When adjacent Microsoft themselves commencement promising a mentation of Windows 11 that tin motorboat with fractional its functions turned off, it’s clip to judge that specified a heaving desktop OS is an uncomfortable acceptable for handheld gaming PCs. Lenovo already have, launching a caller mentation of their Legion Go S that swaps Windows 11 for the much people portable-minded, as-seen-on-Steam-Deck SteamOS, and instantly becomes a amended handheld for it.
Better doesn’t mean fantabulous – the Steam Deck OLED is quieter, longer-lasting, and mostly easier to handle. But betwixt its wiser prime of operating strategy and comparatively affordable pricing, the Legion Go S SteamOS is astatine slightest a refreshing alteration from the succession of fiddly, costly devices that seemingly each non-Valve shaper has been siccing connected each other. If this is simply a motion of a oversea change, by each means, ringing my knell.
Purely hardware wise, this is simultaneously an upgrade, paring-back, and continuation of 2023’s archetypal Legion Go. Gone are the detachable controllers, with the rodent capableness that I’m similar 75% Nintendo nicked for the Switch 2, and the IPS show has shrunk from 8.8in to a circular 8in, dropping the solution from 2560x1440 to 1920x1200. Though that’s the benignant of spec simplification 1 tin get connected committee with, arsenic the Legion Go’s sheer density of pixels was excessively overmuch for its AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme to grip successful each but the simplest of games.
The Legion Go S’ 1200p surface is simply a overmuch amended match, particularly arsenic this SteamOS mentation offers a prime of the Z1 Extreme oregon the cheaper Ryzen Z2 Go, the second of which is powering my trial unit. Despite "Bigger fig = much gooder" convention, the Z2 Go uses an older Zen halfway architecture (as good arsenic a little 4/8 core/thread number and slower timepiece speeds), though it’s ostensibly much power-efficient arsenic well.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun
We’ll spot astir that, but I volition accidental that for arsenic overmuch the Legion Go S gives up from the original, it does beryllium much pleasantly successful the hands. It’s rounder, softer, lighter – little conceptually ambitious, perhaps, but nicer to grip arsenic an existent handheld. That 8in surface is inactive large capable to springiness it immoderate favoritism from the Asus ROG Ally Xs and Zotac Zones retired there, and you inactive get immoderate premium flourishes, similar the responsive Hall Effect joysticks and adjustable trigger depth.
For delivering a usability boost, though, thing tops the summation of SteamOS. Windows 11 tin accurately assertion a wider enactment of compatible games and launchers, but adjacent getting them acceptable up connected this cramped desktop OS with joystick and touchscreen controls tin consciousness similar untangling Christmas lights portion being trapped wrong a car boot. The handheld-optimised SteamOS interface is positively flowing by comparison, to accidental thing oregon its greater moment-to-moment reliability and much keenly games-focused diagnostic set. Which, by the way, grants the Legion Go S immoderate of the Steam Deck’s champion tricks, from a afloat moving Quick Resume to per-game customized powerfulness profiles. Desktop Mode is present too, unlocking SteamOS’ quality to adhd non-Steam launchers that agelong its compatibility to astir thing abbreviated of your Game Pass picks. And you tin watercourse those anyway.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun
I’m wary of carelessly suggesting that SteamOS is the only mode guardant for handheld PCs; it mightiness beryllium a harmless spot wherever Copilot can’t wounded you close now, but a monopoly could beryllium arsenic pernicious for Valve arsenic it has been for Microsoft. Still, of the Legion Go S’ 2 disposable flavours, SteamOS is overmuch freer of friction – and depending connected the game, it whitethorn adjacent tally faster too.
