Honestly the Legion Go 2 might be my most anticipated non-Steam Deck handheld. And from what I've seen they promise to upgrade basically everything that matters on the device itself! An actually worthwhile upgrade and I hope the Z2E is as efficient as I've read from some sources.
I think for me it will hit every requirement for a handheld. The o ky wishlist thing I wish it had but probably won't is a USB4.2 port for TB5 eGPU support. Everything else I'm happy with. (Haven't seen the price though)
Ayaneo abandons every device they make before they even finish shipping the IGG orders. Compare that to all the additions that Lenovo have made with the original Legion Go, it’s night and day when a real company gets involved.
that's the problem with companies that only profit from making the device itself, they want to make a good enough device that attracts people, then make a slightly better one the next year...
@@xcruz7846 which I think is interesting because everyone is neglecting the most important thing about handhelds, battery life. Like if you really care about performance over all else, you're getting a console at the very least. The best part about handhelds is that they're portable and I'm really concerned everyone else is losing the plot by focusing on cutting edge performance for an hour and change over allowing you to actually use the device however is most comfortable for you. Valve sorta nailed the steamdeck in that regard and unless games suddenly become way more demanding (which they slowly are, but were also seeing devs both big and small embrace lower hardware stqndards) battery life is the one thing that splits the pack pretty hard.
@@ziolan8970 Rog Ally X kinda proved that's it's possible to get these performance with long enough battery life while staying light. While the software leaves a lot to be desire, I can't find anything to fault regarding the hardware.
@@ziolan8970that's what adjustable TDP is for Modern chips all get good battery life when running at 9watts Basic physics, performance or battery life, pick one
I believe the Go S SteamOS comes with the Z1 extreme... Or at least that is what they printed out on the spec sheet next to it. Here is a copy past of the spec text I saw: Lenovo LEGION Lenovo Legion Go S (8", 1)- Powered by SteamOS Processor: Up to AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme (3.3GHz. 8 Core, 16 Threads) OS: SteamOS Memory: Up to 32GB LPDDR5X-6400 Storage: Up to 1TB PCIe SSD (Gen 4) Display: 8" WQXGA (1920 x 1200) 16:10, 120Hz. 100% sRGB, 500 nits, 10-point Touch support Audio: 2 x 2W speakers. Dual-array mics Battery: 55.5 Wh, Rapid Charge Express (60 min = 85% charge) Wireless: WI-FI 6E 2x28x + BT 5.3 Ports: 1x Audio Combo Jack, 2x USB4, 1x MicroSD Card Reader SD 3.0/UHS-I Dimensions: (mm) 299 x 127.55 x 22.6 mm/ (inches) 11.77 x 5.02 x 0.88" Weight: 740g/1.63 lbs. Color: Nebula Violet SteamOS combines the simplicity of a console with the power of PC gaming, with optimized gamepad controls, seamless system updates, and quick suspend/resume. Access the whole Steam ecosystem, and everything else PC gaming has to offer.
Lenovo absolutely killing it. Great that they partnered with Valve and will start officially brining Steam OS as a supported option. Really looking forward to the Legion Go 2 Oled, which has amazing upgrades in every relevant thing the original was lacking namely better screen, VRR, much bigger battery (49.2wh>74wh), huge Ram upgrade (16gb>32gb), ssd upgrade (500gb/1tb> 1tb/2tb), Z2 Extreme, among others.
Yeah no, I love Russ, but there are plenty of other people who were easily able to document the simple details. I mean, not being able to recall important things like refresh rates for arguably one of the most important handhelds of the year? I see this as a missed opportunity. It's OK to criticize creators you like. I know he'll get better.
Don't get distracted. It's probably the acoustic sound or ambiance within the room. I watched ETA PRIME, covering the exact same unit, and I was hearing a similar effect.
The grey/purple plastic on the Legion Go S looks a lot better in this video than it looked in those leaked images. That $500-$600 "mid-tier" is the sweet spot for me.
No idea of the performance on z2 go yet but I own a legion go z1 extreme and asus rog ally z1 extreme and SteamDeck OLED I am still contemplating moving to the legion go s steam edition
@@reecejohnston01 Does it not do your head in having all those handhelds? I just want one that will do what i want. i hate having 3 or 4 things. Whats the best handheld of today? in terms of comfort, dpad and batt life?
@ it does it really does, drives me nuts I have been on the hunt for years to find the perfect one and still never found it closest I got was the legion go or ally with bazzite, I have many other devices such as Ayaneo pocket s, rg405m, trimui brick, rg35xxsp and the list continues but like I said ally or legion go with bazzite only reason I’m contemplating selling legion go and ally to get legion go s with steamos
@@reecejohnston01 For me its comfort in the hands and battery life. I ordered the Arc D a few days ago. i just wanted something comfy in the hands for travelling and to me the Sega D pad is the best. I'm thinking on getting something like the Steam deck for bedtime. i think what would do it for me is to get the Sega Saturn Bluetooth controller and use it for the Steam deck at night when I'm lying down. I bought the 355xx Sp and its horrible to use in my hands so i sold it 2 days after i got it. I'm hopin the Arc D will be ok for me. to me Battery life is important, i don't need amazing specs but comfort in the hands is the main thing, just to have something nice to hold for that quick gratification.
