Lenovo has unveiled the first true Steam Deck alternative with SteamOS... And even an early next-gen Legion Go prototype

News
By
published

The second-gen Legion Go isn't here yet, but the sleek Legion Go S is right around the corner and will have a SteamOS-powered variant.

A Lenovo Legion Go S with SteamOS held in the hand.
(Image credit: Windows Central | Zachary Boddy)

The gaming handheld market has been progressively heating up for a while now, but Lenovo just dropped a firebomb on the whole scene. During CES 2025, Lenovo revealed three new Lenovo Legion handhelds, including the first ever true competitor for Valve's popular Steam Deck and a sneak peek at the next generation of Legion Go gaming.

The Lenovo Legion Go S is a new premium gaming handheld that takes the fight straight to the ASUS ROG Ally with a sleek design, but it doesn't just come with Windows 11. Later this year, gamers will also be able to buy a variant of the Legion Go S running SteamOS, the same specially tailored custom interface currently exclusively used by the Steam Deck. The Legion Go (Gen 2) doesn't have a date yet, but it's coming, too, and it looks great.

I had the opportunity to spend some time with all three handhelds and came away more impressed than I expected with the Go S.

A new Legion Go S — with both Windows and SteamOS

Image 1 of 9
A Lenovo Legion Go S with Windows held in the hand.
The Lenovo Legion Go S is a large handheld, but it honestly doesn't feel less comfortable to use than the ROG Ally X, despite the larger display.(Image credit: Windows Central | Zachary Boddy)

The real star of today's show is the Lenovo Legion Go S, which represents a departure from Lenovo's handheld gaming strategy up until this point. Rather than a utilitarian but highly practical design, the Legion Go S is sleek and clean.

Lenovo Legion Go S

• Price: From $499.99 starting (Ryzen Z2 Go) to $729.99 starting (Ryzen Z1 Extreme)
• Display: 8-inch IPS LCD, 16:10 aspect ratio, FHD+ (1,920 x 1,080) resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 500nits max brightness, 97% DCI-P3 color gamut, multi-touch support, Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) support
• CPU: AMD Ryzen Z2 Go (4 cores, Zen3+ architecture) | AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme (8 cores, Zen4 architecture)
• GPU: AMD Radeon 700M series (RDNA 2 for Z2 Go, RDNA 3 for Z1 Extreme)
• RAM: Up to 32GB LPDDR5X @ 6,400MHz
• Storage: Up to 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen 4.0 SSD (M.2 2242 & 2280 supported)
• Battery: 55.5Whr, 65W USB Type-C fast charging
• Dimensions: 299 x 127.6 x 22.6mm (11.77 x 5.02 x 0.88in)
• Weight: 740g (1.63lbs)

The dual-tone black-and-white design is much closer to the existing ASUS ROG Ally or Steam Deck than the first-gen Legion Go, as the detachable controllers are gone. You're looking at an 8-inch, 16:10 IPS LCD display with a 120Hz refresh rate and multi-touch support, and it does feature Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), a feature strangely missing on the original Go.

On either side, you'll find the new Hall Effect thumbsticks that should be more precise and help combat stick drift, as well as the more circular and ergonomic D-Pad. There are new dual-stage triggers, too, with the trigger locks enabled via switches on the back of the handheld. This handheld is still quite large and heavy compared to some other options, but it's certainly more demure than the beefy Legion Go that came before it.

Oddly enough, I was reminded of the Logitech G Cloud Android handheld I reviewed, but in a good way. The Legion Go S was far more comfortable to hold than I expected, expertly disguising its rather large size in a way that almost defies belief. You still get a built-in touchpad to help navigate Windows, too, although it is tiny (it still works well, from my limited experience).

On the inside, you'll find either the AMD Ryzen Z2 Go, a more affordable chipset designed exclusively for the Legion Go S, or the familiar Ryzen Z1 Extreme we've seen in all the most premium PC gaming handhelds. The Ryzen Z2 Go is expected to offer modest performance but (hopefully) great efficiency and a lower price point. Supporting that chipset will be up to 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage, which is still swappable.

Image 1 of 8
The Lenovo Legion Go S in a handheld dock on a desk.
This new design isn't modular, but it's certainly sleek (and comes with its own benefits).(Image credit: Lenovo)

You also get two USB Type-C 4.0 ports, which greatly expands your connectivity options. I'm a big fan of this design, although you lose the versatility the Legion Go offers with its detachable controllers and built-in kickstand. The Lenovo Legion Go S will be available starting this month with an expected price of $729.99, but that'll be the more expensive configuration with the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme inside and running on Windows 11.

