I'm excited to share my firsthand experience playing Battlefield 2042 on two different devices: the ROG Ally and Legion Go. My journey began with the Legion Go, and I must say, I was thoroughly impressed.
I started off at 1200p with a custom 30W TDP and low preset. Remarkably, the game maintained over 40 frames per second (fps) even in intense 32 vs. 32 player maps. Although there were occasional dips into the 30s, the gameplay was predominantly smooth around 40 fps. I did encounter some issues with my aiming while using the controller mode, but connecting a keyboard and mouse could potentially enhance the experience.
However, my experience with the ROG Ally was quite the opposite. Despite running on the beta 28WW BIOS with the beta graphics driver, the ROG Ally struggled significantly at 900p and 30W. The fps often failed to maintain above 30, and the frame time and AP wattage were erratic. This disappointing performance persisted even after updating to the latest official BIOS and AMD graphics driver. Reducing the resolution to 720p did improve stability slightly, indicating around 60 fps, but this was short-lived. As soon as I encountered action-packed scenes or new areas, the fps plummeted, leading to a stutter-filled experience. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend playing Battlefield 2042 on the RG Ally.
In contrast, when I switched back to the Legion Go and reduced the resolution to 720p (strangely, it doesn’t support 800p on an external monitor), I set the graphics to medium settings. To my surprise, the game ran smoothly, mostly maintaining 60 fps even in large battle scenes. The larger screen size of the Legion Go also made the gaming experience more enjoyable and visually appealing, especially at 720p with medium graphics settings. It's worth noting that both devices use the same APU, but the Legion Go seems to have better RAM, which might contribute to its superior performance.
In conclusion, if you own both devices, you might notice similar performance differences. This outcome is quite surprising given the identical APUs in both devices. The Legion Go stands out as a better choice for playing Battlefield 2042, thanks to its smoother performance and better screen.