14:43 83% and 52 minutes left YIKES. I know it's running at 120fps but it hardly looks like the most demanding game I've seen... edit: 17:41 29% and 26 minutes left at 60fps. ~100 minutes of 60fps gameplay isn't going to cut it.
I think that spacer/connector piece that turns the detachable handles into a single "regular" controller should also be a power bank. It could feed some juice into each controller piece then those can pass the power back to the main portion when they're reconnected. It wouldn't be much, but other than weight, why not?
@ericbarchard1956 Ah ok. Thanks. I knew I wasn't going to catch something that Lenovo missed lol. But I think many will be coming up with similar solutions so I hope that becomes the default way to do these things. Best of all worlds in a way.
Hanging back to see how these shake out, however once SteamOS releases it is going on my Legion Go. Excited to see how these are and of course the Russ review of them. Thanks for the update shipmate
How's the battery life on the Legion Go? Also, how are the ergonomics? I saw a display model in an electronics store one day and noticed instantly just how thick the Legion Go is. Doesn't seem like it'd be terribly comfortable for long play sessions.
@@qu1253 I’ve been using a legion go for a year and the battery is fine, around d 1.5hrs of a AAA game at 30w, much longer battery on lower tdp, but yes it’s important to carry the charger or a battery with current high end handhelds. For comfort, the kickstand on the Go is key. Pop it out and balance the machine on your legs or a table and because the screen is so big you don’t need to lean in close. It’s awesome .
It's really not. It's heavy and uncomfortable to hold due to those sharp edges. Battery life is non exisistent as well. I have that thing and the only thing I like about it is that massive display. It's gorgeous.
Just bought my first handheld console since the original GBA. Your content made it much easier for me to make a choice. Thanks for all the content! Settled for a 2nd hand Retroid pocket 4 Pro, using your guide to set it up over the next few days 😊
For the SoC specs: Z2 Extreme is like a Ryzen 300-series (full 16CU RDNA 3.5 gpu, 3p5c Zen5/5c cpu config IIRC), Z2 is essentially a Ryzen 7/8000/Z1 Extreme (12CU RDNA3, 8c Zen4), and the Z2 Go is like a Z1 non-extreme with 3x the GPU (4c, unsure about the Zen4/4c config, 12CU RDNA3 GPU). The Z2 Go will definitely be faster than the Steam Deck in both cpu and gpu out of the box, at the same and lower power, especially with those Zen4c cores That $749 windows version with the Z2 Go, though? That's unacceptable even with a 32GB/1TB config. That really needs at least a Z2, given that you could get a Z1 Extreme handheld (sure, 16GB/500GB, but still...) for $799 a year ago.
I'm pretty sure I've seen the ROG Ally Z1E model under $500 several times last year on random flash sales on both Best Buy and Amazon. *Edit - Amazon currently has the Ally Z1E model for $445 new via Woot. Yeah the software is trash but either wait for SteamOS or install Bazzite.
I understand I'm nothing more than someone making a para-social comment here, but dang, congrats making to CES Russ! Feels like just yesterday we were saying yeah man I wanna do it to the subscribe button to an underappreciated channel and now you've gotten over half a million subscribers and you're getting reviews on the showroom floor! Thanks for all the years of content!
6:22 Russ I recommend suggesting to Lenovo that they add that option to disable the trackpad to the right “side button” by holding it down for 3 seconds or something (or another button).
17:10 agree on doing the other way around; getting the $700+ windows model and then install SteamOS to gain that extra ram and whether the chipset is a higher tier. The best way to justify the 200+ difference is perhaps the 1TB storage, the windows license embedded with the hardware, and the extra ram
Your da best Russ, thanks for the updates. I am sure many of us are wondering, now that handheld gaming isn't just for small groups and niche products, what can we expect in 2025!
1. Can't wait for the Legion Go 2. The screen is the biggest selling point for me. That larger display goes a long way. Can't help but wish my Ally X had a larger display 2. Specs have been confirmed online: 8.8 in OLED 120hz 1200p display with VRR. 75watt battery, Hall effects sticks and triggers, 32GB Ram, up to 2 TB of storage 3. Cyber Dopamine confirmed that the Legion Go 2 that was on display had the Z1 chips inside because it's a prototype but it will ship with the Z2 Extreme 4. I can't image the Go 2 being cheaper than $1000. I think it'll be between $1000 - $1200. I think they made 3 variants to target different markets. Budget, Normal and Premium. Obviously there's a market for premium devices otherwise GPD, Ayaneo, OneX wouldn't exist.
@@mrman6035 Xbox handheld won't be out this year. Phil Spence has already said they're a couple years away. 2026/2027 is more likely. I also don't see a playstation handheld coming out anytime soon and it won't be a true pc gaming. It would be more of a PS Portable.
