Lenovo Legion Go S Handheld Review

Tom's Guide

In Tony's Lenovo Legion Go S review, he'll break down everything you need to know about the latest Windows 11 handheld to hit the market. It serves as a more portable version of the Lenovo Legion Go, ditching detachable controllers for a more streamlined ergonomic design. It also features a sharp 8-inch LCD display and decent battery life. While Lenovo Legion Go S has plenty of strong attributes, it’s not perfect. In this video, check out Tony's reasons to buy and reasons to skip Lenovo’s latest handheld, as well as some caveats to consider before buying.

Transcript

00:00The Lenovo Legion Go S is a smaller, more ergonomic, and more affordable alternative

00:04to the original Legion Go. This new handheld features an 8-inch display, an updated game

00:09launcher, and the new AMD Ryzen Z2 Go chip. At $729, it's worth buying now or should you wait

00:15for the upcoming SteamOS version or get the model with the more powerful Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip.

00:21The Lenovo Legion Go S isn't here to replace the Lenovo Legion Go. Instead,

00:25it serves as a smaller, more portable option. The Lenovo Legion Go S now has rounded textured

00:31grips that make it easier to hold. It digits the detachable controllers found on the original

00:35Legion Go in favor of unibody design. Combine that with the smaller size, and you get a smaller

00:40machine that's easier to hold for longer periods compared to the Switch-like Legion Go, which can

00:45become uncomfortable to hold after 10 minutes of gaming. Despite slimming down, its 8-inch LCD display

00:50is still larger than rivals like the Asus ROG Ally and Steambeck OLED. The hellish landscapes of Doom

00:55Eternal and Mion-drenched streets of Cyberpunk 2077 come to life in glorious detail. The larger

01:00display can help games feel more immersive. But while its 1200 native P resolution looks sharp for

01:05most modern games, you'll probably need to drop them down to 720p to run smoothly.

01:09Look at the frame rate, bro. To be fair, this is Cyberpunk. The game kind of struggles to run well

01:14on even more powerful machines, so we can't throw that completely on the Legion Go S.

01:20Trigger locks for the L2 and R2 are great for first-burned shooters that require fast inputs,

01:25while the Ronda D-pad is perfect for fighting games. The analog sticks and face buttons are also

01:30plain responsive and have an atromestical design similar to the Xbox. The L2 and R2 buttons have

01:35trigger locks that let you set your actuation points. For instance, you want a shorter travel

01:40distance when playing first-burned shooters like Doom. Conversely, you want a longer travel distance

01:44when playing racing games like Dirt 5. Like other handhelds, you'll also find two programmable back

01:58buttons placed right where your middle fingers rest, making them easy to use. Some handhelds I've

02:04tested such as the original Steam Deck can run loud and hot. Thankfully, this isn't the case with the

02:09Lenovo Legion Go S. During normal gameplay, I hardly noticed the fans running. The only time I ever

02:15heard them is when the system was downloading games or installing updates. Even then, the fans produce

02:20a low hum, making it one of the quietest handhelds I've ever reviewed. Similarly, Legion Go S doesn't

02:25get very hot with its Senate gameplay. In our heat test, the Legion Go S gets warmest around the

02:30center of the back, reaching 89 degrees Fahrenheit. Considering how your fingers don't naturally rest

02:36there, you won't have to worry about that. To launch into your favorite games quickly, there's a built-in

02:40Legion Go Game Space launcher, which is as intuitive to use as ever. You can connect to several gaming

02:46services like Xbox, Epic Games, Steam, and more. You can even purchase games from their respective

02:51storefronts, right from Legion Space. As before, the settings menu features several customization options,

02:57including setting the device's performance mode, display resolution, refresh rate, and controller

03:02mapping. You can also customize the lighting effects, view screenshots through Snap, check download status

03:07for games, and more. The quick settings menu beside the display's right-hand side gives you access to

03:12these same features. You can find links for the Legion Go S and all the other handhelds I've shared so

03:17far linked below. Now, let's get into the cons. While it looks and feels good in hand, this Windows 11

03:23powered configuration is underwhelming. Design-wise, the Lenovo Legion Go S is a pretty

