Lenovo makes some fantastic hardware, including some of ourfavorite gaming Chromebooks. But despite their novelty, gaming Chromebooks haven’t hit the market in the same way as gaming handhelds. Lenovo’s newest device, the Legion Go, is a Switch-style gaming handheld that runs on Windows and looks primed to carve out its niche in the rapidly growing world ofgaming handhelds.
Lenovo Legion Go
The Legion Go is Lenovo’s attempt at breaking into the handheld gaming console market. It differentiates itself from its competitors by offering detachable controllers that double up as a mouse.
At first glance, the Legion Go looks to be a direct competitor to the Rog Ally. Both devices run on Windows and contain the same AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor with RDNA graphics. Both offer 16GB RAM and while the Lenovo sports a wider range of storage options (256GB / 512GB/ 1TB compared to the single 512GB option on the Rog Ally), the M.2 drive is nearly identical. Even its price ($699) is the same.
But what sets the Lenovo Legion Go apart from its competitors are the detachable Nintendo Switch-style controllers. These function like the Switch’s controllers: slide them off, prop the Legion Go up on its kickstand, and game away. But for all its handheld charm, the Legion Go is a Windows PC and compensates appropriately. Pop the right controller into a base, and you have a fully functional, if unorthodox, mouse for FPS games. Lenovo has shared few details about how this works, like whether you’re able to use it as a mouse outside of gaming.
The Lenovo Go is far from the strangest thing Lenovo announced today. The Legion Glasses are a pair of 1080p, 60Hz monitors crammed into eyeglass frames. The glasses also include speakers and a USB-C port to directly plug compatible devices in to play games. These cost a hefty $329; you won’t save money switching from traditional monitors to these.
Finally, there’s the Legion E510 RGB Gaming earbuds. These aren’t wireless earbuds; you’ll plug them into your device via USB-C. However, you’ll get an RGB strip to spice up the experience. The E510 RGB Gaming earbuds cost $49.99, which makes them cheaper than many ofour favorite wireless earbuds.
All of these Lenovo products will be available in October this year. We’re especially keen to see how the Lenovo Go stacks up against other gaming handhelds like the Steam Deck and Asus Rog Ally.
