Lenovo Legion Go review: a powerful handheld gaming PC

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From what I’ve seen and used with handheld game PCs, the Lenovo Legion Go is one of a kind and ahead of its time, especially when compared to the Nintendo Switch and other similar products on the market. The Legion Go is different because it has controllers that can be taken off and put back on. This is not something that most mainstream choices have. This choice in design adds another level of flexibility, letting users tailor their game experience.

The Legion Go is different from mobile gaming devices like the Valve Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally in more ways than just the fact that its controllers can be removed. Its 8.8-inch screen is one of the best things about it; it’s the biggest screen I’ve seen in this group. In addition to having a lot of space, the monitor has beautiful colors and a fast refresh rate, which all make the visual experience better. It’s important to note, though, that the 2560 x 1600 resolution might be too high for many of the games on this device.

Lenovo has also thought about practical issues by adding more USB Type-C ports than its rivals. This well-thought-out design lets users charge the device and connect it to a computer at the same time, which is helpful for people who like to do many things at once. The Legion Go runs on the same AMD Z1 Extreme chip as the ROG Ally, which gives it strong speed.

However, it’s important to note that its build is bulkier than other choices because of its high level of engineering skill.Because it’s bigger, the Legion Go might not be as movable as other devices, but people who use all of its features may think it’s worth it. On the other hand, other choices might be better for people who want a smaller system with better battery life for gaming on the go. In conclusion, the Lenovo Legion Go is a great option for people who want a portable gaming PC with unique features and strong performance. However, the choice should be based on the person’s personal preferences and usage goals.

Lenovo Legion Go Specifications

You can see that the Lenovo Legion Go is a strong handheld game system that has a lot to offer. It has a big screen with a lot of pixels, a strong engine, and a lot of storage space. A lot of different games can be played on it because it runs Windows 11 Home.

Feature	Specification
Display	8.8-inch QHD+ (2560 x 1600) IPS, 16:10, 144Hz refresh rate, 500 nits peak brightness, 97% DCI-P3 color gamut
Processor	Up to AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme with AMD RDNA Graphics
Memory	16GB LPDDR5X (7500MHz)
Storage	Up to 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD
Operating system	Windows 11 Home
Battery	2-cell 49.2WHr Super Rapid Charge
Dimensions	Base: 8.27 x 5.15 x 0.79 inches (210 x 131 x 20mm)
Weight	Base: 1.41 pounds (640g)
Other features	10-point multi touch screen, dual speakers with Dolby Atmos, dual USB-C ports, 3.5mm headphone jack
	Check Price

Lenovo Legion Go review: Design

Lenovo’s Legion Go may be competing with the Steam Deck, but it looks a lot like the Nintendo Switch. It has a thin bezel, a kickstand on the back, and controls that can be taken off. The Legion Go is pretty big and heavy. It measures 11.8 by 5.15 by 1.61 inches and weighs 1.88 pounds with the controllers connected. But even though it’s big, the Go is fairly light when you pick it up, and the weight is spread out very well.

The plastic body of the device feels solid, and even though it’s smooth, I never thought it would slip out of my hands. The Legion Go isn’t as heavy as it looks, but after a while of use, it can feel pretty heavy. To get around this, I like to open the kickstand, put the handheld on a desk, and play it while the controllers are still connected, though I can take them off if I want to.

Yes, you can also play the Switch this way. It is hard to use, though, because the kickstand is very small. Not so with Legion Go. The support that’s already there is great. The Legion Go has two UBC-C ports, a microSD card slot, and a USB jack. The hardshell case that comes with the Legion Go has a cutout on the bottom that fits exactly with the USB-C port on the bottom of the phone. This means you can charge the unit while it’s in its case, which is very helpful.

Lenovo Legion Go review: Display

The Legion Go’s display, which measures 8.8 inches, is, quite literally, one of its most notable characteristics. When compared to the 7-inch displays seen on the Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, and AyaNeo 2S, it appears to be of tremendous proportions. Furthermore, the aforementioned competitors are unable to compete with that resolution of 2,560 by 1,600 and that refresh rate of 144 hertz.

