CheckMag | I swapped my Steam Deck for a Legion Go and ended up hating it in every way possible, and no, it wasn't Windows

I ordered my Steam Deck on day 1 and despite it taking 12 months to arrive, the system still provided nearly 2 years of happy gaming memories. But as much as I loved the Steam Deck, the ability to play some newer titles like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Silent Hill 2 Remake on the go, it left me sadly wanting more. Top tier performance has never been a defining factor for me (or the Steam Deck), and this is not what mobile gaming should be about. As someone who spends a great deal of time on the road, just being able to play the latest games at cinematic frame rates and low settings is more than fine when I don't have access to either a desktop GPU or a wall outlet. But sadly, the Steam Deck for all its industry defining innovations is getting a little long in the tooth.

As someone who usually carries a laptop for work, as well as a handheld, the next logical step was whether this could be combined into something that serves both functions. I wasn't prepared to order something from GPD or Ayaneo, therefore the only real options were the MSI Claw, some variant of ROG Ally, or the Legion Go, and it was ultimately the detachable controllers and large high resolution display that led me to commit to the Legion Go, potentially allowing me to replace 2 devices with one.

The performance of the Legion Go was excellent, certainly better than the Steam Deck and I was very happy to be able to play The Great Circle at frame rates and settings that I would consider fine for mobile. Unfortunately, that's where the fun ended.

It's generally well known that the Legion Go controllers are terrible, with many choosing to 3D print more ergonomic ones. However, nothing prepared me for quite how bad they were. The thumb stick positioning is awkward coming from the Steam Deck, as they are positioned too close to the edge (on the left particularly), and the corners really dig into your hands. Not ideal for such a large, heavy device.

That in itself is a problem because lying in bed holding the thing in front of your face is a sure fire way to end up with dead arms. However, due to the rear fan placement, you can't lay the Legion Go down. This quickly results in thermal throttling and long term, clogged fans and dust bunnies. In the end, the only way I managed to play was to remove the controllers, place the Legion Go on its kickstand on a relatively flat surface and resort to an Xbox pad.

On the software side, Legion Space is serviceable in terms of accessing quick settings, but still pretty terrible next to the Steam Deck and even Asus Armoury Crate. When setting the max TDP for best performance, battery life barely stretched to an hour before Windows begins nagging you to plug the device in.

Thankfully, if used with the right accessories the Legion Go works so much better for getting work done than it does as a gaming device. Paired with a folding keyboard and 8-inch iPad case, the Legion Go becomes extremely portable and functional. The large screen and high resolution are excellent for everything from working in a web browser to image editing in Photoshop. The battery life was significantly better when running on silent mode, getting around 4 hours of use. However, any heavy-duty tasks will likely see that deteriorate quickly.

The biggest drawback is that there is no way to prop it up on your lap. It's not a laptop, so you are reliant on a hard surface to rest it on. Working on your lap is nigh on impossible. Nevertheless, the Legion Go as a work machine reminded me of working with the PC Specialist Inferno from 2012, a tiny laptop that thanks to its GeForce GT 650M GPU could happily pull double duty as a game machine as well as a productivity machine. Sadly, that's a form factor that has yet to be re-created outside of China.

I wanted to love the Legion Go. A machine that can serve both as a handheld and productivity machine for less than the price of a half decent laptop, on paper, seems like an instant win.

I carried it for around 3 months before deciding enough was enough. While it can function as both a work and play machine, it ends up being great at neither. It's far too big and heavy to be considered a handheld and frankly makes the Acer Nitro look ridiculous. Holding the Legion Go for any length of time felt like grappling with the Razer Edge from 2012. Even if the controllers for the Legion Go 2 are compatible with the Legion Go 1, calling either of these devices handhelds seems like a stretch. When packed down as a work machine, without the controller, the Legion Go is extremely portable. But when the whole thing is packed in its case with the controllers attached, a small 13-inch laptop consumes far less volume overall. 

When gaming laptops can't run their discrete GPUs without being plugged in, having a mobile workstation that can pull double duty as a gaming machine without requiring a wall socket seems like an untapped market, one that only Asus currently dares fill with its ROG Flow and a price tag that falls far out of reach for the vast majority of people.

The Legion Go (for me at least) hasn't filled that niche, and I'll continue to haul two machines round in one bag.