Handheld gaming PCs are gaining in recognition, and there are actually fairly a number of choices on the market, together with a number of variations of Valve’s Steam Deck, the Asus ROG Ally, MSI Claw A1M and Lenovo’s Legion Go. I’ve been testing out the Legion Go for a number of weeks now and have fairly a number of ideas about it and PC handhelds general.
The Legion Go’s specs (full spec sheet beneath and accessible right here) are arguably fairly customary fare for a PC handheld, however there are a number of notable options that assist it stand aside from the group. First, the Legion Go ships with Home windows 11 out of the field. This can be a blessing and a curse, however for anybody who desires to entry a number of sport shops and Xbox Recreation Go, having Home windows put in from the beginning makes getting up and working a lot simpler.
The opposite notable distinction is the Legion Go’s Change-like detachable controllers. Once more, there are upsides and disadvantages I’ll get into extra beneath, however the detachable controllers add a degree of versatility that different handhelds battle to match.
However are these sufficient to justify the Legion Go’s eye-watering $899.99 price ticket? Let’s discover out.
Specs
- Show: 8.8-inch 2560 x 1600 IPS, 16:10 facet ratio, 144Hz refresh price
- Processor: AMD Ryzen Z1 Excessive
- Reminiscence: 16GB
- Storage: 512GB SSD
- Dimensions: 40.7 x 298.83 x 131mm (with controllers)
- Weight: 854g/1.88lbs (with controllers)
- Working System: Home windows 11
- Battery: 49.2WHr
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.1
- Ports: 2x USB-C 4.0, 1x Headphone/mic combo, 1x microSD card as much as 2TB
- Graphics: RDNA Graphics
Change meets PC
Now that we’ve acquired the specs out of the best way, let’s speak about these Pleasure-Cons TrueStrike controllers. I’m usually a fan of them as a result of one in all my largest points with most PC handhelds is how heavy they’re. Longer play periods at all times find yourself making my wrists drained and sore, however the Go’s detachable controllers and built-in kickstand let me change how I maintain the hand held. It’s a minor profit however one which helps enhance the ergonomic number of utilizing the hand held.
Except for being detachable, the TrueStike controllers usually really feel fairly good. I discover them huge and chunky, however they’re fairly snug general, and I don’t have any points reaching all of the buttons. The joysticks use ‘Corridor Impact’ sensors, so they need to be immune to drift (I haven’t had any drift points throughout my testing) and final some time. There’s additionally RGB on the controllers – it seems cool however isn’t precisely sensible. You may flip off the RGB in the event you’re involved in regards to the affect on battery life (not that the Legion Go will final lengthy sufficient for it to actually matter). The larger flaw in my eyes is that the RGB lights up across the joysticks however doesn’t illuminate the buttons, which might make taking part in in the dead of night irritating till you’ve constructed up muscle reminiscence.
Sadly, that’s the place the positives finish. When the TrueStrike controllers are hooked up to the Legion Go, they really feel fairly stable. Nevertheless, eradicating them appears like they’re breaking off. They don’t slide in or out just like the Change Pleasure-Cons. As an alternative, it’s worthwhile to line up the TrueStrike’s connector with the hand held and push it in and as much as lock it in. Eradicating them requires pulling the controllers barely down and away from the hand held whereas holding a small button to open the locking mechanism. It’s awkward, and I’m by no means assured that I’m doing it accurately.
The TrueStrike’s haptics are finest described as aggressive, and it’s significantly disagreeable when you’ll be able to really feel the controller vibrating towards the hand held (fortunately, you’ll be able to flip down the vibration depth, however it doesn’t assist that a lot). And whereas some individuals would possibly recognize all the extra buttons and triggers on the TrueStrike controllers for remapping inputs, I discovered them annoying greater than something. I are inclined to grip my controller with a little bit of power, particularly when taking part in harder video games, and find yourself by chance clicking the additional buttons on a regular basis. One other annoyance is that you would be able to’t go away one of many TrueStrike controllers linked and use the opposite wirelessly. It’s important to join or disconnect each side, or the Legion Go stops receiving enter from them.
That half is particularly bizarre when you think about the TrueStrike’s unusual joystick mode. The hand held comes with a plastic base for the suitable controller, the underside of which sports activities a sensor such as you’d discover in a pc mouse. This allows you to flip the suitable controller right into a joystick/mouse hybrid, which Lenovo claims is nice for FPS video games in the event you want having mouse precision for aiming. I fall squarely into that camp, however discovered the controller’s mouse mode to be uncomfortable as finest. Lenovo will get some factors for the concept, however the implementation positively wants work.
However can it sport?
You may drop the suitable True Strike controller right into a magnetic base to create a bizarre joystick-like enter possibility.
