Summary
The newly-announced Lenovo Legion Go S is the first third-party handheld gaming PC to ship withValve’s SteamOS operating system. SteamOS was formerly available only on the Steam Deck, but starting with the Lenovo Legion Go S,Valveis finally expanding the operating system to devices made by other manufacturers.
Although the Steam Deck faces stiff competition from newer, more powerful gaming handhelds like the Asus ROG Ally X and MSI Claw 8 AI+, the Valve system has always had an ace up its sleeve. Where other gaming handhelds rely on Windows, which isn’t quite optimized for usage in a portable form factor, theSteam Deck’s Linux-based SteamOS operating systemoffers a much smoother, console-like user experience. While SteamOS is one of the Steam Deck’s prominent competitive edges, Valve has been working for a few years to make the operating system available on third-party devices, and the time has now come.
Some recent leaks alleged that anupcoming variant of the Lenovo Legion Go S gaming handheldwill ship with SteamOS pre-installed, and CES 2025 proved the claims right. Lenovo took the stage at CES 2025 to announce a pair of new Legion Go handhelds, namely the Legion Go 2 and Legion Go S. The former is intended to be a proper successor to the Lenovo Legion Go, whereas the Legion Go S offers similar power as the current model in a lighter, more compact form factor. However, theLenovo Legion Go S paves the way for greater consumer choicein the handheld gaming PC space, as one of its two versions will be powered by SteamOS.
SteamOS Version
Windows Version
The SteamOS-powered Lenovo Legion Go S will retail for$499 (16GB RAM / 512GB storage)when it goes on sale inMay 2025. Valve also confirmed that SteamOS will have full feature parity on the Lenovo Legion Go S, and every SteamOS device will get the samesoftware updates as the Steam Deck, barring hardware-specific tweaks. For those who prefer the familiarity of Windows, Lenovo will also offer a Windows-powered version of the Legion Go S. This variant is set to go on sale inJanuary 2025and will start at$599with 16GB RAM / 1TB storage, going all the way up to$729for 32GB RAM / 1TB storage. As for the flagship Legion Go 2, Lenovo doesn’t have any current plans to ship the handheld with SteamOS, but this could change if demand for the SteamOS Legion Go S is strong enough.
At the time of writing, Lenovo is the only manufacturerpartnering with Valve for a licensed SteamOS device. However, owners of other gaming handhelds, like the Asus ROG Ally, will soon be able to try out SteamOS on their systems. Alongside the Lenovo Legion Go S reveal, Valve published ablog post on Steamconfirming that a public beta of SteamOS will ship in the coming months for “users on other handhelds.”
