- ASUS has emerged as a potential manufacturer of Microsoft’s Xbox handheld console.
- Microsoft is said to be leaning on a third-party to assist heavily in the design and manufacture of a future device.
- Its debut is still a couple of years off, as Microsoft may prioritise an Xbox version of SteamOS.
Yesterday we reported on the long-rumoured Xbox handheld gaming console that Microsoft has been working on, with it believed that the tech giant would turn to a third-party or Windows OEM to assist in manufacturing the device.
Now ASUS has emerged as a potential option, according to The Verge (subscriber wall), which added more insider information to the original reporting done by Windows Central this week.
While it is unclear why ASUS in particular has become a frontrunner, the choice isn’t difficult to make sense of, especially as the Taiwanese company has already manufactured two handheld gaming models in just as many years, the first of which we reviewed in 2023.
The Xbox handheld, which is said to go by the internal moniker of Project Keenan, may be made by the likes of ASUS, but it would certainly look like a purely Microsoft device to any user. To that end, the device would feature Xbox branding exclusively, and no real indication that a third-party built in, nor had a hand in doing so.
Added to this will be an Xbox Guide (home) button as seen on the company’s official controllers or its Series X console. How it will be leveraged outside of simply returning to a UI homescreen, however, remains to be seen.
It is also unclear whether this device would look similar to the ASUS ROG Ally or Ally X in terms of aesthetic, but in order to avoid any kind of confusion, we’re sure that Microsoft will like to keep the design in line with its current language.
As for what could power the device, Gizmodo hinted at an AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme featuring, but given the rumoured device is still a couple of years away from debuting to the public, something better may have hit the market by then. Either way, it looks like Microsoft would go for the best silicon it can for its first-ever Xbox handheld.
This brings us to the bad news, as original reporting on the device has it heading to consumers by 2027, which is quite some ways off some of the other rumours we have seen noting that a teaser might be happening this year.
A more likely scenario is that Microsoft is readying to preview a new operating system for Xbox that is similar to that of SteamOS, and custom-made for handheld gaming consoles. Much has been made of the Windows interface on handhelds so far, with it struggling to be intuitive outside of gaming-specific applications.
A handheld-specific OS would also provide Microsoft with valuable data and insight as to player reaction, and whether its own handheld gaming console would be worthwhile pursuing.
