It's already been two years since we had the Steam deck in my hands, a machine that shook the market, halfway between a laptop and a Nintendo Switch, with high-level performance for a machine of this size.
Valve has managed to establish itself on a rather innovative concept, which relies on the strength of its environment, Steam, and especially an OS, the Steam OS based on Linux and which powers the Deck and the games, on a rather modest hardware.
We are not going to talk about the Steam deck here, since we had already carried out an in-depth test which has not really evolved since. All we can say is that after two years of use, the machine remains truly formidable and up to date. It has also had a minor facelift from Valve, notably with the addition of an OLED screen, which does not disrupt performance.
In the meantime, the market was shaken a little and saw the arrival of competitors, among AYA Neo for example, but also at ASUS with the now known ROGALLY. All of these machines are based on the same concept of pocket gaming PC. Newer components require, the ASUS platform has state-of-the-art performance, and it is Windows 11 which powers the beast.
So, performance, yes, it's good, but ultimately, we realize that the strength of the Steam Deck is precisely its OS, carefully optimized for the machine, and capable of running the latest games, but also to work in a desktop environment, just like with the Microsoft OS.
In short, Steam Deck owners have little interest in migrating to a competing machine. If you're a little curious, it's entirely possible to find Windows-specific features on Steam OS. I am thinking in particular of the installation of the Ubiconnect, Epic Games, GOG clients, which still do not have official support from Valve.
Paris Games Week 2023, a place of discovery
Here the stage is set. Personally, I had lost a little interest in the market around these portable machines, because there was a severe lack of innovation and we were content to follow in the footsteps of the Steam Deck without really dethroning it... until this discovery , to the Paris Games Week 2023, where I was able to take charge of a new concept of mobile device on the Lénovo stand: The LEGION GO.
To my great surprise, there weren't many people watching it, coming to test it, and yet there was a flashy demo, that of Forza Horizon 5 which was running on it with a number of FPS ++, and quality graphics. And then the size of this screen at first glance! It was not possible to look away. Moreover, speaking of the screen, we will talk about it further down in the article, but it is ultimately barely larger than that of the competitors.
In short, I looked at the machine, and I was able to talk with a technical manager on the Lénovo stand. He then gave me a demonstration of the machine's capabilities, showing me these characteristics, and the operation of the pads which have the particularity of detaching like those of a Switch. Better, these “TrueStrike” (the name of the controllers) can act as a vertical mouse and switch to a so-called “FPS” mode, the usefulness of which we will see below.
A PC Gaming technical sheet
Let's quickly talk about the technical sheet, the Legion Go has a beautiful bright and contrasting 8,8 inch screen with a resolution (as large as it is useless) in QHD 2560×1600 at 144Hz, an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme 8 cores , 16 GB of RAM and a somewhat meager 512 GB of storage, expandable via a Micro-SD port.
On the hull, we find 2 pUSB ports for charging and docking, volume +/- and Power buttons but also a jack for audio. On the rear, a foldable and robust kickstand support allows for convenient use.on a table to watch a movie, to play, or to work. The machine is powered by Windows 11. We are clearly at the top of the basket!
In terms of size/size, it's ultimately barely larger than a Steam Deck, and, worse, when it's stored in the box provided, it takes up a lot of space anyway and quickly fills a backpack. I'll let you judge the difference between Steam Deck and Lenovo Legion Go.
Unsurprisingly very high performance
Without beating around the bush, let's talk about performance. After 2 weeks of intensive testing, the Lenovo console/PC did not once kneel down, even on big titles like Flight Simulator or Cyberpunk 2077, on the sole condition of focusing on a resolution of 1280 ×800, identical to the definition of a Steam Deck, and very sufficient on this screen size to fully enjoy the titles.
Beyond that, it's luxury, and if you really want to play beyond Full HD, you risk quickly taking out the magnifying glass to read the texts of your game. For performance in Full HD and above, you should ideally that the launched game supports FSR. I was able to play Cyberpunk in Full HD on a TV screen using a Dock thanks to AMD's Super-resolution.
Here is a table of in-game FPS readings to support these claims and show the drop in performance when going from HD to Full HD resolution. You will also see that the FSR is a real game changer when it is activated.
