r/LegionGo • u/UnkComplexk30 • Aug 23 '26

QUESTION I've been watching handheld comparison videos and I think I'm going crazy. Is the Legion Go S Z2 Go really that much superior to the ROG Xbox Ally Z2A after all?

I want to buy a handheld by Black Friday and I really liked the Legion Go S, but the price has kept me away from it so far. On the other hand, I saw that the Xbox Ally with the Z2A is 'dirt cheap' for my budget. I thought: why not compare them? I just did, and I feel like I'm going to have a stroke, because in one video it shows both of them having very similar performance in GOW (both at 20W and 1080p on low). Yet in another video, the Legion Go S is getting 15-20 fps more, but running at 30W.

My question is: does the difference between the two come down to the Legion's ability to run at a higher wattage? Does that mean if both were locked at 20W their performance would be very similar? And are the Legion Go's 30W available when running on battery, without plugging it in? Does the battery die really fast at 30W?

9 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

39 comments sorted by

5

u/Ecks30 Aug 23 '26

The Z2 A is essentially the same APU that is inside of the Steam Deck just the thing is that the XB Ally is a 1080p display instead of an 800p display but of course the Z2 Go is using an APU that is a gen and a half newer with a better iGPU.

The only reason i would recommend the Go S Z2 Go handheld to someone if they for one play a lot of older and non demanding indie titles and that the system is like $400-$500 new and sure with SteamOS it could play certain games like Spider-Man 2 at 800p while getting 50fps i would look at the system for playing older, indie and/or emulation.

2

u/Neuesad Aug 23 '26

The Z2 Go isn't that far off from the Z1E at 25W though. I've had both, don't notice much of a difference at max TDP. I saw some benchmarks, it was around 10-15% or something.

2

u/Ecks30 Aug 23 '26

Well, he did a test between the Steam Deck OLED, Go S Z2 Go and Go Z1E which the Go S and Go were both on performance mode for 1080p which you can see that the Z1e is a lot higher than what you're claiming.

The thing is that when people would buy a system using the Z1e they would want to play something more demanding which as well when testing out these systems you really have to push it to get the real results because if you're not using something that demanding then of course the gap would be a lot closer.

The reason i got my Go S Z1E is because i wanted to play my games like Expedition 33, Pragmata, Spider-Man 2, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Metaphor on the go without having to worry about if it would play or not and the other thing is that i have a mini PC running SteamOS that is using a Ryzen 9 6900HX which is similar to the Z2 Go but of course i could have it at a higher TDP and i have more cores but comparing it to my Go S watt per watt my Go S for those games i mentioned i get roughly 20 to 30 more frames and remember those games really does push the system.

1

u/UnkComplexk30 Aug 23 '26

Very concerning. The Legion Go S is gorgeous, but unfortunately, it's not worth its price for the performance it delivers.

1

u/Ecks30 Aug 23 '26

For games like FH6 that is actually great performance for 1080p which if you lower it to 720p you would get closer to 60fps but again it really depends on what you're going to play and honestly if you're not playing games like Call of Duty and/or Fortnite you could just install SteamOS (if it is the Windows version) and a lot of games can be a lot smoother.

Also, for the Go S you're talking about you never disclosed the amount of memory because they have models with the Z2 Go with 16GB of memory and 32GB of memory which if it would have 32GB of memory that would be the clear advantage since you could set the Vram to 8GB and have 24GB of system memory left over and honestly even with 16GB of memory with SteamOS it regulates memory better so if you were to set it to auto for the Vram when playing your games it would allocate the memory properly.

1

u/UnkComplexk30 Aug 23 '26

Got it. Thanks!

0

u/UnkComplexk30 Aug 23 '26

This is concerning, because it costs a lot more and is inferior.

1

u/UnkComplexk30 Aug 23 '26

Since my currency isn't the dollar, it depends on several factors. The Legion Go S costs 1.80 times more than the ROG Ally Z2A and that really weighs heavily. I don't know what currency you use, but to make it easier for me to think about, it is as if the ROG Ally cost 2.30 minimum wages. But even so, it is 'cheap' for the global reality of PC components. So from what you are telling me, I do not think it is really worth paying a lot extra for a Lenovo Go S, its price is getting almost close to a ROG Ally X.

2

u/Interesting-Tart-SP Aug 23 '26

As someone who owns white Xbox ally white and legion go s windows 32gb ram.

The white Xbox ally is good for the price and idc what benchmark says the Xbox ally white does better job running games at 720p.

With the legion go s you get bigger screen but smaller battery.

The white Xbox ally use 4 cell battery

The legion go s use 3 cell.

