Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS) Review

The Legion Go S with SteamOS matters more for what runs on it than for what sits inside it. Released in May 2025 from 549.99, it was the first handheld from a company other than Valve to ship with SteamOS out of the box, bringing the Steam Deck's clean Gaming Mode, EmuDeck support and Proton compatibility to a larger 8 inch 120Hz screen. The baseline carries the modest AMD Ryzen Z2 Go with 16GB of memory and a 500GB drive, while a 749 dollar version steps up to a Z1 Extreme with 32GB and 1TB.

The SteamOS choice pays off. The same silicon runs roughly 30 to 45 percent faster than it does under the Windows build of the Go S, the display is large and smooth, and the software is far less fussy than Windows ever is on a handheld. Reviewers rated it one of the best small SteamOS machines yet, and for a Steam centric player it is a lovely thing to pick up.

The limits are the chip and the money. The Z2 Go is only mid tier, battery life is unremarkable, and at 549.99 it launched dearer than the hardware really warrants, with a 50 dollar rise arriving on the way to release. You also surrender a sliver of library reach compared with a full Windows device. It is clearly the version of the Go S to own, but the pricing and the modest processor keep it short of a confident recommendation.