Lenovo Legion Go review: Impressive handheld PC, flawed UI

Price When Reviewed

$699

Best Prices Today: Lenovo Legion Go

$699.99

$699.99

$699.99

$699.99

After the Nintendo Switch proved that customers needed to have the ability to take their gaming with them on extra than simply their cellphones, handheld gaming gadgets bought a brand new lease of life. This was largely due to a deal with power-efficient however game-friendly x86-based cell processors from AMD.

The Steam Deck was first – it was well-built and optimised, however Linux-based and restricted to pick out video games in Steam’s personal retailer. But it didn’t take lengthy for different producers to catch hearth and begin handheld gaming PCs.

Asus launched its Windows system, the ROG Ally, and now the Lenovo Legion Go is one other competitor within the house. It is constructed on the identical processor, AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme, has the identical quantity of reminiscence and storage, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD, and roughly matches the ROG Ally in efficiency.

The AMD circuitry with Zen 4 structure and RDNA 3 technology supplies spectacular graphics efficiency on PC titles, and I get the identical satisfactory body charge and high quality as I did once I examined the ROG Ally. I can run video games like Starfield and Cyberpunk on medium graphics settings, between 30 and 60 FPS. These are low numbers for any performance-oriented gaming PC builder, however most of us could not wish to pay as a lot for simply the graphics card as we’re paying for a whole handheld PC right here.

Many video games require a lot much less efficiency and run even higher at 60 FPS or extra, some all the way in which as much as the display’s most frequency of 144Hz. One draw back is that the Legion Go doesn’t help Freesync. Lenovo claims that it shouldn’t be obligatory with a display as quick as this one, with a body charge of 144Hz, however I appear to see a touch of display tearing in some conditions anyway. When I run the display in 60Hz frequency mode and restrict it to 60Hz, it turns into extra noticeable. But is that this a giant downside? No, you shouldn’t count on perfection in such an inexpensive system.

Mattias Inghe

Large and daring show

You might be forgiven for considering that Lenovo had seen the ROG Ally after which crammed all of the upgrades and options they may consider to not solely construct on Asus’s pc, however resolve gaps the place it was missing. That’s not what occurred after all – they’ve been growing in parallel, however because the Legion Go was launched just a few months later, it appears like a direct response to it.

The display is bigger, 8.8 inches versus 7, has a better peak frequency, 144Hz versus 120, and better decision, 2,560 x 1,600 pixels the place the ROG Ally has 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. It’s additionally a colourful show with a gamut near the dci-p3 commonplace and a excessive brightness of as much as 500 cd/m2. Even although black surfaces leak some background gentle at full brightness, it supplies crisp distinction, particularly if I dim the brightness to half, which isn’t an issue indoors.

The show could be very sharp and exquisite to have a look at, and so long as AMD’s {hardware} retains up, you get an exceptionally good circulate. The show means its additionally nice for non-gaming duties, like watching movies. Plus, the bigger floor space additionally supplies higher immersion in video games. Should the complete decision be an excessive amount of for the {hardware} to deal with in heavy video games, it’s simple to decrease it to both 1,280 x 800 or 1,920 x 1200.

Mattias Inghe

Controls like a Switch

The Lenovo Legion Go settings menu slides in from the facet of the display with the press of a particular button. Here you may as well management body charge, and set different basic items for the system, equivalent to sound quantity, display brightness, RGB gentle results within the controls, and easy efficiency and fan management. You additionally get a fast examine on battery ranges to your pc and controls.

The controls are removable (like on a Nintendo Switch) and talk wirelessly with the centerpiece. This means you don’t have to carry up all the Legion Go, which weighs virtually 9Kg. Instead, you possibly can place it on a desk and sit with half a controller in every hand. Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be a central holder to connect them to, like there’s for the Switch. Lenovo should work on that.

The controls, whether or not in place or unfastened, are purposeful and really feel well-built. There’s the same old mixture of two d-pad management sticks, set off buttons on the highest, management crosses and motion buttons. They are all fairly simple to succeed in and have good mechanical suggestions. If I had one grievance, it’s that a few the buttons on the highest have a barely oversensitive set off, so I have to be taught to not relaxation my fingers on them.

In addition to those, there are additionally two extra buttons on every bottom that may be manually mapped to non-compulsory capabilities in your video games. Honestly, I keep away from them – they’re so simply accessible on the again that I’m continually urgent them by chance.

Mattias Inghe

…and two varieties of mouse!

One factor that the Legion Legion Go boasts over the ROG Ally is mouse management. This is effective for a lot of non-gaming duties, and for additional management and precision in sure video games. ROG Ally solved that with an alternate mouse pointer mode for one of many d-pad sticks, but it surely’s a poor substitute for a real conventional mouse.

That’s what you get within the Legion Go. Partly with a mouse pad on the entrance of one of many controls, and partly with what Lenovo calls FPS Mode. The proper management has an optical mouse sensor on the backside, and a change that prompts that mode. It then turns into an everyday wi-fi mouse, and might be positioned in a particular help and dragged throughout the desk. On the facet of the management are mouse buttons that work as regular proper and left clicks, and also you even have a scroll wheel with a middle button press.

It sounds good in principle, however in actuality it’s not simple to make use of. The mouse is uncomfortable to grip with angular shapes, unusual button placement and a joystick that uncomfortably pokes my palm.

Mattias Inghe

The usual gaming PC beast

With the fitting half as a mouse, I lose all different button controls on that facet, and video games suppose I’ve additionally linked a keyboard, so I’ve to painstakingly map the remaining buttons and controls to correspond to keyboard buttons, apart from just a few which might be pre-configured.

