New Legion Go S Test Reveals Slower Ryzen Z2 Go Graphics Performance

The current situation with Lenovo’s Legion Go S is a strange one. Here in the US, Best Buy cites February 14, 2025 as the release date, and major online retailers like Amazon don’t even have a pre-order page. Meanwhile, several customers who pre-ordered the Legion Go S in the UK have already received their new handhelds, despite retailers in that region listing an initial shipping date of January 22, 2025.

Fortunately, one of those early recipients of the Legion Go S happens to run a YouTube channel called Mash IT, which just published an unboxing video of the device complete with a 3DMark Time Spy score.

With this first Legion Go S SKU rocking the Lenovo-exclusive AMD Ryzen Z2 Go processor, handheld gaming enthusiasts have been craving some kind of performance picture. How does the new Legion Go S stack up against the original Legion Go, or the ROG Ally X in terms of pure graphics performance?

Time Spy: Legion Go S VS Legion Go VS ROG Ally

In the video below, Mash IT runs a 3DMark Time Spy benchmark with the Legion Go S set to its “Performance” power profile. Time Spy is a demanding DirectX 12 benchmark that can be used to gauge relative graphics performance across multiple devices and GPUs. At first, the Legion Go S turns in a graphics score of 2152.

It’s important to note, however, that the channel updated the video’s description with a revised Time Spy Graphics score of 2400, so let’s move forward with that higher result.

I ran the same test this morning on my fully updated Legion Go and ROG Ally, both of which feature AMD’s more powerful Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor. Both devices were set to Performance and Turbo profiles, respectively. Here are my results:

The takeaway is that the Legion Go S Turns In 16% lower graphics performance than the Legion Go in this test. Against the ROG Ally Z1, the Legion Go S is 9% slower.

I’m ignoring the overall score and isolated CPU score and just focusing on graphics performance, because the Ryzen Z2 Go has half the cores of the Z1 Extreme, and slower boost clocks.

Taking that into account, I don’t consider this a disappointing result.

But if you were on the fence waiting to see if this debut Windows version of the Legion Go S would outperform the original Legion Go S or updated ROG Ally Z1/X handhelds, I feel confident saying it won’t. That said, it’s important to wait for battery life results and real-world game tests before making a final decision.

Is the Legion Go S with a Ryzen Z2 Go faster than the Steam Deck at equivalent resolutions? I suspect it will be, but we won’t know for sure until official reviews land closer to the end of the month or early February.

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