibility, the XG Mobile would also expand the ROG Ally X’s port selection:
- 2x Thunderbolt 5
- 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2
- 1x HDMI 2.1
- 1x DisplayPort 2.1
- 1x SD card reader
- 1x 5G Ethernet
You could easily connect to a monitor or TV, but if you’re going for the “cozy in bed” route, getting a direct Ethernet connection to the Ally would give you the edge in online gaming.
What's next?
The Asus ROG XG Mobile will be available at the end of Q1, so March 31, 2025 at the latest. That gives you plenty of time to mull over your future relationship with your handheld gaming PC.
However, you could also wait for the sequel to the Asus ROG Ally X. Another handheld gaming PC from Asus seems like an inevitability, and if it is outfitted with a Thunderbolt 5 port, the XG Mobile will be an even more sensical companion.
It's also worth noting that the XG Mobile can supercharge any other Thunderbolt 4 or Thunderbolt 5 laptop you have. An Asus rep tells Laptop Mag they enjoy gaming on their Zenbook 14, augmented by the new XG Mobile.
At the very least, we’re excited to test the experience and compatibility of these devices. First things first, we need to get the ROG XG Mobile through our lab. Stay tuned for our full review and benchmarks. In the meantime, check out everything else we saw at CES 2025.
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