@@LuisPerez-5 It's 1920x1200. Legion press release has all the info and Ben, the senior community manager for legion had an interview with the head of products in America who manly focuses on legion handhelds confirmed as well. Can also just google it.
The OLED with VRR - if true - is the goldilocks that a lot of people are looking for. Last time they told us (pre-release) they had VRR and then it disappeared at launch.
As a steamdeck user I am very excited for other handhelds being able to use steam os, I hope it can lead to more games becoming available for the deck:D
The GO-s versions will both be available with Z1E and Z2Go, as well as 16/512GB and 32GB/1TB of Storage. The windows version is supposed to come to the market later this month. I just wish they gave us a rough idea then the GO2 will be released :/
Loved my legion go so far, even brought it overseas twice. One thing i wish is that they at least somehow try to redirect the speaker grill to the user, maybe something like how most phone speakers are. Hell, even a small "cat ears" attachment is better than just blasting the sound to everyone else.
It's not that difficult to disable the trackpad in legion space - having it be in the quick menu would be preferable, though. I think Bazzite has configs to ignore mouse input on a per game basis, don't quote me on that, though.
Very interested in the Go 2. Kinda wish they’d scrap the FPS buttons and use the thumb trackpad like they have in the smaller units. Hopefully they listen to Russ about the trackpad and at least offer a quick toggle to turn it off. Also hope the speakers are improved as I’ve seen many Go owners say the sound is kinda bad.
i want to add that the legion go has an option to disable the trackpad from the side bar, i've rarely ever had the issue of my hand moving the mouse without intention but im guessing with the new control layout it may be different
10:33 Here’s hoping that Lenovo eventually makes a version of the S with the Z2 Extreme (and improved cooling, battery, etc.). I would be willing to pay the premium for that.
What a time to be alive with all these handheld devices, at leas twe have Russ and the likes to help us figure out what's best for our various use-cases! Russ have you caught a bug, you sound a little gravely in your voice and bleary eyed😮
Russ did they mention anything about VRR on the Legion Go 2? And yeah bro, get some rest. I am stationed in Japan, and every time I go back home (going East), the jet lag hits HARD and I can see you feeling that! Take a nap bro, you’ll feel better lol.
That Legion Go 2 looks tempting, mainly because I want Microsoft to update windows and have an Xbox front end on the handhelds. That screen cannot be denied
I'm more interested in the SteamOS port to the Legion GO, since Valve is endeavoring to make it acessible other platforms, i would to use it on my Loki, the Big Picture is great but a Linux based sysem would help the performance and battery, i believe... but still great to see the 6800U still making a run for it's money against the 1 extreme and other APUs, rather than saturating with Z1 and intel's latest APU, companies should make the effort to use older processors to run great on low fps in stable performance, to balance things with battery usage. Thx for the info, Russ, have a safe travel home! =D
thanks for the video. heard that they are also going to have a z1e sku. so basically the current legion go specs with 32g ram,but in the non detachable format with the 8 inch screen. as a current legion go owner from release, that is the most interesting. I love the current go but its a bit too large and with the on the go nature that I use it, the controllers are starting to wear and wobble. really hope they will release a model like that.
I bought Legion go mainly for an emulator up to ps2 and gamecube. I needed the larger screen. Updated to a 2tb drive. Absolutely over the moon with it especially just being able to dock it and use the joycons in a grip. With Retrobat installed its a complete retro dream. I also use the comfy grips too after seeing your video. BUT ..... I had to do the D pad mod (magnetic xbox attachment) as the stock legion go one is too flat and awful. Definitely better for Ha do kens now 👊 Apart from that ... perfectly happy 😊 I'll still upgrade the end of the year though 😂
@Retro Game Corps might be worth considering a tablet and stylus for taking notes on the go (or just those old school pen and paper notepads like the reporters you see from old movies).
AMD Z2 GO is 6800U with half of it's CPU cores disabled, which has little influence on gaming performance. CPU wise, it's similar configuration to 4/8 on steam deck, but zen3+ instead of zen 2 architecture with double the cache. You are still getting full Radeon 680M, which is about 5-10% slower than 780M at similar power limits. 680M is actually the same RDNA2 GPU as steam deck one, but with 12 CU's instead of 8. It's still an upgrade over what steam deck uses, especially at 17-18+ watt power limit. Unfortunately, screen is not OLED, it also bigger and battery aren't huge, so battery life is not gonna be amazing on this unit.
Just wanted to point out that the SteamOS version of the Go S will also have 2 versions. The option for 16gb ram, 512gb storage or 32gb ram and 1tb storage. Choice of the Z2 Go or Z1 Extreme chip. Lot of videos keep leaving this info out.
i'm hoping the Go 2 also got the SteamOS ver, so far my experience with Windows based handhelds are the games quite often freeze or crash after being awaken from sleep state
I have a rog ally x I have put bazzite on it and also have windows which I never boot in to. I’m tempted to swap the ally x for the go s steam os version. My old eyes would welcome that 8 inch screen for a start.
sucks to hear about the touch pad getting in the way of playing with the controller instead, if they had a way to disable it or "switch" to controller mode like how the steam deck does when holding the start button if youre in desktop mode, then that could help out a lot
Lenovo, Steam and now PlayStation and Xbox throwing in their hats to compete in the handheld scene among many other brands (Nintendo too of course). We're going to be eating really good in the coming years.