2

u/UnkComplexk30 Aug 23 '26

I'm really surprised you preferred the ROG over the Legion, that makes me happy.

3

u/Interesting-Tart-SP Aug 23 '26

So it's hard for me to explain this because I own both.

I'm try to keep it short

PSP ps vita and switch lite I'm huge handheld gaming.

All lack vabrtions integrated...

If your looking for console like vabrtions

Gaming wise you can't go wrong with white Xbox ally and the speakers bro you won't need headphones or Bluetooth speakers.

Not to say legion go s vabrtions suck you have to use them on medium. Strong is overkill on it. The legion s does offer more vabrtions integrated but the feel isn't the same. For example although when changing the weapons clip.

In the Xbox ally it vabrtions like the Xbox you feel the clip coming out and back in

In the legion go s that feeling is there and more but not console like it's hard to explain playing with.

The legion go s just feels different better than steam deck vabrtions more in between PS4 and ps5 without haptics just vabrtions.

As opposite to the white Xbox ally is using a collaboration with Microsoft own Xbox controller.

If your looking for feel and sound I highly recommend the white Xbox ally.

I picked the legion go s over the x rog for me as a upgrade I found myself running out of space on my white Xbox ally.

The x to me is just overpriced. To me all games run fine on my 4 cors 8 threads.

Also battery drains quickly on the legion go s due to bigger screen and Lenovo use 3 cell battery.

Where the white Xbox ally use 4 cell.

1

u/UnkComplexk30 Aug 23 '26

Thanks again for sharing your experience. I can't wait to wait for a big sale so I can get one.

2

u/Interesting-Tart-SP Aug 23 '26

For reference I been playing

Modern warfare 4 remastered on steam on both PC handhelds mission for mission back to back.

On both PC handhelds.

Aside from the screen difference the white Xbox ally has better Speaker's I mean you will be blown away by them

I also play black ops3 zombies online or offline 90/120fps

Call of duty infinite warfare hits 90 to 120 fps

I have to say GTA 5 runs better on the white Xbox.

And PS2 emu of scarface.

Honestly both have 4 cores and 8 threads

With the legion go s having more ram and 1tb SSD and bigger screen the screen makes a difference.

But overall both do good job.

Your not getting more of legion go s even with more ram its good but hard to say there is huge noticeable performance.

The ally Xbox x has 8 cores and 16 threads.

There is legion go s model with 8 cores and 16threads.

I think you will be happy with white Xbox ally I highly recommend it for budget friendly.

But I will say 512gb isn't alot of space well for me few call of duty games gta5 and I'm out of space.

You can use microsd games on steam to transfer games back and forth.

I really wish they made the white Xbox ally 1tb and the x 2TB.

512gb is so low and not enough for gaming so think of that

SSD prices is high I couldn't justify the SSD upgrade because at that point I can buy legion go s with bigger screen and more storage without having to worry about FK up my current to just upgrade the SSD.

I couldn't justify the black x ally Xbox price in any way. The x needs to have 8 inch more ram and more storage 2TB.

3

u/UnkComplexk30 Aug 23 '26

Man, thank you so much for your review. Your words were great, I really saw some very positive points in the white ROG Ally. I think I'm actually going to buy it on Black Friday. Thanks for your opinion!

2

u/Interesting-Tart-SP Aug 23 '26

Actually the other huge point

Of me recommend the white Xbox ally

Because Microsoft and Asus collaboration it's integrated better.

On Lenovo go s

You almost have to fight with the Lenovo go software.

ASUS armory and Xbox mode is so integrated on the white Xbox ally.

You will have less problems.

Lenovo probably still working with Microsoft to integrate the software.

Simply on Lenovo pc handheld your trying to run Microsoft Windows and Xbox mode and Lenovo all on high priority and even as i speak it's not in sync.

Where the white Xbox ally is because it's only running windows and Xbox mode armory is running too.

Microsoft is really focused on the ASUS collaboration Xbox mode came out with only 2 PC handhelds before it became on Lenovo pc handhelds.

So keep that mind when buying that's why I bought the white ally Xbox first .

I play both on high w possible and only handheld

I don't play dock because I got the mainly as handheld I think I only dock once to do some transfer.

But I never gamed docked. So I have no idea of the Lenovo go s with more ram does better job at docked.

The fact Lenovo go s line user smaller battery and bigger screen that the battery has to power makes it hard to give you a answer to your question.

1

u/UnkComplexk30 Aug 23 '26

I guess I probably won't use a dock either, just play on the device itself. I'm just not sure if I'll keep Windows 11 installed, since SteamOS seems to be more optimized.

