At the CES 2025 in January, Lenovo has announced the upcoming release of a SteamOS based device under its Legion Go branding, following the first device they released a couple of years back that had a huge screen and Switch-like design with removable controllers.

Lenovo Legion Go S - A New Model

The new device is called the Legion Go S, and is a black model for an equivalent device to be released with Windows (which is white). It will launch sometimes in May 2025 and it will be priced at 499 USD, apparently, for the Z2 Go version with 512 GB. There should be a Z1 Extreme version as well, which should be somewhat more expensive.

As you can see it’s going for an asymetric design, unlike the Steam Deck, with controllers positionned in a similar way as what you find on a Xbox controller. The side of the device offers an uneven surface to ensure a good grip in your hands, and the right side has a very small trackpad to emulate the mouse when needed - but nothing like the huge haptic trackpads found in the Steam Deck. Since this is a pro gamer brand, you get the obligatory LED lights under the sticks (that can probably be customized) while they offer very little utility.

Based on the different announcements, the specs should be the following, with the original Steam Deck as a reference:

I really like the fact that they added one more USB port compared to the Steam Deck. This means that you don’t need a dock to charge the device at the same time as you plug in another controller, for example, or an HDMI adapter. That’s one less thing to carry around.

This device is nowhere as huge as the previous Lenovo Legion Go model - this new version is now much closer to the Steam Deck format, as you can see from the below picture.

The SteamOS version of the device will be marketed somewhat cheaper than the Windows version of the Go S, apparently 100 USD difference. The Windows version will launch much earlier, though, and should be available at the time of writing, while the SteamOS version will only be released in May 2025.

Here is what the (white) Windows version look like.

The Z2 Go APU

The Z2 Go chip is a budget version made for mobile devices - aiming at providing a decent performance with lower specs.

It features a 4-core/8-thread CPU design paired with a 12 CU RDNA 2 GPU. You can see in the table below that it’s definitely weaker than the Z1 Extreme based on pure specs.

According to benchmarks done by Fps Vn on the Z2 Go vs the Z1 Extreme, it performs slightly worse in most games at the same TDP settings. So this is not going to be a high performing device if you go for the Z2 Go configuration, but it should at least fare better than the Steam Deck in most games - while it’s not obvious there is going to be a huge difference if you run games at the native display resolution. Driving 1080p means pushing much more pixels than on 800p, so the extra power will be wasted there.

Lenovo Legion Go S with SteamOS at the CES

There were reports on youtube at the CES for those who could test the units hands-on:

What is confusing in the above video is that they claim that the SteamOS version of the device will only ship with the Z1 version of the chipsets and not the Z2 at the moment. So which is it? We are honestly confused, and Lenovo’s own announcement is far from clear as they mix the announcement of the Windows and SteamOS devices. In any case, it looks like the Z1 Extreme option will be available no matter what with the SteamOS version, while it will be priced higher.

The small trackpad seems to perform well according to the video, to emulate a mouse.

Is this a Steam Machines 2.0 Moment?

Since I remember well the launch of the Steam Machines back in 2014, let me shed some light on what’s different this time around. When the Steam Machines launched before, there were way more manufacturers signing up, and announcing their support for the new platform (ZOTAC, Alienware, and a lot of smaller ones as well). Valve was also more forthcoming about the initiative and their ambitions. This time, it’s a much more quiet rollout, if anything.

To be honest, this feels like a pilot, as in, a small-scale test on the market, without taking much risks. You can see that because:

• the SteamOS support comes only for one new device, and not several at the same time. They are playing it very safe.
• Lenovo does not bet everything on it, launching instead the Windows version of the device ahead of the SteamOS one.
• They took the strategy to price down the device to attract potential customers to the platform.

Valve has however hinted in a blog post at the same time as the CES 2025, that they plan to provide a SteamOS beta image for other handhelds as well in the coming months:

In addition, the same work that we are doing to support the Lenovo Legion Go S will improve compatibility with other handhelds. Ahead of Legion Go S shipping, we will be shipping a beta of SteamOS which should improve the experience on other handhelds, and users can download and test this themselves. And of course we’ll continue adding support and improving the experience with future releases.

It looks like the software support is coming mostly from Valve:

the team is making updates to ensure it fully supports the Lenovo Legion Go S and provides the same seamless experience customers expect.

Valve mentioned before that their resources are already stretched when it comes to supporting the Steam Deck, so how it remains to be seen how many devices they can support out there at the same time, on the market, and for how long.

Lenovo, on their end, is in a position where they have nothing to lose. They are relaunching their Go series to be more competitive on the market. I know for a fact that the original Legion Go did not sell very well (certainly below their expectations), and now their strategy seems to be:

• to go for a smaller, better priced device that follows the cues from the ROG Ally
• to use SteamOS as a potential wildcard to attract more gamers with a OS dedicated to gaming

Whether that will be enough to gain market share, is difficult to say, but this seems to be a good approach to fight back on a now very crowded market. 2025 will be an interesting year to see they gain ground, and if other manufacturers follow suit with SteamOS versions of their existing devices.