The current crop of gaming handhelds pretty much all feature AMD’s Ryzen processors one way or another, with some exceptions (such as MSI Claw); with Ryzen Z1 already serving the market for over a year now, it is about time for a successor to be introduced for the next wave of handhelds.
AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme
Digital Trends reported on-site that AMD has, along with Microsoft, confirmed the successor of its handheld-optimized chip in a joint Q&A session. Currently, Ryzen Z1 is found in devices like ASUS ROG Ally X and Lenovo Legion Go, though new entrants in the gaming handheld market has so far opted to use standard but newer laptop APUs such as the Ryzen 7 8845U (ZOTAC Gaming Zone) and Ryzen 7 8845HS (Acer Nitro Blaze 7).
One potential key upgrade of the Ryzen Z2 Extreme, according to AMD’s Jack Huynh (SVP & GM of Computing and Graphics Business Group), is battery life. Huynh took Black Myth: Wukong as an example – currently, it’ll only last around 45 minutes in gaming handhelds; the chipmaker is targeting as much as three hours, though it’s unlikely that this will be achieved by the one generation’s worth of chip upgrades alone. That said, the chipmaker does have a few tricks up its sleeve, such as AMD Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF) that can cut down on power draw, which is crucial for handhelds.
If Ryzen Z2 Extreme is to adopt any existing laptop architectures, it is most likely featuring Zen 5 – in other words, Strix Point APUs. Currently, only the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and Ryzen AI 9 365 has been introduced in laptops thus far, and the former is capable of delivering performance nearing that of an entry-level gaming laptop five years ago.
Pokdepinion: I expect the gaming handheld market to get very crowded next year, especially as mainstream PC makers are racing to release their own implementations. It’s been a long way since Steam Deck debuted!
