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GPD WIN MAX 2 Review – AMD Ryzen 7 6800U AAA gaming mini laptop

GPD WIN MAX 2 AMD Ryzen 7 6800U Review
GPD WIN MAX 2 AMD Ryzen 7 6800U Review
  • Design
    (5)
  • Build Quality
    (5)
  • Display
    (5)
  • Performance
    (5)
  • Features
    (4.5)

Summary

The GPD WIN MAX 2 with AMD Ryzen 7 6800U is a beast of a AAA handheld gaming PC!

Overall
4.9
Sending
User Review
0 (0 votes)

Pros

  • Fast AMD Ryzen 7 6800U & 680M processors
  • Options for 16GB or 32GB RAM
  • Amazing large 10.1″ display
  • Detachable controller covers for use in work environment
  • Useable mouse pad and keyboard
  • Excellent battery life
  • Optional 4G LTE for data

Cons

  • Holding the MAX 2 for long periods of time may be uncomfortable for some
  • 2TB performs a little slower in games than the 1TB model

You wait ages for the GPD WIN MAX 2 gaming mini laptop to arrive, and you get three come along at once! In our GPD WIN MAX 2 review we will be taking a look at three models of the handheld gaming PC, putting it through its paces with some system and games benchmarks. Then we finish with playing some games and emulators to see how well they perform.

GPD WIN MAX 2 Review Video

Unboxing the GPD WIN MAX 2 AMD

As always we start off with the unboxing. Lifting the lid reveals a screen protector and wipe to clean the screen before applying. Underneath is the GPD WIN MAX 2 gaming mini laptop itself. We will show it in more detail shortly.

GPD WIN MAX 2 Unboxed
GPD WIN MAX 2 Unboxed

There is a small box that contains the user manual, which is in Chinese and English languages.

GPD WIN MAX 2 Unboxing
GPD WIN MAX 2 Unboxing

And last but not least we have a charger and USB Type-C cable. We will include the correct adaptor for your country when ordering,

GPD WIN MAX 2 AMD Overview

The design has not changed since we reviewed the now discontinued Intel model a few months back. When folded, the GPD Win MAX 2 measures 8.9 x 6.2 x 0.9 (22.7 × 16.0 × 2.3 cm), and weighs 1005 grams.

On the back are Left & Right shoulder and trigger buttons. There is a 3.5mm headphone jack and a USB 3.2 port. Next is a HDMI port for connecting to a TV or monitor. There are two USB Type-C ports, one is USB 4 for connecting an external GPU (GPD G1 eGPU) for example. And above are the two slots where the controller covers are stored. 

GPD WIN MAX 2 Back view
GPD WIN MAX 2 Back view

On the left side are Micro and SD Card slots. And on the right side are two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports. On the front is a power button which has a built-in fingerprint scanner for fast logging into Windows 11. 

The display is a 10.1 inch touchscreen with a native resolution of 1920×1200, but it supports up to 2560×1600. Below the display is a 2MP high refresh rate camera which is good for video calls. There is a clickable touchpad for mouse style navigation.

GPD WIN MAX 2 Display
GPD WIN MAX 2 Display

Below is a QWERTY keyboard that has two levels of backlight control. There are two detachable covers which hide the gaming controls, so you can use your GPD Win MAX 2 as an mini laptop for work as an example. It’s a nice idea by GPD!

GPD WIN MAX 2 Controls
GPD WIN MAX 2 Controls

You have the usual gaming controls, dual clickable analogue hall sensor sticks, D-Pad and gaming buttons.  Let’s try them out while we go over the tech specs!

GPD WIN MAX 2 AMD Technical Specifications

CPUAMD Ryzen 7 6800U processor, it has 8 cores and 16 threads running up to 4.7Ghz at a default 28W TDP
GPUAMD Radeon 680M with 12 cores running up to 2200Mhz
RAM16GB or 32GB LPDDR5 6400 RAM
STORAGE1TB or 2TB of m.2 PCIe 4 SSD
COMMUNICATIONSWiFi 6
Bluetooth 5.2
4G LTE module (sold separately)
BATTERY*67Wh rechargeable battery
Idle on desktop: 10 hours 50 minutes (7 hour 30 before battery saver started)
Cinebench on full load: 2 hours 5 minutes
FAN NOISE*63db
TEMPERATURE*63°C
GPD WIN MAX 2 AMD Technical Specifications

*In our fan noise and temperature tests we ran Cinebench for 10 minutes at the default 28W TDP and measured them both. We got a highest temperature of 63 degrees and highest fan noise at 63 dB. 

