Ever since the release of the Steam Deck, the handheld gaming market has become pretty competitive. And till now, we’ve had many great releases from Ayaneo, GPD, OneXPlayer, and most importantly, Asus. Well, it’s time for Lenovo, one of the major computer brands, to make an entry with the Lenovo Legion Go.
The official images of the Lenovo Legion Go have just surfaced. From the official photos, it appears that Lenovo has got the formula right. It addresses some of the drawbacks that the current gaming handhelds have. And thanks to that, Legion Go has the potential to be a significant competitor.
Closer Look at the Lenovo Legion Go
There’s no denying that handheld gaming is still a controversion department of the gaming market. After all, it has to fill a very important gap between gaming consoles or PCs and mobile phones. And you don’t have to be an industry expert to understand that filling this gap is not easy. Gamers have a lot of expectations.
Till now, we basically have three big players in the handheld gaming space. They are Valve Steam Deck, Ayaneo’s high-end offerings, and Asus Rog Ally. But as mentioned earlier, they come with some not-so-easy-to-dismiss drawbacks. And with the Legion Go, Lenovo plans to address those.
A Similar but New Design
At first glance, the Lenovo Legion Go might not seem that different from the competitors. But the thing that really sets the gaming handheld apart is its similarities with another huge player in the handheld gaming market, the Nintendo Switch. Wondering what they are?
Unlike the offerings from the big players, the Lenovo Legion Go comes with removable joy-cons. This feature made Nintendo Switch a popular choice for those who love to play offline co-op games with friends and family. And while you can definitely get the same experience with Bluetooth controllers, removable controllers make things easy.
What’s more important is that the Lenovo Legion Go didn’t fiddle that much with the placement of buttons. The layout is pretty similar to Asus Rog Ally, which is already considered to have optimal button placements.
But in my opinion, the biggest advantage of the Legion Go is that it comes with a trackpad that’s pretty much like the Steam Deck. This trackpad on the Deck made it very easy to navigate through the UI. So, in short, the upcoming Lenovo handheld combines the best design features of Steam Deck, Asus Rog Ally, and Nintendo Switch.
Enhanced Gaming Performance
The Lenovo Legion Go will come with Windows 11, which means it has the potential to fully replace your gaming PC. You can play all of your favorite PC AAA titles on the go. And the great part is that the handheld device has the right hardware to offer you the smoothest experience.
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Under the hood, the Lenovo Legion Go will come with one of the new AMD Phoenix processors. Although, there’s no clear indication regarding what the chipset will be. No matter what, the brand-new AMD Phoenix APUs are great mobile chipsets. They have the horsepower to drive all your favorite games with smooth frame rates.
Now, even though we don’t clearly know the model of the SoC, the huge air vents of the Lenovo Legion Go do give a hint. These large vents mean that the handheld gaming device will pack a powerful model from the lineup. Due to its robust cooling system, the device should maintain optimal performance even under heavy loads.
IO of the Lenovo Legion Go
When it comes to the IO, the Lenovo Legion Go comes with two USB-C ports. One of them is at the top, and one is at the bottom. The official images also show a headphone jack and a dedicated microSD card slot. Most importantly, the device will feature dedicated volume buttons, letting you easily control the audio output.
While it’s not confirmed yet, the Lenovo Legion Go will likely come with a touch screen. After all, it features removable joy-cons, which makes a touch screen a must for the device. And thanks to that, navigating through the Windows 11 will become a piece of cake.
Besides that, the Legion Go comes with shoulder buttons and side triggers. While these are nothing new for a gaming handheld, the back triggers are definitely a welcomed addition to the device. Also, as you can see from the image attached above, the right removable joy-con has a wheel.
That means you can do a mouse-style scroll through the right joy-con. This is definitely a plus for the gaming device. It will make it easier to scroll through web pages and throughout the whole UI. And this is yet another unique feature found in the Legion gaming handheld.
Thoughts On the Lenovo Legion Go
Overall, the Lenovo Legion Go is shaping up to be a complete package. It offers some features that are missing from the current handheld devices. And it promises to offer the best possible handheld gaming device. Now, while the specs are yet to be confirmed, Lenovo knows the competition really well.
After all, the lineup of Lenovo consists of high-end and top-notch gaming computers and laptops. So, I believe that Lenovo could deliver something great with the Legion Go, and it will not be just another average gaming handheld. Hopefully, Lenovo will share more details about the device soon. And when more information surfaces, we will get you updated. So, stay tuned!
