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 probably enjoying a major position in these plans. Following Lenovo’s bulletins at CES, a clearer timeline for the final availability of SteamOS is now materializing, hinting at important 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 an alternative choice to Home windows. Nonetheless, Valve has confirmed that it plans to launch a SteamOS beta for different handhelds even earlier, doubtless in April.
Whereas the Steam Deck’s {hardware} could also be slower than competing units from Lenovo, Asus, MSI, and GPD by way of uncooked efficiency, its working system is arguably its best asset. Not like 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 check SteamOS someday between March and Might, earlier than the Legion Go S begins delivery 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 repeatedly releases for its flagship handheld.
Though different units may have entry to SteamOS earlier than the Legion Go S launches, Lenovo’s decreased pricing may make the hand-held significantly enticing. The Home windows 11 model of the Legion Go S can be obtainable later this month beginning at $729, with extra configurations arriving in Might beginning at $599. Nonetheless, the Linux-based SteamOS version will begin at simply $499, doubtless as a result of 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 improvement appears inevitable. If extra producers start providing SteamOS configurations at decrease costs for handhelds or different gaming PC type elements, it may 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 Swap-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 based mostly on AMD’s mature Rembrandt structure, with 12 RDNA 2 graphics cores.
For these searching for a higher-end possibility, the usual type issue will return later this 12 months with the Lenovo Legion Go 2, that includes an OLED display screen, 32GB of 7500MHz LPDDR5X RAM, and a Zen 5-based Ryzen Z2 Excessive APU with 16 RDNA 3.5 cores.
