Ever since the launch of the Steam Deck, the handheld gaming market has become highly competitive. While we got devices from competitors such as Ayaneo, GPD, and others, one of the most prominent releases was from Asus, the Rog Ally. But it seems we just got another impressive handheld to play with: the Lenovo Legion Go.
This Lenovo gaming handle has just become official today. Similar to the Asus Rog Ally, the Lenovo Legion Go is an exceptional gaming powerhouse that can fulfill all your portable gaming needs. As a matter of fact, it even has the power to fulfill your productivity needs too.
More About the Lenovo Legion Go
So, there’s a lot of things to talk about. From the screen to the controls to the internals, the Lenovo Legion Go has pretty much nailed it all. And Lenovo didn’t just stick with the regular handheld console design for the Legion Go.
Instead, the brand has added its own unique touch, making the handheld device distinct and potentially superior to other gaming handhelds on the market.
Screen
The Lenovo Legion Go comes with an 8.8-inch LCD screen. It’s a QHD+ panel, which has a resolution of 1600 x 2560 px. Furthermore, the screen boasts a 144Hz refresh rate, allowing for a seamless and fluid visual experience.
Another good thing about the touchscreen is that it supports varying resolutions. The range is from 800p to 1600p. That means you can dial down the in-game display resolution of a game, and the Lenovo Legion Go will dial the native resolution to give you a proper viewing experience.
Also, the screen of the Legion Go has support for varying refresh rates. It can go down to 60Hz, which should reduce tearing and other rendering issues when you’re playing a graphically demanding game on the handheld console.
Design and Controls
While almost all the PC handheld gaming consoles come with a single-body design, Lenovo decided to take a page from the books of Nintendo Switch. Unlike other PC handheld devices, the Legion Go comes with detachable controllers. Lenovo calls it Lenovo TrueStrike.
In addition, Lenovo took one of the best things Valve’s Steam Deck is known for, the touchpad. Alongside the touchpad, the TrueStrike controller of the Lenovo Legion Go comes with Hall effect joysticks and a wide range of buttons. The best part is that you don’t need to stick with the default mapping.
There are a total of 10 re-mappable shoulder triggers, which lets you get a customized control scheme on the Lenovo Legion Go. What’s more interesting is that one of the Lenovo TrueStrike controllers comes with a scroll wheel.
Lenovo has even gone a step further and added a base module for the controller. This attaches to the right controller through magnets. And once connected, you can use the controller just like a mouse. How does it sense movement? Just like a regular mouse, the right controller of the Legion Go has an optical sensor at the bottom.
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So, in short, Lenovo has combined the best parts of Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and the mouse of a gaming PC.
Core Specs of Lenovo Legion Go
Just like the Asus Rog Ally, the Lenovo Legion Go comes with Ryzen Z1 series chipsets. You can configure the handheld gaming device with up to a Z1 Extreme chipset. Regarding the GPU, the gaming handheld packs RDNA 3 graphics.
And if you’re wondering, the Ryzen Z1 chipset with the RDNA 3 GPU is a killer combination for handheld gaming devices. You can check out the benchmarks of this combo with the video I’ve embedded below.
Besides the GPU and CPU, the other specs of the Lenovo Legion Go are pretty impressive too. It comes with up to 1TB of PCIe Gen4 SSD, which is more than enough for large-sized game libraries. But if you want more storage, there’s a dedicated microSD card slot, which can hold up to 2TB of additional storage.
Regardless of the model you pick, you’ll get the handheld console with 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM. And for those wondering, the RAM of the Lenovo Legion Go runs at 7500 MHz, which is PC-grade.
Other Specs
Lenovo has integrated a dedicated thermal cooling system inside the Legion Go. This thermal cooling system consists of a liquid polymer blade fan. While it may not sound impressive, the fan can keep the console running at 25W without exceeding 25dB of noise.
When it comes to the I/O ports, the Lenovo Legion Go comes with two USB-C ports, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a microSD card slot. The USB-C ports support DisplayPort 1.4 and Power Delivery 3.0. And they are on the USB 4.0 standard. For wireless connections, the Legion Go has WiFi 6E And Bluetooth 5.2.
The Lenovo Legion Go features a two-cell 49.2Wh battery. It supports fast charging and can go from 0% to 70% in just 30 minutes. The console also has power bypass support, allowing you to keep the battery preserved while the device is connected to the wall. And if you’re wondering, it ships with a 65W PD charger.
Software and Pricing Information of Lenovo Legion Go
In terms of the software side, the Lenovo Legion Go comes with Windows 11 Home. Of course, as it is a portable handheld console, it features a special overlay. Lenovo calls it Legion Space. This overlay lets you launch all your games and different launchers. Also, you’ll find gaming-related settings and options on the overlay.
The base model of the Lenovo Legion Go starts at $699, which is a very competitive pricing given the amazing specs. But you need to wait till November to get your hands on the console.
