The world of PC gaming handhelds is about to get an entire lot extra thrilling, and never simply because AMD has simply introduced a model new CPU for them. The most effective new merchandise I had the pleasure of attempting out at CES was the brand new Lenovo Legion Go S, which makes use of SteamOS slightly than Home windows, and in some ways, it’s the hand held system we’ve all been ready for.
With Valve’s personal Steam Deck units already commanding the highest two spots on our greatest handheld gaming PC information, there’s an excellent probability the brand new Lenovo Legion Go S may make it there too. It’s all very effectively packing the quickest {hardware} potential into your handheld, however there’s loads to be mentioned for the easy usability of SteamOS on a handheld, in addition to the advantages of Valve’s Steam Deck Verified scheme.
The brand new Lenovo Legion Go S will get off to an excellent begin with its rounded, elegant design, which has a lot much less of a sharp, Wacky Races vibe than the unique Lenovo Legion Go. You don’t get Nintendo Swap-style removable controllers right here, however you do get a tool that feels good in your palms, with all of the buttons falling into the appropriate locations on your fingers and thumbs.
If there’s one criticism it’s that the kind of plastic used to make the shell feels a bit low cost below your fingers. The feel added to the left and proper edges of the system do give it an excellent quantity of grip if you’re holding it, however the shell doesn’t have the premium really feel of the Steam Deck OLED. It does look good, although, significantly within the black used for the SteamOS model of the hand held (solely the Home windows model will are available white).
Not solely that, however the black shell has an iridescent purple sheen that you may see if you catch it within the gentle. It appears to be like genuinely beautiful, particularly with the glowing gentle surrounding the thumbsticks. Flip it over and also you’ll discover the honeycomb-style vents for the cooling system, and you’ll see a fan below the appropriate one as effectively. The display screen appears to be like nice as effectively, with shiny colours and respectable picture high quality.
What most impressed me in regards to the new Lenovo Legion Go S, although, was the usability of the OS. I fired up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and never solely was the sport easily playable, however all of the controls have been proper the place they need to be, with the on-screen prompts directing me to the appropriate buttons. This might sound apparent, however it’s completely not a given within the handheld world, the place you need to configure PC video games designed for a keyboard mouse on your handheld’s controls.
It gained’t be completely arrange for each sport, after all, however the Steam Deck Verified scheme takes plenty of the ache away – before you purchase a sport, you could have a good suggestion of whether or not it would run or not. If it’s Steam Deck Verified you realize it would work effectively and be arrange proper. Some video games, resembling Cyberpunk 2077, even have a selected Steam Deck graphics preset to decide on. If Valve offers it a Playable score, you additionally know it would work, however you might have to cope with some textual content that’s too small for the display screen, otherwise you would possibly want to make use of the trackpads and digital keyboard to navigate the menus.
The OS additionally labored easily, enabling me to browse the sport library, arrange the controls, change the settings, and so forth, simply as on the Steam Deck itself, or certainly the Nintendo Swap – you simply hit the Steam button and navigate with the thumbsticks. Sadly, I wasn’t in a position to run any efficiency exams on the brand new system, however it accommodates a brand new AMD Ryzen Z2 Go chip, which is extra highly effective than the chip within the Steam Deck.
Just like the latter’s CPU, it has 4 cores, however they’re primarily based on the Zen 3+ structure, which is an efficient deal extra highly effective than the Zen 2 structure used to energy the Steam Deck’s chip. It may additionally enhance to as much as 4.3GHz, whereas the Steam Deck CPU can solely enhance to three.5GHz. The GPU is improved as effectively, with the chip within the Lenovo having 12 RDNA 3.5 compute items, slightly than the eight RDNA 2 compute items within the Steam Deck’s Van Gogh GPU.
Lenovo wouldn’t be drawn on whether or not the SteamOS model of the Legion Go S can be quicker than the Home windows model, however the firm’s senior world product advertising supervisor, Christopher Piazza, did inform me that it might suggest the SteamOS model when you have been primarily fascinated about video games, and the Home windows model when you wished to run greater than video games.
Many firms have produced gaming handhelds over the past couple of years, however none of them have managed to knock the Steam Deck off its perch but, regardless of their superior processing energy. Primarily based on our time with the Lenovo Legion Go S, that would all change sooner or later. Making an excellent handheld is as a lot about usability as it’s about energy, and Lenovo has proven that it may possibly doubtlessly cost ahead on each fronts.
Within the meantime, when you’ve but to snap up a handheld for your self, take a look at our Steam Deck OLED evaluate, in addition to our Asus ROG Ally X evaluate, the place we give two of the newest moveable gaming units a exercise.
