New AMD APU hits high frames, but there’s a catch

OneXFly

Although AMD APUs appear in some of the best gaming handhelds, the latest Strix Point chips are still hard to find in new releases. However, the new OneXFly F1 Pro is making a debut with the Ryzen AI HX 370 chip, and according to a benchmark in Black Myth: Wukong, it managed to average an impressive 58 frames per second (fps) at a 15-watt thermal design power (TDP). That’s an impressive result, but digging deeper reveals that AAA gaming on the go is still not without any sacrifice.

The OneXFly F1 Pro comes with the Ryzen AI HX 370, which sports a total of 12 cores — four Zen 5 and eight Zen 5c — as well as 24 threads. The maximum boost clock on the Zen 5 cores reaches 5.1GHz, but the smaller Zen 5c maxes out at 3.3GHz. The default TDP was rated at 28W, but it can be configured between 15W and 54W. For an APU, the AI HX 370 delivers solid graphics capabilities, as it’s equipped with the AMD Radeon 890M. It also sports a 7-inch OLED screen with a refresh rate of 144Hz.

The new handheld was shown in a short video made by the manufacturer. It can be seen running Black Myth: Wukong, and the gameplay looks smooth. The benchmark results explain why — it’s running at a steady 58 fps, although sometimes, it dips as low as 40 fps. Still, 58 fps in a recent AAA game is nothing to turn your nose up at, especially if the handheld is only running at a TDP of 15 watts. Presumably, it could be configured to consume more power in exchange for less battery life, but that’s just a guess.

Achieving a steady near-60 fps at 15W comes at a price, though. The game is running at 1080p — but that’s in theory. In reality, it’s 1080p with 65% resolution scaling, which means it’s closer to 700p. AMD’s FSR was enabled, and as Black Myth: Wukong supports frame generation from both AMD and Nvidia, that could also be a factor. Lastly, the test was run at low settings.

The above concessions don’t make the result any less impressive, but they definitely contribute. Still, playing at low settings in AAA games is kind of expected when choosing a gaming handheld. It’s unclear when the handheld will make it to the market or how much it’ll cost.

AMD is a huge player as far as gaming handhelds go, but so far, the Strix Point lineup only made an appearance in this GPD mini PC. That’s not a gaming device, though, so OneXFly is the first company to launch a gaming handheld based on AMD’s latest chip. AMD is expected to announce its next-gen Z2 Extreme chip during CES 2025, alongside a lot of other products.