The Lenovo Legion Go S is a giant, vivid beast whi...

In relation to PC handhelds, it is arduous to not play the comparability recreation. The

Steam Deck
is (pretty or unfairly) held up because the gold customary, whereas the

ROG Ally
sequence has the Home windows-powered market all however cornered because of its array of choices each by way of energy and value.

I would not say the hand-held market is saturated simply but, however with MSI now making a reliable play within the high-end market and Acer about to launch their very own spin on the gaming handheld with the Nitro Blaze sequence, the house is getting greater than a bit of crowded. You would be forgiven for questioning what precisely separates all these handheld units from each other.

It’s on this setting that we discover the Lenovo Legion Go S, which is the second handheld providing from Lenovo, following their clearly Swap-inspired

Legion Go
mannequin, which was the one handheld PC I’ve ever seen to function removable controllers. After some blended evaluations, it appears like Lenovo has gone for a extra back-to-basics strategy to the hand-held PC with the Legion Go S, which eschews the gimmicky controllers for an ergonomic design and a really lovely display. However is that this sufficient to make this handheld price your whereas?

Largely, the reply is sure, however there’s one massive caveat.

Beneficial

Lenovo Legion Go S

$600 $730 Save
$130

The Lenovo Legion Go S handheld is powered by the AMD Ryzen Z2 Go processor with AMD Radeon graphics and incorporates a vivid, 8-inch display, clean 120Hz refresh fee and ergonomic design. 

Professionals & Cons

• Massive lovely show
• Ergonomic design is straightforward to carry
• Legion Area is straightforward to navigate

• Home windows 11
• Costly
• Battery drains quick

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We do not do arm-chair analysis. We purchase and take a look at our personal merchandise, and we solely publish purchaser’s guides with merchandise we have really reviewed.

Worth, availability, and specs

It isn’t low cost, however there’s some respectable horsepower below the hood

In relation to energy, the Lenovo Legion Go S sits in the course of the highway, powered by a zippy (however not best-in-class) AMD Ryzen Z2 Go processor with 32GB of reminiscence. There’s additionally loads of house for video games right here, because the unit comes with 1 TB of onboard storage, expandable with a Micro SD port. The unit additionally has two USB-C ports, making it a breeze to hook up with energy whereas additionally utilizing an exterior show or a third-party accent.

On the skin, this unit sports activities a large 8-inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel decision IPS show that may show as much as 500 nits of brightness. The unit additionally has front-facing audio system and microphone, making Discord chats a breeze.

Although all this sounds good to this point for a gaming handheld, be ready for a letdown on the subject of value. Sadly, this is likely one of the dearer handheld PC models, coming in at $760 retail direct from Lenovo.

What I appreciated in regards to the Lenovo Legion Go S

It is vivid, comfy, and the efficiency is generally nice

After I first picked up the Lenovo Legion Go S, I went into a right away panic due to how heavy it was. At simply over a pound and a half, I used to be frightened that my wrists would get fatigued after an hour or two of playtime, however I used to be pleasantly stunned to search out that after my preliminary three hours with the unit, my arms and wrists felt wonderful, because of some spectacular ergonomics. The unit is undoubtedly cumbersome and heavy, however I used to be shocked by how little that ended up impacting my total gaming expertise.

Whereas I used to be testing the unit, I primarily performed two titles: Slay the Spire (one among my favourite roguelikes ever, which I’ve performed on a number of programs) and South of Midnight, a brand new Xbox Studios title that I hoped would assist take a look at a few of this unit’s technical capabilities. And one factor that instantly stood out to me was how lovely the latter regarded on the Lenovo Legion Go’s display.

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It isn’t OLED, however the display was extremely vivid and detailed, and at 8-inches was one of many largest I’ve personally seen in a handheld. After I picked up my (non-OLED) Nintendo Swap later within the night for a pair rounds of Mario Kart with mates, I used to be shocked by how a lot duller and smaller the display on Nintendo’s console appeared by comparability.