Yes, the standard Legion Go S runs Windows 11, like most other PC gaming handhelds, but Lenovo has another trick up its sleeve. Coming later this year, the Legion Go S will become the first officially licensed, third-party SteamOS gaming handheld. That's the exact same interface powering the Steam Deck, meaning gamers who prefer that OS will finally have a hardware alternative with more capable hardware inside.

The SteamOS version of the Legion Go S will don a violet chassis but otherwise will be identical to the standard Legion Go S. You'll lose the flexibility of Windows, but SteamOS is far more optimized for handhelds, so it's a more intuitive experience. The Lenovo Legion Go S with SteamOS is expected in May 2025 with a starting price of $499.99, with the Ryzen Z2 Go inside.

The SteamOS version of the Legion Go S will be around $100 less than the Windows-powered equivalent, depending on your region, and that's thanks to Windows' licensing fees. At around the same time, we should get a new entry-level Legion Go S with Windows for around $599.99, also powered by the Ryzen Z2 Go exclusive to Lenovo's handhelds.

Lenovo Legion Go owners can also expect a refreshed Legion Space software suite with new features and an improved interface, which is always great to see. The Lenovo Legion Go S looks and feels awesome, with a refined design and feature set, and the new Legion Space software is the icing on the cake. It's more modern, responsive, and intuitive, and that'll help a great deal when navigating awkward Windows.

A next-gen Legion Go on the horizon

Image 1 of 7
A Lenovo Legion Go (Gen 2) prototype on a desk.
The next flagship Legion Go isn't ready yet, but it already looks pretty impressive.(Image credit: Windows Central | Zachary Boddy)

Alongside the Lenovo Legion Go S, Lenovo offered us a sneak peek at the future flagship of the handheld gaming line. The Lenovo Legion Go (Gen 2) doesn't have a release window or any pricing information yet, but we at least know more about the ultra-premium handheld's hardware and how Lenovo is planning to improve upon the Legion Go.

This will be for the gamers who can't give up the versatility of the first-gen Legion Go, as the next-gen upgrade will still boast the detachable controllers and built-in kickstand. Actually, Lenovo made major improvements to the ergonomics of those controllers. The big upgrade here is the display, though, which was already a highlight of the Legion Go.

Now, we're getting an 8.8-inch, 16:10 OLED display with VRR support, so we can expect the Legion Go (Gen 2) to offer one of the best visual experiences of any gaming handheld on the market. Powering that display will be the upcoming AMD Ryzen Z2 or Ryzen Z2 Extreme, which should hopefully lead to performance and efficiency gains versus the Ryzen Z1 platform we're used to.

You'll also be able to pair the Legion Go (Gen 2) with up to 32GB of RAM and 2TB of SSD storage. With the Ryzen Z2 Extreme and that 144Hz OLED display, it should be a monster for mobile PC gaming. We also expect it to be extremely expensive, but we'll have to wait longer to find out exactly how much it'll cost. The Lenovo Legion Go (Gen 2) we saw at CES 2025 was a prototype, after all. That aside, I'm super excited to see Lenovo invest in handheld gaming, and it's awesome to see SteamOS come to more hardware.

CATEGORIES
Zachary Boddy
Zachary Boddy
Staff Writer

Zachary Boddy (They / Them) is a Staff Writer for Windows Central, primarily focused on covering the latest news in tech and gaming, the best Xbox and PC games, and the most interesting Windows and Xbox hardware. They have been gaming and writing for most of their life starting with the original Xbox, and started out as a freelancer for Windows Central and its sister sites in 2019. Now a full-fledged Staff Writer, Zachary has expanded from only writing about all things Minecraft to covering practically everything on which Windows Central is an expert, especially when it comes to Microsoft. You can find Zachary on Twitter @BoddyZachary.

4 Comments Comment from the forums
  • HeyCori
    Ultimately, I think this signals the slow death of Windows based handhelds. Despite the recent addition of Lenovo, ASUS, and MSI, smaller manufacturers have been making Windows handhelds for years.

    You'd think that with the big boys stepping in, that would have prompted Nadella to do literally anything to improve Windows handhelds. Even something as basic as a launcher that sits on top of Windows (like Android) would have been helpful. Instead, many Windows handhelds still require attaching a physical keyboard during setup because there's no guarantee that the onscreen keyboard will work.

