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🆚 The forthcoming Zotac Zone Pro handheld could provide some competition for the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X
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💪 Announced at Gamescom 2025, the handheld has a Ryzen AI HX 370 APU, plus 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM and a 1TB SSD
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😍 It also features an AMOLED screen, with a 7-inch size and 120Hz refresh rate, plus comes running Manjaro Linux
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📆 Zotac is intending to launch the handheld in October, although no pricing has been announced
The upcoming Asus ROG Xbox Ally X handheld could have some stiff competition from another company’s latest handheld.
As per VideoCardz, the brand new Zotac Zone Pro was shown at Gamescom 2025 this past week in Cologne, and comes after previous prototype showcases at both CES and Computex this year.
It revealed that the handheld will run an AMD Strix Point APU, with the Ryzen AI HX 370 under the hood, with its 12 Zen 5c cores. That’s more than the Ryzen Z2 Extreme inside both the new MSI Claw A8 model and the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X. The graphics of both chips are the same, though, with the same Radeon 890M iGPU.
Zotac is also pushing the Zone Pro up to 32GB of LPDDR5X-7500 RAM, beating the Xbox handheld by 8GB, although it is clocked at a lower speed.
This should equate to a 15-20 percent bump in performance over the original Zone that had a Ryzen 7 8840U processor inside with eight Zen 4 cores and the Radeon 780M iGPU inside.
Zotac has also put a 7-inch Full HD 120Hz AMOLED screen in the Zone Pro – a decision that Asus decided against with the ROG Xbox Ally X because of the non-negotiable nature of variable refresh rate in their eyes. It uses the same 7-inch Full HD 120Hz IPS panel found on the original Ally and Ally X models.
The 1TB storage is identical, although where the Zone Pro is lacking is with its paltry 48.5Wh battery that remains unchanged from the original Zone, and is just over half of the 80Wh unit in the ROG Xbox Ally X.
Zotac has decided on an Mounjaro Linux operating system , which was chosen for its efficiency over Windows. It means the Zotac Zone Pro positions itself as an alternative to both Bazzite and SteamOS, which have been two prevailing Linux distros on these gaming handhelds in recent times.
No pricing has been announced for the Zone Pro, although Zotac intends to launch the handheld in October. The previous Zotac Zone cost $799, which is $100 less than the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X is expected to cost.
The ROG Xbox Ally X may also face further competition from the upcoming MSI Claw A8 handheld, which has a remarkably similar list of specs. It’ll feature a Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor inside, plus 24GB of RAM and the same capacity battery. It bumps the screen size up to 8-inches and to an FHD+ resolution, too.
The new MSI Claw A8 is scheduled for launch on September 17 – one month ahead of the ROG Xbox Ally X, which released on October 16. The MSI Claw A8 is available for pre-order in the UK at Scan Computers for £849.98, which is right in and around where we expect the Asus and Microsoft options to be when pricing is announced.
You can read everything we know about Microsoft’s handheld in our Asus ROG Xbox Ally X hands-on review.
Reece Bithrey is a journalist with bylines for Trusted Reviews, Digital Foundry, PC Gamer, TechRadar and more. He also has his own blog, UNTITLED, and graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in International History and Politics in 2023.