Images have leaked of the Lenovo Legion Go, a new upcoming Windows portable device, and the second to come from a major Windows OEM, after the ASUS ROG Ally.
Windows Report shared these leaked images, which fans have picked out to take elements from various other handhelds. We will refer to an analysis from ThePhawx, and you can watch his video below. As someone who has regularly reviewed, and also previewed, these new Windows portable devices, ThePhawx has a keener eye on the subtleties of these devices.
ThePhawx starts off by pointing out that the rails on the side of the Legion Go’s detachable controllers are not slide rails. It doesn’t look like they will slide into place, instead they will be pushed inwards to the body of the Legion Go, which would look like a thick tablet. From what this writer has seen, the five metal dots on the side suggest that they use magnetic connectors, similar to the dots that connect tablets to magnetic keyboards.
Now, ThePhawx observes that the right side controller has a small square touchpad on the face, and a mouse scroll wheel on the back. The scroll wheel is placed where the tip of either the index or middle finger would likely find itself. ThePhawx has never seen this on any similar devices. Remember, he’s been making videos about these devices for some time, so that’s a real unique selling point for Lenovo.
On the left side controller, ThePhawx noticed what looked like a recessed nub at the back, that you would have to find with your fingers to press. This also doesn’t exist in other Windows portables, and its use is a mystery. Finally, he noted the eight inch display, which he hopes will be eDP (embedded DisplayPort, AKA, that it can output in 4K) and that it has VRR (variable refresh rate) like the ROG Ally’s screen.
ThePhawx switched to a photo of the back of the device, and noted it had two back buttons, recessed in the sides of the controller grips, and two side buttons, literally placed at the outer edges of the controller. From the top he noted the power button, 3 ½ mm audio jack, MicroSD card slot, and USB-C.
While ThePhawx isn’t sure where the speakers are, since there are no front or back speaker grills, they are expected to be either top or back firing.
Finally, there are two mysterious ports on the bottom of the left controller, one of which has a button. ThePhawx thinks that may be the lock for the controller after you attach them. The other hole is a complete mystery. This writer believes it looks like an Ethernet port, though that seems unnecessary on a device like this.
Windows Report had noted that the Lenovo Legion Go is expected to run on Windows 11, and use AMD’s Phoenix processor. The Ryzen Z1 Extreme found in the ASUS ROG Ally is a Phoenix processor, but the Legion Go could ship with a newer and more powerful processor.
It’s all very exciting as these old and big Windows OEMs are finally starting to take a serious turn on making their own Windows handheld gaming devices. The ROG Ally and Legion Go seem to be erring on the side of making bigger, heavier devices, to please gamers with more battery life. It is possible, in time, that they will make smaller and lighter devices later, as they improve the engineering of these portables to make them as ideal as possible. And the more they sell of these devices, the cheaper they can get too, in theory anyway.
As of right now, ASUS really is the only active big OEM in this space, though Alienware showed off their UFO prototype a few years ago. We’re still a few steps away from these devices seeing mass adoption, but they are clearly closer to getting there, than other high end tech like virtual reality. If you’re lucky enough to afford to be a consumer in this market, these are exciting times indeed.
You can watch ThePhawx’s video below.
