For followers of handheld gaming PCs, 2023 merely retains getting larger. Following the discharge of ASUS’ ROG Ally earlier this 12 months, Lenovo is coming into the category with the Legion Go. And, after getting the chance to go hands-on with it, I really feel a number of of Lenovo’s twists might end up making an enormous distinction.
Sooner than we get in too deep, it’s very important to say that the fashions I tried are very lots pre-production samples. You’ll see proof of this on components identical to the shoulder buttons, the place one side of the gadget choices metallic paint (which is what you’ll get on retail items) whereas the alternative side is obvious black plastic. Lenovo moreover says that alongside a stock arrange of Residence home windows 11, it’s planning to equip the Legion Go together with a custom-made app launcher very similar to ASUS’ Amoury Crate. Nonetheless, that wasn’t present on the demo fashions I used. The Legion’s Go’s physique moreover felt a bit robust in places, so do you have to spot labels or components of its shell that don’t look pretty correct, Lenovo might be going looking for to shine these up sooner than its official launch sometime in October.
OK, now that we acquired that out the way in which during which, let’s talk about among the many Legion Go’s highlight choices, basically probably the most notable of which is its show display. It’s an 8.8-inch 2,560 x 1,600 IPS panel with a 144Hz refresh value and listed at 500 nits of brightness. So not solely is the Legion Go’s panel as fast as what you get from the ROG Ally, it’s moreover crucial show display on nearly any gadget on this class. On prime of that, colors utterly pop, which makes the gadget way more attention-grabbing than a lot of its rivals.
The obvious draw again to that’s that between that giant present and a significantly boxy physique, the Legion Go in all fairness cumbersome. Measuring 11.8 x 5.15 x 1.61 inches, the Legion Go is approach nearer in dimension to the Steam Deck than sleeker rivals identical to the ROG Ally. As for the rest of its design, you get a well known Xbox-style button format in entrance, with an attention-grabbing asymmetrical rear paddle format in once more, with an entire of 4 rear buttons along with a scroll wheel, though I’m undecided what’s the supposed aim for that closing half. That talked about, I’m not going to point out my nostril up at further enter methods.
Gallery: Lenovo Legion Go hands-on footage | 14 Footage
Gallery: Lenovo Legion Go hands-on footage | 14 Footage
Curiously, Lenovo can be drawing inspiration from the Nintendo Swap as evidenced by the folding kickstand in once more and the flexibleness to detach the Legion Go’s controllers from its vital physique. Nonetheless, I did uncover that eradicating the controllers isn’t pretty as simple or easy because it’s on a Swap. First, it is a should to press the button inside the once more after which type of tilt and slide on the similar time. Granted, I largely acquired the dangle of it after a few minutes, however it positively takes some observe.
This kickstand does make it easy to prop the present up on a desk whereas using the controllers remotely, though. And because of the 2 USB 4 ports, chances are you’ll even be part of peripherals like a mouse and keyboard in the event you want to flip the Legion Go proper right into a tiny desktop. Alternatively, you should use the one touchpad on the becoming administration to mouse spherical in Residence home windows, which is a pleasing nod in course of fundamental usability, on account of not just like the ROG Ally, chances are you’ll’t use the Legion Go’s joysticks to maneuver your cursor.
One different clever attribute on the Legion Go is that on the underside of the becoming controller, there’s what Lenovo is asking an FPS Swap. If you happen to occur to toggle that after which drop the becoming controller into an included cradle, impulsively you get what is definitely a vertical mouse you can drag all through a desk whereas collaborating in shooters. That talked about, I’m undecided I’ll ever favor this setup over a traditional horizontal mouse or maybe a joystick.
Lastly, with specs along with an AMD Z1 Extreme chip, 16GB of RAM, as a lot as 1TB of storage and a 49.2 WHr battery, the Legion Go seems to be wish to be merely as extremely efficient as a result of the ROG Ally. Nonetheless what makes this so spectacular is that together with coming with an included case (which you don’t get from ASUS), Lenovo is being very aggressive with pricing, as a result of the Legion Go will start at $699. That’s the similar as a result of the Ally, whatever the Legion Go’s better show display, better battery and further refined controllers.
So whereas Lenovo nonetheless has some sharpening to do sooner than the Legion Go formally goes on sale sometime in October, with one different giant establish turning into a member of the battle, it’s clear the battle for handheld gaming PC supremacy is solely beginning.
