Lenovo Legion Go price in India (as reviewed): Rs 89,990
Finding a balance between a Switch and a Steam Deck
One look at the Legion Go, and it becomes clear what drove Lenovo to settle on this form factor. The handheld console resembles the Switch and Steam Deck, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Maybe, the idea was to create a cross between the two popular consoles, acknowledging their strengths (without overshadowing them) while still having a unique form that appeals to a wider base.
However, once you start using it, it becomes apparent that the Legion Go capitalises on being a portable PC gaming machine more than on what made the Switch successful. In fact, the Legion Go has more similarities to the Steam Deck.
Anyway, the Legion Go feels like a grown-up handheld console, and the reason for that is its size. Yes, this device is massive—dwarfing the Switch but coming close to the Steam Deck. It’s quite large for a handheld and weighs 854 grams, but it was never an issue for me to keep it in my backpack and travel with it.
The carrying case that Lenovo includes is a saviour. However, I must admit that I wouldn’t mind a much sleeker, more compact Legion Go with the same power as the existing model in a smaller form factor. But nothing beats the feeling of playing a AAA game from the comfort of your sofa or on a plane, as I did. The Legion Go becomes an exceptional gaming star. And I mean that.
Refreshed screen and terrific kickstand
The big change for the Legion Go is its large 8.8-inch QHD display with a resolution of 2560 x 1660p and up to a 144Hz refresh rate. It’s shiny, and everything comes across as extremely sharp and detailed, despite not being OLED. I played several games, including Hi-Fi Rush and Ori and the Will of the Wisps, to see how visually rich the screen was. The graphics were clear and detailed in each instance, with colours that really popped!
My other favourite feature on Legion Go is the kickstand. It takes up most of the device’s back and has a strong hinge that can prop up the screen at a variety of angles, making it extremely easy to adjust. Having a kickstand means I can put the console on a plane’s seat tray or on my desk and lean back to play a game from a distance.
Beefy hardware, but Windows isn’t designed for handhelds
Inside the Legion Go is an AMD Ryzen Z1 processor, specifically designed for PC handheld consoles, complemented by 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. There’s also microSD card expansion, which is super important for a device like this as you will be storing many large game files and sizable updates on the card.
If I may say so, the Legion Go is basically a gaming PC in a portable shell. After all, the AMD Z1 Extreme is a shrunken-down laptop chip supporting anywhere between 9 and 30 watts.
To make myself clear, you can play proper PC games on this device just as you would on a gaming PC. It would be foolish to compare the Legion Go with a smartphone, so this device has a leg up over any mobile device designed to play games.
What’s up, with the battery?
The Legion Go packs a 49.2-watt-hour battery, which is roughly 25 per cent larger than the battery in the Steam Deck. A fully charged gaming session could last roughly 2 to 2.5 hours before needing to be plugged in. I think the battery life meets my expectations, especially when playing a heavy-duty AAA game. But who doesn’t want a longer battery life? I don’t think anyone, even Lenovo, has been able to solve how to squeeze more battery life out of a handheld console.
Final thoughts
I think the Legion Go is a step up in the realm of portable PC gaming handhelds that have come out earlier. But I also believe cracking this space is not easy. Not because the Nintendo Switch is a formidable force (with the new one coming in 2025), but because the challenge is always to shrink down a gaming PC into something as small as a Legion Go. I can see Lenovo has tried very hard to make a compelling handheld PC gaming device, but there are factors that hold it back. That being said, the Legion Go is the finest Windows-based portable game console, despite some trade-offs. Personally, though, I feel Lenovo has a lot of good ideas for a future version of the Go, and one can already see that in the form of FPS mode, trackpad, and detachable controllers.
Pros:
- Beautiful high-resolution screen
- Detachable controllers
- FPS mode
- Terrific built-in kickstand
- Top and bottom USB-C charging ports
Cons:
- Battery life
- Disjointed user interface
