Lenovo’s fast, comfy SteamOS handheld is hundreds off

is an editor covering deals and gaming hardware. He joined in 2018, and after a two-year stint at Polygon, he rejoined The Verge in May 2025.

The Legion Go S with SteamOS is a pretty solid alternative to the $789 Steam Deck OLED. It runs identical software, but ships in a design with two-stage triggers, a bigger eight-inch IPS screen (1080p and up to 120Hz versus 800p and 90Hz in the Deck OLED), and it’s got double the RAM and storage (32GB and 1TB, respectively), not to mention a slightly faster processor in the Ryzen Z1 Extreme.

At $999.99, its current discounted price at Best Buy, it’s worth considering if you’re deciding on a handheld. The Legion Go S is not as powerful as the $1,299.99 Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 that just launched, which has the Z2 Extreme and a OLED screen, but it’s no slouch, either.

$1000

This model launched with Windows 11 and the Ryzen Z2 Go. Despite being a newer chip, it’s less powerful than the Z1 Extreme in the discounted model. SteamOS and the faster internals within this configuration will provide a better experience. Check out my colleague Sean Hollister’s review of multiple configs of the Go S, and see how it stacks up in his benchmarks.

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