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. Probably the greatest new merchandise I had the pleasure of attempting out at CES was the brand new Lenovo Legion Go S, which makes use of SteamOS somewhat than Home windows, and in some ways, it’s the hand-held machine 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 likelihood the brand new Lenovo Legion Go S may make it there too. It’s all very properly packing the quickest {hardware} doable into your handheld, however there’s rather a lot to be mentioned for the straightforward 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 Change-style removable controllers right here, however you do get a tool that feels good in your arms, with all of the buttons falling into the suitable 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 beneath your fingers. The feel added to the left and proper edges of the machine do give it an excellent quantity of grip once 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 you can see once you catch it within the mild. It seems genuinely beautiful, particularly with the glowing mild surrounding the thumbsticks. Flip it over and also you’ll discover the honeycomb-style vents for the cooling system, and you may see a fan beneath the suitable one as properly. The display seems nice as properly, with vibrant colours and respectable picture high quality.
What most impressed me concerning 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 suitable buttons. This might sound apparent, nevertheless it’s completely not a given within the handheld world, the place it’s a must to configure PC video games designed for a keyboard mouse on your handheld’s controls.
It gained’t be completely arrange for each sport, in fact, however the Steam Deck Verified scheme takes loads of the ache away – before you purchase a sport, you have got a good suggestion of whether or not it can run or not. If it’s Steam Deck Verified you recognize it can work properly and be arrange proper. Some video games, akin to Cyberpunk 2077, even have a selected Steam Deck graphics preset to decide on. If Valve provides it a Playable score, you additionally know it can work, however you might have to take care of some textual content that’s too small for the display, 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 Change – you simply hit the Steam button and navigate with the thumbsticks. Sadly, I wasn’t capable of run any efficiency exams on the brand new machine, nevertheless it incorporates 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 effective deal extra highly effective than the Zen 2 structure used to energy the Steam Deck’s chip. It could actually additionally enhance to as much as 4.3GHz, whereas the Steam Deck CPU can solely enhance to three.5GHz. The GPU is improved as properly, with the chip within the Lenovo having 12 RDNA 3.5 compute items, somewhat 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 could be quicker than the Home windows model, however the firm’s senior international product advertising and marketing supervisor, Christopher Piazza, did inform me that it will advocate the SteamOS model if you happen to have been primarily enthusiastic about video games, and the Home windows model if you happen to wished to run greater than video games.
Many firms have produced gaming handhelds during the last 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 might 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 could possibly probably cost ahead on each fronts.
Within the meantime, if you happen to’ve but to snap up a handheld for your self, try our Steam Deck OLED assessment, in addition to our Asus ROG Ally X assessment, the place we give two of the most recent moveable gaming units a exercise.
