Why it issues: It has lengthy been speculated that Valve intends to broaden the attain of its SteamOS Linux distribution past the Steam Deck, with Lenovo’s upcoming Legion Go mannequin doubtlessly enjoying a major function in these plans. Following Lenovo’s bulletins at CES, a clearer timeline for the overall availability of SteamOS is now materializing, hinting at vital ramifications for the way forward for handheld gaming PCs.
Beginning in Might, prospects will be capable to buy Lenovo’s newly introduced Legion Go S handheld gaming PC with Valve’s SteamOS working system as a substitute for Home windows. Nonetheless, Valve has confirmed that it plans to launch a SteamOS beta for different handhelds even earlier, probably in April.
Whereas the Steam Deck’s {hardware} could also be slower than competing units from Lenovo, Asus, MSI, and GPD when it comes to uncooked efficiency, its working system is arguably its biggest asset. In contrast to Home windows, which may really feel cumbersome on small screens, SteamOS is designed particularly for controller-based interfaces and consists of optimizations to enhance efficiency.
Valve plans to permit homeowners of different handhelds to obtain and take a look at SteamOS someday between March and Might, earlier than the Legion Go S begins transport with it pre-installed. The obtain will function the identical software program picture used for the Steam Deck, making certain customers obtain the identical patches and pre-compiled shaders that Valve recurrently releases for its flagship handheld.
Though different units could have entry to SteamOS earlier than the Legion Go S launches, Lenovo’s diminished pricing might make the hand held notably enticing. The Home windows 11 model of the Legion Go S will probably be obtainable later this month beginning at $729, with further configurations arriving in Might beginning at $599. Nonetheless, the Linux-based SteamOS version will begin at simply $499, probably because of the lack of a Home windows license.
Thus far, Valve has not disclosed plans for different producers to pre-install SteamOS on their units, however such a growth appears inevitable. If extra producers start providing SteamOS configurations at decrease costs for handhelds or different gaming PC kind components, it might pose a critical problem to Home windows on this market.
Lenovo has positioned the Legion Go S as a smaller, extra reasonably priced variant of the hand held it launched in 2023. This new mannequin forgoes the removable Change-style controllers and makes minor concessions in show measurement, decision, refresh fee, and efficiency. It options the Ryzen Z2 Go processor, which is probably going primarily based on AMD’s mature Rembrandt structure, with 12 RDNA 2 graphics cores.
For these in search of a higher-end possibility, the usual kind issue will return later this 12 months with the Lenovo Legion Go 2, that includes an OLED display, 32GB of 7500MHz LPDDR5X RAM, and a Zen 5-based Ryzen Z2 Excessive APU with 16 RDNA 3.5 cores.
