Lenovo has already teased the second-gen model of its flagship gaming handheld. However that gained’t be out till a lot later this 12 months, so within the meantime, it’s come out with the Legion Go S, a barely sturdier and extra moveable approach to frag whilst you’re out and about. Now the difficult factor about this machine is that it is going to be obtainable in a bunch of various configurations together with one which comes pre-installed with SteamOS — a primary for any moveable PC not made by Valve. Frankly, that’s the model we’re most excited by. Nevertheless, the one operating Home windows 11 is out now, so it’s an excellent time to get accustomed to it and see if it’s well worth the cash or when you ought to simply await the variant that comes with Valve’s OS as a substitute.
Design and show: A mid-cycle streamlining
No matter what platform they’re based mostly on, each fashions characteristic the identical design with the one distinction being that the Home windows 11 model is available in white whereas the SteamOS variant incorporates a darkish purple shell. Nevertheless, not like the unique Legion Go, the Go S doesn’t have removable controllers. However other than that, most of the spotlight options from its predecessor are nonetheless there. It sports activities a 1,920 x 1,200 show with a 120Hz refresh price. At 8 inches, that’s bigger than most handhelds, although it’s a slight downgrade from the 8.8-inch panel on its predecessor. You additionally get joysticks with exact Corridor impact sensors, an assortment of face and shoulder buttons, twin USB 4 ports (which each assist energy and information), 3.5mm audio and a microSD card reader.
One other small tweak is that as a substitute of 4 paddles in again, you solely get two, with Lenovo buying and selling out the second pair for a set of toggle switches that allow you to alter how deep you need the hand held’s triggers to go. It’s a pleasant contact for individuals who take pleasure in issues like racing video games the place a bit of additional analog sensitivity can go a great distance, however nonetheless need the liberty to have a shorter pull when taking part in stuff like preventing video games, the place longer triggers damage greater than they assist. And whereas the touchpad on the Legion Go S is far smaller than the one on the unique, I’m actually glad Lenovo didn’t axe it altogether because it makes navigating by settings and menus in Home windows a lot simpler than relying strictly on the joysticks or contact assist.
The one characteristic I want Lenovo had included is an onboard fingerprint sensor. With out it, you want to use a PIN or password to get into Home windows 11. On a system with out a keyboard, meaning each time you choose up the system, it’s important to shift your arms away from the joysticks and faucet the center of the touchscreen, as a result of the tiny touchpad doesn’t even work for this. Frankly, it’s simply sort of awkward and will have been averted solely if Lenovo had opted for an influence button with a built-in finger scanner like most of the Legion Go’s rivals together with the ROG Ally X and the MSI Claw 8 AI+. Lastly, whereas the Go S does have a built-in rumble motor, the vibrations it places out are hilariously one-note, particularly when it’s set to buzz anytime you utilize the touchpad. So I ended up turning it off solely.
Efficiency: Not as quick as you would possibly count on
The Legion Go S will ultimately assist a handful of processors and configurations, however proper now it comes with an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go chip together with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. And when you’re evaluating it to its predecessor, you would possibly assume this factor would provide higher efficiency. In spite of everything, the unique Legion Go has much less RAM and an older Ryzen Z1 Excessive APU, and two is greater than one, proper? Nicely not so quick, as a result of the Z1 Excessive incorporates a base clock of three.3GHz with eight cores and 16 threads in comparison with the Z2 Go’s base clock of 3GHz with simply 4 cores and eight threads. Moreover, the older Z1 Excessive additionally has a GPU based mostly on AMD’s newer RDNA 3 structure in comparison with RDNA 2 for the Z2 Go. So in fact, the Legion Go S with this chip is about 10 to fifteen p.c much less highly effective than the mannequin that got here earlier than it.
This turns into much more apparent when benchmarks the place the Legion Go S delivered 45 fps in Cyberpunk 2077 at 800p and medium settings with FSR upscaling set to efficiency, whereas the unique Legion Go hit 51 fps with each methods set to the identical 15-watt efficiency mode. In the meantime in Returnal, we noticed the same sample with the Go S reaching 23 fps on medium graphics at 800p in comparison with 34 fps for the older Legion Go, as soon as once more with each gadgets set to fifteen watts.
