Ryzen Z2 Go Appears to Lag 10% Behind Ryzen Z1 Extreme — Legion Go S Competes with ROG Ally X

AMD’s latest unveiling of the Ryzen Z2 Go APU has sparked quite the buzz, leaving many eager to understand how it stacks up against the Ryzen Z1 series. Luckily, Fps VN delivered some satisfying insights by sharing performance test results comparing the Lenovo Legion Go S with the Asus ROG Ally X across three distinct games, each tested under different power settings.

Lenovo’s latest, the Legion Go S, is powered by the Ryzen Z2 Go APU. Notably, this chip features half the cores of the Z1 Extreme and is built on the Zen 3+ architecture rather than the newer Zen 4. This results in decreased base (3.0 GHz compared to 3.3 GHz) and turbo (4.3 GHz versus 5.1 GHz) clock speeds. Yet, Lenovo selected it for their latest gaming handheld, leaving us curious about its performance versus AMD’s previous top-tier Ryzen Z1 Extreme.

Before diving into the performance comparisons, let’s take a look at the specifications of these two devices. Announced at CES 2025, the Lenovo Legion Go S is built around an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go processor and houses 16GB of LPDDR5X-6400 memory. It features a 512GB PCIe 4.0 SSD and showcases an eight-inch, 120 Hz, 1920×1200 IPS display. In contrast, the Asus ROG Ally X, which launched in mid-2024, runs on an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor paired with 24GB of LPDDR5 memory. It boasts a larger 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD and a seven-inch, 120 Hz, 1920×1080 IPS display.

Examining the data, we see that the Z1 Extreme in the Asus ROG Ally X consistently delivers stronger performance than the Ryzen Z2 Go in the Lenovo Legion Go S. This outcome is hardly surprising given the Z1 Extreme’s double core count, higher clock speeds, double the L3 cache, and a newer 780M integrated GPU compared to the Z2 Go’s 680M.

However, the performance difference across the three titles is surprisingly small, with the ROG Ally X maintaining only about a 4 FPS advantage on average. The benchmarks show the Ryzen Z2 Go achieving roughly 90% of the Ryzen Z1 Extreme’s performance.

Given the ROG Ally X’s advantage in memory size and resolution simplicity, we anticipated a wider performance gap. It appears AMD and Lenovo have effectively optimized the Z2 Go to perform admirably, despite the inherent power constraints associated with portable consoles.

With the Asus ROG Ally X priced at $799 and the Lenovo Legion Go slightly more affordable at $729, gamers face an interesting choice. While the Z1 Extreme-driven Ally X offers better raw performance, the Legion Go’s larger screen and slightly lower price might tip the scale for many, especially as most users may not notice the 4 FPS performance difference in day-to-day use.