ASUS Xbox Handheld Leak: Gamepad Grips, Big Power, Zero Fluff

Leaked images of ASUS’s Xbox handheld show off a design that’s not just sleek, but practical, featuring bold controller grips for the ultimate gaming experience. With a more powerful chip, this device is primed to take handheld gaming to the next level.

Photos of the ASUS-made Xbox handheld appear to have emerged through leaks online, giving consumers a first look at the design of this new handheld gaming PC. To be clear, this is not the in-house Xbox handheld from Microsoft that will play Xbox console games natively. Rather, it’s the Xbox-branded ASUS handheld that was leaked earlier this year.

The big difference between the two is obviously the fact that this device runs on Windows and will play PC games. But it will have that Xbox branding, so as to signify that this device delivers easy access to Xbox games.

Codenamed Project Keenan, the ASUS Xbox-branded handheld is thought to be releasing sometime this year, and today’s leak seems to support that theory. It’s also worth noting there’s no official announcement from ASUS on this device, although it has teased it, albeit without showing the actual design.

Leaked photos of the ASUS Xbox handheld show up at the FCC

Visually, the ROG Ally and ROG Ally X are two of the better-looking handhelds. You might be surprised to find out, then, that ASUS doesn’t appear to have changed much with the design on this new Xbox-branded handheld. There are a few key differences, however.

As leaked photos from the FCC show, the ASUS Xbox handheld appears to be a ROG Ally with a dedicated Xbox button. That’s one change, and it should make it easier for users to get right into their favorite games using services like Game Pass. The biggest change seems to be the grips.

Unlike the ROG Ally and ROG Ally X, this new handheld has very prominent grips like those on a controller. The closest comparison from a handheld standpoint is the PlayStation Portal. The Portal is basically just a DualSense with a screen in the middle. Design-wise, this is a lot like what this new ROG handheld from ASUS looks like. That suggests ASUS felt its handhelds needed a little more refinement in the ergonomics department. That’s interesting, considering ASUS definitively stated that improving the ergonomics was one of the headline changes on the ROG Ally X. It seems ASUS felt things could be improved just a bit more.

The listings for the handheld were initially spotted by 91mobiles, who found them on an Indonesian certificate site. The images were found by VideoCardz, who linked the Indonesian certificate listing to a listing at the FCC. The FCC listing is where the hardware images were located.

The handheld comes in two variants

Based on the listing, it seems like the handheld comes in two variants. There’s a black model that appears to be the Xbox-branded version, and then a white model. These look the same on the outside except for the color and the Xbox logo on the new button. You can see this button on the left side of the handheld in the images.

On the inside, things are slightly different. The FCC listing also included a few details about the specs. The display size remains mostly unchanged at 7 inches. The display is also 120Hz, so no change there either. However, each of these models apparently comes with a different chipset.

The black Xbox-branded version is said to come with the Ryzen Z2 Extreme chipset. Meanwhile, the white model is using an unnamed 4-core chipset. The wattage is also different. The Xbox-branded model is listed at 36W, whereas the non-Xbox model is listed at 20W. So overall, the Xbox model is clearly going to be more powerful. It will also likely cost more because of this. It’s not clear when this device will launch. Having said that, certifications popping up for it indicate it could be very soon.