    So I'm not surprised to see OEMs testing Steam because it provides a better user experience, and cheaper due to not having to license Windows. The second loser is Epic (and everyone else not named Steam) because now there's one less reason to buy games from another store.
    Reply
  • Lurking_Lurker_Lurks
    Funny how as right when people are talking about Microsoft considering licensing the Xbox OS for OEMs, Valve just immediately does it. If this is set to continue Valve might seriously disrupt the console market and that's been needed for a long time. Nintendo, Sony, and Xbox do need to wake up. Gaming has moved beyond their walled gardens. Xbox is currently the one closest to a more expansive and open ecosystem, but they also can't quite pick a lane. And hey, I'll be the first to admit that even I'm skeptical they can pull it off. An Xbox OEM could potentially be a massive mess and start to move Xbox "consoles" to the optimization and consistency hellscape on PC. I'm very interested in seeing how SteamOS does as it opens up to third party hardware.
    Reply
  • Lurking_Lurker_Lurks
    HeyCori said:
    Ultimately, I think this signals the slow death of Windows based handhelds. Despite the recent addition of Lenovo, ASUS, and MSI, smaller manufacturers have been making Windows handhelds for years.
    I mean you said it yourself, Windows based handhelds have been around for years long before the current push: they aren't going away. This is the start of Valve really pushing SteamOS as an alternative gaming operating system, but SteamOS is still not windows. As stated it only has access to a singular storefront/launcher and doesn't support every game (even those on Steam). While it is expected that Valve will inevitably grow the list of supported games, they will never make that every game just due to compatibility issues with legacy software and licensing and what not. SteamOS currently still has issues with DRM and anticheat games.

    Not everything has to be the death of something else. That's one thing I really hate seeing on the internet. The overexaggerated XYZ-killer. Even now I'm seeing a LOT of news articles titled that the Steam Deck is dead because of this. It's like people want to live in a monopoly. I see this as a good wave of healthy competition. Much needed healthy competition. It's not like an alternative to windows for gaming is new. Heck, current windows handheld users have been able to download Bazzite (which offers a SteamOS like experience) for the longest. As a gaming OS, Windows has been sitting on its laurels for the past well ever. They were the default only option for the most part and knew that. Microsoft hasn't really done anything to actually stay competitive in the space (even when they literally created a gaming platform in Xbox). Now Apple is pushing more for PC gaming support on MacOS and through SteamOS Valve is heralding gaming on Linux. The majority of gamers are still going to be on windows for a long time and every PC game will likely continue to support windows in a way they just don't or can't on other operating systems. Not to mention that the vast majority of benefits that people equate to PC gaming will continue to only be available on Windows and when it comes to non-gaming uses Windows will continue to offer users a lot as well. Part of the allure of a Windows handheld is that it's just a Windows PC and that makes it usable for work and play.

    I think it's very telling that Microsoft sent an Xbox exec to this event specifically to be part of the PC gaming handheld discussions. There's probably a lot of internal conversations going on for how to keep Windows as the number 1 gaming PC OS for decades to come, and how to combat losing market share in this space. That's a very good thing. I also think that with how much cheaper the SteamOS license cost is and how that leads to much lower prices, we'll continue to see these SteamOS handhelds hit markets with a console like experience and a console like price, and I hope that means we'll similarly see disruption in the console market with gamers questioning why the value of their consoles have stagnated so much (Nintendo and Sony don't even offer free cloud saves). That's also a very good thing. It looks like we're set to see much needed competition in places that there hasn't been in the gaming industry. That'll hopefully make all these companies wake up and compete to give us more value and just in general a better experience. The MOST improvements I've ever seen to the Xbox App on PC came post Steam Deck as the Xbox App on PC tried to really benefit from the Windows handhelds coming out and offer a more intuitive experience. That's what I expect to see more of.
    Reply
  • HeyCori
    Lurking_Lurker_Lurks said:
    I mean you said it yourself, Windows based handhelds have been around for years long before the current push: they aren't going away. This is the start of Valve really pushing SteamOS as an alternative gaming operating system, but SteamOS is still not windows.
    Keep in mind that Valve doesn't need to replace Windows for gaming, they just need to replace Windows for - specifically - handhelds. That can happen regardless of the Windows PC market. I'd even argue that it's better for Valve if the PC market stays the way it is. It's the best of both worlds for them. After all, Valve makes the majority of their money selling games on Windows, which in turns boosts their handheld ecosystem. And given that Epic's store is a very distant second, it's almost impossible to avoid Steam if you're a PC gamer. I imagine a regular consumer is going to take that into consideration when looking for a PC handheld. Unless someone is deeply invested in Epic/GoG, Windows based handhelds can easily become a niche, and niches aren't guaranteed to last. You said it yourself, Microsoft has not done anything to stay competitive in this space. I don't want to say it's a guarantee, but there's a lane there where Steam handhelds completely overtake the PC handheld market. And given Microsoft's track record with previous devices, they might not care as long as Steam users are buying games on Windows PCs. And I seriously doubt the Windows PC gaming market is going to be in trouble any time soon.
    Reply