The new Lenovo Legion Go S is a more traditional alternative to the original Go, a handheld gaming console which makes "overdesigned" echo through my head every time it comes to mind. We saw the Legion Go S -- the Windows model -- at a preview event in New York before it was announced today at CES. Unfortunately, we didn't get to hold the SteamOS model; it's the first third-party handheld console to incorporate it, although it seems to be identical both inside and out otherwise.
The Legion Go series is also incubating yet another family member: an update to the original Legion Go -- and the company is showing a prototype of it this week.
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A Windows 11 model is slated to ship this month starting at $730, with lower-end configurations coming in May starting at $600. The SteamOS model is also shipping in May, starting at $500. If you're used to Switch-level prices, those may seem steep, but they're not out of line with the prices of existing Windows handheld consoles or the Steam Deck. The Deck has a smaller screen, but for the money you get OLED rather than IPS. And it'll have features like Steam's remote play, cloud saves and the Steam storefront.
Below the right joystick is the tiny touchpad. It felt a bit awkward to use at first because of the size and location, but I got used to it fairly quickly.
Physically, the new design is a lot less cluttered and complex than the original Go. It has fewer buttons and a much smaller touchpad for navigating, and unlike the Go, the Go S's controls are fixed to the body. Lenovo says it incorporates Hall-Effect joysticks, plus it has trigger stops so you can switch from quick shots to longer pulls. It's a great feature to have in a controller.
Lenovo reduced the display size and resolution; instead of an 8.8-inch 2.5K resolution touchscreen, it's a 1,920x1,200, 8-inch display with a 60 to 120Hz variable refresh rate. It's also noticeably lighter, dropping from 854 grams to 730, or roughly 1.6 pounds. And that's even with a higher-capacity 55-watt-hour battery inside.
Those two switches next to the triggers are the trigger stops, which are great for situations where the typical deep depress can slow you down.
On the inside, Lenovo will offer two processor options, either the older AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme that the Go used or the new Ryzen Z2 Go processor. The graphics in the Z2 Go processor are slightly better -- basically, half a generation, though it has the same number of cores. However, it has significantly fewer processing cores, which may result in a noticeable performance difference between the two configurations, especially on Windows, which has much higher overhead compared to SteamOS. You'll be able to configure it with up to 32GB RAM in addition to up to 1TB storage. Plus, there's a microSD card slot.
I'm a huge Steam Deck fan, and it's great to have an alternative -- and great that Lenovo has broken the ice with the first SteamOS license. Windows may be more flexible, but that OS can be a pain to use with these handhelds.
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