We are in the era of handhelds, and there’s no denying that the Steam Deck led the way for handheld gaming PCs to prosper. But are modern iterations finally dethroning the first monarch? Lenovo most certainly threw down the gauntlet.
The Lenovo Legion Go S is now our favorite handheld gaming PC, and one huge feature it has in common with the Steam Deck is that it runs SteamOS. If you don’t know, the Legion Go S is currently the only third-party handheld gaming PC that officially supports SteamOS.
SteamOS is one of the major reasons why the Steam Deck is beloved, and why we loved the Legion Go S so much. But if you’re hunting for a handheld gaming PC with this way-better-than-windows OS, which do you get?
Legion Go S vs. Steam Deck: Specs
We’ve established that the Legion Go S and Steam Deck both share SteamOS, but which can run it better?
As much as the Steam Deck is a fan favorite, it’s getting a bit old — it launched in 2022. That’s not too long ago, but it’s packing an AMD 4-core, 8-thread Zen 2 CPU and 8-core RDNA 2 GPU. Those launched in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The Lenovo Legion Go S sports the AMD Z1 Extreme chipset (launched in 2023), which includes a Zen 4 CPU and RDNA 3 GPU.
But does a few years really make that much of a difference? Well, yes. Matching the Steam Deck’s resolution at 1280 x 800, the Legion Go S managed to run one of the most terribly optimized games at 30 frames per second (aka Monster Hunter Wilds). Capcom’s latest entry in the Monster Hunter franchise is straight up unplayable on the Steam Deck, at an average of 19 fps. I’m actually surprised it ran at all – I’ve seen the game crash on a friend’s Steam Deck.
That’s not to say that you’re getting stuck with a terrible chipset if you decide to go with the Steam Deck. It can run plenty of AAA games on lower settings, even Cyberpunk 2077. It won’t be as good as the Legion Go S, but if you want the bare minimum, it works.
Outside of their chipsets, the Steam Deck is outfitted with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD for the LCD model and a 512GB or 1TB SSD for the OLED variation. Meanwhile, the Legion Go S features 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. 16GB of RAM is solid, but 32GB definitely helps if you’re trying to run more taxing games.
The Steam Deck is still a solid piece of gaming tech, but if you put it in a room with the Legion Go S, you won’t find any Steam Decks in Ba Sing Se.
Winner: Lenovo Legion Go S
Legion Go S vs. Steam Deck: Battery Life
Battery life is a weird one to test and talk about with handheld gaming PCs because it so heavily varies depending on what you play. But when pitting the Legion Go S and Steam Deck against each other, there is a “simple” answer.
On the PCMark 10 Battery Test, the Legion Go S lasted 6 hours and 25 minutes while the Steam Deck survived 8 hours and 8 minutes. Now, I put “simple” in quotation marks because very few people, if anyone, is using handheld gaming PCs the way that PCMark 10 is testing them.
You might get a few hours out of each of them at a time, and what you play will impact how long it lasts. I got a solid couple hours out of the Legion Go S while playing The Messenger before I had to charge it.
But in theory, the Steam Deck should last a little longer. I doubt it’ll be 1 hour and 43 minutes longer, but longer nonetheless. Just don’t let this be what heavily impacts your buying decision.
Winner: Steam Deck
Legion Go S vs. Steam Deck: Design and Comfort
There are significant design differences between the Legion Go S and the Steam Deck. Some may come down to preference, but I legitimately believe the Legion Go S is superior in this regard.
The Legion Go S isn’t perfect, but the overall button layout on its face resembles a traditional Xbox controller, which is relatively comfortable. Meanwhile, the Steam Deck buttons are all in… unique (wrong) places. All of the traditional buttons are squeezed together in the top corners of the device, and that’s to make room for the dual trackpads at the center. This may just be me, but you could not pay me to play games with those things.
Despite my gripes with the Steam Deck’s button layout, the Legion Go S is a chunky boy. So much so that I need to put more pressure into holding it up, and occasionally my hands will get tingly from the lack of blood flow. I’m not saying that’ll happen to you, but keep in mind that this thing weighs a solid 1.6 pounds. That may not seem like much, but when you’re holding it up for a few hours, you’ll notice it. The Steam Deck is a little lighter, at 1.4 pounds. Again, those numbers are deceiving — it will make a difference.