It's great that we have another truly affordable handheld PC, but I wish these bigger companies would create a truly portable device. The best ones we have on the market are the Ayaneo Air 1S and the OneXFly but they're crazy expensive. I love these mainstream 7inch+ screen devices but they kind of defeat the point of being "portable" devices. I can't carry them easily anywhere.
Hope your enjoying ces russ. Is there any way you could adjust the audio in future videos of ces? Well for me at least the voice is a little to hard to hear.
I left a similar comment on an older vid about the Legion Go, but I am considering picking up a handheld PC and am tempted towards the SD Oled or a Legion Go. Should I wait for these refreshes? I already have an LCD SD but I would give/lend it to my Mom for Stardew and Warframe as she likes those games.
My guess is that, people will bought top of the line handheld in this year and just try to install the SteamOS beta on it. it's sounds more fun to me. 17:55 Welp there you go. xd
Everyone hated Asus for making that Z1 model ally but I'm glad they did because there is a market outside of the $800 handheld and someone needs to fill it. I'll Probably end up going the Lenovo route for my z1 upgrade or at the very least for my wifes LCD steam deck upgrade. The price point and the specs on that lower end Z2 doesn't seem bad.
Since I didnt get a Lenovo Legion Go Ill be getting this for my Second Handheld along with my Steam Deck that I have 32GB should of been the Ram the SteamDeck had
Honestly the Legion Go 2 might be my most anticipated non-Steam Deck handheld. And from what I've seen they promise to upgrade basically everything that matters on the device itself! An actually worthwhile upgrade and I hope the Z2E is as efficient as I've read from some sources.
You are an awesome content creator!
It's essentially a Ryzen 300 series SoC with the NPU disabled, so it should be both fast and efficient given that those chips are both
I think for me it will hit every requirement for a handheld. The o ky wishlist thing I wish it had but probably won't is a USB4.2 port for TB5 eGPU support.
Everything else I'm happy with. (Haven't seen the price though)
this voice feels like when sonic deepened his voice for frontiers 😭, amazing stuff as always Russ!
You sick or just voice horse from yelling at CES? Hope all is well and always appreciate your content!!! Great stuff
Yeah, it really doesn't sound like him.
Yeah he’s sick
AI Russ
The videos I’ve seen from trade show floors like CES seem to be really loud.
Too much partying with the other UA-cam boys 😂
Ayaneo abandons every device they make before they even finish shipping the IGG orders. Compare that to all the additions that Lenovo have made with the original Legion Go, it’s night and day when a real company gets involved.
that's the problem with companies that only profit from making the device itself, they want to make a good enough device that attracts people, then make a slightly better one the next year...
😂 good luck getting updates on the legion go.
@@xcruz7846 which I think is interesting because everyone is neglecting the most important thing about handhelds, battery life. Like if you really care about performance over all else, you're getting a console at the very least. The best part about handhelds is that they're portable and I'm really concerned everyone else is losing the plot by focusing on cutting edge performance for an hour and change over allowing you to actually use the device however is most comfortable for you.
Valve sorta nailed the steamdeck in that regard and unless games suddenly become way more demanding (which they slowly are, but were also seeing devs both big and small embrace lower hardware stqndards) battery life is the one thing that splits the pack pretty hard.
@@ziolan8970 Rog Ally X kinda proved that's it's possible to get these performance with long enough battery life while staying light. While the software leaves a lot to be desire, I can't find anything to fault regarding the hardware.
@@ziolan8970that's what adjustable TDP is for
Modern chips all get good battery life when running at 9watts
Basic physics, performance or battery life, pick one
I believe the Go S SteamOS comes with the Z1 extreme... Or at least that is what they printed out on the spec sheet next to it. Here is a copy past of the spec text I saw: Lenovo
LEGION
Lenovo Legion Go S (8", 1)- Powered by SteamOS
Processor: Up to AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme (3.3GHz. 8 Core, 16 Threads)
OS: SteamOS
Memory: Up to 32GB LPDDR5X-6400
Storage: Up to 1TB PCIe SSD (Gen 4)
Display: 8" WQXGA (1920 x 1200) 16:10, 120Hz. 100% sRGB, 500 nits, 10-point Touch support
Audio: 2 x 2W speakers. Dual-array mics
Battery: 55.5 Wh, Rapid Charge Express (60 min = 85% charge)
Wireless: WI-FI 6E 2x28x + BT 5.3
Ports: 1x Audio Combo Jack, 2x USB4, 1x MicroSD Card Reader SD 3.0/UHS-I
Dimensions: (mm) 299 x 127.55 x 22.6 mm/ (inches) 11.77 x 5.02 x 0.88"
Weight: 740g/1.63 lbs.