The brief reply to this all-important query is: it relies upon. Usually, sure it may possibly, however as with every PC gaming handheld, there can be some hiccups alongside the best way. My recommendation is to set your expectations accordingly. For instance, if you wish to play the most recent and biggest video games with top-tier graphics settings and excessive body charges, you’ll be sorely upset. However in the event you don’t thoughts turning down the settings, decreasing the decision, and gaming at 30fps or 60fps, the Legion Go is definitely succesful. Relying on the title, you’ll be able to push the Transcend 60fps or maybe use increased graphics settings, however finally, you’ll must do a good quantity of testing to seek out what works properly with most video games. Lenovo additionally included some software program that may assist with this.
The Legion Go sports activities Lenovo’s ‘Legion House’ software program, which brings a number of features to the machine. Before everything is a gaming-focused, handheld-oriented launcher that overlays Home windows 11. The concept is to have a greater interface for the principle enter choices on the Legion Go — being the controllers and contact — than what Home windows 11 natively supplies. Given how poor of an expertise utilizing Home windows 11 on the Legion Go is, it’s unbelievable to me that the Legion House is one way or the other even worse. After attempting to acclimate to it, I made a decision it’d be higher to endure with Home windows 11’s shoddy contact enter than proceed to endure with Legion House, and I totally stopped utilizing the launcher.
Legion House works properly with controller enter however is usually annoying to make use of and doesn’t look good.
Nevertheless, the launcher isn’t the one a part of the software program – there’s additionally a useful fast settings menu with a devoted button on the controller that you would be able to name up nearly anyplace. The fast settings menu has numerous useful choices for managing efficiency on the Legion Go, together with establishing efficiency monitoring, adjusting thermal modes, fan speeds, and extra. It additionally allows you to shortly alter issues like decision and display refresh price on the fly, which is sort of useful. I want a better refresh price, so I saved my Legion Go on the 144Hz possibility, however the decision adjustment will help eke out a number of extra frames from a extra demanding title.
The Legion Go’s IPS show has a 2560 x 1600 pixel decision that, whereas good, might be overkill on the 8.8-inch measurement. Fast settings allow you to bump the output decision right down to 1920 x 1200 and even 1280 x 800 – I went with the previous more often than not as a result of it nonetheless appeared fairly sharp however gave most video games a noticeable efficiency enhance.
Finally, the Legion Go can sport pretty proficiently in the event you’re prepared to place within the effort to tweak and alter settings to get the kind of efficiency you need. It’s not precisely a pick-up-and-play expertise such as you’d get from the Change, which might deter some individuals. However in the event you’re conversant in PC gaming already and don’t thoughts spending the primary half-hour of your time with a sport tinkering with settings, the Legion Go can nonetheless be fairly good.
Mood your expectations
For me, the Legion Go stuffed a distinct segment of being an amazing choice to play video games I’ve picked up through the years that I don’t want to play on my desktop, or for attempting out indie titles I’d in any other case not decide to. For instance, one in all my favorite video games of all time, Darkest Dungeon, was nice on the Legion Go regardless of the sport’s mediocre controller help. Whereas I loved taking part in it on my desktop, it was at all times a sport I felt could be nice to take with me and play on the go – the Legion Go made that potential. I additionally discovered myself revisiting older titles, like Arkham Knight, that I beforehand suffered by with a keyboard and mouse however are usually higher with a controller. (Regardless of releasing in 2015, I nonetheless needed to run it at low settings to get a stable 60fps expertise.) Plus, there have been loads of smaller indie titles on Xbox Recreation Go that I in all probability by no means would have gotten round to attempting if I didn’t have the Legion Go. For instance, Tunic felt proper at residence on the Go however was by no means a best choice on my Xbox or PC.
However once I ventured outdoors that area of interest to strive extra intense titles, like Starfield and even Future 2, the efficiency didn’t reduce it. Starfield wasn’t a lot of a shock when it got here to efficiency, however I couldn’t even hit a constant 30fps with it on the Legion Go. Future 2, then again, I anticipated would run higher, given how previous it’s. I acquired it to run at 60fps, however the framerate would shortly tank every time heaps was occurring on display, making fight a stuttery mess. I additionally acquired Helldivers 2 working on the Legion Go because it’s the sport of the second, however efficiency wasn’t nice and I shortly realized I hate taking part in it with controller inputs.
Mouse sensor on the underside of the TrueStrike controller.
My spouse additionally used the Legion Go incessantly to play some Recreation Go titles she loved on our Xbox when she didn’t really feel like utilizing the Xbox. Sea of Stars was nice for her on the Legion, and a survival sport she picked up known as Stranded Deep was additionally enjoyable, although she famous that the Legion Go used the PC model of the sport, which is sort of completely different from the Xbox model. She additionally performed lots of PowerWash Simulator and finally most well-liked it on the Legion Go as a result of she appreciated to make use of the touchpad on the suitable TrueStrike controller to goal the powerwasher, discovering it extra correct than utilizing the joystick.