03:28solid machine. Unfortunately, under the hood, its underwhelming performance is both expected and

03:33disappointing, especially at this price. Currently, the Lenovo Legion Go S is only available with the

03:38AMD Ryzen Z2 Go chip, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage. Performance-wise, the Ryzen Z2 Go chip sits

03:45between the AMD Ryzen Z1 and Ryzen Z1 Extreme, but even knowing that, I was still disappointed with the

03:51Legion Go S's overall gaming performance. Doom Eternal, which is one of the most highly optimized

03:55games available, ran at a brutal 25 frames per second at native resolution and medium graphical

04:01settings. It was only after dropping the resolution to 800p or 720p at 16 by 10 aspect ratio and set the

04:07graphical settings to low that the game started running at a more respectable 45 frames per second.

04:14Cyberpunk 2077 ran at an abysmal 10 to 15 frames per second in the Steam Deck graphical

04:18settings, which exists purely for handheld PCs. As with Doom Eternal, I had to lower the resolution

04:24to 720p and set the graphical settings to low to get between 25 to 33 frames per second, which is

04:29still not great. Using a game's built-in benchmark tools at 720p and medium graphical settings,

04:35with the device set to performance mode, the Lenovo Legion Go S struggled to run most games over 32

04:40frames per second. Assassin's Creed Mirage is one of the few examples where Lenovo's handheld did well,

04:45even matching its competitors. If you've seen any of my other handheld reviews, you'll know what I'm

04:49about to say next. To put it shortly, Windows 11 sucks for gaming handhelds. Though Legion Space

04:54works perfectly with controller inputs and allows you to jump into your games within a few clicks,

04:59the rest of Windows 11 isn't designed for controller inputs. Without a mouse or keyboard hooked up,

05:04you're forced to use touch controls, which even on large 8-inch display can be difficult and frustrating.

05:09Like the original Legion Go, the Legion Go S also has a touchpad which can be used as a mouse,

05:14but it's not exactly a seamless experience for navigating your desktop since the touchpad is so

05:19small. Yeah, it's not that great. While Windows 11 offers the versatility to do more than just play

05:24games, it isn't ideal for handhelds. Besides its clunkiness on touchscreens, we find that it also

05:29contributes to slowing down gaming performance on less than powerful handhelds, which you can also read

05:34about in our articles linked below. For anyone who just wants to play their favorite games without

05:37dealing with Windows 11, I recommend waiting for the inevitable SteamOS version, which releases

05:42sometime in spring with a starting price of $499. Speaking of pricing, if you don't mind Windows 11

05:48handhelds and are willing to pay a bit more, the original Asus ROG Ally with the Z1 Extreme can easily

05:54be found for under $700 and offers better performance despite being a few years old now.

05:59And though it costs $899, the MSI Claw 8 AI offers even better performance,

06:04longer battery life, and a similar 16x10 8-inch display. Finally, if you don't want to wait for

06:10the SteamOS version of the Legion Go S to release, it might be time for you to jump on the Steam Deck

06:15hike train. The 1TB $650 bottle is the best handheld for PC gaming for most folks and is very well

06:22optimized. This configuration of the Lenovo Legion Go S, currently the only one available,

06:26is difficult to recommend. Though I like its more ergonomic design and vivid 8-inch display,

06:31its lackluster performance and Windows 11 headaches make it a difficult console to recommend,

06:35especially for $729. But we shouldn't completely dismiss the Lenovo Legion Go S,

06:40as upcoming versions could potentially make it a true rival to the Steam Deck. Not only will the

06:45SteamOS version of the system have the best handheld operating system, but it'll also have generous

06:50$500 starting price. As for the Windows 11 version, Lenovo will offer a model for a similar starting

06:55price, along with configurations featuring the more powerful Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip that could

07:00justify a higher price. So those are my thoughts on the Lenovo Legion Go S, but I'd love to hear what

07:05your thoughts are down in the comments below. Follow us everywhere at TomsGuy and you can follow

07:09the LB for more reviews. I've been Tony Polanco, and I'll see you around. Later.

07:24Like, imagine if the train was actually running, yeah. The train just went by as a setup. Oh man,

07:30yeah, but we can't time it. It'd be nice. All right, here we go.

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