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00:00Hey guys, I'm Tomatek Jap, and this is the new Lenovo Legion Go, and it basically takes
00:06the best bits of the Steam Deck, the ROG Ally, and the Nintendo Switch and packs it all in
00:11this very impressive and also very chonky new Windows gaming handheld.
00:16So it's kind of like they've taken the ROG Ally with the same AMD Z1 Extreme processor
00:21under the hood, added a bigger 8-inch screen with an even sharper Quad HD resolution, there
00:26are more controls and buttons than you can shake a stick at, and it does even include
00:30a small touchpad, which a lot of people love from the Steam Deck.
00:34They've also added a fully adjustable kickstand, big fan of that, and like the Nintendo Switch,
00:39you can even undock the controllers, which means you don't have to hold it the whole
00:43time, plonk it down and play remotely, or maybe even plug it into your TV or monitor,
00:48because the Go actually has two USB 4 ports, one on the bottom, where you could maybe plug
00:53in the charger, and then one on the top for outputting to a monitor or a TV.
00:57Now to answer some of the burning questions I had going into this hands-on, firstly, why
01:01Quad HD for the display, isn't that overkill for an 8-inch screen, and won't it drain
01:06the battery faster?
01:07Well, Lenovo tell me they went with this to give you more options.
01:10Playing older, less demanding or indie games, you can comfortably run into Quad HD and enjoy
01:14the extra sharpness, of course the Windows 11 desktop's also sharper, and it's not
01:19just for games, you can browse the web, stream videos, and it all looks crisper.
01:23They also tell me that generally, Quad HD resolution panels also offer better colours
01:27and contrast.
01:28Essentially, it's just a better screen.
01:31But still, if it's anything like when I play recent games on my ROG Ally, I'm just
01:35gonna drop the res to 720p to get a smoother framerate anyway.
01:39As for the all-important battery life, well, they didn't give me any specific figures,
01:43all I know is that we have a 49.2Wh cell inside, which is about 20% bigger than the Steam Deck
01:48and the Ally, so if I were to guess, we're looking at probably 3.5-4 hours of higher-end
01:53gaming in performance mode, but this is of course something I'll test properly in my
01:57full review.
01:58Now running Windows 11 is both a blessing and a curse, because it does mean you have
02:03access to all the game stores, Steam, Epic, GOG, whatever you like, and it's also, you
02:07know, a full computer, you can browse the web, watch movies, attach a Bluetooth keyboard
02:11and do some work maybe.
02:12But then the downside is it's running Windows 11, which is not very well optimised for touch,
02:17especially on smaller screens, you're probably gonna experience some crashes, especially
02:21with new hardware like this, there's patches and drivers to keep track of, and it's just
02:25a bit clunky, but really that is down to Microsoft.
02:29During this brief hands-on, there were only a handful of games that I could actually play,
02:32but they all felt nice and fast, and the controls and the joysticks were responsive, and I really
02:36do like being able to use the controls remotely, undocked from the tablet, shall we say.
02:41But considering the whole thing weighs 854 grams, or just 214 grams for the controllers,
02:48I would definitely be tempted to use it like this more often.
02:51Also, bundled in the case, which you also get for free with Legion Go, is this little
02:55dock thing you can pop the right controller in, which effectively turns it into a mouse.
03:00I definitely need to spend more time with this, but it's an interesting idea, and the
03:03final version of the stand will attach magnetically.
03:07Performance wise, the Z1 Extreme is roughly 50% faster than the Steam Deck, and broadly
03:12speaking it's capable of playing most AAA games at medium settings if you drop the res
03:17down to 720.
03:18So realistically, you're not going to max out Starfield on this thing.
03:22Although to be fair, we did see some decent performance improvements after the ROG Ally
03:26launched when AMD released updated drivers, so this chip is pretty capable, but you should
03:30still manage expectations, this is not a high-end gaming PC.
03:35As for storage, it comes with 512GB built in, although some markets will have an optional
03:401TB model, and also there is a microSD card slot at the top here so you can expand it
03:44yourself, or if you're happy to avoid warranty, I'm told it'll be pretty easy to pop the
03:49back of this thing and then switch out the internal SSD for a bigger capacity yourself.
03:54I cannot wait to have a proper look inside this thing when I get my review sample.
03:58So the Legion Go will launch in October, so not too long to wait, and will cost you $699
04:03or €799, final UK pricing is TBC.
04:07But that's about the same as a similarly specced ROG Ally, and although it is nearly double
04:12the price of a base Steam Deck, that's over a year old now, significantly slower, and
04:16actually if you match the storage, the Legion Go will probably only cost you a couple hundred
04:20more.
04:21But my takeaway is, the more choice, the more competition, the better.
04:24Now we have three great PC handhelds to choose from, but which would you go for?
04:28A Steam Deck, an ROG Ally, a Legion Go, or none of the above?
04:32Let me know in the comments below.
04:34Make sure you do hit that subscribe button for my full versus video and also review coming
04:37in October.
04:38Thank you so much for watching guys, and I'll see you next time, right here, on the Tech
04:42Channel.