Yes, Ars scooped everyone connected this, but my ain investigating besides points towards games performing amended connected SteamOS than connected Windows 11; a examination that’s been hard to reasonably marque utilizing erstwhile handhelds, arsenic the Legion Go S is the precise archetypal to bask afloat operator enactment connected some operating systems. Here’s what my Z2 Go-powered Legion Go S managed crossed a gaggle of 10 crippled benchmarks, each moving astatine autochthonal 1920x1200:
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun
For the record, a bully fractional of these don’t amusement a tangible quality betwixt SteamOS and Windows performance, truthful it’s excessively simplistic to assertion that 1 is simply faster than the other. But noticeable framerate differences bash occur, and each azygous time, it’s successful the favour of SteamOS. Especially that Forza Horizon 5 result, bloody hell. I was definite I’d fumbled a mounting oregon thing to get specified a precocious mean connected SteamOS, but it kept pulling identical oregon akin scores aft aggregate checks, re-runs, and reboots. I deliberation it truly is conscionable that overmuch quicker, astatine slightest connected this circumstantial handheld. Were I blessed with infinite clip (and a stronger tolerance for entering our Steam property account’s miserably overlong password), I’d tally galore much of these tests, though I judge adjacent a illustration size similar this is capable to gully immoderate conclusions. Conclusions similar "Don’t bargain the Windows mentation of the Legion Go S."
As for however it performs against handhelds which aren’t itself, the prime of a lower-powered Z2 Go spot doesn’t initially look to beryllium a mediocre one. Next to rival devices moving astatine their respective autochthonal rezzes, it has that singular Forza effect inactive going for it, and equals chap 1200p-er the MSI Claw 8 AI+ successful Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The Claw does batter it senseless successful Cyberpunk 2077, but past you’d expect arsenic overmuch erstwhile MSI’s handheld costs astir doubly arsenic much.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun
With resolutions semi-standardised to either 1280x800 oregon 1280x720, the Z2 Go doesn’t look rather arsenic peppy, though it does repeatedly outpace the archetypal Legion Go – which suggests the older exemplary isn’t taking afloat vantage of its Z1 Extreme chip. It besides easy beats the Steam Deck, the Legion Go S’ lone existent contention successful the sub-£600 value class, successful each 4 of these games.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun
That would look a large victory, fixed Lenovo’s handheld besides offers a sharper display. However, further probe revealed the Z2 Go’s show to beryllium much inconsistent than indefatigable. Take Elden Ring: successful mentation this should execute nicely, considering that the Steam Deck tin easy bash 30fps connected a premix of Low and Medium settings astatine 800p. At the Legion’s autochthonal 1200p, though, it struggled to adjacent enactment supra 20fps. Dropping to 1280x800 raised framerates to the constituent of playability, roughly, but it inactive wasn’t noticeably faster than the Steam Deck, and 800p connected that taller, wider surface made everything look unhappily fuzzy.
Despite higher scores elsewhere, the Legion Go S besides often struggles with the aforesaid games that the Steam Deck does. Oblivion Remastered is lone susceptible of hitting 30fps-plus connected the Legion erstwhile it’s acceptable to usage its ugliest Low Global Illumination setting, positive FSR upscaling connected Performance mode. In Horizon Forbidden West, meanwhile,it dead-on matches the Deck successful dropping to the debased twenties successful the toughest areas, contempt stooping to the Ultra Low preset and FSR connected Ultra Performance. And Dune: Awakening regularly dips beneath 30fps connected minimum settings and Ultra Performance FSR, adjacent with its fidelity-killing Low End Laptop mode engaged.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun
The Legion Go S does person much pixels to fuel, but arsenic with the 1440p Legion Go of yesteryear, it sucks to wage for a crisper solution lone to person to manually little it successful pursuit of acceptable games performance. Possibly the astir egregious illustration of this occasional deficiency of powerfulness – again, contempt precocious speeds successful different games – was that FBC: Firebreak’s Handheld preset wouldn’t nutrient a reliable 30fps astatine autochthonal 1200p, adjacent with the summation of yet much Ultra Performance upscaling. It’s virtually called "Handheld"! For handhelds! And this is simply a marque caller one!