Color: Nebula Violet
SteamOS combines the simplicity of a console with the power of PC gaming, with optimized gamepad controls, seamless system updates, and quick suspend/resume. Access the whole Steam ecosystem, and everything else PC gaming has to offer.
Lenovo absolutely killing it. Great that they partnered with Valve and will start officially brining Steam OS as a supported option. Really looking forward to the Legion Go 2 Oled, which has amazing upgrades in every relevant thing the original was lacking namely better screen, VRR, much bigger battery (49.2wh>74wh), huge Ram upgrade (16gb>32gb), ssd upgrade (500gb/1tb> 1tb/2tb), Z2 Extreme, among others.
Yeah the legion go 2 is a beast
Russ is the GOAT. Cleanest intros, and the most details in his videos!
He talked about the same thing for 21 min the video could have been 5 min if he didn’t keep repeating
Yeah no, I love Russ, but there are plenty of other people who were easily able to document the simple details. I mean, not being able to recall important things like refresh rates for arguably one of the most important handhelds of the year? I see this as a missed opportunity. It's OK to criticize creators you like. I know he'll get better.
What I'm hearing is that I can put my old sticks on my soon to be purchased Legion GO 2. I love the size and shape of the old ones.
Don't get distracted. It's probably the acoustic sound or ambiance within the room. I watched ETA PRIME, covering the exact same unit, and I was hearing a similar effect.
ETA actually said he was feeling under the weather
aint no way our boy is all the way at CES
So few sites reported on the Legion Go 2 - thanks for posting videos of it because it looks great!
Have a crazy night last night Russ? 😂
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas...
This was also my first thought.
Nose kinda stuffy 😂
I'm dumb, can someone give an explanation 😔
🗿
was waiting for this one, super excited for the future of handheld gaming!
When I first got my Legion Go it felt like "finally!!" I go way back to the GPD Win, I've always wanted a pc handheld. Good time to be a gamer.
THANK YOU I NEEDED THIS REVIEW!!!!
The grey/purple plastic on the Legion Go S looks a lot better in this video than it looked in those leaked images. That $500-$600 "mid-tier" is the sweet spot for me.
No idea of the performance on z2 go yet but I own a legion go z1 extreme and asus rog ally z1 extreme and SteamDeck OLED I am still contemplating moving to the legion go s steam edition
@@reecejohnston01 Does it not do your head in having all those handhelds? I just want one that will do what i want. i hate having 3 or 4 things. Whats the best handheld of today? in terms of comfort, dpad and batt life?
@ it does it really does, drives me nuts I have been on the hunt for years to find the perfect one and still never found it closest I got was the legion go or ally with bazzite, I have many other devices such as Ayaneo pocket s, rg405m, trimui brick, rg35xxsp and the list continues but like I said ally or legion go with bazzite only reason I’m contemplating selling legion go and ally to get legion go s with steamos
@@reecejohnston01 For me its comfort in the hands and battery life. I ordered the Arc D a few days ago. i just wanted something comfy in the hands for travelling and to me the Sega D pad is the best. I'm thinking on getting something like the Steam deck for bedtime. i think what would do it for me is to get the Sega Saturn Bluetooth controller and use it for the Steam deck at night when I'm lying down. I bought the 355xx Sp and its horrible to use in my hands so i sold it 2 days after i got it. I'm hopin the Arc D will be ok for me. to me Battery life is important, i don't need amazing specs but comfort in the hands is the main thing, just to have something nice to hold for that quick gratification.
They will eventually bring steam os to the ally so I would just wait for that.
As someone who absolutely loves his legion go, I’m beyond excited to hear more coming from Lenovo in the handheld market.
14:43 83% and 52 minutes left YIKES. I know it's running at 120fps but it hardly looks like the most demanding game I've seen...
edit: 17:41 29% and 26 minutes left at 60fps. ~100 minutes of 60fps gameplay isn't going to cut it.
I am so excited about all these x86 handhelds. Having so much variety and options feels very akin to our retro handheld space.
"Hangover Russ is not real and he can't hurt you"
Hangover Russ:
(Jokes aside, thanks for the great content as always, man ❤)
The theme song as background music works so well.
I think that spacer/connector piece that turns the detachable handles into a single "regular" controller should also be a power bank. It could feed some juice into each controller piece then those can pass the power back to the main portion when they're reconnected. It wouldn't be much, but other than weight, why not?
Had exactly the same thought
It does have a built in battery. I have it. It’s hard to get, but it pops up on Lenovo periodically for sale
@ericbarchard1956 Ah ok. Thanks. I knew I wasn't going to catch something that Lenovo missed lol. But I think many will be coming up with similar solutions so I hope that becomes the default way to do these things. Best of all worlds in a way.
Hanging back to see how these shake out, however once SteamOS releases it is going on my Legion Go. Excited to see how these are and of course the Russ review of them. Thanks for the update shipmate
I have no intention in buying this new Legion as I already have a Stream deck & Legion Go already but when Russ posts, we watch!
How's the battery life on the Legion Go? Also, how are the ergonomics? I saw a display model in an electronics store one day and noticed instantly just how thick the Legion Go is. Doesn't seem like it'd be terribly comfortable for long play sessions.
