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REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft has fully released Automatic Super Resolution, its AI-powered upscaling technology, for the ROG Xbox Ally X handheld gaming PC. The feature now works in handheld mode, including on battery, after months in which it worked only when the device was docked.

The company said the feature, known as Auto SR, has left preview and is now available on the ROG Xbox Ally X and the newer, higher-priced ROG Xbox Ally X20, as well as on selected Copilot+ PCs powered by AMD Ryzen processors.

Auto SR is Microsoft's answer to Nvidia's DLSS, AMD's FSR and Intel's XeSS. Those technologies render games at a lower resolution and then use algorithms to sharpen the image, letting hardware run games faster without a big drop in visual quality.

From the dock to your hands

Microsoft first brought Auto SR to the ROG Xbox Ally X as a preview for Xbox Insider testers earlier this year. That version worked only when the handheld was docked and connected to a TV or monitor, so many owners who play on the go never used it.

The full release removes that limit. Auto SR now works in handheld mode, including on battery, and supports the device's full 1080p screen resolution. During the preview, games had to run below 1080p before the feature would turn on.

Microsoft cautioned that running games at full 1080p in handheld mode may come at a cost. "Performance may not be as optimal as other configurations," the company said in a post on its DirectX developer blog, adding that Auto SR should still bring visual improvements, "especially in older games."

When docked to a higher-resolution TV or monitor, Auto SR can upscale games to 1440p.

Performance mode and Auto HDR

Microsoft also announced a new Performance Mode that raises Auto SR's frame-rate ceiling to 120 frames per second, and said Auto SR will now work alongside Auto HDR, the Windows feature that adds high-dynamic-range color to games that don't support it natively.

Those features will arrive through regular Windows updates. They "will be rolling out with Windows updates so they may take a little time to reach your device," Microsoft said.

Owners can install or update the Auto Super Resolution Package through the Microsoft Store.

Hardware requirements

Auto SR runs on a neural processing unit, a chip designed for AI tasks, rather than on the graphics processor, so it doesn't take power away from rendering the game. That means it works only on devices with an NPU.

The ROG Xbox Ally X uses AMD's Ryzen Z2 AI Extreme chip, which includes one. The cheaper base ROG Xbox Ally does not have an NPU and can't use the feature. Earlier Asus handhelds, including the original ROG Ally and ROG Ally X, which use the Z1 Extreme chip, are also excluded.

When Microsoft first announced the feature, it said Auto SR could boost handheld performance by up to 30%. In one demonstration, Forza Horizon 5 ran at an average of 35 frames per second without upscaling and 51 with Auto SR turned on.

A crowded upscaling market

The release comes weeks after AMD launched FSR 4.1 for ROG Ally devices with Z2 Extreme processors, giving owners several upscaling options.

The ROG Xbox Ally handhelds, built by Asus with Microsoft's Xbox branding, went on sale in October 2025. The Ally X launched at $999.99 in the United States. Both run Windows 11 with a full-screen Xbox interface designed for controller use, part of Microsoft's broader effort to bring a console-like experience to Windows gaming PCs.