Work is well underway on the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip, which looks set to power the next generation of Asus ROG Ally handhelds and many others. It will compete with Intelβs Lunar Lake chips and is based on the Strix Point architecture.
AMD already powers some of the best handheld gaming PCs, including Valveβs Steam Deck and theΒ Asus ROG Ally X, but this new chip looks to improve upon multiple facets of performance including better memory optimization and power management.
The biggest upgrade of note in the Ryzen Z2 will be a larger iGPU, coming with 16 compute units, instead of the 12 in the previous Phoenix Point mobile processors. Thatβs aΒ a 33% uplift thatΒ we would generally expect to result in a similar level of performance gaming improvement.
In terms of graphical architecture, the Ryzen Z2 will use RDNA 3.5, which improves upon the RDNA 3 in the Ryzen Z1 Extreme, though notably isnβt as much of a step up as the brand new RDNA 4 architecture weβre expecting to power AMDβs next generation of desktop GPUs. Nonetheless, the newer chip architecture as a whole enables improved battery efficiency when gaming as well as better optimization with LPDDR5 memory.
According to Digital Trends, designers of the next ROG Ally handheld have suggested that demanding games like Black Myth: Wukong will run for well over an hour, something not possible on the Ally X, despite its 80Wh battery.
In the same report, itβs said that AMD is targeting early 2025 for a release. This is likely when we can expect to see the first AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme handheld, and while signs point to Asus as the leading candidate, its recent Ally X release might signal that itβs too soon for yet another handheld.
Instead, we could be looking at an update to the Lenovo Legion Go, or more surprisingly, AMD could be working with Valve on the Steam Deck 2. Given how underpowered its existing handhelds are, it wouldnβt be a surprise to see a new superpowered Steam Deck beat its competitors to the punch and release with AMDβs newest chip powering it.
For more handheld updates, check out our hands-on previews for both the MSI Claw 8 AI+ and Acer Nitro Blaze 7. Both devices have different challenges to overcome and we got our hands on both at IFA 2024.