We left the MAX 2 running idle on the desktop with only BatteryMon , it run for 10 hours 50 minutes.The first 7 hours 30 minutes was before the battery saver kicked in, and the rest while on battery saver. When running Cinebench on full load at 28W TDP we got an impressive 2 hours and 5 minutes.

System Benchmarks

We continue our GPD WIN MAX 2 review with putting the three handheld gaming PC’s through its paces with some system benchmarks. We are testing at 30W TDP, it can go higher but the included software only allows up to 30. We may cover changing the TDP and graphics speeds in a separate article if there is enough interest, let us know in the comments.

PassMark

PassMark Benchmark & Result
PassMark Benchmark & Result

We start with PassMark which pushes the CPU, GPU, RAM and storage to their maximum in a series of tests. At 30W TDP we got similar scores of 6002, 5964 and 6179. The 2TB model has a higher score as it uses a different brand SSD, this may change in customer models and we will notify if it does.

PCMark

PCMark Benchmark
PCMark Benchmark

The PCMark benchmark has a series of more natural tests covering day to day tasks from web browsing to image processing. At 30W TDP we got scores of 6425, 6427 and 6421. All similar scores as we expected, you can see a breakdown of the benchmark tests below.

GPD WIN MAX 2 32GB/1TB PCMARK Breakdown
GPD WIN MAX 2 32GB/1TB PCMARK Breakdown

Cinebench

Cinebench Benchmark
Cinebench Benchmark

Next we have Cinebench which tests the CPU to see its performance with either single or multi-core tests. In our multi-core tests we got scores of 11501, 11507, 10991. The 32/2TB model lags behind here in the tests.

3DMark

The 3DMark benchmark tests the CPU and GPU to see how well they work together in video processing tasks. 

3DMark Benchmark Results
3DMark Benchmark Results
Time SpyFire StrikeNight Raid
WIN MAX 2 16GB/1TB2840682324124
WIN MAX 2 32GB/1TB2819677023936
WIN MAX 2 32GB/2TB2771668123624
3DMark Benchmark Results for GPD WIN MAX 2 AMD Ryzen 7 6800U

We can see the scores are fairly close to each other, but again we see that the 32GB/2TB model does fall behind in each of the three tests.

CrystalDiskMark

The CrystalDiskMark benchmark runs a series of tests on the storage to see its performance across different read/write patterns.

CrystalDiskMark Benchmark
CrystalDiskMark Benchmark

The two 1TB models have the same SSD and we see near identical scores for them both. The 2TB model does have a different brand and we get over 5000 MB/s a second. As we mentioned this was the brand we were supplied with by GPD, but this may change for the retail versions.

Gaming Benchmarks

As part of our GPD WIN MAX 2 review we will now run some gaming benchmarks to see how well they perform. From the system benchmarks, the 32GB/1TB performed the best overall so we will use this for the benchmarks. We are running the benchmarks at 800P resolution at 15W, 20W and 30W, with one additional test at 2560×1600 (1600p) at 30W. This is the highest resolution the display supports.

Forza Horizon 5

We are running Forza Horizon 5 at 800P on the Very Low graphics settings. 

Forza Horizon 5 Benchmark
Forza Horizon 5 Benchmark

At 15W TDP we get average frames per second of 96, at 20W we got 113 and at 30W we got 127. And at 1600P we got 69 frames per second.

It’s our highest FPS by far on a handheld, the next closest was the ONEXPLAYER Mini 5800U at 88 FPS.

Street FIghter V

We are running Street Fighter V at 800P on the Maximum graphics. AMD processors are generally lower scorers than Intel on this benchmark.

 Street Fighter V Benchmark
Street Fighter V Benchmark

At 15W TDP we get the full 60 frames per second. You can run it around 1080P in the late 20’s before it starts to drop below 60. At 1600P resolution  at 30W we got 38 frames per second on average.

Final Fantasy XIV

For the Final Fantasy XIV benchmark we are running at 800P on the Maximum graphics settings. 

Final Fantasy XIV Benchmark
Final Fantasy XIV Benchmark

For 15W TDP we got a score of 7143, 20W we got 7908 and 30W 8614. All very good scores in the High category! At 1600P we got a still playable score of 3353.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

We are running Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 800P on the Low graphics settings. 

Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark
Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark

At 15W TDP we got an average frames per second of 71, at 20W we got 87 and at 30W we got 94. At 1600P at 30W we got a very impressive 48 FPS average, some previous handhelds were struggling to get that at 720P!

