The ROG Xbox Ally X isn’t just another handheld. It’s a handheld powerhouse with enough computational swagger to run sprawling PC worlds and modern console hits in places a traditional setup wouldn’t dare go. Yet, many users stumble through its labyrinth of settings, unknowingly throttling battery life or leaving precious frames on the table. This guide exists to change that.
Here lies a curated arsenal of tips designed to sharpen your experience, streamline navigation, and elevate the ROG Xbox Ally X from impressive gadget to indispensable companion. Shortcuts, optimizations, control tweaks, and quality-of-life upgrades all await. Step in, tune up, and let your handheld operate at full resonance.
Set Power Button to Sleep
Did your screen go black while playing an intense game? You didn’t crash; you didn’t lag out. You, my friend, fell victim to the default power button configuration. It is a rookie mistake, but one with devastating consequences for your unsaved progress. I highly recommend recalibrating that button from a ‘kill switch’ to a ‘nap time’ toggle immediately:
- Summon the Game Bar by pressing the Xbox button.
- Navigate to the Settings tab and select Open Windows Settings.
- Dive into Power & Battery, then find Power button controls.
- Modify both the Plugged in and On battery settings to Sleep or Hibernate.
No more abrupt shutdowns. No more lost runs. Just smooth, uninterrupted playtime, exactly the way the ROG Xbox Ally X was meant to operate.
Capture Quick Screenshots and Recordings
If you pull off a truly magnificent feat in-game, you have to capture it. The rule is simple: if nobody saw it, it never happened. This handheld gives you two ways to immortalize those epic moments. One method involves menu-diving, which is fine, I guess. The standard way requires you to press the Xbox button, navigate to the Capture tab, and then select Take Screenshot or Start Recording. Clunky, right?
We are going to skip that cumbersome process. You need instant access to the capture function when things get intense. This is where those useful back buttons—the M1 and M2 paddles—become your best friends:
- The Shortcut to Immortality: Hold the M1 or M2 buttons on the back of the grip and tap A for an instant, pristine screenshot. It is the fastest way to save that high-res victory screen.
- Rolling the Tape: Need video proof of your glory? Hold M1 or M2 and press Y to start recording footage right away.
With these inputs baked into your muscle memory, even the most sudden, spectacular moment can be seized before it drifts away. Why would you ever menu-dive again?
Switch Between Apps Like a Pro
The Xbox Ally X thrives on fluidity. Games, launchers, streaming apps, browser tabs—everything you use lives just beneath the surface, waiting for a swift command. Learning to glide between them turns the device into a pocket-sized command center rather than a single-purpose machine:
- Simply swipe up from the bottom of your screen, or;
- Long-press the Xbox button to open the App switcher view. It flows smoothly and keeps your workflow moving.
From here, you can jump between apps, return to your game, manage background tasks, or flick away anything you no longer need.
Accessing the “Real” Windows Desktop
Every so often, the Xbox Ally X reveals its true nature: beneath the sleek console layer lies a full Windows machine waiting to stretch its legs. When you need deeper control—mods, file tweaks, browser wandering, or launcher management—the Windows Desktop becomes your backstage pass.
From the App Switcher view, look toward the bottom of the screen. You’ll spot Windows Desktop nestled among your open tasks. Tap it, and the familiar PC landscape unfolds instantly.
Pro Tip: While the touch screen works well enough, I highly suggest pairing a wireless keyboard and mouse for an optimal experience when deep in the Windows desktop mode. It saves a lot of frustration when navigating tiny menus.
Check For Windows Updates
A handheld this capable deserves a clean, modern software backbone. Updates aren’t just housekeeping—they’re silent performance boosters, bug squishers, and compatibility lifelines that keep your ROG Xbox Ally X running at peak precision. Ignoring them can leave you with crashes or sluggish menus that feel out of character for a device this punchy.
Slide into the Windows Desktop through the App Switcher, then open the Microsoft Store. Once inside, head to the Library section and tap Get updates. This sweeps your system for new enhancements, fresh patches, and stability tweaks that quietly sharpen the entire experience. It’s quick. It’s painless. And it ensures everything from Xbox services to essential Windows components stays perfectly aligned.
Re-Enter The Xbox Full Screen Experience
Okay, you finished tinkering in Windows and want the console feel back. To re-enter the Xbox Full Screen Experience:
- Press the Xbox button.
- Select the Xbox Full Screen icon from the quick shortcuts.
- Crucial Step: Go to the Xbox Full Screen in the top-right corner, and choose Restart (optimized performance).
This tells the device to prioritize console mode at startup, shaving friction from your routine.