In relation to efficiency, the Lenovo Legion Go handles a easy recreation like Slay the Spire with ease whereas each unplugged and plugged in, plus in efficiency and power-saving mode. Nonetheless, issues bought a bit of bit extra difficult with South of Midnight. The excellent news is that I used to be in a position to stand up to a steady 50 FPS in efficiency battery mode, which went as much as 60 when the hand-held was plugged in, and the 120Hz refresh fee and VRR had been put to good use right here, retaining issues trying clean and buttery on that dazzling display.

One other factor I actually appreciated in regards to the Legion Go S is the improved Legion Area app, which has been up to date and refreshed to supply one-touch entry not solely to launch video games, but in addition to customise controls, modify energy choices, and extra. It is a very handy function and helped me bypass loads of Home windows 11, which was a serious plus.

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What I did not like in regards to the Lenovo Legion Go S

Do not go wherever and not using a energy brick

Whereas I used to be very happy with my expertise with the hand-held whereas plugged in, lower-power modes are sadly a problem. After I tried out battery-saving mode, South of Midnight virtually instantly dropped to an unplayable six FPS, and even after I edged up among the settings, with out particularly maxing out every thing for prime efficiency, I encountered frequent freezes and recreation crashes.

And sadly, that is fairly a giant concern — like loads of gaming handhelds, the battery on the Lenovo Legion Go S is totally horrible. I used to be solely in a position to simply barely eke out two hours in South of Midnight in efficiency mode earlier than needing to plug in, and whereas I used to be in a position to play Slay the Spire a bit of longer because of the sport needing fewer sources, it wasn’t sufficient for me to energy by way of a full afternoon working errands with out having to recharge the machine with an influence financial institution.

And whereas this would not be such a problem if the machine was at a $600 value level or decrease, at $760 retail, these points matter much more because it feels such as you’re paying a premium value for a less-than-optimal expertise. Although I had virtually no points enjoying on the Lenovo Legion Go S when it was plugged in, on the finish of the day, the thought behind a conveyable gaming handheld is the flexibility to take it wherever, and in that respect, this handheld simply is not on the stage it must be, particularly, once more, given its excessive value level.

It additionally bears mentioning that this machine runs on Home windows 11 and this OS remains to be completely horrible for handhelds. Navigating the Xbox app specifically for me was robust, and attempting to calibrate OS settings was so irritating I needed to put the hand-held down and take a stroll earlier than attempting once more.

This is not a Lenovo concern per se, and to its credit score, the aforementioned Legion Area recreation hub does work properly for launching video games. However, for those who’re like me and use Xbox Sport Cross or Steam to buy and obtain video games (otherwise you need to customise your OS even just a bit), you will be caught utilizing Home windows 11’s crappy interface.

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Must you purchase the Lenovo Legion Go S?

Search for it on sale

I really fairly loved my time with the Lenovo Legion Go S, and I do suppose it’s a strong gaming machine, comfy to carry and able to enjoying brand-new video games with ease on maybe the perfect display I’ve seen on a handheld. However in a world of accelerating competitors, it’s robust to completely suggest a handheld that solely affords its greatest efficiency when plugged in, and prices tons of of {dollars} greater than different moveable gaming PCs that function comparable (or generally higher) specs.

Nonetheless, if you will discover a unit on sale (and I did pretty simply whereas penning this evaluation), the Legion Go S is a wonderfully wonderful handheld for many who need to primarily play video games on a handheld console in their very own residence near an outlet, or who’ve loads of moveable energy banks available when out and about.

Beneficial

Lenovo Legion Go S

$600 $730 Save
$130

The Lenovo Legion Go S handheld is powered by the AMD Ryzen Z2 Go processor with AMD Radeon graphics and incorporates a vivid, 8-inch display, clean 120Hz refresh fee and ergonomic design. 

Weight

1.61lb

Chipset

AMD Ryzen Z2 Go

RAM

32GB 6400MHz LPDDR5X

Storage

1TB

Wi-fi Connectivity

Wi-Fi 6E 2×2 AX & Bluetooth 5.3

Show

8-inch WUXGA 1920 x 1200 pixel decision, IPS, Glare, Contact, 100percentsRGB, 500 nits, 120Hz

Graphics

Built-in AMD Radeon Graphics

Ports

2x USB 4 (40Gb/s information switch DisplayPort™ 1.4, + Energy Supply 3.0)

Broaden

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