Ah, the original Lenovo Legion Go. This handheld, in my humble opinion, has received less attention and praise than it deserves, over the almost two years since it was released. And with it currently being on sale for $600 at Best Buy or the same at Amazon, I think it's certainly worth your consideration.
I have both the original Legion Go and the newer Legion Go S sitting in my living room right now, so I'm well aware that Lenovo has taken a step in a more decidedly mainstream direction since the launch of the original. But despite how much I love the new one, there's still certainly something special about the first.
And I'm not just talking about its better performance. Yes, the original rocks a better chip than the new one, this chip being the Ryzen Z1 Extreme that you'll also find in both the original Asus ROG Ally and the newer ROG Ally X. It does certainly perform admirably, even if not quite up to the same snuff as the likes of the MSI Claw 8 AI+ and other more expensive handhelds.
But performance aside, what the Legion Go offers is a kind of versatility that other handhelds just can't match. That's primarily because of (a) the screen size and (b) the detachable controllers. Oh, and the kickstand, but I'm classing that under (b) since it goes along with it, like May 2025 goes along with disappointing GPU launches.
The allure of the Legion Go S is the ability to detach from it: Put it on your coffee table, or even just your lap, sit back, and game in whatever strange and wonderful sitting position you choose.
Admittedly, you'll be wanting to do that quite often in part because this thing is big and heavy, but also because it's just comfortable in general. The big screen comes in clutch here, too, because it means you won't have to squint to see it if it's an extra foot or two away.
Plus—and prepare to have your mind blown, here, as mine was—thanks to its detachable controllers, it doubles as a makeshift tablet for browsing the web and reading articles. It's a little chunky and heavy compared to an actual reading tab, but as more of an unexpected additional use case, it's great.
I must, however, fess up to the fact that I do actually play more on the Legion Go S than the Legion Go, now, despite its worse performance. That's because it's just a more comfortable and satisfying handheld to use, thanks to some general design changes.
But if I had to pick one to keep, I'm not 100% sure what I'd go for. There are certainly games the Legion Go S would struggle to play that the Legion Go would have a better shot at. And I'd certainly miss the ability to use the Legion Go as a makeshift tablet and occasionally sit back on the sofa with the grips detached. And if those kinds of use cases sound like you, $100 off for the 512 GB version isn't a bad shout at all.
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