Lenovo Legion Go is out in the wild, reviews are trickling in
- Thread starter Sho_Nuff82
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Been working great for me after I got it configured properly. The first time I docked it I had a lot of headaches trying to figure out how to fix it because it kept giving me issues like switching to portrait mode or changing aspect ratios randomly.
Been working great for me after I got it configured properly. The first time I docked it I had a lot of headaches trying to figure out how to fix it because it kept giving me issues like switching to portrait mode or changing aspect ratios randomly.
I see, might pick up one of these or rog ally over the holiday
Having had mine for over a week now... Wow. I really loved my Ally but this is even better. The games I play aren't pushing things so losing VRR doesn't bother me, and games look GREAT on that big screen. I also love having the split controller and propping it on the kickstand.
Playing a ton of diablo 4, warcraft, and retro stuff on here.
Playing a ton of diablo 4, warcraft, and retro stuff on here.
W
I'm using integer scaling to target 60fps at 800p for all of my games. I wonder if I should try this, but seems like adding another complicated thing to the mix when everything is going smoothly.
I'm using integer scaling to target 60fps at 800p for all of my games. I wonder if I should try this, but seems like adding another complicated thing to the mix when everything is going smoothly.
Legion Space Update
Newest Legion Space update is finally out. Adds proper button mapping so you can finally map the buttons to keyboard functions. Also added charge limiting to prolong battery life
Yeah, I've messed with it a little and I'm not sure I'll be using it much. It adds weird artifacts on the ground in some games I tried and the added input latency is pretty noticeable compared to DLSS3 or FSR3 enabled games I've tried.
Newest Legion Space update is finally out. Adds proper button mapping so you can finally map the buttons to keyboard functions. Also added charge limiting to prolong battery life
Yeah, I've messed with it a little and I'm not sure I'll be using it much. It adds weird artifacts on the ground in some games I tried and the added input latency is pretty noticeable compared to DLSS3 or FSR3 enabled games I've tried.
OP
OP
Was playing Have a Nice Death this weekend, and noticed for the first time that the FPS counter went above 144, even when the screen refresh rate was set to 60. Has this always been possible, is this newly added with a software update, or is it just this particular game?
Probably the game didn't have vsync or a frame limit on by default. I've experienced it with some games but not many.
I was a little down on the Go at first, but I've ended up making it my main VN device. The larger screen than the Ally really makes a difference. It's a shame there's no good way to install larger than a 2TB SSD or it would be nearly perfect (other than the portrait display and just okay speakers).
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePZI24WjQQI
This video has made me rethink my upgrade path. I'm in Australia and have a Steam Deck LCD, and was set to upgrade to an OLED when I could. Because the Deck has somewhat murky grey-market shenanigans here due to Valve's stubbornness to support this market, I'm kinda having my head turned by the Legion Go, which is readily available and has come down in price.
I tend to play in maximum 2hr windows of gaming, so I don't think think battery is my main concern like it is for many others. Has anyone here moved from Deck to Go successfully? The lossless scaling piece is a big bonus as well, as I'm comfortable to lower the main res and boost it where I can to improve performance and any battery gains.
My launch preorder Deck just gathers dust now that I am accustomed to my Ally. Can't speak for Go specifically but its using the same Windows and Z1X so can't be too different. I would mainly focus on size (whether you want something a bit bigger or smaller than the Deck) to decide.
If you miss SteamOS, Linux support w/ Steam Game Mode is also really gaining for these windows handhelds, although still a bit lacking in power management, Bazzite on Ally is otherwise pretty good, and it has great support for the Go as well.
The Ally is enticing but the microSD issue is just a non-starter for me. I'd probably be keen on that if there was a deal I could find here, but given the way they've handled it, I'm not bothering at all. I have a 1TB microSD card that I want to utilise, and I certainly don't want it nuked.
The Go is pretty great, the main thing is it's MUCH larger and heavier than the Deck and Ally so if you're wanting to use it on the go I'd try to get hands on one before ordering.
I still want one because of the size of the screen , but with second iteration speculated to come out later this year, I'm just gonna wait.
I haven't had a Deck, but I've been getting a lot of mileage out of my Go, like usually 1-2 hours a day (I have a long commute lol) and am very happy with it. That said, it does seem like there are a few obvious areas for improvement that would be addressed in a Go 2.
Solid pros:
- Screen is great. The size and resolution is just really great for me, and I'm not the kind of person to notice VRR.
- Detachable controllers have worked well and I'm fond of the touchpad and scrollwheel on the back for casual internet use.
- Kickstand is great (the stand also works vertically if you detach the controllers).
- The most recent Legion Space patch finally added programmability to the backbuttons.
- Performance-wise, it's handled up to Starfield, BG3, FF14, etc. all at perfectly playable levels for me (I use 800p with integer scaling), and obviously older games/emulation also runs very smoothly. No complaints.
Mehs:
- Battery life isn't amazing, but I'm very rarely more than 2 hours away from an outlet (my usual Go window is 1 hour on the bus), so I'm okay with it.
- Windows isn't great for mobile devices, but it's also not terrible. That said, it makes up for it with versatility -- native Game Pass, no fiddling with compatibility issues, can double as a work machine with a keyboard, etc. Took it with me on a week-long vacation and left my laptop at home -- had no issues, and the 14 hour flights were more bearable than usual.
Cons:
- It's quite heavy and bulky. It takes up a gooood chunk of space in my backpack. I also don't feel comfortable playing it while standing (say, on the subway) and getting it in and out of the case is enough of a hassle that it's not a real portable handheld in the way the DS was and the Switch kind of half-heartedly is (even the Switch is kind of big). That said, most of my commute is sitting on a bus so I'm okay with it, but depends on your use case.