Seeing poorer efficiency on the brand new mannequin would possibly set off alarms for some individuals, however earlier than anybody panics, contemplate this: The Legion Go S is meant to be a extra streamlined and inexpensive tackle the unique, so in some respects not with the ability to obtain the identical or greater framerates is to be anticipated. To me, the true situation is that 32GB of RAM is type of overkill for this chip, which implies you’re paying extra for reminiscence that may’t be absolutely utilized. And keep in mind, whereas the Go S’ launch config comes with a Z2 Go, there are different variations which are anticipated to get a Z1 Excessive and presumably a vanilla Z2 sooner or later sooner or later.
After all, in order for you greater framerates, you’ll be able to at all times alter how a lot energy you’re sending to its processor. Lenovo’s default balanced setting makes use of 15 watts, whereas efficiency mode pumps issues as much as 30. However in order for you extra exact management, the customized mode can go from as little as 5 watts all the best way as much as 40, although you’ll need or must be plugged into the wall to make the most of its full TDP (thermal design energy).
Battery life: Adequate
Naturally, no matter efficiency mode you select will finally impression your battery life. I discovered that when taking part in Metallic Slug Techniques utilizing the 15-watt balanced setting, the Legion Go S lasted for round two and a half hours, which is fairly stable. When taking part in extra demanding titles, longevity wasn’t fairly nearly as good, with runtimes nearer to an hour and a half. Although, with the Go S that includes a 55.5WHr battery in comparison with one thing just like the 80WHr pack within the ROG Ally X, that sort of discrepancy isn’t solely surprising.
Software program: Higher, however nonetheless clunky
Lenovo has finished lots to enhance the Legion Area app because it got here out a pair years in the past. Not solely is it significantly better as a normal place to launch video games from, it’s lots simpler to regulate settings or obtain new drivers or software program updates. Even the UI is extra spacious and intuitive. Nevertheless, on the finish of the day, the handoff between Legion Area and the remainder of Home windows 11 nonetheless feels awkward. Relying on what you’re attempting to tweak, it’s important to bounce between menus from Lenovo and Microsoft whereas switching between joystick and touchpad to navigate. I additionally observed some bugs like when attempting to put in Steam from the Legion Area app. It failed each time, which meant I needed to obtain the app instantly from Valve and do issues manually. In a number of respects, that is the place Home windows-based handhelds lag behind essentially the most, so it’s a disgrace it’ll be one other few months earlier than the SteamOS mannequin goes on sale someday in Might.
Wrap-up
The Legion Go S has all of the makings of a stable moveable gaming PC. It’s obtained an easy design with good ergonomics, Corridor impact joysticks and a wise button structure. Lenovo additionally contains some good perks like twin USB-C ports, a decent-sized battery and a helpful little touchpad for navigating Home windows. I simply want there was a built-in fingerprint scanner too. And whereas its 8-inch OLED show is a contact smaller than the one on its predecessor, there’s not a lot to dislike about it. You even get extra storage (1TB) than a base Legion Go (512GB).
The exhausting factor to come back to phrases with is that proper now a Legion Go S prices $730 for worse efficiency, no removable controllers and the shortage of bonuses like an included carrying case or vertical mouse performance like on the unique Legion Go, which will be had for $30 much less ($700). Usually, that will be a loss of life sentence for a brand new system as a result of that worth proposition merely doesn’t make sense.
However on this case, the problem is that Lenovo hasn’t absolutely rolled out all of its variations. I nonetheless assume 32GB of RAM on this machine is extreme; not even the ROG Ally X has that a lot. However extra importantly, the Legion Go S’ different configs aren’t obtainable but. So even when you aren’t holding out for the SteamOS variant, you’d be foolish to not await cheaper variations to come back out with beginning costs nearer to $600 (and even $500 for the one with Valve’s platform), which can immediately make this handheld much more engaging.
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