Legion Go S vs. ROG Ally X: Ryzen Z2 Go Trails Ryzen Z1 Extreme by 10% in Speed

AMD’s recent unveiling of the Ryzen Z2 Go APU has sparked a lot of curiosity in the gaming community, especially when it comes to how it stacks up against the Ryzen Z1 series. Thankfully, our questions were answered when Fps VN released FPS results comparing the Lenovo Legion Go S and the Asus ROG Ally X across three games, varying the power settings to see how each device performs.

The new Lenovo Legion Go S is equipped with the Ryzen Z2 Go APU. Although it has only half as many cores as the Z1 Extreme and runs on the older Zen 3+ architecture instead of Zen 4, its base and boost clock speeds are slightly lower—3.0 GHz compared to 3.3 GHz, and 4.3 GHz versus 5.1 GHz. Despite these differences, Lenovo opted for this APU in its latest handheld gaming device, raising questions about how it measures up against the high-performing Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip from the previous generation.

Before we dive into the FPS numbers, let’s review the basic specs of these two gaming devices. Unveiled at CES 2025, the Legion Go S relies on the AMD Ryzen Z2 Go processor combined with 16GB of LPDDR5X-6400 memory. It boasts a 512GB PCIe 4.0 SSD and features an eight-inch, 120 Hz, 1920×1200 IPS display. On the flip side, the Asus ROG Ally X, which debuted in mid-2024, comes with the more powerful AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip, 24GB of LPDDR5 memory, a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, and a slightly smaller seven-inch, 120 Hz, 1920×1080 IPS screen.

Now, looking at the FPS data from the tests, the Asus ROG Ally X generally came out on top, consistently outperforming the Lenovo Legion Go S. This isn’t too surprising given the Ally X’s advantages in cores and clock speeds, not to mention its updated 780M integrated GPU and double the L3 cache compared to the Legion Go S’s 680M GPU.

That said, the FPS difference across the three games was usually small, with the ROG Ally X only pulling ahead by about 4 FPS on average. Benchmark tests indicate that the Ryzen Z2 Go APU fell short by about 10% in performance compared to the Z1 Extreme.

Considering the spec differences, one might have expected a wider performance gap, especially since the Ally X has an extra 8GB of memory and a smaller screen with fewer pixels. Yet, it seems AMD and Lenovo have optimized the Z2 Go to perform admirably under the constraining sizes and power limitations of handheld gaming devices.

Price-wise, the Asus ROG Ally X goes for $799, while the Lenovo Legion Go is competitively priced at $729. So while the Ally X offers superior performance based on the raw numbers, the Legion Go might appeal to gamers who prefer the larger display and marginally lower price. After all, in real-world gameplay, most players probably won’t even notice a 4 FPS difference between these two devices.