Video games such as Cyberpunk 2077, Doom Eternal, and Marvel’s Spider-Man look just great when displayed on the large screen of the Legion Go. There is a strong contrast between darker and lighter parts, despite the fact that the display is not an OLED. Because of the high resolution, I was able to discern the minute details that were present in the environments of the games.

Lenovo Legion Go review: Performance

We found that the high-end Asus ROG Ally is powered by the same AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme CPU that is found in the Legion Go that we tested. Additionally, it has 16 gigabytes of random access memory (RAM) and one terabyte of storage space. With specifications like these, you would anticipate a fantastic performance.

However, despite the fact that the Lenovo portable does not completely fall short in this regard, you will need to experiment with the settings in order to achieve satisfactory overall performance for the majority of games. On the other hand, you shouldn’t anticipate the Legion Go to be able to play games at high frame rates with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600.

Despite the fact that the performance mode of the device was activated, the extremely well-optimized Doom Eternal displayed a mediocre frame rate of 15 to 20 frames per second. The game was able to run at an acceptable 30 to 45 frames per second once the resolution was decreased to 1,920 x 1200 and the thermal design power (TDP) of the device was lowered to 30W.

Lenovo Legion Go review: Gaming and Graphics

It’s the same AMD Z1 Extreme APU that we saw in the Asus ROG Ally. In some cases, the result was very close. However, there were times when one beat the other. This might be because of different performance patterns in part. The ROG Ally had very clear performance settings that changed depending on whether it was plugged in or not. On the Legion Go, that’s not quite true.

I set a unique TDP of 30 watts, which is the most power that the Legion Go can handle, for our plugged-in tests. I used the “balanced” setting, which also uses the performance mode in Windows 11, when I wasn’t connected to the internet. Cyberpunk 2077 was the only game where I had trouble getting it to run at a good frame rate when I took it out of the case.

When you’re plugged in, performance is much better, but that doesn’t matter much for a compact machine. When not plugged in, the Ally usually did better than the Legion. It was easy to play Control on the Legion Go at 1280 x 800 on the low setting. Lenovo’s frame counter couldn’t keep up with the game, but I could see that it always ran above 30 frames per second, with only a few stutters in battle. That 1280 x 800 size turned out to be important in general.

Lenovo Legion Go review: Battery Life

The Legion Go’s battery life will change based on the games you play and how you set it up. After an hour and a half of playing Control on a low setting of 1280 x 800, with the screen slowed down to 60 Hz and the lighting set to 50%, the battery was only 28% full.

When I played Rocket League for an hour at 144 Hz and the same screen and brightness, 60% of the battery was still left. That is, don’t expect to play for hours on end, but if you set up the machine right, you can get some good play time in. Our normal laptop battery test browses the web, runs OpenGL tests, and streams movies at 150 nits of brightness for four hours and six minutes. The Legion Go ran for the same amount of time.

Final Words

I have extensively tested the Lenovo Legion Go, which stands out among Windows 11-based handhelds thanks to its larger display and detachable controllers. It starts at $699 and competes with the Asus ROG Ally without the Legion Go’s features. Lenovo did well, but the Legion Go didn’t give the smooth mobile gaming experience I wanted. Most Windows programs didn’t recognize button inputs, making navigation beyond the Legion Space launcher difficult.

The Legion Go and ROG Ally perform similarly to the Steam Deck, especially when lowered to 720p, resulting in a mediocre 8.8-inch display. Using the right controller as a mouse is exciting. In my testing, this functionality didn’t work as expected, adding to the Legion Go’s restrictions. The device’s shortcomings may deter consumers wanting a flawless and versatile handheld gaming experience, despite its competitive pricing and unique features.

Lenovo Legion Go review: The Good and Bad

Because of its huge 8.8-inch display with 144Hz refresh rate, detachable controllers, and user-friendly launcher, the Lenovo Legion Go is often considered to be the best Windows 11 handheld device. In spite of the many advantages it possesses, the machine manufactured by Lenovo does not provide the same seamless experience as the Steam Deck.

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