Performance on Flight Simulator (flight over New York)
1280×800 High quality | 30 fps |
1920×1080 High quality | 18 fps |
1280×800 (average over 1 hour flight) | 37 fps |
Performance on Assassin's Creed Valhala (Very High preset)
1280×800 Adaptive FSR | 45 fps |
1920×1080 Adaptive FSR | 27 fps |
1920×1080 FSR performance | 49 fps |
Performance on Cyberpunk 2077 (high preset)
1280×800 FSR quality | 42 fps |
1920×1080 FSR performance | 36 fps |
1920×1080 FSR performance + Average Raytracing | 35 fps |
Performance on Farming Simulator 22 (Very High preset)
1920×1080 balanced FSR + Frame Generation | 77 fps |
1920×1080 without FSR | 48 fps |
Performance on Elden Ring (high preset)
1280 × 800 | 58 fps |
1920 × 1080 | 43 fps |
Silence and consumption
Let’s talk about noise and consumption. Compared to the Steam Deck, the Legion Go releases little heat, whether through ventilation, very discreet, or by its hull. Consumption is under control. At the Wattmeter socket, we measure 55W in performance mode on Cyberpunk (vs. 37W for the Steam Deck) and 30W in Balanced mode (vs. 22W on Steam Deck in an equivalent mode). Autonomy, hope to play 1h38 in performance mode to the maximum, and 2h30 in Economy mode energy on average. Be careful, this mode is rather reserved for small, less demanding games (you can even aim for 3 hours and more).
Compatibility
In terms of game compatibility, we are on a Windows 11 that could not be more standard, with a slight overlay made in Lenovo that can be activated via 2 buttons. In use, I must admit that I did not use it during tests. We all know how Windows works, and it is possible to install the launcher of your choice, whether Steam, Epic, Ubiconnect, Gog, etc., without ANY constraints or difficulties, it's a real treat.
The overlay doesn't bring anything special, other than centralizing game shortcuts and managing power modes for example, like the Steam Deck.
Windows 11 is clearly not the best operating system for mobile use, and I admit to having connected a keyboard/mouse set during the tests to go (much) faster than with the Windows virtual touch keyboard. Os Microsoft obliges, the Lenovo overlay offers an “ALT F4” shortcut (but no CTRL ALT DELETE).
The main advantage of the Legion Go: TrueStrike controllers and FPS mode
If you're not yet convinced by the Legion Go, it's probably because we haven't yet looked at the controllers. There was real research work compared to the other competitors of the Steam Deck. Detachable, like on a Nintendo Switch, the 2 pads, which are only one pad and not 2 pads for 2 players, have their own battery and communicate wirelessly with the machine. They are recognized by all games as Xbox controllers and there are no compatibility issues.
The right part can use a judicious support to transform into a vertical mouse, usable on the Windows interface. Formidable precision and ergonomics. Getting started and understanding its use is immediate. This mouse concept is part of the “FPS” mode which can be activated via a switch located under the controller.
Once positioned ON, FPS mode emulates the ZQSD buttons on the left stick, and a mouse on the right controller. It may not be a revolution, but I very much appreciate this risk-taking on the part of Lénovo. In use, it's a little complicated for us little Frenchies, because our keyboard is configured in AZERTY and we can only advise installing a US virtual keyboard in QWERTY in the Windows regional settings, in order to avoid re-configuring all your games.
After a test on Cyberpunk, the FPS mode is validated! This is THE added value of this machine. Unfortunately, this good news hides other, darker news. A versatile controller is not necessarily the most ergonomic once in hand. The right angles could bother smaller hands over long gaming sessions. And it is true that after 3 hours of Elden Ring, my hands began to feel the need to rest a little, and almost came to the point of claim the smooth curves of the Steam Deck's hull.
Verdict? Steam Deck or Lenovo Legion Go?
Many of you are asking the question “Steam Deck or Legion Go?” ". My point of view: If I DID NOT own a Steam Deck, I would not hesitate for a second, I would go for the Legion Go, much more complete to use, in addition to top-notch performance. We see that Lenovo's machine has a few years left. We must not lose sight of the machines to come, from MSI in particular, with a Full Intel platform which should arrive this year.
For my part, I have a certain interest in this type of machine. In 2023, my Steam Deck saw more than 10% of my gaming sessions.
So… why not, but the problem is that the test is more oriented towards a Portable PC than a Portable Game Console, an unstoppable asset of the Steamdeck: resuming games after waking up, I had more problems under Windows that under Steam OS, the price too…
For me it is clear that it will remain Steamdeck (personally) because it is they who, in my opinion, understood the purpose of a portable console (even if there is still a lot of work to be done)