Regardless of us each having fun with the Legion Go, we often encountered friction with moving into video games that wouldn’t occur on a console. For instance, there have been cases the place a sport would launch however wouldn’t take over the display. Different video games launched positive however wouldn’t acknowledge the controllers — Stranded Deep, for instance, had me scrambling to open the contact keyboard to bypass a ‘Press enter to start out’ display earlier than I might entry the sport’s settings menu and allow controller enter.
Once more, in the event you’re used to PC gaming, these moments of friction won’t bug you a lot, however they might deter individuals who desire a smoother expertise.
Middling battery and attention-grabbing smells
Although the efficiency wasn’t nice, I wasn’t shocked or bothered – it was just about according to my expectations from the Legion Go. What did disappoint me was the battery life. In my expertise, the Legion Go solely lasts a number of hours when gaming, although it fluctuates primarily based on the sport (e.g., a much less graphically intense sport would possibly allow you to get an additional hour of playtime in). For a tool designed to permit individuals to sport on the go, the battery life makes it actually troublesome to justify bringing it with me. Plus, the Legion Go is sort of giant and although it comes with a carrying case, taking it out of the home was a ache. Most of the time, I used the Legion Go whereas sitting on my sofa with it plugged into the wall, which is strictly the place I’d be if I had been taking part in my Xbox.
Even with poor battery life, the Legion Go nonetheless affords extra portability than most different gaming techniques. It was useful if I needed to get in a fast Darkest Dungeon run from the consolation of my mattress or if I needed to play one thing whereas on a protracted drive or prepare journey, however charger anxiousness hung in regards to the Go like a foul odour.
Talking of foul odours, let’s discuss in regards to the Legion Go’s vent. Valve made vent-sniffing a meme with the Steam Deck and whereas we’ve all had some laughs about it, I’m really form of involved with the Legion Go’s vent, which emits a bitter, burnt plastic-like odor. It was most noticeable throughout longer gaming periods, particularly ones that pushed the Legion Go {hardware} to its limits and acquired the followers spinning up.
Maybe the worst incident occurred to me on the primary evening with the hand held. The Legion Go’s carrying case, well, has a little bit flap you’ll be able to open to entry the charging port so you’ll be able to plug within the handheld whereas it’s within the case. This was how I made a decision to cost the Legion Go on that first evening. What I didn’t understand, nevertheless, was that plugging within the handheld turned it on. It sat within the carrying case all evening lengthy with the display on (I don’t know why the display didn’t flip off in some unspecified time in the future).
Coupled with some warmth generated from charging, the Legion Go acquired heat sufficient to kick on the fan, however it wasn’t in a position to flow into cool air because it was within the carrying case. The entire room stank of that very same burnt-plastic odor once I walked into my workplace the following morning. I opened the case to seek out the Legion Go together with the display on and followers working on max. It was fairly heat as properly. There wasn’t any seen harm to the case or the hand held, and fortunately, the worst factor that occurred was the odor. Nonetheless, the entire thing was regarding sufficient that I didn’t cost the Legion Go within the carrying case once more and customarily averted placing it within the case until I wanted to hold it someplace.
Legion Go get one thing else?
After spending lots of time with the Legion Go, I feel it sits in a bizarre spot. There are tons of PC gaming handhelds in the marketplace proper now, and as I discussed initially, the Legion Go affords some notable advantages in comparison with opponents. To me, the detachable TrueStrike controllers, and that it ships with Home windows 11 as a substitute of working on Linux, are each marks within the Legion Go’s favour. The larger query is whether or not these justify the upper price of the hand held.
In Canada, the Legion Go begins at $899.99. That places it above most different handhelds, apart from MSI’s $1,099 Claw A1M handheld. In case your important purpose is a handheld that runs Home windows so you should use Recreation Go, Asus’ ROG Ally is cheaper at $699, although it doesn’t have detachable controllers. And for players with in depth Steam libraries, the Steam Deck is tough to beat (and you may get Recreation Go engaged on it in the event you’re prepared to place within the effort). In order that leaves the detachable controllers as the one important differentiator right here, and whereas I like them, I don’t suppose these alone justify spending an additional $200 or probably extra for the Legion Go.
What number of buttons does one controller want?
Finally, I don’t suppose I’d decide the Legion Go if I had been out there for a gaming handheld proper now. A handheld is sensible to me as a companion to a major gaming machine like a desktop PC or console. It’s excellent for enjoying video games once I can’t or don’t wish to use that major gaming machine. Frankly, the Legion Go has too excessive a value to suit comfortably in that companion place for me.
The Legion Go is offered beginning at $899.99 on Lenovo’s web site and Greatest Purchase Canada. It’s additionally on Amazon Canada for $1,200.
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