Microsoft’s DLSS competitor is now available on the Xbox Ally X handheld

Microsoft is starting to test its Automatic Super Resolution (Auto SR) feature with the Xbox Ally X. Auto SR first debuted on some Copilot Plus PCs nearly two years ago, improving visual quality and frame rates in select games. Now, Microsoft is testing it for docked play on the Xbox Ally X, allowing the 7-inch handheld to improve resolution and graphical settings for bigger TV screens.

“Docked play means larger screens and higher resolutions, where drops in image quality are more noticeable or where some games struggle to maintain smooth FPS,” says Microsoft in a detailed blog post on Auto SR. “That’s exactly the problem Auto SR was designed to solve, so we’re starting the preview with docked mode where we expect players will see the most value.”

Auto SR works much like Nvidia’s DLSS, rendering a game at lower resolution to boost frame rates and then upscaling those frames to improve image quality. DLSS has become surprisingly popular in recent years, with more than 80 percent of RTX GPU owners activating DLSS upscaling. “It is often a core part of how many modern games render, and players expect it,” says Microsoft.

Not every game ships with DLSS, AMD’s FSR, or Intel’s XeSS, but Microsoft’s Auto SR is built into Windows and can apply super resolution to existing games without game-integrated options. It’s not clear how well this will work across a variety of different games. Originally Auto SR was something Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon laptops would do automatically for 12 whitelisted games, and now it’s on an AMD handheld and Microsoft says you can toggle it on for DirectX 10 or later games with varying results.

Microsoft is demonstrating how Auto SR can boost frame rates and texture details in Forza Horizon 5. The company is specifically leveraging the NPU chip on the Xbox Ally X to avoid impacting frame rates on the GPU side.

Auto SR will be integrated into the Game Bar on the Xbox Ally X, allowing players to toggle it on or off for games. Microsoft says it will be most useful for games running below 60fps, to help titles run more smoothly. If you want to start testing Auto SR on an Xbox Ally X, all you have to do is join the Xbox Insider program.

Alongside Auto SR, Microsoft and Asus are also improving the docking experience of the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X devices. Gameplay will now move to the TV and the handheld display will automatically turn off when you connect to a TV, and the ROG Bulwark will now unlock Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) for smoother gameplay on compatible TVs. Microsoft is also working on extending this to other “Designed for Xbox” docks in the future.

There’s also a new display widget in the Game Bar to control resolution, refresh rates, and project modes without having to leave a game. Microsoft has also disabled the built-in controls on a docked Xbox Ally if you’ve paired an Xbox controller. If you want to navigate around with a cursor, a new Gamepad Cursor option makes it easy to control apps that aren’t designed for a controller. Microsoft and Asus are also adding “enhanced vibration” haptic feedback to the Xbox Ally devices to better match “what you expect across Xbox devices.”

Finally, Microsoft is also improving the experience of a single library of games from a variety of different PC storefronts on the Xbox Ally devices. “Rolling out this month, you can now add, remove, edit, and launch any installed game or app directly from the Xbox experience — including games from other PC gaming storefronts and launchers,“ says Roanne Sones, CVP of gaming devices and ecosystem at Xbox.