HOT STUFF

ALL THE BIGGEST STORIES FROM PLANET TECH

- Tom Wiggins

HOT FIVE #1 GET YOUR BOX OFF

Asus ROG Xbox Ally X

Rumours of a portable Xbox have been floating around longer than the wait for Grand Theft Auto VI—but as long as this new handheld console's winter release date doesn't slip, it should still arrive before Rockstar's long-awaited crime-'em-up.

While it doesn't have Microsoft in the name, and it's Asus's ROG branding that is most prominent underneath the 7in 1080p screen, this is an Xbox through and through. It actually runs Windows 11 Home, but you wouldn't know it because the full-screen Xbox interface means it doesn't have to load all the usual boring desktop stuff like the taskbar, meaning the AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor and 24GB of RAM can focus on what they do best: gaming on the go.

You can do that by downloading games to its 1TB of storage, with the likes of Xbox Game Pass and Steam supported, plus it'll stream via Xbox Cloud Gaming or directly from your main console if somebody else is selfishly watching the telly. You'll be able to run Windows apps too, but that would mean taking a break from playing GTA V all day and night.

Well, what else are you going to do while you wait for the new one?

As hot as... summer in Vice City £tba / go.stuff.tv/XboxAllyX

HOT FIVE #2

DO YA THINK I'M X-E? Fujifilm X-E5

IBIS might make you think of a chain of affordable hotels, but in the world of photography it's got more to do with taking sharp snaps than short breaks. Fujifilm's X-E5 has five-axis in-body image stabilisation – a feature that was missing from its predecessor – meaning you get seven stops of compensation for blur-free 40.2MP stills and nicely steady videos.