Lenovo is bringing something new to its Legion lineup of handheld gaming systems with the Legion Go S. As the "S" suggests, this version of the Legion Go runs Valve’s SteamOS, a Linux-based operating system that’s optimized for playing Steam games on portable devices, giving you easy access to a huge library of both big AAA titles and unique indie darlings. But until now, SteamOS was only available on Valve’s Steam Deck: the Legion Go S is the first handheld with official SteamOS support.
The Legion Go S has solid stats that are a notable step up from the OLED Steam Deck, and a small upgrade over the Asus ROG Ally X (a handheld that came out in mid-2024 with a very similar look). It offers an 8” WUXGA 120Hz PureSight touch display with 500 nits of brightness – a good screen with a great refresh rate, though it won’t match the vibrant color you get from the HDR OLED display on the high-end Steam Deck. The 8” screen makes it a bit bigger than competing handhelds – the OLED Stem Deck has a 7.4” screen and the Asus ROG Ally X has a 7” screen – which makes it a little bulkier at 1.63lbs, but isn’t too big for a handheld.
It’s available with either the new AMD Ryzen Z2 Go processor or the more powerful AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor, both of which are upgrades on the older Steam Deck’s performance, while the ROG Ally X also sports a Ryzen Z1 Extreme. It can be equipped with up to 32GB memory (up from the ROG Ally X’s 24GB) and up to a 1TB SSD for storage, which can be expanded via Micro SD. Lenovo hasn’t provided a battery life estimate (which typically vary greatly depending on what you’re playing), but it comes with a 55.5Whr battery. All three of these handhelds have Wi-Fi 6e for solid wireless performance.
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There’s also a Windows version of this handheld with the same stats, but we’re more excited to see SteamOS on new hardware. Valve’s Steam Deck models were released in 2022 and 2023, and gamers have been eagerly awaiting an updated Steam Deck 2 – but Valve doesn’t appear to be in a rush to put out new models. We’ve seen great handheld gaming hardware from Lenovo and Asus recently, but these devices have been saddled with Windows, which simply isn’t optimized for handheld gaming. That’s led to people picking up Lenovo and Asus gaming handhelds and stripping out Windows to install SteamOS for better performance – but the Legion Go S lets us the latest hardware and SteamOS off the shelf. Though you lose access to Xbox Game Pass by switching to SteamOS, you get a much better gaming experience – and if you have a sizable backlog of Steam games to play, you may not even notice the loss.
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And the price of the Lenovo Legion Go S is right: it starts at $499 for SteamOS and $599 for Windows – though these baseline prices are for models with less memory and a smaller SSD. The first of these handhelds will be a Windows edition with better tech specs for $729, due out this month. You’ll be able to buy the Legion Go S lineup in other configurations (including SteamOS) starting in May. The high-end model pricing compares favorably to the Asus ROG Ally X ($799), while the low-end model looks to be a much better deal than the OLED Steam Deck (starting at $549).
For anyone who had been on the fence about buying a PC gaming handheld – perhaps waiting for the Steam Deck 2 – Lenovo’s new Legion Go S is an excellent option, with plenty of power as well as the ease of use of SteamOS.
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Elizabeth Harper is a writer and editor with more than a decade of experience covering consumer technology and entertainment. In addition to writing for Techlicious, she's Editorial Director of Blizzard Watch and is published on sites all over the web, including Time, CBS, Engadget, The Daily Dot and DealNews.