Check for Armoury Crate Updates
Armoury Crate is the heartbeat of the Ally X. It controls performance profiles, button calibration, GPU tweaks, battery settings—practically every important system lever lives inside it. Keeping it updated ensures those tools stay refined, stable, and ready for whatever new games or features ASUS rolls out.
- Press the Armoury Crate button.
- Open Armoury Crate SE.
- Go to the Update Center and hit Check for updates. This is vital for firmware updates that fix controller latency or fan curves.
Updates in Armoury Crate often carry more impact than standard Windows patches, affecting the Ally X at a deeper, hardware-conscious level. A quick check keeps your system sharp, resilient, and tuned to the latest specifications—so you’re always gaming on its best version, not yesterday’s build.
Calibrate Your Controls
Every handheld develops its own micro-quirks over time. A thumbstick might drift a touch. A trigger may feel slightly off-center. Even tiny deviations can influence precision in shooters, racers, or platformers where timing is everything. Calibration keeps the Xbox Ally X feeling crisp, responsive, and fully attuned to your movements.
- Press the Armoury Crate button.
- Navigate to Calibration.
- Follow the prompts to calibrate your sticks and triggers.
It takes 30 seconds, but it makes a world of difference in competitive games. It’s a small ritual that rewards you with sharper control, smoother responses, and the reassuring sense that every button press lands with precision.
Increase VRAM for Smoother Performance
Some games lean heavily on GPU memory, and when the Xbox Ally X runs low, you’ll notice it. Texture pop-in. Stutters. Occasional dips that break the rhythm of a great session. Thankfully, the device gives you direct control over how much VRAM it can use, letting you feed the GPU a little extra headroom.
- Press the Armoury Crate button and go to the Performance tab.
- Select GPU Settings.
- Look for Memory assigned to GPU.
- If you own the ROG Xbox Ally X: Crank this from 8G to 10G.
- If you own the standard ROG Xbox Ally: Bump it from 4G to 6G.
This gives texture-heavy games the breathing room they need to run without stuttering, and you’ll notice that your gameplay will fill more noticeably polished.
Turn On CPU Boost
Sometimes the CPU just needs a simple kick in the pants. That’s where CPU Boost comes into play. It’s a performance lever that gives the Ally X an extra surge of processing energy when you need it most:
- Press the Armoury Crate button.
- Press Y and scroll down to CPU Boost.
- Select it to add it to your quick start menu.
Warning: CPU Boost works well for simulation games (like Civilization or Football Manager), but it eats battery and generates heat. Disable this feature when you aren't plugged into a power source or if you're playing a GPU-bound game. It can actually steal the power budget from the GPU if you aren't careful.
Optimize Performance Profiles (TDP Tweaks)
Quiet and efficient? Aggressive and uncompromising? Something balanced in between? The Xbox Ally X lets you shape its personality on the fly. Its performance profiles are more than presets—they’re levers that let you sculpt how the handheld behaves under pressure.
Start by pressing the Armoury Crate button and experimenting with the built-in modes: Silent, Performance, and Turbo. Silent favors longevity and calmer thermals. Performance delivers a confident middle ground. Turbo unleashes the full beast, trading battery for unrestrained power.
While those three modes work fine, manual tuning is the best way to get the most power while conserving battery life:
- Press the Armoury Crate button > Performance tab.
- Go to Operating Mode and select Manual. (Hit Yes on the warning pop-up).
- Here is the community-tested “Golden Ratio” for the best balance of thermals, battery, and framerates:
- SPL power: 20W
- SPPT: 22W
- FPPT: 27W
- Select Apply.
This 20W “Sweet Spot” often outperforms the stock Performance mode, and without the fan noise of Turbo mode. With these adjustments, you’ll be able to experience a harmonious blend of strength and efficiency.
Enable Battery Care Mode
Lithium-ion batteries hate sitting at 100% charge for days on end. If you mostly play your Xbox Ally X docked to a TV or plugged in at your desk, charging it to full capacity nonstop can slowly wear on its long-term health. Battery Care Mode steps in as a courteous guardian:
- Open Armoury Crate.
- Go to the Battery Care tab.
- Turn on Battery Care Mode
When enabled, the Xbox Ally X treats its battery with respect, ensuring years of reliable performance instead of a slow fade into diminished capacity.
Create Custom Game Profiles
Different games demand different instincts. A precise shooter may require a tighter stick response. A platformer might feel better with remapped buttons. A racing title may benefit from a completely transformed layout. Custom Game Profiles let’s the Xbox Ally X adapt its behavior to every genre, every preference, every personal quirk.
- Press LB to go to your game library.
- Highlight your game and press X for Game Options.
- Select Set Game Profile.
