Handheld PCs live and die on two numbers: frame rate and battery life. The ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X now try to manage both for you with “Default Game Profiles,” a new system that automatically applies per‑game performance presets when you launch supported titles on battery power.
What default game profiles actually do
Default Game Profiles are pre‑tuned performance presets for specific games on the ROG Xbox Ally family. They change two key hardware controls whenever you launch a supported title while running on battery:
| Setting | What the profile controls | Why it matters on a handheld |
|---|---|---|
| Power (TDP) | The wattage budget the APU can draw. | Higher TDP boosts FPS but drains the battery faster and increases heat and fan noise. |
| FPS limit | A frame rate cap specific to that game. | Stopping the GPU from pushing unnecessary frames saves power and keeps temperatures down. |
The Ally applies these profiles automatically when a supported game starts on battery. The target is a stable, “good enough” frame rate with as little wasted power as possible, so you spend less time in settings menus and more time playing.
In Hollow Knight: Silksong, for example, the tuned profile aims for 120 FPS while extending battery life by nearly an hour compared with the handheld’s Performance mode. That gives a sense of how aggressive the power tuning can be without sacrificing responsiveness in lighter games.
How profiles adapt while you play
Profiles are not static. They respond to how the game is behaving moment to moment:
- If the game is running below its target FPS, the handheld raises the power budget to push the APU harder and try to reach the cap, at the cost of faster battery drain.
- If the game is consistently above the target FPS, the system enforces the FPS limit and holds power down, avoiding wasted frames and saving energy.
This gives the Ally a kind of guardrail behavior. You still get extra power when a game genuinely needs it, but heavy over‑provisioning is curbed when a title is easy to run at the chosen cap.
Profiles only apply while the handheld is unplugged. Once you connect to power, the Ally reverts to your usual performance modes, so you can push hardware harder without worrying about battery impact.
Where to find and toggle game profiles
Control for Default Game Profiles lives inside Armoury Crate SE’s Command Center overlay on the Ally.
| Task | Where to do it | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| Toggle profiles on or off for the current game | Armoury Crate Command Center Game Bar widget | A Game Profiles row at the top with a simple ON/OFF switch. |
| Check if a game supports profiles | Launch the game, open Command Center | If the option appears, that title has a default profile configured. |
If you prefer manual tuning, turning the toggle off hands full control back to your own Armoury Crate performance presets and any in‑game graphics settings you have set. Profiles are meant to be the default for convenience, not a lock‑in.
Which games support Ally default profiles
Default Game Profiles launch in preview with support for 40 games. The list skews heavily toward first‑party and major publishing partners, with more titles planned. Highlighted examples include:
| Game | Series / type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 | First‑person shooter | Fast‑paced multiplayer benefits from a stable FPS cap. |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 | First‑person shooter | Same per‑game tuning approach as Black Ops 6. |
| Call of Duty: Warzone | Battle royale | Profiles aim to smooth large open areas and heavy combat scenes. |
| DOOM Eternal | Action FPS | High‑speed combat; caps help avoid power spikes. |
| DOOM: The Dark Ages | Action FPS | Includes handheld‑friendly settings alongside Ally profiles. |
| Fortnite | Battle royale | One of the marquee titles for the feature. |
| Forza Horizon 5 | Racing | Likely capped for consistent frame pacing during high‑speed driving. |
| Gears 5 | Third‑person shooter | Profiles are tuned for the Ally’s hardware envelope. |
| Gears of War: Reloaded | Third‑person shooter | Used prominently in Microsoft’s examples of the system. |
| Gears Tactics | Turn‑based strategy | Good candidate for aggressive power saving via FPS capping. |
| Halo: The Master Chief Collection | FPS compilation | Covers multiple campaigns and multiplayer modes. |
| Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | Action‑adventure | Profile handles a mix of traversal and combat loads. |
| Minecraft | Sandbox | Easy to run; FPS caps reclaim battery overhead. |
| Sea of Thieves | Online adventure | Profiles smooth out sailing and storm effects. |
| Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 | Sports / skating | High‑speed gameplay with a clear frame‑rate sweet spot. |
| Hollow Knight: Silksong | Action‑platformer | Showcase example: ~1 extra hour of 120 FPS play on battery. |
The feature works at the system level, so it does not matter whether a supported game was purchased through the Microsoft Store, Steam, or another PC storefront. If the Ally recognises the running executable as a supported title, it can apply its profile.
