The Only Real Alternative to Steam Deck

The legion go s is a side degree of the Lenovo -Legion goes by 2023. It still has an 8-inch screen, but it is a one-body design that does not sport Legion Go’s two removable controllers Nintendo -Switch 2. As comfortable as it was, windows combined with poor performance dramatically prevented what it might be. I could tell with the jump that at $ 730, it was relatively expensive and submerged – true “just get steam”. The new version is cheaper and comes with Steamos, the same small screen-friendly Linux-based operating system performed by Valve. I tested the $ 600 Legion GO S with Steamos in a pretty deep “cloudy nocturne” purple color that reminds me of the goth child I wish I was in high school. It comes with Ryzen Z2 GO processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. That’s $ 50 more than steam deck OLED with the same 512 GB storage capacity. Valve $ 400 Steam Deck LCD It’s the cheapest of this kind, although it comes with only 256GB storage.

The more powerful legion goes with Steamos, powered by AMD Ryzen Z1 extrem processor and 32GB of LPDDR5X-6400 RAM, is close to what you may pay for Asus Rog Ally X, which has a better battery life although slightly worse ergonomia. However, I did not test this model.

For fears and laughs, I took up the $ 730 white windows-powered Legion GO S sent to me earlier this year and installed Steamos on it to see what happens when you add more RAM to the mix, but I didn’t experience a significant jump in performance between games. The Ryzen Z2 GO is the lower power Apu, or “accelerated processing unit”, designed specifically for the cheaper legion models. Both the Ryzen Z1 Extreme and Z2 Go are a kind of processor that combines the capabilities of CPU and GPU, or graphical processor. The Z2 GO works on the older Zen 3+ micro architecture of AMD and has half of the number of cores as the extreme Z1 operating on Zen 4.

In all ways, all Legion GO S models share the same IPS -LCD screen with a maximum resolution of 1,920 × 1,200. It does not support the deep blacks and contrast of the Oled panel on a steam deck, but it is still bright enough to play inside or outside. The larger screen resolution can be eaten in performance with less GPU cores and less RAM. Few players want to drop their resolution specifics lower than the maximum of their screen due to performance, so the judicial act of in-game activities becomes so much worse. The important thing is whether the device can reach a happy medium between playable frame rates and beautiful graphics. In my experience, the Z2 accompanying with Steamos can achieve a good balance to play some intense games, and it is much better thanks to the valve-made operating system.

I made multiple rounds of trials with each legion inserted and operating at 30W. I set games to the maximum resolution they could. Both devices can hit 40W from TDP, also thermal project power, which delivers more power to the chip to help them get more frames of each game. However, you probably won’t play with a higher power unless you plan to hold on to an electric exit. Overall, the Legion GO S with Z2 GO exceeded the same hardware with Windows. Across games like Control And Gate III of Baldur, I saw a performance growth of close to 10 fps after I installed Steamos. Cyberpunk 2077 At 1200P went from hitting 27 fps in references to Netting nearly 40 fps. Windows introduces a multitude of background tasks that slow down yield, while Slim Steamos doesn’t have that problem.

See at Best Buy

Comparing the Le Legion GO S to the custom AMD Apu of the Steam Deck, Lenovo’s Steamos-operated device has an easy edge thanks to its wider range of TDP beyond the Maximum 15W on Valve’s device. With the higher degree of versatility, I was able to hit the same frame rates at 1200p against 800p on the steam deck through several games, were they older, less intense titles like Strange West Or Hades II. In Monster Hunter Wilds Benchmarks, the Legion GO S with Z2 GO at 1200P and 30 TDP managed to exceed the steamer by 800p by a few frames. Of course, duplication of the watt will also affect battery life. If you want to play your games as best you can, at the maximum resolution and graphics configuration, the system can handle, you will get less than two hours of gameplay. This is not much less than a steam deck at half the TDP, but the end result is that you will need a charger or otherwise limit your game sessions.

Steamos offers better frame rates than Windows, and if that is not enough, it is much easier to use. Games are easier to download and faster to load, especially when built for Steam deck and limit the number of extra launchers you need to click on. Unfortunately, the experience between playing on Steam deck and Steamos on third-party devices is not one-to-one. The big difference is how a valve calculates whether a game is “Steamos compatible” against “a steam deck controlled.” While a valve will determine if a game can run at playable frame rates on a steam deck, it will only tag whether a game is technically compatible on the Le Legion Go S. This means you may install a game waiting for it to work well, but will find that you cannot even control it with thumbs.

I managed to install my going programs on Steam deck to the Le Legion Go S. This included Decky Loader for plugins like Junk Store, which offers easier access to my Epic Games Library than to go through the problem of installing Heroic Launcher. I also managed to run Emudeck, which means I could take all my retro games to the new system without any wrongdoing. Did I miss access to Applications like Razer Cortex How is my favorite way to make a computer-to-hand streaming? Yes, but I would trade access to every Windows app for a clean UI without a second thought. When I don’t care about sprinklers asking me to log into OneDrive or fear of what will happen when I dare to enter the device during an in-game, I can instead focus on playing my games best.

In every way, the legion go s can become a steam deck, but there are still some important considerations if you try to decide between the two. For one, the steam deck Oled is lighter at 640g, or 1.41 pounds, against 740g, or 1.6 pounds. That doesn’t sound much until you feel the stress in your arms after an extended game session extended on your bed. The GO S Legion has slightly better ergonomy, but both devices fit the hands better than most other similar devices in the market. What is missing from Lenovo’s design are the two tracks of the Steam Deck. Those hat sprints add a surprising amount of versatility in some games, especially in CRPGs or strategic games like Tactical Breaka Wizards. The lowercase track on the Legion GO S didn’t even seem to work out of the box. I had such a bad experience with it in the Windows version-with it vibrating like a rabbit soaked into a freezing cold lake I didn’t want to fix it.

I would also give the edge in audio quality to the steam deck for a clear sound, but Legion’s GO S s s’ Twin 2W speakers offer enough clarity that I didn’t immediately feel the need to get a pair of headphones. I experienced odd audio bugs with my review unit, which caused cracking when in-game, although it was inconsistent, and it did not attend the older model even after I installed Steamos. The true distinction between Lenovo’s handles and valve is the screen. You are approaching 8 inches of real estate on the Legion GO S and a higher maximum resolution, but it is still LCD. If I have both screens sitting side by side, I can’t help but gravitate to the device with better contrast and those always involved “Inking” blacks.

So the Le Legion Go S is currently your only off-box steam deck, and that alone is worth your time, especially if you don’t feel a burden of OS except Windows. This is said, this year’s future slate of manuals becomes more interesting. We still have to see any devices launch with Ryzen Z2’s extreme chipBut we know they come from companies like MSI, ASUS, and Lenovo himself. The other great consideration is how Microsoft can finally make its OS function on a 7-inch display with the Next ROG Xbox Ally. That next manual potentially Mark a turning point with Windows Gaming, Not just in activity but overall usability. If you want a manual now, go with the Legion GO S or Steam deck. Both would serve you well. If you are still on the fence, you have to wait to see what the future holds.

See at Best Buy