Lenovo’s Legion Go 2 Isn’t the Premium Steam Gaming Console I Wanted
The Lenovo Legion Go S is my favorite gaming laptop right now. I’m more of a PC fan than a console fan, and this portable gaming PC is just enough of an improvement over the Steam Deck to make it worth the money in my opinion, from the more powerful processor to the larger, higher-resolution display. But even so, it was originally intended to be a stopgap between the full-fledged Legion Go and the Legion Go 2. Now, Lenovo has officially announced the Legion Go 2, and while it brings back some of the features that were missing from the Legion Go S, it also takes away some of the things that made the Legion Go S so special, putting it in a weird middle ground.
New look and feel
Let’s start with the positives: The Legion Go 2 is now much nicer to hold and look at. The original Legion Go featured detachable wireless controllers on a rail system similar to the original Nintendo Switch. Lenovo got rid of them in the S, but since those controllers were a bit boxy and pointy on the original Go, I didn’t mind their absence. The Legion Go 2 brings back the detachable controllers, but updates them with a rounder, ergonomic design seemingly inspired by the S. In addition to looking a little less boxy, they felt much nicer in my hand when I tested them. They even use the same rail system as the original Go, so any accessories you bought or printed for that device’s controllers will work here, too. And yes, that means there’s still an optical sensor on the bottom end of the right controller, so you can still use it as a mouse (just like the Switch 2’s Joy-Con ). These are small touches, but they go a long way towards making the device feel “new” in my mind.
Upgraded chips
The big upgrade here is the new chips that have been loaded into AMD’s Z2 family and have trickled down to the Z2 Extreme. That’s a full generational jump over the processor in most modern portable gaming consoles, including the Legion Go S and Asus ROG Ally . Considering the Z1 Extreme in the S was already giving me an extra 8-10 fps over Steam Deck even when running at higher resolutions, you can expect even better performance from this model, though Lenovo didn’t provide me with any benchmarks or gameplay demos. Memory can also now be bumped up to 32GB (double the previous 16GB maximum), which should help ensure smoother gaming, and storage is now 2TB, double the capacity of the first Legion Go.
OLED screen
There are other features, too, like an upgraded 74Wh battery, up from the first model’s 49Wh, and a fingerprint scanner. Most notably, while the display is the same (8.8 inches), the resolution has been dropped slightly in favor of OLED. The previous IPS model had a 1600p resolution, while this version is 1200p, though I’m willing to make that tradeoff for OLED-level contrast, especially considering that higher resolutions tend to make portable screens less effective. Plus, it still has a 144Hz refresh rate, is touch-compatible, and has a maximum brightness of 500 nits.
Otherwise, it’s pretty much the same controller, albeit a bit thicker, which Lenovo says is necessary for extra thermal headroom, and a bit heavier at around 2.03 pounds instead of 1.88 (I didn’t notice this during my brief time with the game, though that may change over extended play). Aside from mouse controls, you get a touchpad on the right controller, a sturdy kickstand running the length of the device, all the same buttons, and everything else you might expect from the original Legion Go.
Flaws
I’ll admit, I’m a little torn after the S. The original Legion Go always felt a little cluttered to me, and the controllers in particular were far less intuitive than Nintendo’s Joy-Cons. If you always had trouble removing and attaching the Legion Go controllers, or were frustrated that you couldn’t use them for two-player play, it won’t change your mind, even if these controllers are more comfortable to hold than the original model. The S was so easy to use that, despite having more power, the Go 2 feels a little awkward to use. While maintaining compatibility with previous accessories is a nice touch, after using the Switch 2, I can’t help but think that magnets would have been the way to go here. Or even just controllers that stuck to the system, honestly.
This user-unfriendliness also extends to the operating system. Unlike the Legion Go S, the Legion Go 2 only ships with Windows, and Lenovo declined to tell me if it plans to add SteamOS as an option down the road. That’s a huge disappointment, since the Legion Go S was the first non-Steam Deck portable console to officially ship with Valve’s operating system as an option. While it sounds like a minor gripe, Windows has proven to be awkward to navigate across multiple devices with a controller , while SteamOS is designed from the ground up for controllers. It could also hurt performance, since it’s more power hungry, and Windows licensing could drive up the price of the device. Microsoft says it’s working on fixing these issues, but we won’t see how it plays out until the Xbox portable hits the market. In the meantime, I’d like to have more options.
Is it worth it?
In other words, I don’t see this replacing the Legion Go S for me, and another big part of that is the price. The Legion Go S costs $200 more than the Steam Deck, and it improves that device just enough for me to consider it worth it. Meanwhile, the Legion Go 2 starts at $1,049, which is several hundred dollars more than the Legion Go S, the original model, or even competitors like the ROG Ally X. It goes on sale next month, and while I’d love to see it serve as a direct upgrade to the Legion Go S or even some kind of grown-up Nintendo Switch 2, I expect it to end up competing more with gaming laptops than anything else. That’s great for the rich kids who are already choosing those devices, but after the Legion Go S, I can’t help but feel like Lenovo is missing an opportunity to take the sequel in a more appealing, less niche direction. I’ll probably hold off on the Go S 2 for now.