Once saved, your profile loads automatically every time you launch that title. No more switching layouts manually. No more compromises. Each game gets its own tailored configuration, turning the Ally X into a shapeshifting companion that meets your playstyle exactly where you are.
Set Steam to Big Picture Mode
Steam is a powerhouse, but its traditional desktop interface can feel cramped on a handheld. Big Picture Mode transforms your Steam library into a console-like experience without sacrificing flexibility.
- Go to Steam Settings > Interface.
- Toggle on Start Steam in Big Picture Mode.
The next time you launch Steam, it boots directly into a streamlined environment where navigation feels effortless and intuitive. No more squinting at the desktop UI. No fiddly menus. Just your games, presented with clarity and controller-ready precision.
Solving the “Double Menu” Glitch (Steam Confliction)
If you use Steam often, you’ve probably run into a peculiar tug-of-war: the Xbox button wants to summon Xbox menus, while Steam wants it to act as its own guide button. The result is a chaotic overlap that derails navigation right when you’re trying to launch a game. Fortunately, the fix is elegantly simple.
- Open Steam and press B (in Big Picture Mode) to open the menu.
- Go to Settings > Controller.
- Under External Gamepad Settings, toggle on Guide button focuses Steam.
This tells the Ally X to let Steam take command whenever you’re gaming through Big Picture Mode, eliminating the awkward split-personality behavior. Once set, the Xbox button will behave with newfound discipline.
Improve Screen Quality with Veri-Bright
The Xbox Ally X display is already a vibrant little window into your games, but AMD’s Veri-Bright settings let you sculpt its character even further. Whether you crave a luminous screen for colorful indies or want to conserve watts during long sessions, this hidden tool lets you bend the visual experience to your will.
- Swipe Up to open Windows desktop.
- Search for and open AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition.
- Go to Settings (gear icon) > Display tab.
- Scroll to Vari-Bright.
- For Battery: Set it to 2 – Balanced.
- For Visuals (Recommended): Turn it OFF (or set to 0 – Maximize Brightness).
A few small adjustments and the screen feels transformed—crisper whites, richer highlights, and a sense of visual polish that makes every game feel just a touch more premium.
Turn Off Virtual Machine Platform (Advanced)
Virtual Machine Platform is one of those Windows components that most handheld gamers never touch, yet it quietly occupies resources behind the scenes. If you don’t use virtualization tools, disabling them is easy, and it can help the Xbox Ally X operate with cleaner efficiency.
- Search for Turn Windows features on or off.
- Uncheck Virtual Machine Platform.
- Hit OK and restart.
Once disabled, the system sheds a bit of hidden baggage, freeing up extra performance for the things that actually matter—your games. It’s a small optimization, but together with the other advanced tweaks, it helps the Ally X run with a leaner, more agile feel.
Turn Off Memory Integrity (Advanced)
Warning: This reduces security slightly, so proceed with caution.
Hidden deep within Windows lies a security feature called Memory Integrity. It’s designed to harden the system against certain attacks, but it also consumes system resources that can slightly pinch performance in demanding games. If you’re an experienced user aiming for maximum efficiency, disabling it can free up a little extra headroom.
- In Windows desktop, search for Core Isolation.
- Toggle off Memory Integrity.
Windows may prompt you to restart; let it complete the process before launching your next game. When used intentionally, it can help the Xbox Ally X breathe a bit easier under load, letting the hardware focus more of its attention on gameplay instead of background safeguards.
Turn Off Device Encryption (Advanced)
Warning: Turning off Device Encryption reduces protection for your data, so only do this if you’re comfortable with the trade-off.
Device Encryption is Windows’ built-in safeguard that protects your handheld if it’s ever lost or stolen. It’s valuable, but it also adds subtle computational load in the background. For power users chasing every last drop of performance, disabling it can lighten the system’s workload.
- Open Settings > Privacy & security.
- Select Device Encryption and toggle it off.
- Hit Yes.
Windows will now begin decrypting the drive. This may take a moment, but once complete, the storage subsystem runs without the added cryptographic overhead.
Conclusion
When you take a moment to tune the ROG Xbox Ally X, it stops feeling like a handheld and starts behaving like a pocket-sized renegade that answers every input with intent. A few thoughtful toggles, a handful of performance tweaks, and suddenly your games load quicker, run smoother, and feel more responsive than ever. Each adjustment stacks like tiny power-ups, turning the device into something sharper, faster, and far more personal.
The beauty is that none of this requires tech wizardry. It’s simply about knowing which switches matter and giving your handheld a setup worthy of the hardware inside it. By following these 20 tips, you’ve now optimized your power draw, sharpened your visuals, and streamlined your interface. Now, stop tinkering and go play some games. You earned it.