Cyberpunk 2077

We finish the benchmark tests with Cyberpunk 2077 which is a highly demanding game. We are running at 800P on the default Low graphics settings with High texture quality. 

Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark
Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark

For 15W we got an average FPS of 42.55, at 20W we got 49.28, and at 30W we got 57. All very good scores! At 1600P we got just 23 FPS which is still respectable considering the game demands and resolution.

Benchmark Summary and Comparison

30W TDP Comparison

Below are the system benchmark comparisons for 30W TDP. You can see on PassMark that the faster 2TB makes a difference in the score as it includes disk performance tests, But the 2TB model does fall behind in the other tests. The two 1TB models have very similar scores across the other tests.

Why does the 2TB model lag a little behind? We think the SSD may be using more PCIe lanes and drawing some power away from the processor and graphics resulting in slightly slower performance.

WIN MAX 2 16GB/1TBWIN MAX 2 32GB/1TBWIN MAX 2 32GB/2TB
PASSMARK600259646179
PCMARK642564276421
3DMARK284028192771
CINEBENCH115011150710991
CRYSTALDISKMARK2091 / 1955 MB/s2091 / 1961 MB/s5225 / 4891 MB/s
GPD WIN MAX 2 30W TDP Benchmark Results

15W, 20W & 30W TDP Performance

You can find in the table below the 32GB/1TB model 15W, 20W and 30W TDP results at 800P and 1600P resolutions. They are all very impressive and it definitely gives you options depending on the games you are playing whether to run low or high TDP and what screen resolution.

15W TDP (800P)20W TDP (800P)30W TDP (800P / 1600P)
3DMARK213524782819
FORZA HORIZON 596 FPS113 FPS127 / 69 FPS
FINAL FANTASY XIV714379088614 / 3353
TOMB RAIDER71 FPS87 FPS94 / 48 FPS
CYBERPUNK 207742.55 FPS49.28 FPS57 / 23 FPS
32GB/1TB 15w, 20W & 30W TDP Benchmark Results

GPD WIN MAX 2 AMD vs Intel models

The below table shows the 30W benchmark results compared to the GPD WIN MAX 2 Intel processor model we reviewed a few months back. Despite the Intel running at a higher 35W TDP, the AMD has the higher results in all tests. This includes those that Intel processors would generally have higher scores on such as Final Fantasy XIV. It’s no wonder why the Intel model is now discontinued! You can compare the results with other previous generation handhelds on our handheld gaming PC benchmarks article.

WIN MAX 2 AMD 6800UWIN MAX 2 INTEL 1260P
PASSMARK59644233
PCMARK6427N/A
3DMARK28111507964911947 (35W TDP)
CINEBENCH115076491
CRYSTALDISKMARK2091 / 1961 MB/s2090 / 1957 MB/s
FORZA HORIZON 5127 FPS59 FPS (35W TDP)
FINAL FANTASY XIV86147038 (35W TDP)
TOMB RAIDER94 FPS50 FPS (35W TDP)
CYBERPUNK 207757 FPS28.23 FPS (20W TDP)

The AMD model is to put it quite simply a beast! It has far higher performance than any of the previous handhelds from GPD, AYANEO and ONEXPLAYER.  If this is the first of next-generation handheld gaming PC’s to set the bar, then we can’t wait to see what the others can do.

You can order your GPD WIN MAX 2 here and use the discount code WINMAX25OFF on the checkout!

Gameplay Tests

Next in our GPD WIN MAX 2 review, some gameplay tests! For these we are running at a balanced 28W TDP at 800P with playable or as close to playable settings as we can.

Forza Horizon 5

We know Forza Horizon 5 runs at great speeds on the Very Low settings. We can crank it up to High graphics and for the most part we are getting in the 70 frame per second area. It does however dip below 60 occasionally when loading in new areas, so you might want to drop it down to a mix of Medium and High to keep it stable or you could limit to 30 FPS.

Doom Eternal

Doom Eternal
Doom Eternal

For Doom Eternal we have it set to the default High settings and are getting a pretty solid 60 plus frames per second. It may drop slightly below now and again but you wouldn’t notice unless the frame counter was showing.

Deathloop

Deathloop
Deathloop

After some playing around with the settings, I was not quite getting a solid 60FPS even at lower levels. So I decided to lock the frame rate to 30 and with this we could put the graphics settings up to Very High. Admittedly this is on the opening part of the game so you may need to drop the graphics down a level later in busier scenes, but even at High settings the game looks amazing!