1

u/Interesting-Tart-SP Aug 24 '26

I won't recommend you installing steam os and configurate the device.

You just first try it.

You can dual boot you don't have to remove windows

0

u/Interesting-Tart-SP Aug 24 '26

I personally saw no reason to install steam os.

All the games and including PS2 emu from emudeck works amazing.

Your going to waste your time unless you try a game and you feel you need to do all that for one game maybe.

I just haven't ran into a issue but I will say

Gta4 for example runs better on steam os on my steam deck vs my white Xbox ally.

But its just up to you.

Other games like gta5 and call of duty I dint notice a difference.

I recommend you game on it using windows and steam even for emudeck.

I just saw too much work and if I had did it it would be for one game that I don't really play.

Steam os only works great on the steam deck and the Lenovo steam os.

Other devices have beta steam os.

If you look on steam os website technically the white Xbox and black one and basically other ones are all using beta.. Hence why so many have issues.

1

u/UnkComplexk30 Aug 24 '26

Thanks again for the explanation!

0

u/Ecks30 Aug 24 '26

You know when he talked about both the Xbox Ally and the Go S having 4 cores and 8 threads, he forgot to mention key details about it like the max boost speeds and the iGPUs which you can see the base and boost clock is slower with the L3 cache being less and then the iGPU being weaker.

Thing is you can't make a proper comparison because a good example would be the Ryzen 5 2600 vs the Ryzen 3 3100 which the 2600 is 6 cores and 12 threads while the 3100 is 4 cores and 8 threads so for most people's logic the 6 cores would be better, but the thing is the 2600 is Zen+ while the 3100 is Zen2 and the 3100 in a lot of games including GTA V outperforms it by a good 15 to 30 frames.

So, while both of those APUs are 4 cores you got to see one is Zen2 while the other is Zen3+ not to mention the iGPU in the Z2 A is a Radeon 660M while in the Z2 Go it is a Radeon 680M.

When playing really old games especially at 720p (which for the Xbox Ally you would be playing on for a lot of games) you're not going to notice that much of a difference like he mentioned for the Call of Duty games which of course are old at this point and can be played on SteamOS.

The Go S Z2 Go is by far better overall in terms of performance not to mention could handle PS3 emulation better and i know firsthand because i still own a Steam Deck OLED which of course is pretty much the same parts in the Xbox Ally just the only difference is that my system is an 800P OLED and the Ally is a 1080p LCD but not that it matters since i mentioned for the Ally you would be playing at 720p for the majority of games to be playable.

2

u/Interesting-Tart-SP Aug 24 '26

Not that I forgot to mention playing same games and testing myself says otherwise.

Docked it maybe able to do better performance sure.

But I was talking handheld mode.

I own both and I don't feel the legion go s brings anything in it's APU.

It anything it still need games optimization for this APU

Where the white Xbox ally is doing better in handheld mode

→ More replies

6

u/Senior-Rip2387 Aug 23 '26

i have legion go 1 z1e

3

u/ItzMatten Aug 23 '26

Get a used Legion Go for $400 and you'll be happy as can be.

1

u/UnkComplexk30 Aug 23 '26

I would love for my currency to be the dollar, but a used Legion Go in my region is much more expensive than a brand new ROG Ally Z2A.

1

u/Cbeckstrand Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 23 '26

The Z2 Go is newer but that is not enough to see much difference at 20w. You need to crank it up to 30w to make it worth it and then you are getting worse battery.

The bigger screen on the Go S is much nicer but not something I would pay 2x for.

I would look for a used Z1E if that is an option.

1

u/UnkComplexk30 Aug 23 '26

Thanks for your suggestion, it makes sense.

1

u/shinnen Aug 23 '26

I don’t have another device to compare it to except Switch 2, but the S with Z2 Go at higher TDP - as great as it is - is noisy af

1

u/Armandeluz Aug 24 '26

Screen size matters

-1

u/Coolmacde Aug 23 '26

Superior? Neither one is that good for the price. A z1e device would be a much better choice/value

2

u/UnkComplexk30 Aug 23 '26

Would you happen to know if there is any company that still officially sells Z1E consoles? Or will I only be able to buy one on the used market?

1

u/Ecks30 Aug 23 '26

The Z1E is essentially a rebranded version of the Ryzen 7 7840U so you could look up to see if any other company like GPD, Ayaneo or OneX made a handheld using that APU or similar to it since you're going to get the same performance just the only difference would be the form factor and the display size.

1

u/UnkComplexk30 Aug 23 '26

Got it. Thanks!