Lenovo Legion Go Review — A Switch & Steam Deck Had A Baby?

The handheld gaming market has boomed with the introduction of a number of portable PC gaming options, like that of Valve’s Steam Deck and Asus’ popular ROG Ally. Lenovo has thrown its hat into the ring with the Legion Go, offering a similar on-the-go device, but one that has a few unique features to its rap sheet.

In comparison to the Steam Deck and ROG Ally, the Legion Go (which is priced at R12,999) is the biggest of all three (40.7mm x 298.83mm x 131mm). It uses a pretty similar layout to other portable handheld gaming machines, but you do get a lot of variety with the buttons on offer, along with a trackpad on the right side, which is a huge bonus (something missing on the ROG Ally).

The Legion Go runs on an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor, features 16GBs of RAM, and has 1TB of storage. Additionally, you get Lenovo’s Legion Space software built into Windows 11, allowing you to customise the performance, controller mapping, and a host of other things. This is a beast of a mobile machine, and essentially optimised to play high-end games with minimal fuss; so while you can build a decent PC rig for a similar price, this is a lot more streamlined. Having the ability to run Steam, Xbox Game Pass or other game launchers on it is a huge bonus too.

Due to its size, the screen is one of the clear highlights of the Go, with an 8.8-inch QHD+ (2560 x 1600 with 144Hz refresh rate) IPS display. It’s very bright, very clear, and actually pretty huge for something that you only hold a few inches away from your face. Due to its size and quality, it’s arguably the ‘best’ screen out of the current handheld market, but with size comes weight…

And speaking of that, the Lenovo Legion Go weighs a fair bit. It’s obviously not ‘heavy’ in comparison to something like a big gaming laptop, but scaling in at around 850 grams (coming in at 200 grams more than its competitors), it carries some bulk to its size. It may not sound like a lot, but given the wider design and need to hold it in a certain way due to the button placement and ergonomics of the controls, it does begin feeling a bit weighty in hand and will require a few re-adjustments during a long play session.

Thankfully, this is also mitigated with the Legion Go’s other unique feature: the ability to detach the controllers. Much like Nintendo’s Switch console, you can pop off the left and right controllers, pop out the handy stand that is built into the back of the screen, and play the Legion Go on a counter or coffee table. You can connect it to a TV too, but you’ll need an HDMI adapter that you’ll have to buy separately, so keep that in mind.

Using the detachable controllers is easy and they’re really well designed, but it will feel a little awkward, especially for someone who’s used to normal controllers. The controllers themselves obviously need to charge by being attached to the base deck, which in turn utilises the battery of the machine itself. The Legion Go does have a 2-cell 49.2WHr battery, but due to the screen size and controllers needing to be powered, it does take a hit in this department and delivers only about 2 hours of game time when you’re not pushing it to the max.

A bonus perk is that the Legion Go comes with a reinforced carry case, which is hugely beneficial as you don’t have to shell out for an aftermarket option once it arrives.

The Lenovo Legion Go is a really unique and innovative entry into the handheld gaming market, taking inspiration from Nintendo’s Switch and Valve’s Steam Deck to deliver something powerful and versatile. Due to its size, though, there are obviously drawbacks in the comfortability and battery life. But, if you’re a Lenovo fan, enjoy playing at home, and need something with a bit of bang for your buck in the screen-size department, it’s worth checking out.

The Lenovo Legion Go retails for R12,999.