Handheld consoles: Lenovo will launch a Legion Go tasked with overshadowing the ROG Ally and the Steam Deck

Last year, Lenovo canceled the release of the Legion Play, a console with a 7-inch screen and powered by a Qualcomm chip. This device, which was supposed to run on Android like the Logitech G-Cloud or the Razer Edge, ultimately never appeared on the shelves of retailers. Only a few smart guys have managed to find one, as evidenced by several videos on YouTube.

Since the cancellation of Legion Play, another PC console has caused a lot of ink to flow: the Asus ROG Ally. And its success, at least according to the media – since Asus has not communicated on its commercial results – is the envy of people.

Hardware close to the ROG Ally

According to Windows Central, Lenovo is gearing up to launch a portable console reminiscent in many ways of the ROG Ally, the Legion GO. Only known difference, an 8-inch screen, 1 inch more, to better interact with Windows 11, which would equip the console.

In terms of hardware, the choice is rather limited for Lenovo since currently, only AMD APUs are able to offer a good compromise between performance and autonomy.

In this case, Lenovo would have the choice between the Ryzen Z1 Extreme, specially designed by AMD for PC consoles, and the Ryzen 7 7840U, initially intended for ultrathin laptops. Anyway, these two chips are very close on paper, the difference only concerns the power envelope, which can go down to 9W on the Z1 Extreme against 15W for the Ryzen 7 7840U.

Another argument in favor of the Z1 Extreme: Asus benefited from an exclusivity on this APU which should end by the release of Lenovo’s Legion Go. However, it is hard to imagine AMD giving exclusivity for more than six months on this APU. We must therefore expect, by the end of the year, a multiplication of PC consoles equipped with the Z1 Extreme.

An outing for the end of the year celebrations

If Windows Central does not advance any release date, some information allows us to count on a launch for the end of the year celebrations. If there is indeed a date not to be missed for the successful release of a PC console, it is Christmas.

Two shows serve as a launch pad for end-of-year releases: IFA in Berlin and, to a lesser extent, Gamescom, which also takes place in Germany. Suffice to say that the latter would be the ideal launch pad for the launch of a PC console in the gaming world. However, according to the Gamescom site, Lenovo does not seem to be planning an official stand at the show. That leaves the IFA in Berlin; if Lenovo does not participate physically, the firm always invites journalists to discover new products either on the sidelines of the show, or during discovery evenings such as ShowStopper. Last year, we had taken in hand the ThinkPad X1 Fold, competitor of the ZenBook Fold from Asus.

A hard price to keep

Another unknown: the price. By placing the ROG Ally at €800, Asus has established an acceptable benchmark price. If, in absolute terms, 800 € remains a substantial sum for a simple console, it must be admitted that taking into account the on-board components, the price is rather attractive.

In comparison, a ZenBook 13 Oled with the same type of APU is sold for €1,200, while the Framework Laptop 13 equipped with its Ryzen 7 7840U is displayed at €1,669.

However, it is rumored that Asus would not make a profit on the ROG Ally, a strategy that would make the latter a standard intended to increase brand awareness and force the competition to align to remain competitive. This is exactly what happened to Ayaneo, which sold its PC consoles for more than 1000 € before the release of the ROG Ally, and which has just cut its prices to stay in the race.

We can therefore assume that with the same configuration, the Lenovo Legion Go will cost at least the same price as the ROG Ally to seek to overshadow it. The question of availability remains open, because apart from the Z1 Extreme of the ROG Ally, AMD seems to have difficulty supplying laptop manufacturers with Ryzen 7040U, which are still not available in France. This does not bode well for the availability of Legion Go in the short term.