If you go back to the beginning of the year, you’ll remember that during our coverage of CES 2025 we told you about Lenovo and its two versions of its Legion Go S portable game console. A few weeks later, in February, the Windows model of this console was launched. The SteamOS version has just been launched (with almost identical hardware specifications)… And the comparison makes it easy to understand why Windows has been shaking things up for some time on this subject.
The comparison between the two Legion Go S twins is cruel for Windows
Initial tests suggest that the SteamOS-equipped Legion Go is clearly an indisputable choice if you’re looking to buy a portable console. Even compared to Valve’s latest Steam Deck. But it’s when you compare it to its Windows version that things become even more edifying. The latter, although virtually identical, is considerably faster and more autonomous than the Windows version.
Tests carried out by Dave2D show that Cyberpunk 2077, Doom Eternal and The Witcher 3 see their performance soar when running on Valve’s OS. Frame rates also improve in Helldivers 2, although the gains are less spectacular. Staying with Cyberpunk 2077, the Legion GO Windows only reached 46 fps with low-medium settings, while the SteamOS version ran at 59 fps. Witcher 3 showed similar results, going from 66 fps on Windows to 76 fps on SteamOS. Doom Eternal runs at 66 fps on Windows and 75 fps on SteamOS.
As we said above, it’s important to note that the SteamOS Legion Go delivers a higher level of performance than the Steamdeck. But the comparison doesn’t stop at performance alone. The overall experience of the console and its day-to-day handling remains undeniably smoother under SteamOS at this point in time. Finally, the Legion Go version is considerably cheaper than its Windows twin (-US$100).
In detail, the Legion Go S features an 8-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels at 120 Hz. It is equipped with either an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme (8 Zen4 cores at 5.1 GHz, 12 RDNA 3 cores) or a Ryzen Z2 Go (4 Zen3 cores at 4.3 GHz, 12 RDNA 2 cores) depending on the version.
