Smach Z, dubbed as the most powerful handheld gaming console, has just gotten even more potent. The Smach Team has given the Smach Z some quality upgrades, which will surely appease the device's backers.
The original Smach Z and its Pro and Ultra were slated to employ AMD's Ryzen Embedded V1605B chip, which fuses four Zen cores with eight Vega Cores. However, the plans have apparently changed as the Smach Team has recently announced that the handheld device will feature the flagship V1807B part instead. The processor alone is a huge upgrade, and it's easy to see why.
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Smach Z | Improved Smach Z |
| Processor | Ryzen Embedded V1605B | Ryzen Embedded V1807B |
| Cores / Threads | 4 / 8 | 4 / 8 |
| Base / Boost Clocks | 2.0 GHz / 3.6 GHz | 3.35 GHz / 3.8 GHz |
| Graphics | Radeon Vega 8 | Radeon RX Vega 11 |
| Compute Units | 8 | 11 |
| GPU Clock | 1,100 MHz | 1,300 MHz |
| Memory | Up to 16GB DDR4-2133 | Up to 32GB DDR4-2133 |
| Storage | Up to 256GB SSD | Up to 480GB SSD |
Although both the V1605B and V1807B are four-core, eight-thread processors, the latter boasts significantly higher operating clocks. The V1605B has a 2 GHz base clock and 3.6 GHz boost clock. The V1807B, on the other hand, sports a 3.35 GHz base clock and 3.8 GHz boost clock. We're looking at gains of 67.5% and 5.56%, respectively. Nevertheless, the most beneficial improvement resides in the graphics area.
The V1605B comes equipped with Radeon Vega 8 graphics, meaning it has eight Compute Units (CUs) running at 1,100 MHz. The V1807B has a more beefy Radeon RX Vega 11 graphics solution. The 11 CUs operate at 1,300 MHz. The two extra CUs and 200 MHz clock increase should substantially help increase graphics performance on Smach Z.
The only caveat with having a more powerful processor is the heat and power consumption. The V1605B has a configurable TDP (thermal design power) between 12W to 25W. Naturally, the V1807B comes with higher values, 35W to 54W to be exact. We guess that the Smach Team would most likely have to redesign the original cooling system. They will probably have to outfit the device with a larger battery too if the team intend to maintain the five hours of gaming time that they are so keen on selling.
With the processor aside, the Smach Z will also be receiving memory and storage upgrades. The new and enhanced version can house up to 32GB of DDR4-2133 memory and 480GB of solid-state storage.
Logic tells us that the move from the V1605B to the V1807B should increase pricing across all three Smach Z models. However, the Smach Team didn't specify in the press release just how much. For reference, the Smach Z, Smach Z Pro, and Smach Z Ultra cost $699, $899 and $1099, respectively. It would be reasonable to expect an increase around 5% to 10% in pricing unless the Smach Team was able to strike a deal with AMD to get the more powerful chips for the same price as the original ones.
