Avoid ASUS ROG Xbox Ally Stick Drift With This $20 Upgrade Kit

Stick drift, which is when an analog stick registers movement without any input from a player, has been the bane of gamepad users. Even high end devices such as the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X (see our review), which have some nice holiday discounting at Amazon and Best Buy right now, employ analog sticks that are susceptible to this kind of degradation. Luckily, those who encounter this issue have a relatively cheap and easy way to fix it.

The pros at GuliKit, who have been making replacement stick kits for several years now, have partnered with ASUS to offer a set tailor made for the Xbox branded handheld. They’re Tunneling Magnetoresistance (TMR) sticks that are a cut above the potentiometer based joysticks that come stock. Once installed they should provide gamers with more precision during gameplay and will be more durable to boot.


The company has done an excellent job of making the installation of the replacement sticks as painless as possible. Installing them will only require a Phillips head screwdriver and a pair of tweezers to assist in unplugging a few cables, and no soldering is required. It’s a page ripped out of the Steam Deck playbook, which has led the way in making these kinds of easy upgrades more common.

Because GuliKit worked with ASUS to make these kits, the post installation process is smoother, too. Once installed, the sticks are automatically detected by the ASUS Armoury Crate app, which will walk users though the necessary steps needed to calibrate them so that they’re ready to go for gaming.

Players who encounter the scourge of stick drift, or just want to upgrade the analog sticks on their handheld for the best gaming experience possible, can pick up these new GuliKit sticks for $20 from Amazon.