Ryzen Z2 Go Appears 10% Slower Than Ryzen Z1 Extreme — Legion Go S Competes with ROG Ally X

AMD just rolled out its Ryzen Z2 Go APU, sparking plenty of chatter about how its performance stacks up against the Ryzen Z1 series. Thankfully, those burning questions got some answers when Fps VN shared some FPS results. They pitted Lenovo’s Legion Go S against the Asus ROG Ally X, comparing how each fares over three games using different power settings.

Let’s start with Lenovo’s latest release, the Legion Go S, which is sporting the Ryzen Z2 Go APU. While it only packs half the cores found in the Z1 Extreme and leans on a Zen 3+ architecture (instead of Zen 4), it does have slower base (3.0 GHz compared to 3.3 GHz) and boost (4.3 GHz as opposed to 5.1 GHz) clock speeds. Despite these changes, Lenovo decided to integrate it into their current gaming handheld lineup. Naturally, we wanted to see how it measures up against AMD’s previous heavy hitter, the Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip.

Before diving into the performance numbers, let’s review the specs of these two gaming powerhouses. Unveiled at CES 2025, the Lenovo Legion Go S features an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go processor, paired with 16GB of LPDDR5X-6400 RAM. It offers 512GB of PCIe 4.0 SSD storage and an eight-inch, 120 Hz 1920×1200 IPS display. On the flip side, the Asus ROG Ally X, which made its debut in mid-2024, boasts an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip with a beefier 24GB of LPDDR5 memory. It features a larger 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD and a seven-inch, 120 Hz 1920×1080 IPS display.

Taking a closer look at the performance data, it’s evident that the Asus ROG Ally X, powered by the Z1 Extreme, consistently delivers higher FPS across the board compared to the Lenovo Legion Go S equipped with the Z2 Go. This doesn’t come as a surprise, given the Z1 Extreme doubles the core count, runs on higher clock speeds, packs more L3 cache, and features a newer 780M integrated GPU compared to the 680M in the Z2 Go.

Nonetheless, the difference in FPS for all three games was relatively small, averaging a mere 4 FPS advantage for the ROG Ally X over the Legion Go S. The tests suggest that the Ryzen Z2 Go trails by approximately 10% in performance compared to the Ryzen Z1 Extreme.

One might’ve expected a wider performance gap, especially since the Ally X has an additional 8GB of memory and a slightly smaller screen with fewer pixels to push. However, it’s clear that AMD and Lenovo have finely tuned the Z2 Go to squeeze every bit of performance despite the handheld’s size and power constraints.

In terms of pricing, the Asus ROG Ally X comes in at $799, while the Lenovo Legion Go is competitively priced at $729. If you’re purely looking at performance, the Ally X and its Z1 Extreme chip still lead the pack. But for many gamers, the larger screen of the Legion Go and its slightly lower price might be more enticing, especially since the average user may not notice that 4FPS difference during gameplay.