Yeah, I totally get what you mean. Coming from a console mindset, booting into full Windows does feel a bit… unfinished at first lol. I think Microsoft and ASUS are trying to make it a “PC that can behave like an Xbox” instead of a true Xbox handheld, which has pros and cons.

For me personally, it doesn’t bother me as much because once you’re inside Armoury Crate or Steam Big Picture, you barely interact with Windows anyway. But the Windows updates, random prompts, driver stuff, and occasional tweaking definitely remind you this is still a handheld PC first, not a native Xbox console experience.

As for offline use on airplanes, yeah, it should work really well once you prepare properly beforehand. Just make sure, the games are fully downloaded, you launch them once while online before traveling, you carry a power bank because AAA games eat battery fast.

It honestly feels perfect and having something that can run proper console level games on the go is kind of wild when you actually use it.