Is This PC Gaming Handheld Better Than the Steam Deck?

The console wars never end. When we published my list of best gaming handhelds I've tried, one commenter was outraged that I had not yet tried the Lenovo Legion Go S. They balked at the gall I had to recommend a Steam Deck instead, calling my hard work into question for this perceived slight. Clearly, gamers have still have strong feelings about which consoles are best. Good for them.

For the unfamiliar, the Lenovo Legion Go S is the only other handheld that runs SteamOS. For players with their libraries on Steam, the most popular PC gaming storefront, this means a fully integrated console-like experience—more similar to the Nintendo Switch than a Windows machine.

That's what the Legion Go offers, and with various improvements (and some shortcomings), it compares quite favorable to Valve's own Steam Deck handheld. I've been testing it out for the past month in order to pit them head to head and let you know which console is worth your money.

Lenovo Legion Go S Powered by SteamOS

Pros

Stunning HD 120 Hz display
Ergonomic button and stick layout
Runs SteamOS natively
More horsepower than the Steam Deck OLED on the high-end model
Two USB ports

Cons

Trigger locks don't work
Lacks some of the Steam Deck's quality of life features re: SteamOS
The lower-end model is nowhere near as beefy

The Legion Go First Impressions

The SteamOS Legion Go has an 8-inch high-res screen, and comes with either 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage or 32GB RAM and a 1TB SSD. Importantly the larger capacity model also has a much beefier Z1 Extreme processor. Both options are listed above, but for this review I'm speaking specifically to the $829 model with the Z1 Extreme. And for what it's worth, you can get a version of the same hardware running Windows, if that's more to your liking.

No matter what, you're getting a powerful, sizable, and weighty handheld. Thankfully, it feels good to hold. It's got nicely off-set sticks, a punchy eight-way d-pad, and great button feel all around (triggers included). It's also the only one of these I've tried that has trigger locks for shortening the response time, although in my experience flipping them on did the opposite and made the triggers completely unresponsive in spots, and way more unreliable. It's definitely a cool feature but in need of a second pass.

I've reviewed a ton of handhelds at this point, including the ROG Ally and the MSI Claw, so I've written at length about what these devices are currently capable of. They are portable, fairly capable PCs that will run indies and older big-budget titles, but don't expect them to play the latest releases like Borderlands 4 without major caveats. As such, fidelity, performance, and battery life are always tied to what you're going to be using it for.

The Legion Go So doesn't buck this trend, but performs well if you go in knowing the limitations. I was happily running the latest Like A Dragon games with ease and smooth frame rates. Tons of other games from my decades worth of Steam purchases worked with little or no frustrations. But once Hollow Knight: Silksong dropped, trying to play anything else was futile. Luckily, this handheld is also an amazing place to dive into that, and the hardware has held up great to a dozen hours of punishing combat and brutal platforming.

The one thing that's always set the Steam Deck—and now this Legion Go S—apart is the operating system. I've been comparing directly with my OLED deck and I'm super impressed with the Legion handheld, so much so that it's hard to pick a favorite.

There's a lot of quality-of-life touches that I still adore about the Steam Deck design. The menu buttons are programmed out of the box to let you make quick brightness and refresh rate cap adjustments and easily quit out to OS. This makes it feel like a console. On the Go S, Steam isn't nearly as integrated into the hardware. Shortcuts for features like taking screenshots aren't nearly as intuitive.

I find both devices to be more ergonomic than the competition (looking at you Asus). The aforementioned off-set stick layout on the Legion is more natural than the Deck, especially if you're used to playing on Xbox. It's got bigger buttons and a better d-pad too. All this comes with a larger screen and heavier device. It holds its weight well, but the Steam Deck OLED is noticeably lighter and balanced. I still think that it's the superior system for long play sessions.

This is the part where I tip my hat to the nerds and say yes, the Legion Go S is technically more powerful than the Steam Deck OLED. Around 15 percent more. Equipped with a 120 Hz variable refresh rate and 1920 x 1200 pixel screen resolution—compared to the Deck's 1200 x 800p 90 Hz display—the screen is noticeably sharper. While the OLED screen on my Steam Deck is crisp as can be, I find myself benefitting more from the Legion's higher resolution screen. Even on a handheld screen, the difference between 800p and 1080p is palpable.

These improvements don't push the Legion Go S into another league. You'll get better looking, smoother versions of the games your Steam Deck runs... You will not suddenly be able to play the new Doom game the same way your desktop can. But if it's going to be your first modern handheld, it's impressive as hell.

Final Verdict: Who is This For?

The Lenovo Legion Go S is a fantastic alternative to the Steam Deck OLED, although it's not worth replacing one for. It's perfect for anyone looking for a new, user-friendly handheld to play their Steam games on. It also is a great upgrade pick if you still have an original LCD Steam Deck from a few years back—with sharper screen resolution, more storage, and longer battery life. But if you're really gaming on the road, maybe consider the lighter Steam Deck OLED.

Lenovo Legion Go S Powered by SteamOS

Pros