@@qu1253 I’ve been using a legion go for a year and the battery is fine, around d 1.5hrs of a AAA game at
30w, much longer battery on lower tdp, but yes it’s important to carry the charger or a battery with current high end handhelds.
For comfort, the kickstand on the Go is key. Pop it out and balance the machine on your legs or a table and because the screen is so big you don’t need to lean in close. It’s awesome .
It's really not. It's heavy and uncomfortable to hold due to those sharp edges. Battery life is non exisistent as well. I have that thing and the only thing I like about it is that massive display. It's gorgeous.
thank for putting in the work
Just bought my first handheld console since the original GBA. Your content made it much easier for me to make a choice. Thanks for all the content! Settled for a 2nd hand Retroid pocket 4 Pro, using your guide to set it up over the next few days 😊
Why second hand ? It's better to gift yourself with a new one love yourself .
Great stuff as always, Russ. Really appreciate a proper, first hands-on perspective. You must be exhausted! Look after yourself, buddy.
The review that matters 💪🏾 thanks Russ and take care man.
For the SoC specs: Z2 Extreme is like a Ryzen 300-series (full 16CU RDNA 3.5 gpu, 3p5c Zen5/5c cpu config IIRC), Z2 is essentially a Ryzen 7/8000/Z1 Extreme (12CU RDNA3, 8c Zen4), and the Z2 Go is like a Z1 non-extreme with 3x the GPU (4c, unsure about the Zen4/4c config, 12CU RDNA3 GPU). The Z2 Go will definitely be faster than the Steam Deck in both cpu and gpu out of the box, at the same and lower power, especially with those Zen4c cores
That $749 windows version with the Z2 Go, though? That's unacceptable even with a 32GB/1TB config. That really needs at least a Z2, given that you could get a Z1 Extreme handheld (sure, 16GB/500GB, but still...) for $799 a year ago.
Z2 Go is 4C Zen 3+, think about it like a 6800U / 7735U but with half the CPU cores only
I'm pretty sure I've seen the ROG Ally Z1E model under $500 several times last year on random flash sales on both Best Buy and Amazon.
*Edit - Amazon currently has the Ally Z1E model for $445 new via Woot. Yeah the software is trash but either wait for SteamOS or install Bazzite.
Z2 go is 12 CUS RDNA 2, not 3
The Z2GO seems perfect for STEAMOS but it also will need to be a lower price since you arw hitting STEAMDECK OLED territory
The Windows version is DOA
@warlordwossman5722 Got a source for that? According to Techpowerup it's based on the Phoenix 2 silicon, which is Zen4+Zen4c.
In the 11:50 minute, if you select the controller tab, there you can find the enable touchpad. So you don't have troubles if it gets in your way
I understand I'm nothing more than someone making a para-social comment here, but dang, congrats making to CES Russ! Feels like just yesterday we were saying yeah man I wanna do it to the subscribe button to an underappreciated channel and now you've gotten over half a million subscribers and you're getting reviews on the showroom floor! Thanks for all the years of content!
Russ is probably popular among the CES crowd too. Great for him 👍👍
I'll wait for your full review!
6:22 Russ I recommend suggesting to Lenovo that they add that option to disable the trackpad to the right “side button” by holding it down for 3 seconds or something (or another button).
17:10 agree on doing the other way around; getting the $700+ windows model and then install SteamOS to gain that extra ram and whether the chipset is a higher tier. The best way to justify the 200+ difference is perhaps the 1TB storage, the windows license embedded with the hardware, and the extra ram
Your da best Russ, thanks for the updates. I am sure many of us are wondering, now that handheld gaming isn't just for small groups and niche products, what can we expect in 2025!
Nice look at this bigshot 👏 congratulation !
I never imagined that Lenovo would show 4 handhelds at the CES. I'm really looking forward to get the Legion Go S with SteamOS!
1. Can't wait for the Legion Go 2. The screen is the biggest selling point for me. That larger display goes a long way. Can't help but wish my Ally X had a larger display
2. Specs have been confirmed online: 8.8 in OLED 120hz 1200p display with VRR. 75watt battery, Hall effects sticks and triggers, 32GB Ram, up to 2 TB of storage
3. Cyber Dopamine confirmed that the Legion Go 2 that was on display had the Z1 chips inside because it's a prototype but it will ship with the Z2 Extreme
4. I can't image the Go 2 being cheaper than $1000. I think it'll be between $1000 - $1200. I think they made 3 variants to target different markets. Budget, Normal and Premium. Obviously there's a market for premium devices otherwise GPD, Ayaneo, OneX wouldn't exist.
There's also the rumored XBOX and PlayStation handhelds this year so they can't make them too pricey once if ever that releases
@@mrman6035 Xbox handheld won't be out this year. Phil Spence has already said they're a couple years away. 2026/2027 is more likely. I also don't see a playstation handheld coming out anytime soon and it won't be a true pc gaming. It would be more of a PS Portable.
Where did they confirm the 75Wh battery? And the 1200p VRR display? If it's 8.8" it has to be 1600p not 1200p. And it's OLED so I doubt it's VRR.
