Lenovo's Legion Go S Gaming Handheld Breaks Cover With An AMD Ryzen Z2 Go Chip
by
Thiago Trevisan
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Friday, December 06, 2024, 09:39 AM EDT
The handheld arms race continues to heat up, this time with some tidbits of information for a potential Lenovo Legion Go S. The original Legion Go was released in November of 2023, featuring AMD's Ryzen Z1 chip. The refreshed Legion Go S supposedly will be packing the latest AMD Ryzen Z2 Go chip, which is a Rembrandt APU.
Inside would be an AMD Radeon 680M iGPU, together with an 8 core Zen3+ CPU running at 3GHz. Other leaked specifications pin it as having 16GB of LDDR5 RAM and a 512GB M.2 SSD, along with an 8-inch display featuring a 1920x1080 resolution and 120Hz refresh rate.
The Legion Go S pictured - Source: Windows Central
The current Legion Go has an 8.8 inch screen that runs at 144Hz, with a similar 16GB of RAM allotment coupled with a 512GB SSD. Pricing and battery life improvements would hopefully come with some of the downgraded specs on the Legion Go S, since the unit has less work to do with a lower refresh rate. The battery in the Legion Go S should be larger, together with a slightly lower resolution for the screen, too.
Current Legion Go Pictured, with its 8.8 inch screen
The market for handheld consoles has jumped in popularity during the last several years. Much of this newfound success is thanks to Valve's Steam Deck, which has a compelling package for PC gamers. For contrast, the Lenovo Legion Go is running on Microsoft Windows, compared to SteamOS, which is based on Linux. Even Sony is potentially jumping into the fray with its own full-fledged handheld after the success of its PlayStation Portal.
As someone who has used both Windows-based handhelds and SteamOS, I much prefer the latter. The integration seems superior, and the ease of use is appreciated. While Windows can also be powerful and flexible, the execution on some devices such as the ASUS ROG Ally feels clunky. Not everyone agrees with my assessment, though.
The reduction in some specifications for the Legion Go S is interesting, with the final price and performance yet to come into view. The AMD Ryzen Z2 Go should also pack a punch, as new chips are getting more efficient as they become more powerful.