- Related to the above, but while the Go isn't terrible by any means, the ergonomics could probably use another pass, especially considering the weight of the device.
- Some fiddling required because of the native portrait orientation of the screen, although nothing that's been too onerous thus far.
- I don't know if this is a Windows thing or a Go thing, but bluetooth headphones connectivity is shit on this thing (like lots of lag and constantly cutting out). The reason I say I don't know if it's a Windows thing is I've never had a Windows laptop that WASN'T shit with bluetooth audio, but I just use my headphones wired rather than figure out how to fix it 🤷♀️
Solid pros:
- Screen is great. The size and resolution is just really great for me, and I'm not the kind of person to notice VRR.
- Detachable controllers have worked well and I'm fond of the touchpad and scrollwheel on the back for casual internet use.
- Kickstand is great (the stand also works vertically if you detach the controllers).
- The most recent Legion Space patch finally added programmability to the backbuttons.
- Performance-wise, it's handled up to Starfield, BG3, FF14, etc. all at perfectly playable levels for me (I use 800p with integer scaling), and obviously older games/emulation also runs very smoothly. No complaints.
Mehs:
- Battery life isn't amazing, but I'm very rarely more than 2 hours away from an outlet (my usual Go window is 1 hour on the bus), so I'm okay with it.
- Windows isn't great for mobile devices, but it's also not terrible. That said, it makes up for it with versatility -- native Game Pass, no fiddling with compatibility issues, can double as a work machine with a keyboard, etc. Took it with me on a week-long vacation and left my laptop at home -- had no issues, and the 14 hour flights were more bearable than usual.
Cons:
- It's quite heavy and bulky. It takes up a gooood chunk of space in my backpack. I also don't feel comfortable playing it while standing (say, on the subway) and getting it in and out of the case is enough of a hassle that it's not a real portable handheld in the way the DS was and the Switch kind of half-heartedly is (even the Switch is kind of big). That said, most of my commute is sitting on a bus so I'm okay with it, but depends on your use case.
- Related to the above, but while the Go isn't terrible by any means, the ergonomics could probably use another pass, especially considering the weight of the device.
- Some fiddling required because of the native portrait orientation of the screen, although nothing that's been too onerous thus far.
- I don't know if this is a Windows thing or a Go thing, but bluetooth headphones connectivity is shit on this thing (like lots of lag and constantly cutting out). The reason I say I don't know if it's a Windows thing is I've never had a Windows laptop that WASN'T shit with bluetooth audio, but I just use my headphones wired rather than figure out how to fix it 🤷♀️
I haven't really used my Steam Deck for gaming since I picked up the Legion Go. The native portrait screen does have some annoyances you'll need to deal with when you play some games though and it also made using it docked a massive headache until I looked up some information to get it fixed. The back buttons are also really easy to accidentally press compared to the Steam Deck. Oh, and it's also got one of the worst d-pads I've ever used.
Still, the extra compatibility the windows platform affords makes it a much better fit for me than the Deck and the screen is much, much better than the original Deck's.
I was pretty excited about the lossless scaling app's frame generation feature but it's a bit finicky and requires more tinkering than I'd like. Worst thing though is the amount of latency it introduces. Pretty much makes it unusable for me.
Got myself an open box legion go for 600€.
I'm pretty impressed by the performance. Haven't played anything super demanding but every game I have tried has been running very smooth.
Palm detection on the touchpad is pretty bad. It takes inputs all the time when I play. I wanna disable it but I like to use it in the windows. Wish you could only activate the touchpad when you hold down one of the back buttons.
I'm pretty impressed by the performance. Haven't played anything super demanding but every game I have tried has been running very smooth.
Palm detection on the touchpad is pretty bad. It takes inputs all the time when I play. I wanna disable it but I like to use it in the windows. Wish you could only activate the touchpad when you hold down one of the back buttons.
This isn't a Windows thing or a Go thing, it's a bluetooth thing. When playing a game there will always be large amounts of lag if you use bluetooth headphones (you can minimize it with a special pair of low latency earbuds, but it's still noticeable compared to wired). You won't notice lag while watching videos because the device can delay the video to match up with the audio, but that's not possible with a game. It's the same reason consoles don't use bluetooth for wireless audio.
Yeah I'm constantly hitting the touchpad with my palm while playing games as well. You can easily turn off the touchpad using the button that pulls up the device settings on the right of the screen (not sure what it's called) so at least it's not that big of an issue, but I'd love it if they could improve it with software or if not make a change on their next device.
It's moreso the cutting out than the lag -- my phone never drops connection (although it does have lag for games) but all my windows devices cut out constantly, unless you're saying they're also somehow covering for the cutting out due to some kind of buffering tech.
Lossless scaling update was a pretty big. The amount of artifacts were reduced that I almost don't even notice them anymore. They used to be all over the screen when playing but now I only ever notice them near the bottom of the screen. The performance mode is also nice. Reduces the imapct LSFG has so you get higher average framerates. Also helps make the latency less noticeable, which was another big issue I had.
Can still be a little finicky at times. One time I started it with Dead Island 2 I was getting framerates in the teens for some reason. Had to restart the game to get it running proper again. Massive performance drops also happen when anything pops up out of game like gamebar notifications or when you open up the Legion Go menu. Completely causes me to be unable to make any changes to power profiles or any other legion settings unless I minimize the game before opening the legion right menu.
Can still be a little finicky at times. One time I started it with Dead Island 2 I was getting framerates in the teens for some reason. Had to restart the game to get it running proper again. Massive performance drops also happen when anything pops up out of game like gamebar notifications or when you open up the Legion Go menu. Completely causes me to be unable to make any changes to power profiles or any other legion settings unless I minimize the game before opening the legion right menu.