@@LuisPerez-5 It's 1920x1200. Legion press release has all the info and Ben, the senior community manager for legion had an interview with the head of products in America who manly focuses on legion handhelds confirmed as well. Can also just google it.
The OLED with VRR - if true - is the goldilocks that a lot of people are looking for. Last time they told us (pre-release) they had VRR and then it disappeared at launch.
Glad that the detachable controllers are compatible with the v1 legion go, it means that the jsaux accessories should also be compatible :)
Get some rest, Russ.
As a steamdeck user I am very excited for other handhelds being able to use steam os, I hope it can lead to more games becoming available for the deck:D
Can't wait to buy those controllers for my Legion Go!!
Disabling the Trackpad is really easy, you hit the config button and there is menu with a slider to disable it. Takes about 3s :)
Gonna be a great year for handhelds, that's about it. lol!
Hope you feel better, Russ.
:’( When Miyoo Flip review…please soon. We love you.
The GO-s versions will both be available with Z1E and Z2Go, as well as 16/512GB and 32GB/1TB of Storage. The windows version is supposed to come to the market later this month. I just wish they gave us a rough idea then the GO2 will be released :/
Switch 2 march this year or wait for steam deck 2 ?!
I already have switch oled past 2 years
Loved my legion go so far, even brought it overseas twice. One thing i wish is that they at least somehow try to redirect the speaker grill to the user, maybe something like how most phone speakers are. Hell, even a small "cat ears" attachment is better than just blasting the sound to everyone else.
It's not that difficult to disable the trackpad in legion space - having it be in the quick menu would be preferable, though.
I think Bazzite has configs to ignore mouse input on a per game basis, don't quote me on that, though.
Bro! Your tired. Get some shut eye, we can wait for this stuff. Your health is most important for us to keep getting content. Thanx for you hard work!
Get to feelin better Russ, this sickness is serious. Ive had it over a week 😭
I keep hearing about the Legion Go but I don't know where it would fit into my use cases but definitely interesting to see get more iterations.
You can deactivate the track pad in legion space
Very interested in the Go 2. Kinda wish they’d scrap the FPS buttons and use the thumb trackpad like they have in the smaller units. Hopefully they listen to Russ about the trackpad and at least offer a quick toggle to turn it off. Also hope the speakers are improved as I’ve seen many Go owners say the sound is kinda bad.
Russ, do you think this is better than the Rog Ally X? Because I just bought my Ally and my stupid brain didn’t think to wait for this 😭😔
Did you run into Linus at CES? He mentioned you in a video recently! Watch you and love you both, great content my guy!
i want to add that the legion go has an option to disable the trackpad from the side bar, i've rarely ever had the issue of my hand moving the mouse without intention but im guessing with the new control layout it may be different
10:33 Here’s hoping that Lenovo eventually makes a version of the S with the Z2 Extreme (and improved cooling, battery, etc.). I would be willing to pay the premium for that.
What a time to be alive with all these handheld devices, at leas twe have Russ and the likes to help us figure out what's best for our various use-cases! Russ have you caught a bug, you sound a little gravely in your voice and bleary eyed😮
The CES Flu. You generally get it by staying out at the vendor after parties and yelling over the music, lol
Russ did they mention anything about VRR on the Legion Go 2? And yeah bro, get some rest. I am stationed in Japan, and every time I go back home (going East), the jet lag hits HARD and I can see you feeling that! Take a nap bro, you’ll feel better lol.
That Legion Go 2 looks tempting, mainly because I want Microsoft to update windows and have an Xbox front end on the handhelds. That screen cannot be denied
I'm more interested in the SteamOS port to the Legion GO, since Valve is endeavoring to make it acessible other platforms, i would to use it on my Loki, the Big Picture is great but a Linux based sysem would help the performance and battery, i believe...
but still great to see the 6800U still making a run for it's money against the 1 extreme and other APUs, rather than saturating with Z1 and intel's latest APU, companies should make the effort to use older processors to run great on low fps in stable performance, to balance things with battery usage.
Thx for the info, Russ, have a safe travel home! =D
thanks for the video. heard that they are also going to have a z1e sku. so basically the current legion go specs with 32g ram,but in the non detachable format with the 8 inch screen. as a current legion go owner from release, that is the most interesting. I love the current go but its a bit too large and with the on the go nature that I use it, the controllers are starting to wear and wobble. really hope they will release a model like that.
Get well soon!
I bought Legion go mainly for an emulator up to ps2 and gamecube. I needed the larger screen. Updated to a 2tb drive. Absolutely over the moon with it especially just being able to dock it and use the joycons in a grip. With Retrobat installed its a complete retro dream. I also use the comfy grips too after seeing your video.
BUT ..... I had to do the D pad mod (magnetic xbox attachment) as the stock legion go one is too flat and awful. Definitely better for Ha do kens now 👊 Apart from that ... perfectly happy 😊
I'll still upgrade the end of the year though 😂
I still want the Legion Go. It's the only handheld PC that has detachable controllers like the Switch
Yep it’s great. I use it to game on a treadmill :)
@Retro Game Corps might be worth considering a tablet and stylus for taking notes on the go (or just those old school pen and paper notepads like the reporters you see from old movies).
