We’ve seen a lot of handheld gaming PCs emerge since the smashing debut of the Steam Deck, which more or less reinvented the form factor. But all of the existing designs from major brands have used Windows as their operating system. For its second-gen design, Lenovo is teaming up with Valve to bring full and official SteamOS to a third-party handheld for the first time. Meet the Legion Go S, Powered by SteamOS.

That’s this thing’s full title, by the way: “Lenovo Legion Go S Powered by SteamOS.” It’s a mouthful because the “S” indicates a refined and simplified design versus the original Legion Go, which had a lot of Nintendo Switch DNA in its hardware. The new Legion Go S will also be available in a more conventional Windows-powered flavor, which is immediately differentiated by a white body (and lack of wordy subtitle).

The official partnership with Valve is certainly the biggest news here. The increased software overhead of Windows compared to the Linux-based SteamOS (which uses the Proton compatibility layer for many Windows-only games) is a pretty big drawback for existing Steam Deck competitors — and that’s without mentioning the cumbersome custom interfaces that companies have been layering on top of it. Getting Valve to handle the software side of things makes the product simpler for Lenovo and more appealing for players, so much so that it’s probably worth whatever monetary concessions Lenovo had to make.

Lenovo

Valve had previously confirmed that it’s working on a version of SteamOS for the Asus ROG Ally handhelds, though that particular product has yet to materialize. Partnering with two of the biggest PC manufacturers indicates that Valve is looking to expand SteamOS as a partner product, similar to the way Google licenses Android out to phone manufacturers even while making its own Pixel devices.

But I digress. The Legion Go S coming in both SteamOS and Windows flavors is huge, but it’s far from the only change compared to the first-gen Legion Go. The Legion Go S has a more conventional, single-piece design (more akin to the Steam Deck), and it’s now larger thanks to an 8-inch, 1920×1200 LCD screen with 120Hz support. The body is curvier than both the Steam Deck and the original Legion Go, with a standard “Xbox-style” controller layout and no breakaway parts for wireless mouse emulation.

Lenovo

But that doesn’t mean this thing lacks distinction. Around back you get two “paddle” buttons, plus hair trigger adjustments for the main triggers (as seen on premium controller designs like the Xbox Elite). The joysticks are Hall effect (i.e., not susceptible to stick drift) and surrounded by a little RGB bling. You get two USB-C ports (USB4 protocol) with plenty of bandwidth for connecting a high-res display and other accessories. Note the lack of touchpads, which might be a pain point when choosing between this design and the Steam Deck, though of course the display is a touchscreen. (That square below the right stick is a fingerprint reader.)

Underneath the hood is an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go processor (which Lenovo says is “exclusive” to its Legion designs) or an older AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme in the base model. These are modified laptop chips with integrated Radeon 700M graphics, tuned for mobile performance and battery life. The Z2 Go is a quad-core, eight-thread Zen3+ design with 8MB of L3 cache and support for memory up to 6400MHz, according to previous leaks.

Lenovo

In layman’s terms, the Legion Go S is a modest bump over the previous gen, but that bump could still make a dramatic improvement in performance, especially paired with more streamlined SteamOS software. Other hardware highlights include “up to” 32GB of RAM, “up to” 1TB of M.2 Gen4 storage (with a user-accessible, desktop-sized 2280 slot), MicroSD card support, and a generous 55.5 watt-hour battery.

Here’s the most exciting bit for me: Lenovo expects the Legion Go S Powered by SteamOS to start shipping in May 2025, with a projected base price of $500 for the older Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip. That’s a huge discount versus the original Legion Go design (and others), putting it within striking distance of Valve’s own Steam Deck despite coming with newer and more powerful hardware.

The Windows-powered version will be available much sooner in January, though it’ll also be pricier, $729.99 for the version with the Z2 Go processor, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. At $600 for both Windows and Steam versions, you get the Z2 Go processor, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. Exact dates and prices for the different configurations appear to be in flux, but that top-end Windows model will almost certainly be the first to land.

Lenovo

What about the original Legion Go design, which was in many ways far more ambitious than the Steam Deck? What about its Nintendo Switch-style breakaway controllers, one of which could kinda-sorta do a gaming mouse impression, and its integrated kickstand that made it a tiny gaming tablet? If you’re a big fan of that design, you’ll be happy to hear that Lenovo isn’t entirely done with it yet.

At CES 2025, the company is showing off a prototype for a newer Legion Go 2. Like the original, it’s bigger, with an 8.8-inch 1200p screen, this time upgraded to an OLED panel with 144Hz of refresh. It has an updated Ryzen Z2 processor, up to 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage (maximum of 2TB on the slot), and a whopping 74 watt-hour battery. The body has been given “ergonomic refinements” with a circular D-pad. There’s no mention of whether this device will have a SteamOS option — presumably it’s running Windows as a baseline.

Lenovo

Though Lenovo says it hopes to bring the Legion Go 2 “worldwide in 2025,” it has no estimated release date and even lacks some concrete technical info like ports. I’d guess that Lenovo will focus on the simpler Legion Go S design for the first half of the year, then adjust its strategy for the Legion Go 2 as needed… possibly even re-evaluating its release altogether. I suppose we’ll have to wait to find out.

Source link