I posted an Instagram post of someone’s Lenovo Legion Go last March with a really cool Gundam skin. I’m not a Gundam guy but even I saw the beauty in its aesthetics. And while I’m definitely a handheld guy, I’ve never really found handheld PCs that appealing. I have so many handhelds already (as I alluded to and I bought two more since that post in March) but lately I’ve been looking at other people’s Steam Decks and… I think I’m gonna take the plunge.
I’ve seen a reduced Lenovo Legion Go and I have the means to get one (with an additional discount) and I’ve set my sights on it. But before I did, I had to figure out exactly what I wanted out of it. I have a use case for all my other handhelds as they satisfy a particular need:
- Some of my 3DS’s are homebrewed and have certain games on them, like my blue Blastoise 3DS is a homebrew Pokémon handheld
- My new TrimUI Smart Pro is for “TV” consoles (PS1, N64, Dreamcast et al) and PSP due to its form factor
- My RG 40XXV is for proper handheld consoles (GB, GBC) and any existing saves that I can’t be bothered to move over the TSP
But for the Legion Go, I’m aiming for the next generation and beyond. I’m talking PS2, GameCube, 3DS, Switch. Oh, and PC. I can’t forget PC games now, can I? And the specs are perfect for all of them:
Tech specs
- 8.8 inch QHD+ display
- Expandable storage (Micro SD)
- 49.2WHr battery
- AMD Ryzen™ Z1 Extreme Processor (3.30 GHz up to 5.10 GHz)
- Integrated AMD Radeon™ Graphics
- 16 GB LPDDR5X RAM
- 512 GB SSD
I’ve done my usual thing of watching any and every review of this thing and while a lot of people weren’t enamoured with it, they were looking at it from a Steam Deck-alternative perspective. Yeah, that battery life isn’t compelling for AAA titles on the best settings but that’s not my style. I won’t be playing PC games on this thing, primarily. I have Steam games I could play on it for sure but it’s going to be an “emulation station” if you will. And having that duality—modern PC games and older retro games—is why I’d be looking at this vs. something like a Retroid Pocket 5.
But I’ve been here before. I bought a PS4 just to play Dragon Quest XI and that’s been a worthwhile purchase overall. The Lenovo Legion Go will still be pricey even with all the discounts but I strongly believe that it’ll get used a lot. At the very least, my son can play Fortnite at a better frame rate than the Switch and stop complaining about how bad it is and keeping your kids happy is worth the price of admission, right?