Halo Infinite

Halo Infinite
Halo Infinite

We are running Halo Infinite on the default High graphics settings locked to 60 FPS and are for the most part getting over 60 with some dips you would barely notice. As an alternative you could go to the Medium graphics settings, or lock the frame rate to 30FPS.

Metal Hellsinger

On the recently released Metal Hellsinger we are running on the Medium graphics settings and are hovering around the 60 frames per second area. There were some occasional dips but nothing that affected the gameplay. Lower settings help keep it stable, or you can limit to 30 and crank the graphics up higher.

Emulator Tests

And now on to some emulator performance tests for our GPD WIN MAX 2 review. We won’t cover anything before Dreamcast era as it all runs perfect. Instead we will work our way through some of the newer systems to see how the GPD WIN MAX 2 handheld gaming PC gets on.

PlayStation 2 – PCSX2

As expected everything we tried works great on PlayStation 2. You can lower the TDP and/or increase the screen rendering for higher quality visuals. You should not have any issues at all with PS2.

PlayStation Portable – PPSSPP

We go straight to testing God of War to see if we get 60 frames per second. And with the MAX 2 it is no problem at all. Again you can lower the TDP or increase the rendering resolution for better visuals.

Dolphin

Dolphin emulator on GPD WIN MAX 2
Dolphin emulator on GPD WIN MAX 2

Both gaming consoles that the Dolphin emulator work just fine. We did not see any slowdowns at all with games running on both consoles. You can lower the TDP if needed to save some battery life.

Xbox OG – Xemu

This is a work in progress emulator so some games do have issues running. For games that are compatible you should see some decent results. Our go to game MASHED runs perfect in-game. Other games may work,  but due to emulator compatibility rather than the WIN MAX 2 performance, they will have issues as such as Soul Calibur II running slower despite there being plenty of resources available.

Citra

Citra emulator on GPD WIN MAX 2
Citra emulator on GPD WIN MAX 2

For the most part the 3D dual screen emulator Citra runs fine, but you will get some shader caching lags and slowdowns while playing. Once you play through, they do get less regular and you have a very playable game.

PlayStation Vita – Vita3K

Vita3k emulator on GPD WIN MAX 2
Vita3k emulator on GPD WIN MAX 2

The PlayStation Vita emulator Vita3K is still in active development but there are quite a few playable games. TxK runs perfectly for example and looks great on the large display. Street Fighter X Tekken, despite it saying 60 FPS, ran a bit slow for me so your experience with games may vary.

PlayStation 3 – RPCS3

GPD WIN MAX 2 running PlayStation 3 emulator
GPD WIN MAX 2 running PlayStation 3 emulator

PlayStation 3 emulation is overall very good and a decent number of games are fully playable. Depending on the game you may get some initial slowdowns while shader caching. If there are some problem games, you can try locking the frame rate to 30 to see if that helps.

Xbox 360 – Xenia

Xbox 360 emulation
Xbox 360 emulation

The Xbox 360 emulator Xenia is in active development and game compatibility is very much mixed. We got Sonic Racing working at a mostly solid 30 FPS which I believe the original run at. Other games will run fine or slower, but a decent number of XBLA titles worked great!

Ryujinx & Yuzu

Both Ryujinx and Yuzu emulators are still in active development so performance and compatibility can change from day to day. We tried a few different games and overall there is good performance. 

Final Thoughts

Overall the GPD WIN MAX 2 gaming mini laptop is very impressive! In the past year we have seen gradual increases in handheld performance, but the Ryzen 6800U blows the others away. There was amazing performance across the games and emulators we tried! And that’s before we have tweaked the power settings, plugged in an eGPU, or tried some VR gaming! We will save that for maybe another GPD WIN MAX 2 review article 🙂

GPD WIN MAX 2 and Ryujinx emulator
GPD WIN MAX 2 and Ryujinx emulator

Where to buy the GPD WIN MAX 2?

You can buy your GPD WIN MAX 2 here and use don’t forget to use the discount code WINMAX25OFF on the checkout (not applicable if there is a sale event running)! Or if this did not take your interest, you can browse our range of handheld gaming PC’s here.

And talking about not forgetting… that AYANEO, ONEXPLAYER and newcomer AOKZOE do have their own 6800U models available soon. We will have to wait a little longer until they become available to see if there are any performance differences, so keep an eye out for those reviews when we get them!

Bringer of videos, text and images! AKA the social media guy at DroiX. Massive retro gaming fan and collector, with a far too large collection of consoles and computers from 1970's to modern.