Design and Features: Gaming on the Go
The Steam Deck OLED is a slight revision to the original Steam Deck. The new model is a bit lighter, weighing just 1.41 pounds compared with the original’s 1.48 pounds, but it measures 1.9 by 11.7 by 4.6 inches (HWD)—same as the original. Two analog sticks flank the screen's left and right corners, while the square touchpads sit just underneath them. On top, you’ll find a USB-C port and headphone jack. Finally, there's the microSD card slot at the bottom of the device.
You may have guessed from the name, but the screen is the most significant change between Steam Deck models. Slightly bigger, at 7.4 inches measured diagonally (compared with the 7-inch Steam Deck display), the new system swaps the IPS panel for an OLED one. These beefed-up screens surpass IPS and VA displays in color gamut, viewing angles, and power efficiency. Deeper blacks and more vibrant colors help the visuals pop on the smaller screen, especially considering that the resolution remains 1,200 by 800 pixels.
The Steam Deck feels surprisingly wide, and its large corners don’t provide the most comfortable experience. Still, the face buttons and control sticks feel sturdy, and the back paddles and triggers are easy to access.
The Legion Go S is likewise iterative of the Lenovo Legion Go, though the changes are more pronounced. The original Legion Go measures 1.6 by 11.7 by 5.16 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.88 pounds, far bulkier and heavier than the Steam Deck OLED (1.41 pounds), the Asus ROG Ally X (1.49 pounds), and the MSI Claw (1.48 pounds). The Legion Go S cuts down on the original machine's bloat, measuring 0.8 by 11.7 by 5 inches (HWD) and slimming down to 1.61 pounds.
The top of the machine houses two USB-C ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack. That's one fewer connection than the Legion Go, which has a third USB-C port at the bottom. On the Legion Go S, that area instead includes a microSD card slot. The removable Joy-Con-like controllers of the original Legion Go have also been removed. The screen is 0.8 inch smaller than the original Legion Go, and the screen resolution and refresh rate are lower, too. What's more, the Legion Go S screen is a 1,920-by-1,200-pixel IPS panel refreshing at 120Hz, down from the Legion Go's 2,560 by 1,600 pixels and 144Hz.
The new Go S still feels comfortable and has an anti-slip texture around the console's grips for extra support. While I dislike the tiny touchpad, the handheld is far more ergonomic than the Steam Deck, even if it’s slightly heavier.
The nips and tucks made to the Legion Go S only improved the handheld’s design. The Steam Deck OLED is an excellent proof of concept for handheld PCs, but the Legion Go S improves on it substantially. For that, I hand this one to the Legion Go S.
Winner: Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS)
Tech Specs: Steamy Silicon Showdown
The Windows-powered Legion Go S was the first handheld to use AMD’s newest mobile-gaming processor, the Ryzen Z2 Go. The Z2 Go is an entry-level processor and is by far the least potent chip in this new generation. Lenovo also has a version with this older but superior processor, but it's far more expensive.
With only four cores and eight threads versus the Ryzen Z1 Extreme's eight cores and 16 threads, the Z2 Go has some limits despite being newer than the Z1 Extreme. AMD brands these processors as "APUs," or accelerated processing units.
Valve lists the Steam Deck OLED’s APU as a “custom AMD processor,” but we know it employs AMD's Zen 3 architecture for the CPU and its RDNA 2 architecture for the graphics. It also has the same number of cores and threads as the Z2 Go. (The Z2 Go uses the same graphics architecture, but its CPU is on the marginally better Zen 3+ design.)
On paper, these two APUs have more in common than you might expect, but performance was lackluster when testing games on the Windows-powered Legion Go S. Swapping out Windows 11 for the SteamOS, however, nets significant gains for the Legion Go S, with performance improvements across the board.
These benchmarks show gains in graphically intensive games like Cyberpunk 2077, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The most considerable improvements, however, were found when benchmarking the Z1 Extreme. Unbound by Windows 11, the Ryzen Z1 Extreme and Ryzen Z2 Go can more reliably deliver playable frame rates.
As impressive as the performance is across both handhelds, tempering expectations is essential. Many AAA games are incompatible with these handheld consoles or require extreme visual and performance cuts to run. While I'm deeply impressed by what the Legion Go S can do without Windows holding it back, neither model is future-proof. The same goes for the Steam Deck OLED. Regardless, thanks to the higher resolution screen and faster performance, I give the nod to the Legion Go S.
Winner: Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS)
Display Quality: Which Screen Looks the Best?
Both devices contain decent-size screens, but you must consider factors like refresh rate, resolution, and support for technologies like high dynamic range (HDR) and variable refresh rate (VRR). The Steam Deck OLED has a 7.4-inch OLED touch screen display that promises 600 nits of brightness in SDR and a max of 1,000 nits in HDR. The screen also has a 90Hz refresh rate and a resolution of 1,200 by 800p.
The Legion Go S display, on the other hand, has an 8-inch IPS touch screen that supports 120Hz and a resolution of 1,920 by 1,200 (the irregular resolution is due to its 16:10 aspect ratio). The panel supports VRR but not HDR, and it peaks at a max brightness of 500 nits.
This comparison is closer than you might expect. HDR on an OLED screen improves picture quality greatly (when the game or video content also supports HDR). OLEDs also maintain their contrast better in low lighting, while IPS panels' lower contrast ratios can affect the perceived brightness by washing out the blacks. However, the larger and sharper Legion Go S screen helps even the playing field, and VRR keeps it competitive. VRR dynamically adjusts a display's refresh rate to match the game's frame rate, preventing screen tearing. That becomes especially useful when dealing with fluctuating frame rates on more demanding games.
The comparison is close, but I lean toward the Legion Go S because of its bigger, higher-resolution screen. Of course, the Steam Deck’s OLED will always impress, but the Legion's larger screen space and sharper resolution help games look markedly better.
Winner: Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS)
Pricing: Which Handheld Brings the Best Value?
Unless your wallet is dense with disposable cash, you probably want a gaming handheld that will give you the best experience without busting your budget.
Lenovo's Legion Go S (SteamOS) comes in two distinct flavors: One version has the AMD Ryzen Z2 Go, 512GB of solid-state storage, and 16GB of RAM for $599. The other includes the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme, a 1TB SSD, and 32GB of RAM for a much steeper $829. Both models come with a power supply.
Meanwhile, Valve also sells two Steam Deck OLED options, though the differences are not as major. Both versions have the same custom AMD APU, overall build, and 50Wh battery. The $549 Steam Deck OLED comes with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, while the $649 model comes with a 1TB drive.
Valve's premium model includes a few extra goodies. First, the digital freebies include a Steam profile bundle, an exclusive startup movie, and a special virtual keyboard theme. Next, the carrying case includes a removable liner, something missing from the $549 version. The most significant difference between the Steam Decks: The pricier model has premium anti-glare etched glass.
While the carrying case is a welcome addition, both Steam Deck models are virtually the same aside from storage. While it doesn't come with a carrying case, the $599 Legion Go S is capable of faster frame rates at higher resolutions than the Steam Deck OLED for not much more cash, so it doesn't need any extras to be a better value.
Winner: Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS)