Re: Even Lenovo's Getting Into The Act, Pt 2

Just an update:

The Legion Go S -the version with Steam OS- is now being made
available and reviews are generally quite favorable.*

It is, in the end, still a handheld gaming PC, so it is by nature a
lesser experience than you'd get on a desktop or even most laptops.
I'll be the first to admit it's not something I'm interested in using,
regardless of whether the manufacturer is Lenovo, Acer, or Valve. But
that's fine; I get that I'm not the market for these devices, and that
there are many for whom the portability and handheld nature of the
machines is important enough to overcome its disadvantages. So I'll
try to restrain my usual negative attitude towards these devices.

What I found most interesting, actually, is that the Legion GO S -and
indeed, most of the SteamDeck clones- are actually superior devices to
Valve's own machine. It shouldn't really be so surprising; Valve's
handheld hasn't seen a hardware refresh since 2023, and that was
mostly an upgrade to OLED display; its underlying architecture dates
back to early 2022. Of course a machine released in 2025 has better
performance! Still, I fully expected the clones to go cheap on the
hardware, barely matching the original specs. But while these new
machines aren't blowing the original Steam Deck out of the water, they
/are/ noticeably faster.

Whether they are BETTER than Valve's Steam Deck in any other regards
is an entirely different issue; there's questions of fit-n-finish, and
as far as I can tell Valve's OLED screen is superior to anything the
rest are offering. But I think it's safe to say the clones are
_competitive_ with Valve's own device.

Which isn't, I think, anything that will upset Valve too much. Valve
isn't really in it to become a hardware OEM; they created the
SteamDeck as an example to prove the form-factor would work -both
technically and in terms of popularity- as a gaming machine. Having
proved the point, I'm sure they're quite happy to let other OEMs take
the lead. SteamDeck mostly exists to push SteamOS, and remind
Microsoft that it shouldn't assume its monopoly is foolproof. The more
OEMs take up the gauntlet in Valve's name, the better for its cause.

Anyway, if you were considering getting one of these machines but were
debating whether it was worth risking a third-party OEM over Valve's
own standard, well, it looks like it is. You might even save a few
bucks.







* one such review
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/lenovo-legion-go-s-steamos-review