Lenovo’s Legion Go gaming handheld impressed us in many ways when it first landed, but one aspect that ultimately held it back as a truly portable gaming device was its size. That could be about to change if Lenovo’s own website is anything to go by, however, as a mention of a 7-inch screen version of the handheld hints that there’s a smaller Lenovo Legion Go Lite in the works.
This isn’t the first we’ve heard about Lenovo working on a more affordable alternative to the current Legion Go. Back in May, there were rumors of a cheaper Legion Go that would use the less powerful Ryzen Z1 processor, rather than the Z1 Extreme of the current version. However, that was the last we heard of a new Lenovo contender for our best handheld gaming PC guide, until now.
As spotted by Reddit user methylmorphia, the main Legion Go page now has some surprising information in its FAQ section. In response to the question “What size is the Lenovo Legion Go display?” the site says the Lenovo Legion Go “comes with a 7-inch or 8-inch display.” Putting aside the fact that the screen on the current Legion Go is actually 8.8-inches in size (much closer to 9-inch than 8-inch), there is currently only one screen size available, so this FAQ is either wrong or telling us something we don’t yet know.
The appearance of this text has been confirmed as occurring after the initial launch of the Legion Go, suggesting (but not guaranteeing) it wasn’t leftover text from a version that was never launched. As such, it’s reasonable to suspect that this is either just an outright error, or Lenovo is working on a new version and the website was updated early with this new information.
This page also shows that there are apparently dual-fan versions of the Legion Go (the current one uses a single fan), as well as a version with an HDMI port. These actually confuse the situation even further, as we wouldn’t expect a smaller, less powerful version of a product to have better cooling and extra connections.
Regardless, the combination of a Legion Go that’s a bit smaller than the current one, and that uses a lower-power processor, makes more sense than the original Legion Go Lite rumor that talked only of there being a version of the handheld with the Ryzen Z1 chip.
A large handheld with such a weak CPU would seem to be a badly balanced device. But if Lenovo also drops the removable controllers of the Legion Go. and essentially makes a device that’s similar in size and form factor to the Asus ROG Ally and Zotac Zone, it could be a more viable option.
All that said, the pricing really will have to be low for a device like the Legion Go Lite to find much traction. Reception of the Asus ROG Ally model that uses the Ryzen Z1 chip hasn’t been particularly good, with the consensus being that the weaker chip limits the experience too much.
In fact, it’s telling that the new ROG Ally X isn’t a cheaper version of the ROG Ally, but a more powerful version. Its larger battery and faster memory helps to make it a far more potent competitor to the Steam Deck, and a far more tempting device all round than the older Ally. It’s well worth a read of our full Asus ROG Ally X review to find out just why we think it’s such a step up from the original.