The SteamOS-powered version of Lenovo’s Legion Go S handheld gaming PC debuted at CES 2025 with a considerably enticing $499.99 price ticket. At that value, The Verge’s Sean Hollister thought-about it a real Steam Deck rival, wedged neatly between the price of Valve’s $399 LCD and $549 OLED fashions. The hand held lately went up for preorder at Best Buy with a better $549.99 value (and a Might twenty fifth launch date), and Lenovo communications director Jeff Witt confirmed to The Verge that that is the brand new value for the bottom mannequin.
What’s performed is completed, I suppose, however the $499.99 value appeared proper for the Legion Go S. Regardless of its perks over each the Steam Deck LCD and OLED fashions (Corridor impact joysticks, a bigger 8-inch display screen with variable refresh fee, a comfortable design, adjustable triggers), its Ryzen Z2 Go chip didn’t blow us away. The truth is, the Home windows-based Go S fashions that Sean and I examined had been outperformed by the Steam Deck. Merely swapping the OS will treatment some complications (primarily, that Home windows on handhelds is an atrocious expertise), nevertheless it’s unclear whether or not it would someway let the Z2 Go do extra.
A $50 value soar in all probability gained’t spell failure for this machine, nevertheless it makes the arrival of the primary third-party SteamOS handheld rather less thrilling. It’s not the one third-party handheld getting SteamOS this yr; Valve confirmed it’s engaged on including assist for the Asus ROG Ally. Pierre-Loup Griffais, one of many lead designers of SteamOS and the Steam Deck, shared with The Verge at CES 2025 {that a} beta expertise will “ship after March someday.”