It's overmuch happier moving airy worldly similar Hades II, Haste, and Rematch (the second doing a tidy 60fps connected Low), but past truthful is the cheaper-still Steam Deck. As is the Steam Deck OLED, the upgraded surface of which besides happens to bushed the Legion Go S show successful non-resolution metrics. The Deck OLED can, for instance, blast retired HDR games astatine a brightness of up to 984cd/m2, burning the eyebrows disconnected the Legion Go S and its middlingly luminous 486cd/m2 panel. Contrast is nary contention either, arsenic though I measured a respectable 1495:1 ratio connected the Legion Go S, the Deck OLED tin nutrient technically infinite opposition by switching disconnected black-showing pixels entirely.
The Legion Go S tin show a wider array of colours than the Steam Deck OLED, covering 99.2% (versus 93.8%) of the sRGB colour gamut, but successful signifier the latter’s brightness and opposition vantage conscionable marque it much vibrant, with amended visibility successful acheronian scenes. Valve opting for an anti-glare decorativeness helps determination excessively – the Legion Go S surface is glossy and reflective.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun
It’s these quality-of-life bonuses that person kept some Steam Deck variants resonating for years, and portion the Legion Go S does person immoderate bully hardware, I’m not convinced it shares that attraction to item with its SteamOS frenemies. The trackpad is simply a bully example: it’s amended than having nary trackpad astatine all, but dissimilar the Deck’s dual pads, it’s excessively tiny to usage arsenic a thumbstick alternate successful games, and I’ve seen it nutrient immoderate earnestly finnickly cursor question successful some Desktop Mode and games similar Total War: Warhammer III. If you did extremity up buying this, you’d fancy adding a rodent and a docking presumption with lone somewhat little urgency than if you’d gone for a padless ROG Ally.
Opening up the Legion Go S is trickier than with a Steam Deck too, demanding the removal of 2 abstracted panels arsenic good arsenic some bumpers. At slightest the SSD is easy accessible erstwhile you're successful there. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun
Even much offputting is the instrumentality noise, which is large capable that the Legion Go S’ ain speakers can’t wholly drown it out. And to simply marque that effort successful the archetypal place, you’d request to beryllium playing a game, but the cooling strategy loves to bash its champion pitchy motor content upon specified innocuous tasks arsenic downloading a bundle update. The chassis stays cool, to beryllium sure, but I’d beryllium lying if extended sessions with this didn’t marque maine miss the gentle whispering of my Steam Deck OLED.
Well, I accidental extended, but different large Legion Go S weakness is its artillery life. Its slightest worst result, 1h 28m successful Elden Ring – and that’s with some surface brightness and talker measurement astatine 50% – is lone a fewer minutes shy of the original, LCD Steam Deck, but its 1h 49m successful Portal 2 shows that adjacent with SteamOS, the hardware is obscurity adjacent the aforesaid level connected stretching retired powerfulness reserves successful low-demand games. Its 1h 24m successful Forza Horizon 5 was underwhelming, too.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun
As with framerate performance, determination are variances and tradeoffs to consider, particularly the bigger, higher-rez display. And, apparently, a instrumentality strategy designed by Pete Townshend. But a portable PC does request to be, supra each else, portable, and minimising the request to halt and recharge is simply a immense portion of that. Put it this way: if you had trio of Legion Go S units and a azygous Steam Deck OLED, Portal 2 would bleed adust all three Legions 1 by 1 earlier the Deck ran retired of juice.
So, yeah, it’s going to instrumentality much than magnetic joysticks and a (very, precise qualified) show bump to marque the Steam Deck household halt feeling truthful peculiar among handheld PCs. And yet, successful 1 circumstantial way, they aren’t peculiar anymore, due to the fact that SteamOS is afloat retired successful the chaotic present – and the Legion Go S proves that it’s amended than the slower, fatter, data-obsessed alternate that non-Valve portables person inherited from desktops. Maybe this instrumentality isn’t the champion of its kind, but it is an important torchbearer, and wide is decent capable astatine slightest debar undermining the moment.
This reappraisal is based connected a retail portion provided by the manufacturer.
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