Unless you’re dying to use a trackpad, or you want the lightest SteamOS handheld gaming PC, then the Legion Go S offers the superior gaming experience.
Winner: Lenovo Legion Go S
Legion Go S vs. Steam Deck: Display
This is where things get a little tricky. The Legion Go S was set up to win this round instantly. It sports an 8-inch, 1920 x 1200, 120Hz display. Those are some solid specs for a handheld gaming PC, but there’s arguably one flaw: it’s an IPS panel.
There’s nothing necessarily wrong with an IPS panel, but I was there when the Nintendo Switch OLED launched, and let me tell you, it completely changed how handheld gaming felt. I wasn’t carrying around a screen anymore, I was holding a window, a tear in time and space into my favorite worlds… that’s hyperbole, but it was really freakin’ pretty, okay?
Where Steam Deck shines is its OLED display. Obviously, I love OLED displays, so much so that I could forgive its lower specs, like its 7.4-inch display size, 1280 x 800 resolution, and 90Hz refresh rate.
But I got to say, I snuggled in bed with the Legion Go S one night, and I couldn’t help but be awestruck by the gorgeous background art of The Messenger as I suffered a series of terrible deaths at the hands of some OSHA-violating Wile E. Coyote traps.
So yes, technically OLED will look more bold due to its infinite contrast and self-emitting diodes, but the Legion Go S has so much going for it that I might give up the OLED, but I’ll weep for it.
Winner: Lenovo Legion Go S
Legion Go S vs. Steam Deck: Price
As you can see, the Lenovo Legion Go S is killing the Steam Deck, but if you haven’t already guessed, it’s going to kill your wallet, too.
The Lenovo Legion Go S with SteamOS and the Z1 Extreme chipset costs costs $829 at Best Buy. Meanwhile, the most expensive model of the Steam Deck (OLED, 1TB SSD) costs $649 on Steam. That’s nearly a $200 difference.
You can technically get the worse Legion Go S with Ryzen Z2 Go and 16GB of RAM for . If you go with the Steam Deck’s LCD model, you can save the most money, as it runs for $399, which is technically cheaper than a $599 at Best Buy ($450).
You can literally see which has the better price, but which offers the better value? It depends on what you want. Do you just want a handheld gaming PC with no frills? Then the LCD Steam Deck is the way to go. But if you have the disposable income, the Legion Go S is worth the extra $200. You can’t deny the performance gain or even the boost to display specs. Yeah, it’s not OLED, but 1080p/1200p is the standard for handheld gaming PCs in 2025.
Winner: Steam Deck for cheapest / Lenovo Legion Go S for value
The Winner: Lenovo Legion Go S
Handheld gaming PCs are improving every year, and the Lenovo Legion Go S seems like a natural evolution of the handhelds that came before, and a massive leap for the second handheld to use SteamOS.
From performance to design, the Legion Go S is the better handheld gaming PC. For its price and battery life, the Steam Deck still has a lot going for it, and especially so if you’re attached to OLED displays like I am. Unfortunately, I can’t get over the wonky button layout. If you’re a console gamer, the Legion Go S will feel like the smoothest transition.
Lenovo Legion Go S with SteamOS (AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme)
3
120Hz gaming handheld with AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme, 32GB RAM, and a 1TB SSD.
Valve Steam Deck OLED
2
Thanks to its sweet, sweet OLED screen, this is the Steam Deck to buy.
However, with the Xbox Ally X launching at the end of the year, I am excited to see how Microsoft plans to outmatch SteamOS in design and performance. Windows is a significantly heavier operating system, so unless Microsoft strips it down to its barebones, it’ll lose out the performance gains from the Z2 Extreme.
But if you’re dead set on a SteamOS handheld gaming PC, then the Lenovo Legion Go S should be at the top of your letter to Santa.
Rami Tabari is a contributing writer at IGN with over 9 years of experience in the tech and gaming industry. You can find his bylines at Laptop Mag and Tom’s Guide (and on a random Predator review at Space.com). When Rami isn’t wading through a sea of the latest gaming tech, he’s agonizing over the worldbuilding in his upcoming novella.