AMD Z2 GO is 6800U with half of it's CPU cores disabled, which has little influence on gaming performance. CPU wise, it's similar configuration to 4/8 on steam deck, but zen3+ instead of zen 2 architecture with double the cache. You are still getting full Radeon 680M, which is about 5-10% slower than 780M at similar power limits. 680M is actually the same RDNA2 GPU as steam deck one, but with 12 CU's instead of 8. It's still an upgrade over what steam deck uses, especially at 17-18+ watt power limit.
Unfortunately, screen is not OLED, it also bigger and battery aren't huge, so battery life is not gonna be amazing on this unit.
Just wanted to point out that the SteamOS version of the Go S will also have 2 versions. The option for 16gb ram, 512gb storage or 32gb ram and 1tb storage. Choice of the Z2 Go or Z1 Extreme chip. Lot of videos keep leaving this info out.
The Z1 extreme version makes a lot more sense to me as long as it doesn’t add more than $100 for a $599 price tag.
@@cherokee180c0it most likely will
YEAH, IVE BEEN WAITING THIS
i'm hoping the Go 2 also got the SteamOS ver, so far my experience with Windows based handhelds are the games quite often freeze or crash after being awaken from sleep state
2:54 Simply record the audio if there is too much information
I have a rog ally x I have put bazzite on it and also have windows which I never boot in to. I’m tempted to swap the ally x for the go s steam os version. My old eyes would welcome that 8 inch screen for a start.
ally X is more powerful compared legion go s that's steam deck power
@ yes I am aware of that
I would stay with the ally x, for sure.
sucks to hear about the touch pad getting in the way of playing with the controller instead, if they had a way to disable it or "switch" to controller mode like how the steam deck does when holding the start button if youre in desktop mode, then that could help out a lot
Lenovo, Steam and now PlayStation and Xbox throwing in their hats to compete in the handheld scene among many other brands (Nintendo too of course). We're going to be eating really good in the coming years.
@12:25
Do you always play raw Russ?
It's great that we have another truly affordable handheld PC, but I wish these bigger companies would create a truly portable device. The best ones we have on the market are the Ayaneo Air 1S and the OneXFly but they're crazy expensive.
I love these mainstream 7inch+ screen devices but they kind of defeat the point of being "portable" devices. I can't carry them easily anywhere.
to be honest, accidentally touching the touchpad is a problem on the OG legion go too. that's why i always just disabled it in legion space.
Damn russ chill on the partying lol
Sucks they didn't say the release date for the llg2. I agree with the color, they should have made both white. Too bad steam os version isnt white.
"I'm going to be playing it raw and I think it felt really good." -Russ
I've watched three Legion Go S videos already, but none of them were Russ's! *Grabs his snack and drinks* let's talk about some Happy gaming!
Totally agree I wanted a white steam deck I also like the lesion go look versus the steam deck
Hope your enjoying ces russ. Is there any way you could adjust the audio in future videos of ces? Well for me at least the voice is a little to hard to hear.
Voice sounds like he ate the white ayaneo Pocket DMG 😊
Great overview. Sadly the Go S looks great, but no OLED = no buy.
With this coming out I'll finally be able to get the first Legion Go
Worth it Im loving mine and updating the driver's configuring your settings right and it is a beast
Gonna be a good year then.
You can disable the touchpad from legion space
I left a similar comment on an older vid about the Legion Go, but I am considering picking up a handheld PC and am tempted towards the SD Oled or a Legion Go. Should I wait for these refreshes? I already have an LCD SD but I would give/lend it to my Mom for Stardew and Warframe as she likes those games.
Ooo I love my steam deck, but i may need one of these
My guess is that, people will bought top of the line handheld in this year and just try to install the SteamOS beta on it.
it's sounds more fun to me.
17:55 Welp there you go. xd
I wonder how much if anything SteamOS will cost....
Sooooo anyone going to mention Spiderman 2 on the device. When he was talking about the track pad hitting his palm while playing
I am excited because of the new asus flow z13 and the chip that is in it. Imagine if it can be put inside handhelds!
Everyone hated Asus for making that Z1 model ally but I'm glad they did because there is a market outside of the $800 handheld and someone needs to fill it. I'll Probably end up going the Lenovo route for my z1 upgrade or at the very least for my wifes LCD steam deck upgrade. The price point and the specs on that lower end Z2 doesn't seem bad.
It’d be amazing if the Xbox/Windows OS merger would allow me play my digital Xbox 360 library, that would be a dream come true.
Thx for your review.
Just a little precision, I have an Ayaneo Kun, and I can easily disable each touch pad on Ayaspace 2.😅😅
I really was hoping for a steam os laptop this year at CES...
Since I didnt get a Lenovo Legion Go Ill be getting this for my Second Handheld along with my Steam Deck that I have 32GB should of been the Ram the SteamDeck had