It’s finally out of the bag: after several leaks, Lenovo has officially unveiled the Legion Go as its first gaming handheld. While it’s a Windows 11-powered handheld like the ROG Ally, the Legion Go takes some inspiration from the Nintendo Switch with its detachable controllers.
Like the ROG Ally, the Legion Go is powered by a Ryzen Z1 series processor that can be availed in standard or Extreme versions. It can be configured with up to 16GB LPDDR5X 7500Mhz RAM and up to 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD–with the latter being expandable via MicroSD at up to 2TB. You also get two USB-C ports as well so that you can connect accessories and charge the Legion Go at the same time.
Compared to the competition, however, the Legion Go is bigger with its 8.8-inch display that has a 1600p resolution and a 144hz refresh rate–though there’s an option to scale it down to 800p and 60hz if you want to prioritize battery life. Keeping the lights on is a 49.2wHr battery that’s slightly larger than the one on the ROG Ally. Lenovo did not disclose the battery life of the Legion Go, but claims that you can charge it from 0 to 70% in 30 minutes with the included 65w charger. There’s also a bypass mode that lets you run the Legion Go with AC power to preserve the battery.
To keep things cool, the Legion Go utilizes the brand’s Coldfront thermal tech that consists of a 79-blade liquid crystal polymer fan that produces less than 25db noice in Quiet mode. Lenovo claims that the thermal management of the Legion Go can run a full 25w TGP in custom mode without worrying about thermal throttling.
Because it is bigger, the Legion Go has a kickstand that makes it more comfortable to game on the table with the controllers detached or attached depending on your gaming needs. Speaking of the controllers, they use hall effect joysticks that should not be prone to drifting after extended use–something that’s a concern for Nintendo Switch owners in the long run. The controllers have a plethora of additional buttons like customizable macro buttons, a thumb trackpad, and even a mouse scroll wheel.
The Lenovo Legion Go starts at $699(~Php 40k) for the base model with 256GB SSD storage and a Ryzen Z1 processor.