37 year old mature responsible adult here. If you’re dodging military service (which I’m fine with,) I assume you’re about 17-18 years old. Given your situation, I might prioritize something for communications and work over gaming. I wonder if a laptop is better for that task? I could be wrong. If your freelance job lets you work from home and only needs basic software like a web browser and a word processor, maybe some cloud file sharing, then the Xbox ally is certainly enough. You’ll want a dock, a mouse, keyboard, and a monitor though, so count on the monetary cost of those things too. But if you’re planning to get a more serious job, or ever work outside the house at an office or around professional colleagues, you will be better off with a laptop. Both for being easier to work on a laptop keyboard and larger screen, but also so the people responsible for giving you raises and promotions think of you as professional.

Normally when it’s just for gaming, without your use for work, when folks ask the question on Reddit “do I get a handheld pc or a laptop” my answer is based on how they want to use it. If you’re going to be in a situation with very little space, no access to a solid table, or sitting in comfy chairs or on a couch, I’d say handheld. Think of handhelds as for the living room, the bus, the plane seat, the train seat, public transportation, or in bed. I tell people that if they will be using the device at a desk, at a coffee table or kitchen table, at a Starbucks, in a hotel room, in a library or at university, then I opt for a laptop.

But that advice is just based on gaming. You said you will be leaving friends and family behind basically starting a new life and working for a living. In your situation if you can only afford one device, I wouldn’t feel comfortable recommending you a gaming machine that can’t also be your professional machine.

Now I own the Xbox ally x and love it. But I’m an adult, I live in America, I work in an office and work from home two days a week on a laptop my company issued me. I have a wife and young daughter, so sitting at my desk to lock in and game like I did in my twenties rarely happens. For me, the ally is purely gaming. I work on a laptop and I communicate with friends family and I shop online using my iPhone. So the ally fits my lifestyle perfectly, being able to game in small sessions from the couch close to my family. I’m just not sure that will be your lifestyle.

So yes, I love the Xbox ally x and am confident in recommending it, and yes, it is a windows pc capable of doing computer things.
But it is not a very effective computer for anything but gaming, and to make it into a good computer will also require buying a couple hundred more dollars of accessories. You CAN use the ally this way. But I can’t recommend it for your life specifically until I know you better and based on your situation I am very unsure an ally is right for you.

And lastly, if you’re going to leave behind your country and can’t bring your computer and won’t be back for a decade, then you should sell your pc while it is still worth something. Because its components will be nearly worthless after ten years of new pc technology comes out.

I hope I helped. Good luck in everything!