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Tony is back with another handheld gaming PC review, but this one might seem familiar. The Lenovo Legion Go S with SteamOS is a true Steam Deck rival and arguably puts Windows 11 handheld to shame thanks to its snappy interface and strong performance. While its fans can get overly loud and its battery life isn’t great, SteamOS alone makes up for any shortcomings... and that's coming from Tony, a hardcore Steam Deck fan. Watch this full Buy or Skip review if you're not use whether it's the right portable gaming PC for you!
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The Lenovo Legion Go S is back, and this time it's running SteamOS
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If you're getting a little deja vu, it's because a couple months ago, I reviewed the original Legion Go S with Windows 11 and told you to wait for this one
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Now it's here, so the question is, was it worth the wait? And more importantly, is it a legit rival to the Steam Deck according to this Steam Deck user
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Let's get into it. What we're looking at is the first non-valve handheld to run Steam's native operating system out of the box
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In case you didn't know, Valve Steam parent company has been keeping SteamOS locked to
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its own hardware until now. For me, this is the reason to get Legion GO S. SteamOS is designed for handhelds
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That means the whole experience from waking the device to launching the game is much faster
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smoother and more reliable than anything you get on Windows 11. I've always said I wanted the handheld with the ROG Ally XS specs but with SteamOS instead
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of Windows. The GO S is that device and it feels awesome to use
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Let's dig a little deeper into performance. Right off the bat, I can tell you that the performance difference alone between this and
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the Windows version is night and day. Because of that, it offers stronger performance than the Windows 11 Legion Go S I reviewed
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However, keep in mind that the latter runs on the weaker AMD Z2 Go chip and has 16 gigs
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of RAM. For my testing, I played Doom for Dark Ages on the new Legion Go S. At 1200p resolution
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medium graphical settings, and FSR disabled, the Dark Ages can run at around 25 frames per
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second enabled the fps jumps to 35 i got a smooth 56 to 61 frames a second at 800p resolution with FSR though the game doesn look so good at that lower resolution
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The Legion Go S with Windows 11 didn't do quite as well. Doom the Dark Ages runs at an abysmal 15 frames a second at 1200p and medium settings
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Enabling frame generation bumped the FPS count to 27, which is better, but still not great
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I got a decent 45 FPS at 800p resolution with FSR on and graphical settings at low
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However, the image quality looked muddy at those settings. For our lab tests, we ran the in-game benchmark tool for a handful of titles at maximum graphical settings
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Assassin's Creed Mirage ran at 32 frames a second on the SteamOS Legion Go S
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That's not the 60 FPS I would want to see, but it's far better than the horrendous 21 FPS we saw on the Windows 11 model
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We saw similar results with games like Dirt 5 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Overall, performance is snappy across the board on the SteamOS Legion Go S compared to the Windows 11 version
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Side note, I recently reviewed the Switch 2 on this channel, and while you should definitely
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check out that review, I gotta be honest and say that the Legion Go S with COS has made
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me forget about the Switch 2. But don't tell Nintendo that. Before we move on to reasons to skip, I want to take a moment of appreciation for the fact
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that the Legion Go S comes with a sleek new dark colorway that's honestly way cooler than
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the original white model. It still feels the same, which is great, since this handheld is just as ergonomic and premium feeling
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It even looks similar to the Steam Deck. So you know I'm not going to complain about that either
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While this machine has that LCD instead of an OLED panel it still looks bright and colorful to my eyes The upcoming Legion GO 2 will have an OLED panel so it would be nice if the company updates the Legion GO S with a similar display and perhaps an AMD Z2 Extreme chip but I get to that in a minute real quick if you
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enjoying this breakdown hit that like button subscribe for more buy or skip videos on this
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channel we keep it honest cut through the hype and save you from buyer's remorse now let's talk
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about the reasons to skip the Legion Go S. Now here's the thing, if you're already a happy Steam Deck owner, I don't think you
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need this handheld. Yes, it's newer and offers better performance, but SteamOS makes every device feel like a
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Steam Deck, and most people don't need to. But to be clear, if you've been waiting for a non-valve Steam handheld, this is still
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the one to get, it's just that I don't know how many people that applies to. The Legion Go S with SteamOS starts at $599 for a model packing the AMD Z2 Go chip, 16
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gigs of RAM and 512 gigs of storage. The model I reviewed retails for a heftier 829 and features
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the more powerful AMD Z1 Extreme chip along with 32 gigs of RAM and 1TB of storage. No matter which
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one you opt for you'll be paying a premium. If you're price sensitive the base model might sound
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tempting but it really doesn't show off what this device can do. And if you're going to be spending
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a Steam Deck OLED amount of money you're going to compare it too hard and for me I might choose
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the 649 Steam Deck OLED. That doesn't mean the SteamOS Legion Go S is necessarily overpriced
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but it does mean you really need to want a handheld like this to justify that price
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And here the final catch new chips are on the way AMD Z2 Extreme is suspected to power a new wave of handhelds later this year like the Legion GO 2 I mentioned before If any of those launch with SteamOS this Legion GO could feel outdated fast
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So if you're the performance minded type who hates buyer's remorse, you might want to wait a few months and see what else drops
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I know I told you to wait for this handheld a few months ago, but things are different now that Valve is allowing SteamOS on other handhelds
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Not to mention the performance boost the Z2 Extreme promises. But hey, I'm looking at it as a positive
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There's a ton of innovation happening in the handheld gaming space, and it's good to be spoiled for options
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Keep in mind that there was no handheld market to speak of just five years ago
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Things are changing fast, so it's smart to slow down to see which current or upcoming machine is best for you
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So, should you buy or skip the Lenovo Legion Go S? Buy it if you've been waiting for a Steam Deck-style experience with better hardware
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if you missed out on the Deck entirely, or if you want what I'm officially calling
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the best PC handheld of 2025 right now. Skip it if you already own a Steam Deck
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or if you want to see what the next generation of handhelds offers before buying in
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Drop a comment. Are you switching to the Legion GO-S or are you staying loyal to Team Steam Deck
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If this episode of Buy or Skip helped you out, give us a like, hit that sub button and turn on notifications
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so you won't miss what we're reviewing next. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time
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Later
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