Lenovo’s Legion Go S gaming handheld is exciting because it’s the first one to be offered straight from manufacturer with both official Windows and SteamOS support. Now that the latter is officially available to buy, it’s now possible to make direct comparisons to the disappointing Windows-powered version. One YouTuber did just that… and surprise, surprise, SteamOS indeed makes the handheld better.
Dave2D ran direct comparisons between the two versions of the Legion Go S, with the white model running Windows 11 (as it has since launch) and the black SteamOS Edition running, well, SteamOS. Otherwise, these two gadgets are identical with the same AMD Ryzen Z2 Go processor, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and 8-inch 1200p screen resolution, etc. Comparing the Windows and SteamOS versions of the device, Steam runs most games through the Proton compatibility layer 5-15 percent faster.
But the battery life is where SteamOS really shines, and on these compact, powerful gaming devices, that’s a big deal. Dave2D found that the Legion Go S running SteamOS was much closer to the Steam Deck OLED for battery life, beating out the Windows edition by more than double on low-power games like Hades and Dead Cells, and getting an extra 30 percent on intense 3D games like Cyberpunk 2077. It also handles sleep and suspend functions much better than Windows.
Unfortunately, that $500 base launch price for the SteamOS Edition has been sacrificed on the altar of the Trump administration’s import taxes. The device is now $600 base at Best Buy and the like, which puts it $50 above the Steam Deck OLED… a much more difficult choice, even with its better screen and more powerful chip options. But it’s still cheaper than the Windows version and its $730 retail price. (Though, as of this writing, Best Buy is selling the Windows version for $600, perhaps cognizant that it doesn’t look like a great deal at its retail price.)
More powerful versions with a Z1 Extreme chip, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD are available at $830 and $900 for the SteamOS and Windows versions, respectively, though the former is still “Coming Soon” according to Best Buy. Nothing’s stopping you from buying the Windows version and installing the official version of SteamOS… except for the fact you’d be throwing away $70 and a couple hours of your time.
