The first non-Steam Deck SteamOS handheld is now available for preorder, and Lenovo may be aiming for the ROG Ally X’s throne

If you want a more powerful handheld gaming PC but don’t want to part with SteamOS, Lenovo’s SteamOS-powered Legion Go S is finally up for preorder, with a release date set for May 25.

As noted by a Lenovo Legion Go X fan account, the SteamOS version of the Lenovo Legion Go S is now available to preorder at Best Buy. You can get it with either the Z2 Go or Z1 Extreme chip.

The former is found in the Legion Go S that we recently reviewed, and the latter is the same found in the older Lenovo Legion Go and ROG Ally X, which is currently our pick for the best handheld gaming PC. The thing to note is that the older Z1 Extreme is the more powerful option compared to the newer Z2 Go, which is a little confusing.

So, why might you buy the SteamOS version of the Lenovo Legion Go instead of the Windows one? Beyond the fact you get access to Valve’s snappy and straightforward Linux-based OS, which we’ve come to like a lot in our time with the Steam Deck, it’s also cheaper than the comparable Windows option.

The Nebula (dark purple) Z1 Extreme SteamOS model comes with 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD for $750. The Glacier White WindowsOS model with the same spec is actually $80 more at $830.

This price reduction also means that the SteamOS Legion Go S is really competitive versus the ROG Ally X. It has the same APU, for less money, and comes with more RAM (32 GB vs 24 GB).

If you want to save a little more cash, the Z2 Go is the weaker APU of the two available but offers greater battery life and a cheaper price point in return. If you want the Nebula model of the Lenovo Legion Go S with the Ryzen Z2 Go processor, it will set you back $550. This model comes with a smaller 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of SSD storage.

Like the Z1 Extreme model, the Windows-enabled Glacier White model will cost you a good bit more. It is currently available for buy for $730, which is an increase of almost $200 for a different colour and OS.

The Steam Deck OLED has an MSRP of $649 for the 1 TB model or $549 for the 512 GB model. That still makes an impression as one of few devices on the market with an OLED screen but no doubt the SteamOS Legion Go S will be gunning for its market. Even the Z2 Go version will be a little faster that Valve’s machine.

I wouldn’t recommend preordering a device (or anything really) until reviews start to pour in. We haven’t had an extended amount of time with the SteamOS Lenovo Legion Go S yet. Our Andy got to test it out earlier this year and was quite impressed and our Lenovo Legion Go S (Windows) review was quite positive on the device, at the very least.

The Lenovo Legion Go S is a little smaller than the normal Legion Go but has a great battery life, a lush and bright 120 Hz screen, and it’s super comfortable. All of those positives are expected to stay with the SteamOS version, assuming you pick the AMD Ryzen Z2 Go CPU model we used.

The Lenovo Legion Go S, when equipped with the cheaper Z2 Go chip and the more expensive Windows model, lags behind some of its competition in price-to-performance ratio. It’s quite a lot of money for a device that will be beaten by comparable machines. The Z1 Extreme model (with Steam OS) is competitively priced and offers a small bump in specs over the ROG Ally X but we’re also starting to see Strix Point and Lunar Lake devices pour in if you want the most power you can get. Then there are the devices Ayaneo is currently cooking up, like the rather peculiar and modular Ayaneo 3.

The handheld gaming PC space could look a little different by the time the SteamOS Legion Go S launches on May 25. It does have a pretty competitive price point though.