That’s assuming the sport you wish to run has good help for it, which not all do. And even those who do, it’s not all the time simple. For instance, I examined this in Starfield and found after half an hour of button reprogramming that I had run out of obtainable issues to press, and nonetheless forgot the bounce button.

In addition, on a few events I discovered that unfastened controls misplaced contact with the primary unit, so generally I needed to interrupt a recreation session, reconnect and even restart the entire Legion Go for all the things to begin working correctly once more. Another downside with FPS Mode is that the left d-pad begins feeding WASD instructions to the system. It works inside video games, besides that you simply don’t get the fitting analogue management there, however could be very impractical in all different modes.

Mouse management is a good suggestion, however Lenovo must superb tune the implementation earlier than it’s price utilizing. It will probably be a lot simpler to easily join a mouse and keyboard, and play that means as a substitute. It appears to work fairly steady.

Mattias Inghe

Almost full as a docked pc

The best strategy to join gadgets is by way of Bluetooth, however if you happen to’re like me, it’s your decision to have the ability to use Legion Go as your full PC. A very good pc is an efficient pc, and it could be a disgrace to not make full use of it. I like to recommend investing in a USB-C dock or a monitor with all that inbuilt.

You have two USB-Cs, one on the highest and one on the underside. Both with the identical USB 4 velocity, energy provide help and show port output. With a very good docking station, it’s simple to plug within the display, energy and wired equipment. Then you minimise or shut Lenovo’s Legion Space program to get a standard Windows desktop as a substitute.

The solely factor lacking for full PC performance is a webcam. I’m simply as dissatisfied on this as within the ROG Ally. Surely they may have provided a easy one? After all, the most affordable laptop computer or pill has it. But certain, even that may be docked and hung in your desktop display.

Mattias Inghe

All video games in a single place

Legion Space is an software that begins routinely while you launch the Legion Go, and supplies a console-like interface to maintain observe of and launch put in video games. They can come from most main PC recreation shops like Steam, Xbox, Epic Games, and GOG. Lenovo additionally has its personal recreation retailer constructed into the Legion Space, and you may freely add some other put in video games or applications to your library.

If you’ve Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, a menu for its streaming recreation library can also be built-in, and also you get a three-month trial subscription to it as properly. Finally, there’s a tab for Android video games too, but it surely’s at present inactive with a “Coming Soon” message, so what is going to seem there sooner or later stays to be seen.

It’s the identical complicated distress of leaping between completely different recreation shops and completely different interfaces to purchase, set up video games and get them neatly into the library menu in Legion Space to be able to then neatly and easily launch them. It may require separate launchers and add-ons to begin, requiring their very own login and popping up with messages and necessities for safety codes, account linking, cloud seeding of save information and way more.

This is nothing {that a} Windows gamer isn’t already frustratingly conscious of, but it surely provides an additional layer of muddle and annoyance to attempting to handle in handheld console format on a cramped little display. Then the mouse pad truly helps some, however removed from sufficient. That’s one more reason to dock the Legion Go – then you possibly can configure all the things the way in which you need it first, and even fine-tune particular person video games after which return to handheld console mode.

Mattias Inghe

Price and Verdict

The Lenovo Legion Go begins from £699/$699. It’s accessible from Lenovo, Amazon and Currys within the UK, and Lenovo, Walmart and Best Buy within the US.

Like the ROG Ally, the Legion Go has a formidable construct and it’s exceptional that it prices as little because it does. It’s a full-fledged mini PC with the capability for each productiveness and finances gaming you can additionally play on whereas mendacity on the sofa, or for gaming classes on the go. That mentioned, these are brief classes, because the battery gained’t final greater than a few hours.

Lenovo raises the bar a bit from what the ROG Ally delivers, with a greater display and really versatile controls, however that results in frustration and complications as a lot as alternatives. A number of consumer suggestions and interface updates are wanted earlier than it’s perfected, and I feel Lenovo might have accomplished extra of that internally first earlier than releasing this console. Not the entire {hardware} is high notch both – I’m not impressed with the comparatively weak sound, for instance.

Finally, I’m as soon as once more asking pc producers and AMD to go all-in on the Ryzen Z1 Extreme, and launch extra compact computer systems with this sensible processor. Not essentially handheld consoles, however small gaming laptops at a very good worth might actually stir the pot.

This evaluate has been translated and localized from M3.se – you possibly can read the original here.

Specs

Product Name: Lenovo Legion Go 83E1000KMX
Tested: November 2023
Manufacturer: Lenovo
Processor: AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme, 8 pcs Zen 4 cores as much as 5.1 GHz
Graphics: AMD Radeon Graphics 12CU, 2.7 GHz
Memory: 16GB lpddr5
Storage: 512GB ssd, micro sd slot
Display: 8.8 inch shiny ips, 2560 x 1600 pixels, 144 Hz, multitouch
Webcam: No
Connections: 2pcs usb-c 4 with displayport, 3.5 mm headset
Wireless: Wifi 6e, Bluetooth 5.2
Operating system: Windows 11 Home
Other: Removable gamepad controls, optical mouse, mouse pad, fold-out stand, carrying case
Noise stage: 0-37 dBa
Battery life: 40 Wh, approx. 1 hour 20 min recreation (full brightness), approx. 7 hours 30 min passive (low brightness)
Size: 29.9 x 13.1 x 2-4.1 cm
Weight: 865 grams