RedMagic Astra 2 Takes on AMD’s Ryzen Z2 Extreme in a Handheld Showdown

RedMagic has finally rolled out the Astra 2, a gaming tablet that tries to rewrite the rules of portable PC‑play. Sporting an OLED display and the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC, the device arrives with a promise of "liquid cooling" and a price tag that nudges it into the same league as Lenovo’s Legion Tab Gen 5, only with a brighter, more vibrant screen.

To see whether the hype lives up to the hardware, YouTube tech‑reviewer Dame Tech ran a side‑by‑side benchmark against the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X – the handheld that packs AMD’s Ryzen Z2 Extreme, a Zen 4‑based chip built for serious gaming. Both machines were set to 720p, a common sweet‑spot for handhelds that balances visual fidelity and smooth performance.

The first test was Grand Theft Auto V, cranked to “Very High” graphics. The result? Both the Astra 2 and the Ally X hovered around 70 fps, but the RedMagic managed to stay just above that line for the bulk of the session, giving it a tiny edge in consistency. The second title, Red Dead Redemption 2, was played at “High” settings. Again, the Astra 2 nudged ahead, delivering marginally higher frame‑rates than its AMD‑powered rival.

What makes the Snapdragon‑run tablet especially interesting is how it got there. The games weren’t native PC ports – they ran through an Android emulator, which means the performance numbers are really a glimpse of what’s possible when the emulator squeezes every last ounce of the chip’s power. Still, the fact that an Android‑based device can keep pace with a dedicated Windows handheld is noteworthy.

Power draw tells another part of the story. While the ROG Xbox Ally X was pulling roughly 40 watts according to the on‑screen overlay, the Astra 2 lingered around the 20‑watt mark. In other words, the RedMagic achieves comparable performance on about half the energy budget. Of course, the lower draw doesn’t come without a trade‑off – the tablet’s temperatures spiked past the 100 °C mark during the runs, a figure that’s hard to ignore for anyone planning marathon sessions.

Overall, the Astra 2 showcases how far mobile‑class silicon has come. It can match a high‑end AMD handheld in raw frame‑rates while sipping less power, all wrapped in a sleek OLED chassis. The downside? Soaring heat and the reliance on emulation for PC titles. If RedMagic can tighten the thermal envelope in future revisions, this tablet might very well become the go‑to device for gamers who want the flexibility of Android with a performance level that’s edging into true PC territory.