It ’s becoming percipient how spoiled I ’ve been withhandheld gambling PCs . I ’ve handled most of them , from the originalSteam Deckup to theROG Ally X , and I ’ve learn to love , hate , but mostly digest the dissimilar nuisance points of each gadget . The new Lenovo Legion Go S immediately felt like an upgrade with its rapid - fire triggers , large 8 - in display , and cozy designing that cuddle into my hand perfectly . There ’s just one problem — Windows is awful .
There , I said it . Windows on a handheld is a horrifying experience and the Lenovo Legion Go S made that abundantly clear after just a couple of days . I ’m still stifle - deep in benchmarking the twist and the Ryzen Z2 Go chip inside of it — do n’t worry , I have a few early comparability for you here — but I need to say my while on Windows .
Update : MyLenovo Legion Go S reviewis live now .
From riches to rags
get me back up for a moment . I ’ve been a die - hard Steam Deck drug user since day one . Even with so many competing gimmick , I never palpate the need to trade . window extend broad plot reenforcement , sure , but I much prefer the experience of using SteamOS , even if that meant give game keep and , in some event , public presentation . That was until I discovered Bazzite , which I promptly flashed onto the ROG Ally X.
Bazzite is becoming increasingly popular , but if you have n’t heard of it , it ’s basically SteamOS . It ’s a ramification of Valve ’s exposed - origin operating system , and it behaves almost identically to a Steam Deck . There are a few minor quirks — the menu for changing power modes is restrain to a rear release , for example — but they really are n’t deserving complaining about . They ’re modest and very gentle to accommodate to .
It ’s been a winning combo for me . I get the best performance available in a handheld right now via the Z1 Extreme , and I get a unseamed software experience with Bazzite . I knew that I would n’t enjoy Windows as much on the Lenovo Legion Go S ; I ’ve used plenty of Windows handhelds in the past . I was n’t set up for just how much worse it would be in 2025 , though , and how little Microsoft has done to better the experience across gadget .
Before getting to the genuinely gory details , I want to identify the experience of unboxing the Lenovo Legion Go S to place the stagecoach . I rip it out of the promotion , plugged it into the wall , and went to boot the system . It take me anhourto get through the Windows frame-up procedure , and a decent chunk of that was spend tap through offer for Office 365 , OneDrive , and tailor app recommendations that are n’t at all relevant to a handheld gaming PC .
After all of the Windows updates were installed , I was eventually on the screen background . But then there were more problems . Updates from the Microsoft Store would n’t work until I manually ran another Windows update . The Xbox app would n’t work because it needed an update , which I could n’t do because the default scaling in Windows pushed theUpdatebutton off the boundary of the screen . And while setting everything up , the twist go from 100 % capacity down to just 60 % .
Windows doesn’t work
You necessitate to pass some meter set up and updating any Modern equipment , but the appendage on the Lenovo Legion Go S — and all Windows handhelds — is long , cumbersome , and frankly , annoying . It makes the twist find like it ’s not working properly ; like you ’ve chop some OS on a system of rules that was n’t built to support it . And maybe that ’s because Windows was n’t work up to stand this form divisor , and it might never be .
The OS itself is conflict about what it want to do , and in that process , it completely sacrifices the hand-held experience . lease me give you some example . Microsoft volunteer a default taskbar in Windows 11 filled with its own apps , and it ’s centered on the concealment . Not a problem on the desktop , but on the Lenovo Legion Go S , the default icons take up the integral taskbar . If you open even a single additional app like , for illustration , Steam or the Xbox app , it ’s pushed off to a separate menu that you have to tip to expand before choose the app you want to focus on .
Another example : power scene . Out of the boxwood , the Lenovo Legion Go S is limit to sleep after a few minute of arc disregarding of whether you have the equipment plug in or not . That was a uncivil awakening when I plugged the handheld in overnight to download a bunch of game , only to find all of those downloads fail in the morning because the gadget put itself to kip . The Steam Deck ca n’t continue downloads while the sieve is off , but it at the very least go on the screen on and the equipment active while downloads are run .
Those are just two examples , and that ’s not to bring up theperformance overhead of Windowsand the consequence with sleeping while a game is running . Performance advantages and game support do n’t matter . At every round , it feels like Windows is trying to fight back you for using a handheld gambling equipment .
These are all resolvable issues , but it ’s altogether unreasonable that a USB - C hub , monitor , keyboard , and mouse feel all but required to set Windows up properly before you may install a single game . And even when it is lay up properly , you ’ll still melt into issues , from greedy notification demanding precious filmdom space to crashed games and lost onward motion when you by chance beg the great power button during gameplay .
It ’d be one thing if this was the experience all handhelds had to square off for , but it is n’t . Lenovo is in reality releasing a variation of theLegion Go S with SteamOSinstalled , and it ’s worth waiting for .
The Z2 Go is a touch slower
I love there are a lot of questions about how theRyzen Z2 Go loads upto the Ryzen Z1 Extreme in the Lenovo Legion Go S. I ran a few preliminary trial run , but I ’ll have a full run - down of performance in my review of the Legion Go S once I ’m finished with it . But , to give you an musical theme , the Ryzen Z2 Go is a bit slower than the Ryzen Z1 Extreme , at least in my former test . That ’s not too surprising look at both chips are packing 12 RDNA 3 Compute Units ( Cu )
you’re able to see my results below forDying Light 2 , Horizon Zero Dawn(not the remastered version ) , and 3DMark Fire Strike . The Ryzen Z2 Go in the Lenovo Legion Go S is a stone ’s throw away from the suite of other Ryzen Z1 Extreme handhelds , landing just below the baseROG Allyand originalLenovo Legion Go .
But there ’s that pesky Fire Strike resolution . There ’s a trouble with the Ryzen Z2 Go , and that ’s the fact that it only come with four central processor cores . regretful , they ’re based on the older Zen 3 architecture , not the New Zen 4 architecture available in the Ryzen Z1 Extreme . There are batch of game where four cores is enough , and it looks likeHorizon Zero DawnandDying Light 2are among them . For other secret plan that scale before four , you ’ll run into topic .
This is just an former look at the Lenovo Legion Go S. I project on run it through all of my normal bench mark and battery tests , as well as give a finding of fact on the screen and software . For now , I ’ll allow for you with this .
The Lenovo Legion Go S is a fantastic gadget . But Windows on any handheld right now is lacking . With SteamOS catch broader support for game each day , I ’m finding it difficult to put up with the hassle . I ’ll plausibly recommend the Legion Go S once I ’m end with my review summons , but with the caveat that you should hold back for the SteamOS version .
