What can a gaming PC do in a portable format?

Compact laptops are currently very popular and Lenovo has also come up with them Legion go Launched its own model. We got a copy and tested how it performs in everyday life.

The most important details at a glance:

Design and workmanship

The Lenovo Legion Go shines almost entirely in glossy black. Only the joystick’s RGB limits trigger some colors when turned on. This makes the laptop stylish, but also remarkably inconspicuous.

Thanks to its rounded edges, the device fits comfortably in the hand and its weight of just over 850 grams is light enough not to attract negative attention. The workmanship appears to be of high quality. The removable controllers are also firmly attached to the main unit and leave a solid impression.

There is a foldable stand on the back. This can be adjusted infinitely and the controller can be placed in the desired tilted position if you want to use it in stationary mode. This works very well in practice and ensures safe standing on the table.

Very practical: Convenient case included. This means that the Lenovo Legion Go can be transported safely without having to worry about any damage. You can also route the charging cable through a small gap and charge the laptop while it’s in the case.

Contact options

The Lenovo Legion Go charges via USB-C. It has two pieces to offer – one at the top and one at the bottom. They both support DisplayPort 1.4 and Power Delivery 3.0 and can also be used to connect a second monitor or something similar. The console also has a headphone/microphone combo jack and a MicroSD card reader that can expand storage by up to 2TB.

However, you will not find a LAN port. You can only access the Internet via WiFi. Additional peripherals, such as a mouse and keyboard, can be connected to the Lenovo Legion Go via Bluetooth.

Display and software

An 8.8-inch IPS panel with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels is installed. This results in an impressive pixel density of approximately 343 ppi. For comparison: a 27-inch classic gaming monitor with a WQHD resolution has only 108 ppi. Accordingly, all content is displayed on the screen clearly.

However, depending on the game, the resolution can be too high for the built-in devices, so it can be adjusted at any time using the quick menu. You can choose from 1200 x 800 pixels, 1920 x 1200 pixels and 2560 x 1440 pixels mentioned above.

The screen refresh rate can also be changed there. This is standard at 144Hz, but can be downgraded to 60Hz if desired. This means you can get a little more runtime from the built-in battery in everyday life.

Its 8.8 inch size is large enough to see everything clearly. At the same time, the screen is small enough that lower resolutions still look nice and sharp. In our opinion, Lenovo has found a very good compromise.

The screen’s color and contrast representation is also good. Everything looks pleasingly saturated and realistic. The DCI-P3 color space is covered at 97 percent. The maximum brightness is 500 cd/m2, which is quite sufficient for indoor use, but too low for direct sunlight. Depending on the intensity of the light, many outdoor details can be lost. As is the case with IPS, the viewing angle stability is at a very high level.

By the way, it is a touch screen, which makes it much easier to use in everyday life. Touch inputs are recognized reliably and accurately. This means you can easily navigate through relatively small menus and quickly get to your destination.

Lenovo Legion Go works normally with Windows 11. So all the games you can play can also be installed on a regular gaming PC. To facilitate operation, the device operates in tablet mode. However, at one time or another, you have noticed that Windows 11 is not primarily designed for laptops.

To solve this problem, Lenovo is using a pre-installed program called “LegionSpace,” which is supposed to give you the typical feel of the console. The program can be opened with the push of a button and collects all installed games and setup options. This is really practical. All we hoped for was an integrated browser.

Controllers

The Lenovo Legion Go is larger than average, but it still feels good in the hand. Of course, this always depends on the size of your hand. If you have particularly small hands, you may have problems reaching all the buttons comfortably.

When viewed from the front, the controllers have a fairly classic build. We have a joystick with non-slip rubber grips, a control pad, four buttons (A, B, X, Y) and some additional buttons for menus. The right controller also has a small trackpad and even a built-in mouse wheel. There are also a full series of shoulder, side and back buttons that can be freely customized.

The keys leave a good impression, although the additional keys are a bit soft for our taste. They have a good pressure point, nice tactile feedback, and a clearly audible click. The joysticks currently experience an unusually large dead zone. Depending on the game, this can be very annoying. Lenovo knows about the issue and wants to fix it with an update.

As we mentioned at the beginning, the controllers can be detached from the main unit such as the Nintendo Switch. Unfortunately, there’s no way to connect them together to form a large console (yet). Both individual parts must be taken into proper hands. This may be strange at first, but it works well. We also didn’t detect any noticeable latency in our testing. Stable and reliable Bluetooth connection.

An additional special feature is the FPS mode, which can be activated using a small slider at the bottom of the right controller. This quickly turns the right controller into a vertical mouse and the left controller into a kind of keyboard. This also makes the Lenovo Legion Go suitable for games that are not designed to use a controller. For example “Counter Strike 2” or “League of Legends”.

The concept works and is convincing. Of course, the vertical mouse control takes some getting used to at first, but it gets resolved quickly. The weaknesses are most evident in the left controller, which takes the role of the keyboard in games. Due to the number of buttons that can be controlled, the range of functions is very limited. Here we recommend using a real Bluetooth keyboard.

the performance

The Lenovo Legion Go bills itself as a gaming laptop and is powered by an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme with RDNA graphics unit. The chipset is backed by 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and a 512GB SSD. Testing confirmed that it has write and read rates of 5,062MB/s and 3,941MB/s respectively. Using a MicroSD card, the storage space can be expanded by up to 2TB.

Lenovo Legion Go has no problems in everyday life. Easily masters everyday tasks such as browsing the Internet. On the other hand, gaming performance depends greatly on the games being used. While you can achieve 60+ frames per second with simpler titles like “Rocket League” even at high resolution and high graphics settings, PC clearly struggles with AAA games.

In games like “Hogwarts Legacy” or “Cyberpunk 2077”, we have to lower the resolution and/or graphic details a little in order to at least cross the 30 FPS mark. At least AMD’s FSR 2 helps us here. Upscaling technology renders games at a lower resolution and then upscales them. This saves computing power without losing a lot of detail.

But even though we can usually only play AAA games at 800p or 1200p resolution, the games don’t look bad. The small screen ensures that the pixel density remains high enough so that games look good. This makes it very fun to play despite some limitations.

In the settings, you can choose from four different performance modes: Quiet, Balanced, Performance and Custom. However, as performance increases, power requirements also increase and the fans make an audible sound. How long the 48.2Wh battery lasts depends on your usage behavior. The computer lasts a little longer than an hour of performance-hungry gaming at high brightness. With the right settings and less demanding tasks, two or three hours of playtime can be enjoyed. Thanks to USB-C, the battery recharges quickly. A full charge takes just over an hour.

Conclusion

All in all, there it is Lenovo Legion Go Good personality. This gaming laptop is high quality, fits well in the hand, has a large screen and delivers decent performance. Additional features include removable controllers and an innovative FPS mode. Steady use with the foldable stand makes it possible to easily use the PC as a tablet for watching videos or something similar.

The demanding AAA games make the device sweat a lot and the battery life isn’t great. But to be honest, all other laptops currently available also have to deal with these vulnerabilities. So, the Lenovo Legion Go probably fares better when it comes to the overall package.