Asus’ Xbox-Branded Gaming Handheld Gets Revealed by FCC Listing

The first pictures of Asus’ first Xbox-branded gaming handheld, codenamed Project Kennan, have been revealed thanks to an official US FCC listing spotted by 91mobiles (via Videocardz). The leak reveals that the new device is the Asus ROG Ally 2, with pictures showing a white version like the original ROG Ally and a black version that appears to be the Xbox-branded model.

While pictures of the two devices aren’t the best quality, the black version features what looks to be an Xbox logo on the button on top of the D-Pad that the white model doesn’t have. Compared to the original ROG Ally, these new models look slightly thicker with larger grips on the back.

The leaks also revealed some of the specs of the two models: The black model with an Xbox button is said to use an 8-core AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip with a max TDP of 36W, a 7-inch 12°HZ display, and 64GB of memory. The white model, however, uses a less powerful 4-core AMD Aeirth Plus chip with a 20W TDP, and the amount of memory is unknown.

The Asus ROG Ally 2 and its Xbox-branded variant could be officially revealed at the Computex annual trade show, which will kick off in Taipei on May 20. Windows-based gaming handhelds are an important part of Microsoft’s strategy to bring Xbox games to more places, but the company is also working on its own gaming handheld that may not ship until the next generation of Xbox consoles officially launches.

As device makers can now use Valve’s easier-to-use SteamOS for their gaming handhelds, Microsoft still has a lot of work to do to deliver a true Xbox experience on Windows-based handhelds.
Back at CES earlier this year, Jason Ronald, Microsoft’s new VP of Next Generation teased that this work is well underway.

“The reality is the Xbox operating system is built on top of Windows. So there’s a lot of infrastructure that we built in the console space that we can bring to the PC space and really deliver that premium gaming experience on any device,” Ronald said at CES. The exec also added at the time that Microsoft would have “a lot more to share later this year.”