Ryzen Z2 Go is seemingly 10% slower than Ryzen Z1 Extreme — Legion Go S clashes with ROG Ally X

AMD recently announced the Ryzen Z2 Go APU, so there are a lot of questions about the amount of performance it brings to the table compared to the Ryzen Z1 series. Thankfully, our curiosity was fulfilled by Fps VN when they shared the FPS test results of the Lenovo Legion Go S versus the Asus ROG Ally X across three games with different power settings.

Lenovo launched the Legion Go S, featuring the Ryzen Z2 Go APU. It has half the cores of the Z1 Extreme and uses a Zen 3+ architecture (instead of Zen 4). It also has lower base (3.0 GHz vs. 3.3 GHz) and boost (4.3 GHz vs. 5.1 GHz) clocks. Nevertheless, Lenovo chose it for its latest gaming handhelds, so we’re curious to see how it performs against the previous generation's top-of-the-line AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip.

Before diving into the numbers, let’s first look at the general specifications of both devices. The Lenovo Legion Go S, launched at CES 2025, is powered by an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go processor with 16GB LPDDR5X-6400 memory. It sports a 512GB PCIe 4.0 storage SSD and an eight-inch, 120 Hz, 1920x1200 IPS display. On the other hand, the Asus ROG Ally X, launched in mid-2024, uses an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip with 24GB of LPDDR5 memory. It also has a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD for storage and uses a seven-inch, 120 Hz, 1920x1080 IPS screen.

The data show that the Z1 Extreme on the Asus ROG Ally X consistently outperformed the Z2 Go installed on the Lenovo Legion Go S. This is expected since the Z1 Extreme has double the cores and higher clock speeds than the Z2 Go. It also has double the L3 cache, and its 780M integrated GPU is newer than the 680M on the Z2 Go.

However, the difference between all three titles was minuscule, averaging around 4 FPS more on the ROG Ally X versus the Legion Go S. According to the benchmarks, the Ryzen Z2 Go delivered approximately 10% lower performance than the Ryzen Z1 Extreme.

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We expected a larger gap between the two, considering that the Ally X has 8GB more memory and a slightly smaller screen with a lower resolution (therefore fewer pixels to run). However, AMD and Lenovo seem to have optimized the Z2 Go to deliver this kind of performance despite the power limitations imposed by handheld consoles' size and portability.

The Asus ROG Ally X is priced at $799, while the Lenovo Legion Go isn’t far behind at $729. If we look at absolute numbers, the Z1 Extreme-powered Ally X offers better performance than its newer competitor. However, gamers might be swayed by the larger screen on the Legion Go and the lower price tag, especially as most people won’t likely see the 4FPS difference between these handhelds.