Lenovo’s Legion Go Is a Cross Between a Steam Deck, a Nintendo Switch and a Desktop

Valve didn’t invent the handheld gaming PC when it released last year’s Steam Deck, but it did popularize the format, which was once reserved for smaller premium brands like Chinese company GPD. Since then, there’s been competition both from those boutiques, which have attempted to slash prices as much as they can, and from mainstream laptop makers, which are more capable of competing on an even level with Valve. Most notably, Asus’ ROG Ally marked Valve’s first competition from a larger rival. Now, Lenovo (known for ThinkPads) is throwing its hat in the ring with the Lenovo Legion Go, which is something like a cross between the Steam Deck, the Nintendo Switch and a desktop.

Notably, the Lenovo Legion Go is the first of these devices to borrow the Nintendo Switch’s key feature–removable controllers. While Dell once teased an Alienware handheld PC concept called UFO that promised the same ability, it never came to market. Lenovo’s device, revealed today at Europe’s IFA electronics show, picks up that baton where Dell dropped it, and then runs it to the finish line.

During that sprint, Lenovo’s added on a larger, 1600p screen and a keyboard-and-mouse mode to make the Legion Go truly its own device, and help it stand out in an increasingly crowded market. Specifically, its screen is 8.8 inches across diagonally, which gives the picture far more real estate than the 7-inch Steam Deck screen or the 6.2-inch screen on the base Nintendo Switch. This necessitates a larger device, and while Lenovo hasn’t released official Legion Go measurements, this reporter did get to hold it during a pre-release event, where it felt much boxier than her Steam Deck or Switch. This alludes to the Legion Go’s unique innovation: it wants to pack as many use cases in as possible, and is comfortable being a little larger to do so.

At the same time, the Legion Go’s size allows it to distribute its weight evenly, and over a hour of on-and-off use, the handheld continually felt light and manageable. Lenovo would only say that the device was “a few grams heavier than the Steam Deck,” which can become tiring to hold over extended gaming sessions. In practice, it was hard to discern between the two, and it's likely the handheld's shape will have more impact on its longterm ergonomics than its weight.

Regardless, the Legion Go’s larger screen and detachable controllers work in tandem to negate the downsides of its size and add in extra functionality. While the Steam Deck lacks a kickstand and the base Switch’s kickstand is a small tab, the Legion Go is prepared for kickstand mode with a pull out foot that extends the entire width of the console. It’s stable, and thanks to the 8.8-inch screen, visible from a few feet away. This more reliably allows the player to use the device without having to hold it, while keeping the handheld mode as an option.

In kickstand mode, the user removes the controllers from the console's side rails and holds one in each hand. Unlike the Switch, there’s no built-in two-player functionality for these, but the idea is that they are much easier to pack away in a bag than a Steam Deck, a dock, and an external controller.

The controllers are meant to seamlessly transition from a wired connection to a wireless one when removed from the console, although there was a slight pause in the transition during this reporter’s time with them. Unlike the Switch’s joycons, they do not slot into a separate plastic connector piece, and are instead meant to be held one in each hand. For a single player, they have all the same functionality of the joycons, plus a touchpad, RGB lighting and sticks that use Hall Effect (magnetic field detecting) sensors to avoid the durability issues that Nintendo’s removable controllers have become famous for.

Eagle-eyed gamers might notice that the right hand controller also has two extra buttons on the side, plus an optical sensor on the bottom and even a mouse wheel next to those extra side buttons. These allow the Legion Go to pull off a unique trick: FPS mode. By flipping a switch and placing the controller into a plastic base included with the handheld, it instead functions as a mouse. The side buttons become the player’s left and right click, and the left controller still gives the player an analog stick. This allows for easy navigation of Windows, which the Legion Go ships with, as well as more intuitive control in shooting games.

While this reporter only got to try the Legion Go with easy-to-run games like Powerwash Simulator, the handheld should have little issue outperforming the Steam Deck and running those shooting games, thanks to the inclusion of the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor. This is the same chip powering the ROG Ally, and it’s from a more recent (and more powerful) generation than the Steam Deck’s chip.

All these options mean the Legion Go can work as a handheld, or in a kickstand formation with a controller, or even as a small substitute for a desktop, all without needing extra accessories and with the only hardware tradeoff being the larger profile. The use of Windows as its OS also adds on even more versatility over a Steam Deck, which runs a version of Linux called SteamOS.

However, factors like cooling performance and battery life still need to be tested. The handheld’s larger size does mean that Lenovo has put a slightly bigger battery (49.2Wh over the Steam Deck’s 40Wh) on it, but the larger screen and higher performance could even out any longevity gains, even though Lenovo promises fast charging. Windows also isn’t built for touch and controller input like the Steam Deck’s SteamOS is, and while Lenovo promises that it’s working on "Legion Space" software to help players mimic SteamOS’ features, this reporter didn’t get to try it.

What this reporter did get to try were the Lenovo Legion Glasses, which are a gaming version of Lenovo’s ThinkReality heads-up-display glasses. These project a large virtual screen with a 1080p resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate, meaning they cap out at 60 frames per second. They’re certainly a tradeoff in comfort and fidelity over the Legion’s internal screen, which is a higher resolution and runs at a 144hz refresh rate. They also add an accessory on to a device that is otherwise uniquely self-contained. But their micro-OLED displays make for high contrast, and the size and privacy of the screen could be useful in transit or around impressionable viewers. They do lose a feature over their enterprise Thinkreality cousins, which can run into the thousands and can display up to 5 virtual screens at once, as opposed to just one. But at $329, they’re far more affordable and do make use of the Legion Go’s connectivity options, which include two DisplayPort compatible USB-C ports, Wi-Fi 6e and Bluetooth 5.2.

The Legion Go itself starts at $699, which does put it at a premium over the Steam Deck’s starting price of $400 but could still appeal to people who want a “jack of all trades” and don’t mind some bulk in their handhelds. The Legion Go also comes with three free months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. A Lenovo representative told The Messenger that the company might release a cheaper model with the weaker AMD Ryzen Z1 in the future, but didn't provide further details.

$699 is the same price as the ROG Ally, although like that machine, it’s likely there will be more expensive configurations of the Legion Go available at launch. The most expensive Steam Deck, which includes extra storage and an anti-glare screen, is priced at $649. It’s unclear how much storage the base Legion Go will have, although Lenovo did say the unit tops out at 1TB of internal storage and can fit a 2TB MicroSD card.

More details will come this October, when both the Legion Go and the Lenovo Legion Glasses will hit the market. Lenovo did not share retail partners for the Legion Glasses, but the Legion Go will be available at Lenovo.com, Best Buy, Microcenter and “select retail partners.” Releasing alongside the devices will be a set of $50 wired gaming earbuds with 7.1 virtual surround sound and an inline controller with RGB lighting. Lenovo also announced its Legion 9i gaming laptop, which has a 16-inch screen, the latest Intel CPUs and Nvidia GPUs, built-in water cooling and starts at $4,399.