When it comes to PC handhelds, it’s hard not to play the comparison game. TheSteam Deckis (fairly or unfairly) held up as the gold standard, while theROG Allyseries has the Windows-powered market all but cornered thanks to its array of options both in terms of power and price.
I wouldn’t say the handheld market is saturated just yet, but with MSI now making a legitimate play in the high-end market and Acer about to launch their own spin on the gaming handheld with the Nitro Blaze series, the space is getting more than a little crowded. You’d be forgiven for wondering what exactly separates all these handheld devices from one another.
It is in this environment that we find the Lenovo Legion Go S, which is the second handheld offering from Lenovo, following their clearly Switch-inspiredLegion Gomodel, which was the only handheld PC I’ve ever seen to feature detachable controllers. After some mixed reviews, it looks like Lenovo has gone for a more back-to-basics approach to the handheld PC with the Legion Go S, which eschews the gimmicky controllers for an ergonomic design and a truly beautiful screen. But is this enough to make this handheld worth your while?
Largely, the answer is yes, but there’s one big caveat.
Lenovo Legion Go S
The Lenovo Legion Go S handheld is powered by the AMD Ryzen Z2 Go processor with AMD Radeon graphics and features a bright, 8-inch screen, smooth 120Hz refresh rate and ergonomic design.
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Price, availability, and specs
It’s not cheap, but there’s some decent horsepower under the hood
When it comes to power, the Lenovo Legion Go S sits in the middle of the road, powered by a zippy (but not best-in-class) AMD Ryzen Z2 Go processor with 32GB of memory. There’s also plenty of space for games here, as the unit comes with 1 TB of onboard storage, expandable with a Micro SD port. The unit also has two USB-C ports, making it a breeze to connect to power while also using an external display or a third-party accessory.
On the outside, this unit sports a massive 8-inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution IPS display that can display up to 500 nits of brightness. The unit also has front-facing speakers and microphone, making Discord chats a breeze.
Though all this sounds good so far for a gaming handheld, be prepared for a letdown when it comes to price. Unfortunately, this is one of the more expensive handheld PC units, coming in at $760 retail direct from Lenovo.
What I liked about the Lenovo Legion Go S
It’s bright, comfortable, and the performance is mostly great
When I first picked up the Lenovo Legion Go S, I went into an immediate panic because of how heavy it was. At just over a pound and a half, I was worried that my wrists would get fatigued after an hour or two of playtime, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that after my initial three hours with the unit, my hands and wrists felt fine, thanks to some impressive ergonomics. The unit is undoubtedly bulky and heavy, but I was shocked by how little that ended up impacting my overall gaming experience.
While I was testing the unit, I primarily played two titles: Slay the Spire (one of my favorite roguelikes ever, which I’ve played on multiple systems) and South of Midnight, a new Xbox Studios title that I was hoping would help test some of this unit’s technical capabilities. And one thing that immediately stood out to me was how beautiful the latter looked on the Lenovo Legion Go’s screen.
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It’s not OLED, but the screen was incredibly bright and detailed, and at 8-inches was one of the biggest I’ve personally seen in a handheld. When I picked up my (non-OLED) Nintendo Switch later in the evening for a couple rounds of Mario Kart with friends, I was shocked by how much duller and smaller the screen on Nintendo’s console seemed by comparison.
The good news is that I was able to get up to a stable 50 FPS in performance battery mode.
When it comes to performance, the Lenovo Legion Go handles a simple game like Slay the Spire with ease while both unplugged and plugged in, plus in performance and power-saving mode. However, things got a little bit more complicated with South of Midnight. The good news is that I was able to get up to a stable 50 FPS in performance battery mode, which went up to 60 when the handheld was plugged in, and the 120Hz refresh rate and VRR were put to good use here, keeping things looking smooth and buttery on that dazzling screen.
Another thing I really appreciated about the Legion Go S is the improved Legion Space app, which has been updated and refreshed to offer one-touch access not only to launch games, but also to customize controls, adjust power options, and more. It’s a very convenient feature and helped me bypass a lot of Windows 11, which was a major plus.
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What I didn’t like about the Lenovo Legion Go S
Don’t go anywhere without a power brick
While I was very pleased with my experience with the handheld while plugged in, lower-power modes are unfortunately an issue. When I tried out battery-saving mode, South of Midnight almost immediately dropped to an unplayable six FPS, and even when I edged up some of the settings, without specifically maxing out everything for high performance, I encountered frequent freezes and game crashes.
And unfortunately, this is quite a big issue – like a lot of gaming handhelds, the battery on the Lenovo Legion Go S is absolutely terrible. I was only able to just barely eke out two hours in South of Midnight in performance mode before needing to plug in, and while I was able to play Slay the Spire a little longer thanks to the game needing fewer resources, it wasn’t enough for me to power through a full afternoon running errands without having to recharge the device with a power bank.
And while this wouldn’t be such an issue if the device was at a $600 price point or lower, at $760 retail, these issues matter a lot more as it feels like you’re paying a premium price for a less-than-optimal experience. Though I had almost no issues playing on the Lenovo Legion Go S when it was plugged in, at the end of the day, the idea behind a portable gaming handheld is the ability to take it anywhere, and in that respect, this handheld just isn’t at the level it needs to be, especially, again, given its high price point.
It also bears mentioning that this device runs on Windows 11 and this OS is still absolutely terrible for handhelds. Navigating the Xbox app in particular for me was tough, and trying to calibrate OS settings was so frustrating I had to put the handheld down and take a walk before trying again.
This isn’t a Lenovo issue per se, and to its credit, the aforementioned Legion Space game hub does work well for launching games. But, if you’re like me and use Xbox Game Pass or Steam to purchase and download games (or you want to customize your OS even just a little), you’ll be stuck using Windows 11’s crappy interface.
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Should you buy the Lenovo Legion Go S?
Look for it on sale
I actually quite enjoyed my time with the Lenovo Legion Go S, and I do think it is a solid gaming device, comfortable to hold and capable of playing brand-new games with ease on perhaps the best screen I’ve seen on a handheld. But in a world of increasing competition, it is tough to fully recommend a handheld that only offers its best performance when plugged in, and costs hundreds of dollars more than other portable gaming PCs that feature similar (or sometimes better) specs.
However, if you can find a unit on sale (and I did fairly easily while writing this review), the Legion Go S is a perfectly fine handheld for those who are looking to primarily play games on a handheld console in their own home close to an outlet, or who have plenty of portable power banks on hand when out and about.
This device was provided to Pocket-lint by Lenovo.
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