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A short time again, we managed to try the Lenovo Legion Go whereas in Singapore. The gadget marks the model’s first foray into the realm of transportable, gaming handheld consoles and an alternative choice to the customers trying past The ASUS ROG Ally, Valve’s Steam Deck, and all the opposite handhelds popping out of China.
I’ve spent an affordable time with the Legion Go by now – residing with it, utilizing it in public in addition to within the privateness of my house, be it in mattress or on the porcelain throne. Right here’s what I can let you know about it, in addition to what it’s like as my on-the-go each day gaming driver.
Specs
Seems And Performance
It’s troublesome to speak in regards to the Legion Go with out drawing comparisons from the Nintendo Change, so as a substitute of avoiding it, I’m going to do exactly that. Sure, the Go basically is an accumulation of among the greatest options from present consoles and applied sciences, and sure, that kickstand design is clearly Lenovo taking a web page out of Nintendo’s e-book when it made the Change OLED.
The kickstand on the Legion Go, specifically, appears like a direct port and carbon copy from the Change OLED, and even feels sturdy as a consequence of its all-metal design. Having mentioned that, it’s not fairly as strong and with minimal effort, I can partially bend and twist the body of the kickstand into odd angles.
That backplate on the Legion Go is there on tight.
Just like the ROG Ally, getting access to the Legion Go’s innards isn’t troublesome; all it takes is a Philips head screwdriver, a bit of little bit of elbow grease, a little bit of leverage to pop open the again and voila, you’re in. On a facet observe, I believe it greatest to talk about the Truestrike controllers and extra particularly, the joysticks. In contrast to those connected to its rivals, those on this console are Corridor Impact joysticks, that means that you just do not need to fret in regards to the dreaded Stick Drift situation that has plague not simply gaming handheld consoles but in addition controllers of static consoles just like the PlayStation.
The storage choice that Lenovo has chosen isn’t typical both and by that, I’m referring measurement of the M.2 SSD. As an alternative of the 2230 type issue that’s utilized in each the Ally and Deck, this SSD is the 2242 type issue, which is barely longer and never essentially simpler to acquire or change. On that observe, having access to the again of the console is a bit of troublesome and until you may get leverage, that panel’s caught in tight there, nearly like somebody that’s busting for a pee however has to desperately maintain it in, onerous, till they get to a washroom.
Connectivity, for an additional matter, is one port greater than the competitors presents. Lenovo noticed match to put in two USB-C ports, and USB 4 ports as well. The concept right here is that you should utilize one port for retaining the Legion Go charged both with the supplied 65W adapter, or any appropriate adapter of the identical output, whereas the second can be utilized to attach the Legion Glasses.
And that’s a pleasant segue approach into what’s the most enjoyable accent for use with the Legion Go: the Legion Glasses. Lenovo describes it as a pair of AR glasses however the backside line is, it isn’t. Truth of the matter is, it is a pair of glasses that comes with prescription-friendly lenses, and constructed inside it’s an FHD OLED – OLED – show with a 60Hz refresh charge. It’s a enjoyable piece of expertise for me, just because I discovered myself pairing it up with different use-case situations.
Having mentioned that, the Glasses are removed from excellent. Whereas they are often related to just about any gadget through USB-C – connecting the glasses to the Legion Go or any gaming handheld with a USB-C routinely turns off the primary display screen and initiatives it into the glasses – connecting them to Android gadgets doesn’t shut down the display screen. It’s comprehensible, given that you just nonetheless must navigate the gadget. Then there’s the removable bridge on it; I’ve misplaced rely on what number of instances that rattling piece of the accent has indifferent itself from the cradle once I use it to look at movies in mattress, go to sleep, and get up to the realisation that one thing’s lacking.
Efficiency And Battery
So far as gaming goes, the Legion Go and the Z1 Excessive inside it barely breaks a sweat, up till you strive gaming at QHD+, at the least. I’ve mentioned this a number of time on this evaluate however as fairly as that show is, the chipset that’s certain to obviously hits a wall at Full HD decision or on this case, FHD+. On triple A titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Starfield, gaming on the QHD+ means you’ll solely see the hand-held push a most common of 30 fps, greatest case state of affairs. At FHD+, I can nonetheless wring out a cushty 40 fps common however when you actually wish to milk the console for all its price, dropping the decision all the way down to HD+ is the best resolution to the issue.
Transferring on, Legion Area is leaps and bounds higher in its execution than ASUS’ personal Armoury Crate SE for the Ally, however it’s removed from flawless. THe UI overlay, as an illustration, nonetheless wants a bit of labor. Extra on that in a bit.
One other draw back to the console is the gaming mode: All through the evaluate, I left my unit operating within the Efficiency mode by default, just because operating it in both Silent or Auto Mode merely brings a couple of huge drop in body charges, coupled with the followers operating so quick, it’s nearly as in the event that they’re making up for being lazy all through the evaluate course of.
