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

AMD recently unveiled their new Ryzen Z2 Go APU, sparking a wave of curiosity regarding its performance against the Ryzen Z1 series. To shed some light on this, FPS VN provided detailed FPS test results comparing the Lenovo Legion Go S and the Asus ROG Ally X across three different games and varying power settings.

Lenovo has introduced the Legion Go S, powered by the Ryzen Z2 Go APU. While it has half the cores of the Z1 Extreme and runs on a Zen 3+ architecture (rather than Zen 4), its base (3.0 GHz compared to 3.3 GHz) and boost (4.3 GHz versus 5.1 GHz) clock speeds are also lower. Despite these differences, Lenovo still opted for this APU for its latest handheld gaming devices. Naturally, this prompts us to investigate how it stacks up against the previous generation’s top-tier AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip.

Before we jump into the performance data, let’s briefly touch on the specs of both devices. Launched at CES 2025, the Lenovo Legion Go S is equipped with an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go processor, 16GB LPDDR5X-6400 memory, a 512GB PCIe 4.0 SSD, and boasts an eight-inch, 120 Hz, 1920×1200 IPS display. The Asus ROG Ally X, released in mid-2024, packs an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip with 24GB of LPDDR5 memory, offers a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD for storage, and features a seven-inch, 120 Hz, 1920×1080 IPS screen.

Here’s a quick peek at the performance numbers:

• Black Myth Wukong: At 720p Medium and 15W, the Legion Go S averaged 36 FPS while the Ally X managed 40 FPS. Increasing to 1080p Low FSR and 20W, results flipped slightly with 30 FPS for Legion and 32 FPS for Ally. Cranking it up to 1080p Low FSR at 30W saw the Legion at 60 FPS and the Ally at 64 FPS.

• Cyberpunk 2077: For 720p Medium at 15W, Legion hit 50 FPS and Ally achieved 54 FPS. At 1080p Low FSR with 20W, figures showed 45 FPS for Legion and 47 FPS for Ally. At 1080p Medium FSR and 30W, the Legion clocked 61 FPS with the Ally showing 66 FPS.

• Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut: Playing at 720p Medium and 15W, Legion notched 62 FPS with Ally at 66 FPS. At 1080p Medium FSR using 20W, the Legion came in at 48 FPS with Ally at 52 FPS. Finally, maintaining settings at 1080p Medium FSR but 30W, both reached 62 FPS for Legion and 66 FPS for Ally.

The performance figures indicate that the Z1 Extreme in the ROG Ally X consistently edges out the Z2 Go in the Legion Go S. This makes sense given that the Z1 Extreme features twice the cores, higher clock speeds, and greater L3 cache, coupled with a more advanced 780M integrated GPU over the 680M in the Z2 Go.

However, it’s worth noting that the FPS disparity across the games was relatively minor, averaging around a 4 FPS advantage for the Ally X. The tests indicate that the Ryzen Z2 Go delivers roughly 10% lower performance compared to the Ryzen Z1 Extreme.

With such close results, especially taking into account that the Ally X has 8GB more memory and a smaller, lower-resolution display (thus fewer pixels to drive), it’s clear that AMD and Lenovo have optimized the Z2 Go to perform efficiently even within the compact, power-constrained environment of handheld devices.

The Asus ROG Ally X is priced at $799, a touch higher than the $729 Lenovo Legion Go S. Though the Z1 Extreme-powered Ally X is technically superior, many gamers might lean towards the Legion Go for its slightly larger screen and compelling price, particularly since the average user may not discern the nominal 4FPS margin between these two robust handheld options.