AMD is working on the Z2 Extreme, and it’s set to show up in early 2025. In a joint Q&A session between AMD and Microsoft attended by Digital Trends, AMD revealed that it’s targeting an “early 2025” release for the Z2 Extreme. It’s one of the larger announcements to come out of IFA 2024, which already held surprises for handheld gaming PCs like the new Acer Nitro Blaze 7.
Most of the best handheld gaming PCs currently use AMD’s Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip. That’s true of the Lenovo Legion Go all the way to the recent Asus ROG Ally X. A refresh early next year would likely prompt a wave of new devices that leverage the new chip for higher performance and better battery life.
That last point is particularly important to AMD, it seems, as AMD’s Jack Huynh highlighted wanting to play Black Myth: Wukong for three hours on a handheld, not the 45 minutes or so you can get on current handhelds. New features like AMD’s Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF) can help extend the battery life on devices like the Asus ROG Ally, and it seems AI-driven features are a target for the new Z2 Extreme chip.
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AMD didn’t share any performance estimates about the Z2 Extreme, but we should know more about the chip early next year. AMD says it’s working with several partners currently, which could mean refreshes from Asus and Lenovo. MSI has already announced its next generation handheld built on a Lunar Lake CPU from Intel, so it doesn’t seem that device will get the Z2 Extreme treatment.
The lingering question is the Steam Deck. Valve updated the chip inside the Steam Deck OLED, but it’s still using a much weaker design compared to the Z1 Extreme. With the rise of handheld gaming PCs, it’s possible AMD is working with Valve behind the scenes to bring the Steam Deck 2 to market, potentially with the Z2 Extreme under the hood.
Although the Z2 Extreme is sure to bring some performance improvements, battery life is still the key concern on Windows handhelds. If AMD is able to deliver only a slight bump to performance while massively increasing efficiency, that would be a huge boost for handheld gaming PCs.