Then there’s the Legion Go’s FPS mode that works nice in principle, at the least in relation to easy FPS titles akin to Counter-Strike 2 or Overwatch. The mode transforms the appropriate Truestrike joystick right into a mouse and even comes with a removable foot that you just slip the bottom of the joystick in. With the left controller in hand, it presents a comparatively distinctive expertise by offering dynamic actions and mobility that you just get with a controller, whereas offering a stage of precision that you’d solely get with a high-grade gaming mouse.
Talking of a mouse, the devoted trackpad on the Legion Go is unquestionably a nifty little software, however I’ve to be sincere: it feels a bit of misplaced. Once more, to attract comparability from different consoles, the Deck itself has two devoted trackpads, each of that are programmable and can be utilized nevertheless you select, in no matter sport you need. The one on the Go? All I discover myself doing is utilizing it to navigate the onboard Home windows OS and perhaps the occasional doom scrolling or clicking on YouTube.
There’s only one situation with FPS mode: in reworking the appropriate joystick right into a “mouse”, the operate successfully disables – removes, even – the ABXY buttons from the equation. This renders many titles within the ARPG style and the likes of it, akin to Starfield or Cyberpunk 2077, fully unplayable, just because the button mapping of this mode simply wreaks havoc and causes confusion. To place it in one other approach: think about a automobile with a button that allows to it go from 0-100km/h in 2.5 seconds. Nonetheless, upon pushing that button, it additionally ejects all 4 wheels concurrently.
I additionally don’t get the button placement for the again buttons on the appropriate controller. Truthfully, I don’t: in its coveted FPS mode, and even when I do handle to discover a function for them, its horizontal structure is mindless to me. I imply, what are you anticipating me to do, Lenovo? Press the inside button with the ball of my thumb? I’m sorry, however to borrow a vulgarity from the Spanish to explain my frustration: Coño.
On a considerably associated observe, the Truestrike controllers aren’t essentially the most ergonomic I’ve used. I imply, yeah certain, it’s actually extra comfy to carry than the Joycons on the Change, however as a consequence of its lightness, there’s a hole feeling that my palms simply aren’t capable of get used to about it.
Having mentioned that, the general design of the Legion Go feels, dare I say it, chunky. With the Deck and Ally, each consoles are basically a single, molded items. With the form of the Go, it jogs my memory of the Chinese language handheld console, the OneXPlayer – it’s boxy and heavy, however to its credit score, there may be nonetheless a little bit of perspective to the design, due to the angular vent reduce into it.
One other situation I take with it’s that it isn’t remoted from the console when it’s summoned – usually, controls for such a UI would pause or disable in-game controls briefly, when you cycle via the capabilities and options that you just want to see within the overlay. That isn’t the case right here.
Even when the Legion Area is open, navigating via it nonetheless executes motion inside the sport that it’s briefly beholden to. So, think about when you’ve bought a sport akin to Diablo IV or Cyberpunk 2077 operating within the background, and you discover that your character is shifting and performing actions within the background, all when you’re attempting to make some minor changes.
The efficiency monitor isn’t bug-free both and it’s at all times the FPS counter that both works or simply outright doesn’t. Worst, resetting the Legion Go doesn’t essentially assist it return to working order, and it normally takes me a handful of resets earlier than it begins to behave. All in all, it’s nonetheless a reasonably buggy mess however hopefully, Lenovo would have tackle these points after the publication of this evaluate.
Lastly and nonetheless with regard to Legion Area – that is maybe and outdated and drained argument however having to open up a launcher from the UI is totally and extremely pointless. A lot as I did with the ROG Ally, I discover it faster to simply launch the corresponding launcher and platform instantly from the Home windows house web page than going via the console’s devoted UI.
Conclusion
I’ll be frank right here. the RM3,999 price ticket that Lenovo has slapped on the Legion Go makes the gaming handheld rather less interesting to the overall client. Thoughts you, this price ticket is for the mannequin with the Z1 Excessive processor solely, as it’s at present the mannequin the model might be pushing to the lots.
Just like the Ally, the Lenovo Legion Go is a midway first rate first try at handheld gaming consoles.
However, when you’re keen to look previous the worth tag and take a look at the finger factors of the gaming handheld, you can in all probability be taught to understand them as I do. As soon as once more, having a bigger 8.8-inch QHD+ show is good however realistically, I don’t play nearly all of my video games at that decision and dumb it all the way down to both FHD+ or HD+, with the intention to get as many frames out of the Legion Go. On high of that, the truth that the controllers are removable provides the machine a singular edge amongst its rivals however once more, even that with out drawbacks. The console’s greatest flaw, nevertheless, is that, just like the ROG Ally and being a Home windows-operated transportable, battery life remains to be a problem, be it in Auto or Efficiency mode.
For these amongst you trying to be an early adopter of the Legion Go, although, not one of the flaws points that I’ve addressed on this evaluate stops it from being an eye-opener and occasion piece, be it inside the partitions of a multi-purpose corridor at college, a pretentious cafe that you just go to drink costly artisanal espresso, or when you’re paying tribute to the porcelain throne. Simply be sure to’re subsequent to a wallplug and you’ve got a charging adapter able to outputting 65W, or excessive output powerbank when you intend to be on it longer than a few hours.
Images by John Legislation.
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