Xbox Ally and Ally X, the Xbox handheld consoles jointly created by Xbox and Asus, were recently officially released. Ally starts at US$599, while Ally X is as high as US$999.Although media reviews tend to be positive, the price issue is still the most controversial aspect among players and has received a lot of criticism.Recently, President Sarah Bond accepted an interview with foreign media Variety. Sarah Bond blamed Asus for the high pricing, saying that Xbox actually has no pricing power.

In an interview with Variety, Bond revealed that the pricing of ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X is driven by Asus, and Xbox only provides "guidance."ASUS determined the positioning and selling price of the two models based on hardware upgrades and market data.

Bond said that Xbox's main role in the project is to participate in design cooperation and integrate new Xbox-optimized software experiences, rather than determining the price of the device.

"What we focus on is how to provide players with multiple choices. Pricing is entirely determined by ASUS, because this is their hardware product. They have in-depth insights into the market, feature set, and player needs, which ultimately determines the pricing of the product."

Bond also mentioned that the team first focused on ergonomic design to ensure that the device is still comfortable to hold during long gaming sessions, and then began to optimize the Windows experience for handles and touch operations.She explained that the team's goal is to create a Windows handheld console that is truly built for gaming, rather than "squeezing" a PC into a small body.

“We referenced all our experience in making handles—how to make the device fit various hand shapes, how it feels when playing for long periods of time (such as three hours), and repeatedly polished the ergonomics of the device to make it extremely comfortable.

We worked with the Windows team to think about how to optimize the Windows experience on this device.Because it does not have a keyboard, we must fully optimize touch and controller operations from the interface (UI) to underlying interactions, so that Windows can truly run smoothly on a handheld console and be fundamentally built for games."

Foreign media The Verge’s review of Xbox Ally and Ally X: This is not an Xbox at all, with scores of 4 and 6 respectively.