• Lenovo has officially unveiled its handheld gaming PC, the Legion Go, doing so on the eve of IFA 2023.
• The new device is designed to compete against the Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally.
• Local available and pricing have not been revealed, but it is expected in other regions in November with a price tag starting at €799.

Turns out the leaks were in fact true. This as Lenovo has officially unveiled its handheld gaming PC, the Legion Go, on the eve of IFA 2023, with the device looking exactly like the leaked version we saw only a couple of weeks ago.

So what is on offer from the device Lenovo plans to put up against the Asus ROG Ally and Steam Deck?

Starting with the screen it is an 8.8″ QHD+ (2560×1600) PureSight Gaming Display that supports 10-point touch and features up to a 144Hz refresh rate.

In terms of the key internal elements, the Legion Go can be kitted out with an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme with accompanying AMD RDNA Graphics. Added to this is 16GB of 7500Mhz LPDDR5X RAM, and different storage configurations of 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 2242.

Powering things is a 2-cell 49.2WHr battery that supports Super Rapid Chrage that delivers up to 70 percent battery life in half an hour. Sticking with batteries, the detachable controllers of the Legion Go feature a battery capacity of 900mAh.

Speaking of which, Lenovo says the controllers pack, “hall effect joysticks that mean no joystick drift and minimal dead zones that maximize responsiveness and accuracy during grueling gaming sessions. Other inputs include an integrated trackpad, a large D-pad, an angled mouse wheel, and a total of 10 mappable shoulder buttons, triggers, and grip buttons.”

“Legion Go’s Legion TrueStrike controllers are detachable to allow for more flexibility in playstyles, as well as enabling FPS mode for impromptu FPS gaming sessions. FPS mode allows the user to detach the controllers from the Lenovo Legion Go body and use the kickstand at the back to prop it up on a surface,” it added in a blog post about the newly announced device.

Other notable elements of the Legion Go include dual USB Type-C ports that allow for docking and charging simultaneously while connecting accessories. Other ports onboard include a DisplayPort 1.4, and on the connectivity side of things, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 are present.

On the software side of things, this is a Windows-based device, although it is still unclear whether you could potentially do any work on the device. Lenovo has, however, added a gaming-specific feature called Legion Space, which, “allows users to quickly access all their game platforms and stores, view all locally installed games, and even purchase games through the Legion Game Store in collaboration with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, with a complimentary 3-month membership.”

Along with the Legion Go, Lenovo is touting some accompanying peripherals for the handheld gaming PC. To that end, it is highlighting the Lenovo Legion Glasses (seen above) and Legion E510 7.1 RGB Gaming In-Ear Headphones.

The former is described as a “wearable virtual monitor with micro-OLED display technology that delivers high color and contrast range FHD resolution for each eye with a 60Hz refresh rate.” As for the E510 In-Ear Headphones, they are fairly self-explanatory.

Now for availability and pricing, and while at the time of writing local information is in short supply, the Lenovo Legion Go is expected in select regions in November, with pricing starting at €799 (~R16 265).

We contacted Lenovo South Africa regarding local availability and pricing and will share any feedback we receive.