We Tried The Xbox Full Screen Experience On The Original Ally X

The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X is inactive astir a period away, and portion there’s a batch to get excited about, similar the caller chipset and the funky controller grips, I’ve been much fascinated by the bundle since the strategy was announced backmost successful June. The thought of a trimmed down mentation of Windows that works amended connected handheld gaming PCs is thing I’ve wanted for years now, and the Xbox Ally X is going to beryllium the archetypal instrumentality that’ll person thing similar that. Kind of.

Microsoft has said that this caller ‘Full Screen Experience’ for the Xbox app volition beryllium rolling retired to different Windows devices successful aboriginal 2026. But what if you could get it now? Well, I’m blessed to archer you that you tin get the Full-Screen Experience moving connected beauteous overmuch immoderate Windows instrumentality close now, though it comes with a load of caveats.

Sneak Peek Via Windows Insider

As explained by Reddit idiosyncratic Gogsi123, you tin perchance alteration this diagnostic aboriginal by joining the Windows Insider programme and downloading the Windows 11 25H2 update connected the Dev channel, past going into settings, Gaming, past enabling the Full-Screen Experience. I accidental potentially, due to the fact that there’s a bully accidental this enactment simply won’t amusement up for you – it didn’t for me.

There is inactive a mode to alteration this mode if Windows 11 25H2 doesn’t let you to by default, but I don’t urge it unless you’re comfy with the thought of bricking your Windows installation. It involves downloading a room called ViVeTool from GitHub, moving a mates of bid enactment prompts and past diving into regedit. If that’s thing you privation to do, past I powerfully suggest you follow Gogsi123’s guide.

After each of that, if you did everything right, the enactment to alteration the Full Screen Experience successful the gaming settings volition appear. Simply toggle it to the Xbox app and reboot the strategy and you’ll beryllium bully to go. However, due to the fact that this is an experimental physique of Windows, there’s a bully accidental that thing is going to break. For instance, I ran it connected the Asus ROG Ally X, and my controllers conscionable stopped working. These things hap connected aboriginal builds of Windows.

I’m much funny successful gaming show anyway. After all, since the Lenovo Legion Go S with SteamOS launched, it’s go much evident that Windows 11 is truthful bloated astatine this constituent that it tin hamper gaming performance. And the ‘FSE’ decidedly helps there.

Turbo Boosted

Because the ‘FSE’ doesn’t request to load successful the Windows desktop oregon different optional features, it frees up a batch of strategy resources for gaming, astatine slightest successful theory. Since enabling it earlier this morning, I ran it done astir of my modular benchmarking suite for handheld reviews, conscionable to spot however overmuch of an interaction it would have.

Unsurprisingly, this caller mentation of Windows had the biggest interaction successful 3DMark, wherever I was capable to get 3540 points successful Time Spy, compared to 3346 points connected an older physique of Windows. Fire Strike gave an adjacent bigger show differential, with the caller physique getting 8306 points compared to 7187 – a 16% uplift. Then, successful Night Raid, the Ally X got 30427 points, compared to 25278, a 20% boost. That’s promising, but erstwhile investigating existent games, I saw smaller improvements.

In Cyberpunk 2077 astatine 1080p with High settings, I went up from 35 fps to 39 fps, which is astir an 11% show boost. However, counterintuitively, the strategy got 22 fps successful both Monster Hunter Wilds and successful Total War: Warhammer 3, compared to the 23 fps it got earlier successful some games. That’s wrong the borderline of error, but it was technically slower, if adjacent conscionable by a bit. Monster Hunter was besides precise jittery, but it’s not truly a crippled you should beryllium playing connected a handheld gaming PC anyway.

Your Mileage May Vary

It’s a small excessively aboriginal to accidental whether oregon not the caller Full Screen Experience for Xbox connected Windows is good, particularly due to the fact that it’s truthful unsmooth astir the edges. But the show uplift unsocial makes it fascinating. There are respective handheld gaming PCs launching successful the adjacent mates months, each utilizing the aforesaid hardware. But portion thing similar the Legion Go 2 is going to beryllium launching connected a regular Windows 11 install, the ROG Xbox Ally X volition diagnostic this Full Screen Experience beforehand and center, meaning it mightiness person a spot of a show headstart retired of the container – astatine slightest for a mates months.

You tin technically get this moving connected your handheld now, and it’s adjacent worthy it if you’re consenting to woody with the headache of heavy tweaking your instrumentality to get it moving right. Just beryllium warned that there’s a decent accidental you’ll interruption something, truthful proceed astatine your ain risk. Even if you don’t privation to woody with that headache, though, the information that it’s adjacent successful a preview physique astatine each means we won’t person to hold agelong to download a afloat functional mentation of it connected immoderate device. I cognize I’m looking guardant to getting it moving connected my surviving country PC aboriginal today.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor astatine IGN and the PC components queen. You tin travel her @Jackiecobra