How Ally default profiles relate to in‑game handheld presets
Several first‑party PC games now include their own “Handheld” graphics presets in their settings menus. These presets switch options such as resolution scale, shadow quality, and effects levels to combinations that run well on portable hardware.
On the ROG Xbox Ally, Default Game Profiles and these “Handheld” presets serve different layers:
| Layer | Who controls it | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| System‑level profile | Xbox + Armoury Crate | Power (TDP) and FPS cap for that specific game on Ally hardware. |
| In‑game Handheld preset | Game developer | Resolution, textures, shadows, and other engine‑level graphics options. |
Used together, they make the Ally behave much more like a console: launch a supported game, get handheld‑appropriate graphics settings inside the game, plus system‑tuned power and frame rate outside it, without the usual tinkering.
Other improvements in the same update
The Default Game Profiles preview is part of a broader round of quality‑of‑life changes aimed at handheld use.
| Change | Area | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Improved gamepad response after login | Input latency right after signing in | Reduces the laggy “first few seconds” feeling when you reach the dashboard or game list. |
| Faster library loading | Xbox app library view | Large libraries should populate more quickly, making handheld browsing less sluggish. |
| Cloud gaming page performance | Xbox app cloud tab | Shorter load times and more responsive scrolling and selection. |
| Game Gallery “Performance Fit” filter | Game discovery on Ally | Lets you filter to games that are expected to run well on the device’s hardware. |
| Stability and performance fixes | System‑wide | General improvements to responsiveness and reliability. |
For anyone who uses the Ally as a primary Xbox PC, these changes reduce some of the friction of navigating the Xbox app on a small screen and using a controller as your main input.
Game Save Sync Indicator and Full Screen Experience
Two nearby features round out the handheld‑first story.
Game Save Sync Indicator
A new Game Save Sync Indicator is rolling out to show when your progress has finished syncing to the cloud. It surfaces clear status updates as your save uploads or downloads, so you know when it’s safe to close a game or put the Ally to sleep without risking lost progress.
This is especially important if you routinely jump between an Ally, a desktop, and an Xbox console on the same save file.
Xbox Full Screen Experience on more devices
The Xbox‑style full screen shell, originally tuned for the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X, is now available on other Windows 11 handhelds and is expanding in preview to laptops, desktops, and tablets for Xbox and Windows Insiders.
On handhelds, the Full Screen Experience minimizes background activity and defers non‑essential tasks so that more of the system’s limited power and thermal budget goes to the game. Pairing this shell with Default Game Profiles makes the Ally feel less like a general Windows PC and more like a dedicated gaming machine that can still drop back to the desktop when needed.
Xbox Game Pass Premium promotion on Ally
New buyers of ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X units in participating regions receive three months of Xbox Game Pass Premium bundled with the device. Game Pass Premium combines PC game access with Xbox Cloud Gaming and a broader catalog of titles that can run locally or be streamed.
There are a few important rules:
- The bundled code must be claimed within 30 days of device activation.
- A valid payment method is required; the subscription continues at standard pricing unless cancelled.
- Existing Essential memberships upgrade to Premium; existing Ultimate membership time converts at a set ratio.
Details and redemption are handled through the Game Pass section of xbox.com/xbox-game-pass, which also lays out current catalog and regional availability.
How to get Default Game Profiles on your Ally
Default Game Profiles ship in preview form, so the prerequisites are stricter than a routine Windows update. To use them, the ROG Xbox Ally needs three software layers updated:
| Component | Where to update | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Armoury Crate SE | Armoury Crate updater on the Ally | Provides the Game Bar widget and underlying profile logic. |
| Xbox app for Windows | Microsoft Store on Windows 11 | Supplies the handheld‑specific UX and library features. |
| Windows 11 | Windows Update settings | Ensures the OS has the necessary handheld integration hooks. |
Once those are current, start a supported game on battery, open the Armoury Crate Command Center overlay, and look for the Game Profiles toggle at the top.
Note: rollout timing can lag behind announcements by a few hours or days. If you do not see the toggle yet, keep checking for app and module updates in Armoury Crate SE and the Microsoft Store rather than assuming your device is incompatible.
Default Game Profiles pull the ROG Xbox Ally a little closer to console‑like simplicity, without giving up the flexibility of a Windows handheld. Profile tuning, a clearer save‑sync story, and a more focused full screen shell all point in the same direction: make “pick up and play” the baseline, and leave manual tweaking as an option rather than a requirement.
