Asus is finally making its external graphics card useful

By Jacob Roach Published January 6, 2025

A few years back, Asus had an idea — what if you could carry around an extremely portable device like the ROG Flow Z13 on the go, but give it a big boost of power with external graphics when you sat down at a desk? The solution was the XG Mobile, which was an all-in-one device that gave you an external GPU and full desktop connectivity over a single cable. The problem was that Asus used its own proprietary cable design and connection, limiting the flexibility of its external graphics.

At CES 2025, Asus is finally addressing that problem.

The 2025 XG Mobile ditches Asus’ proprietary connection in favor of Thunderbolt 5, allowing you to use it with virtually any device with a Thunderbolt connection. That includes older devices with Asus’ XG connection, such as the original ROG Ally, as well as devices packing a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 port. Asus claims its new XG Mobile is fully backward compatible, and optimizes the full speed of the Thunderbolt connection.

It’s not just a new connection, either. Asus redesigned the XG Mobile from top to bottom. Internally, Asus says the 2025 XG Mobile is 3 decibels quieter than the previous version, largely due to a new vapor chamber design, which Asus says offers 54% more cooling surface area. The company also says it’s the thinnest and lightest external GPU it has ever made, clocking in at 1.2 inches thick and 2.1 pounds.

For connectivity, Asus includes HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.1, an SD card reader, and dual USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, along with the Thunderbolt 5 connection, of course. The external shell has been redesigned as well, now sporting a semi-transparent case and RGB lighting that you can customize with Asus’ Armoury Crate software.

The big question about this external GPU is, well, the GPU. Asus says the 2025 XG Mobile will include Nvidia’s new RTX 50-series mobile GPUs, but it hasn’t shared which graphics cards out of the new lineup the XG Mobile will pack. The previous version offered up to an RTX 4090, though it’s possible Asus will scale down to accommodate the smaller size.

Although the 2025 XG Mobile solves the connectivity issue, it could still encounter software issues. That’s certainly what I experienced when using the XG Mobile with the ROG Ally, as driver conflicts caused full system crashes in some cases. Price has been an issue with the XG Mobile in the past as well — the external GPU alone can cost as much or more than the device you’re plugging it into.

We’ll just have to wait until the 2025 XG Mobile is here to see if Asus has solved those problems. Asus hasn’t revealed pricing or release date details yet, though the 2025 XG Mobile should show up around the time Asus rolls out its 2025 gaming laptops, which begins in February.