Lenovo Legion Go S: Great Feel, Poor Performance.
genji 
Lenovo Legion Go S: Great Feel, Poor Performance.
“`html
Lenovo Legion Go S: Comfort Meets Compromise
The Lenovo Legion Go S was envisioned as a serious contender in the handheld gaming PC market, potentially even a rival to Valve’s Steam Deck. The promise was an affordable, portable, and powerful device, fueled by an exclusive AMD chip and the possibility of running SteamOS. However, early testing paints a different picture.
Promising Design, Disappointing Performance
The reviewer, Sean Hollister, spent weeks with a Legion Go S powered by AMD’s Z2 Go chip. He tested it with both Windows and Bazzite (a SteamOS-like Linux distro) and compared it directly to the Steam Deck OLED and the original Legion Go. The results were underwhelming.
The Z2 Go chip, unfortunately, doesn’t live up to expectations. It lags behind the Steam Deck’s performance and is considerably weaker than the Z1 Extreme found in last year’s handhelds. This raises concerns about the device’s value, especially considering its Windows version and 55 watt-hour battery.
The Good and the Bad
It’s not all bad news. The Legion Go S boasts several improvements over its predecessor:
The Good
- Good ergonomics: The redesigned grips are comfortable, offering a more secure hold.
- Great variable refresh rate screen.
- Powerful cooling: A larger, quieter fan keeps the system cool even under load.
- Fast 100W charging: supporting 100W of USB-C PD power.
The Bad
- Performance is too low.
- Windows is bloated and can’t be trusted to sleep: The Windows 11 experience is described as cumbersome.
- Somewhat slippery texture:.
- Nearly useless touchpad: The small touchpad is cited as a weak point.
While the buttons are precise, and the Hall effect joysticks are smooth, and audio is improved from front-facing speakers.
Final Thoughts
The Lenovo
