Gaming | Technology
Go Legion or Go Home: I Finally Got My Hands on a Handheld Gaming PC
The Lenovo Legion Go is one of the more recent handheld gaming consoles on the market, and even with its few flaws, I couldn’t be happier
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been a gamer. Some might even say that I came out of the womb with a controller in my hands. I was lucky enough to grow up in a household that had retro consoles, so I discovered my passion and skills for video games very early on. From the SNES to the PlayStation 5, I’ve experienced just about every home console, in addition to any relevant handheld consoles. For the most part, it’s been a very interesting ride.
However, as someone who’s mostly had a bias towards home consoles, specifically the PlayStation, I’ve always found myself siding with Sony in the ever-present console wars. Although, as time has gone on and I’ve grown older, I’ve become extremely disillusioned with the idea of home consoles. Not only have the eighth and ninth generations of gaming been uneventful for me as a PlayStation fan, but I just can’t bring myself to be tethered to a TV anymore.
I tell people all the time that Nintendo opened up Pandora’s box for Sony and Microsoft when they released the Switch. After experiencing the wonders of a hybrid console, I realized that if I didn’t have the convenience of docking or going portable at my leisure, I probably wouldn’t enjoy myself.
That said, I’ve been considering making the leap into PC gaming for a really long time now. Luckily, I recently managed to snag a good deal on a Lenovo Legion Go, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised with my experience thus far. It’s a shame that it’s taken me such a long time to do so, but making this transition into PC gaming may have ended up being one of my best decisions yet.
Physically? It’s Everything I Want
Before we get into how my first week with this device went, I have to point out that there was no way I was going to use my Legion Go before my accessories came. As a huge Superman nerd, I figured it would only be appropriate to have a glossy blue SopiGuard skin and complementing S-shield thumb grips. To top it off, I also made sure that the lock screen and background included the object of my obsession. Yes, yes, I know. I might have a bit of a problem, but don’t judge me. Superman is a good role model.
After completing the preliminary setup, which took a few hours thanks to the mind-numbingly long skin application process, I finally got to explore the Legion Go itself. I was already expecting this device to be huge, since it sports an 8.8-inch screen, but that measurement alone doesn’t do it any justice. Holding this console in your hands is a completely different beast. Fortunately, that worked out for me because not only do my hands need large controllers, but my eyes are terrible for focusing on small displays.
The real point of excitement for me, though, was the detachable joysticks. Like I mentioned previously, the Nintendo Switch signaled a huge shift for handheld consoles, and now I look for that added utility in all my devices. Like the Switch, the Legion Go is capable of gaming in three modes: Handheld, Tabletop, and Docked. Unfortunately, right now I can’t dock my Legion Go, since I already spent nearly an arm and a leg just to buy the console itself. However, I’ve been content playing in handheld mode so far. After all, that was the main reason I bought the device in the first place.
Gamewise? There Might Be a Learning Curve
Fortunately, because I’m both an avid gamer and a tech-enthusiast, tinkering around with devices to see how they work is nothing short of an adventure for me. I mean, I’ve been playing games my entire life, so figuring out how a handheld gaming PC works shouldn’t be too hard. Right? Mostly, no, but maybe a little of yes as well.
For those of you who remember, back in March I wrote this article:
One of the main points I highlighted in that story was that the focus on graphics detracted from the importance of gaming itself. Now, I don’t consider myself to be a graphics snob by any means. However, after experiencing PC gaming for the first time this past week, I can finally understand why that particular conversation is so important for some people.
One of the first things I did when I turned on my Legion Go was download EmuDeck. I’m a sucker for emulation, and since my Steam library is still in its infancy, I just knew I’d be spending most of my time playing retro titles. I assumed that it would be as simple as downloading some BIOS files, a few ROMs, and jumping straight in. To my surprise, I found out that there’s actually a bit of learning that goes into doing anything on a gaming PC. It’s not like a home console where you can just click on something and voilà.
Graphics. Graphics. Graphics. Everything has to be optimized in a specific way to give you the best performance, and that’s a completely manual process. Remember, even though the Legion Go is a PC, it’s also still a handheld. There are limits to what it can do, which I quickly learned when trying out Tekken 8. If you try going for 100% graphical fidelity on this device with any game, at least in handheld mode, two things are going to happen:
- You WILL eat through your battery life, which isn’t that great to begin with.
- You’re going to experience A LOT of stuttering and performance issues.
There’s a significant amount of tinkering that needs to be made between each game you’re playing. One title might run perfectly at certain thermal modes, power settings, and resolutions, while the other may not. As a result, you’re going to have to learn how to find the balance between image quality and performance, because every title has its own sweet spot.
That said, after you become acquainted with all the console’s parameters, making further adjustments inside of the games themselves becomes much easier. In my opinion, experimentation is a small price to pay for access to AAA titles in the palms of your hands.
Conclusion
Minor flaws and learning curves aside, I’m thoroughly enjoying this new chapter of gaming in my life. From this generation onward, I’ll probably never return to home consoles again. Truthfully, I think that handheld gaming PCs will dominate the market 5–10 years from now, especially as technology becomes more adaptable. While I don’t believe that Sony and Microsoft will ever really fall off, I definitely don’t see a profitable future for them in a world where power and portability are starting to catch up.
Wrapping up, I’d love to hear from anyone who has a Legion Go themselves or any other kind of handheld gaming PC. What have your experiences with your portable consoles been like so far? Do you see handheld gaming PCs outselling home consoles as the market grows? Do you think that Sony and Microsoft will eventually catch on to the trend?
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