Lenovo Legion Go

[ThePainBarrier]

Had mine for a week.

It's early days yet but. Hardware seems good (controllers could be a better fit in the hand) but software needs some work.
The device comes with 3 months of Game Pass Ultimate so taking advantage of that. Just been playing Jusant for now, running fine!

Tried hooking it up to my TV but had various issues.
Windows was trying to connect at 144hz, had to drop it to 60 and then I got an image (running through a Hue Sync Hub).

It connected as a second screen - so I had two 4k screens, when I ran Jusant on the TV, it was very jerky - I put that down to the device having to handle two screens.
When I told to windows to only use the second screen, I just got a black screen on the TV - I belive this was due to windows switching back to 144hz - this may have been sorted with the new update that came out on Friday which has added extra settings for secondary screens - yet to try it.

Also had issues connecting a PS4 controller to it. Again, the latest update has added extra support for this.

Good to see Lenovo fully committed (for now anyway) to getting the main issues ironed out. A beta firmware is currently available that improves framerate etc - I am sticking to the release version for now.

This is a great place to go for the latest news:

Legion Go

The official Legion Community discussion group for the new Lenovo Legion Go! Get updates on new roadmap features from Legion product managers, plus tips and guides from fellow community Go product owners.

gaming.lenovo.com

 

[Rroff]

Picked one up through work at a substantial discount, lots of mixed reviews but I'm struggling to find a decent ~8" Windows tablet to replace the one I have which is struggling now which isn't twice the price of the Legion. Didn't really get it for gaming, though may have some uses there, but I can already tell quite frankly for this kind of use it would have been far better with an nVidia GPU and DLSS and some form of VRR.

Hoping I can eek a bit more battery life out of it in lighter use, for other stuff it'll be plugged in.

 

[Rroff]

In case anyone was having trouble updating the graphics drivers - you have to use the version from the Lenovo support site and they are missing a line in the install script to setup the AMD Software suite (Adrenalin) - you have to go into the c:\drivers\vga folder (might need to run the installer again with the extract option) and find the appropriate \xx.xx.xx.xx\Packages\Apps\UWP\radeonsoftware\ folder and either install the .msix file from there or open the preinstall zip file somewhere in that location and run the .msix file in it depending on version.

Lenovo seriously needs to put some time in polishing stuff up with this device :s

EDIT: CPU performance is quite impressive, shame can't be said for the GPU, restricted to 5W it pretty much matches/beats my overclocked Xeon 1650 V2.

 

[Rroff]

Though I'd post a bit of info on the device as no one much is:

CPU-z:

AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme @ 4214.64 MHz - CPU-Z VALIDATOR

[xf86bg] Validated Dump by Anonymous (2023-12-21 16:14:55) - MB: LENOVO LNVNB161216 - RAM: 16384 MB

valid.x86.fr

GPU-z:

Heaven 4.0 1080p Ultra Extreme:

Possible there is some optimisation as this is pretty much out the box in performance mode.

The CPU seems way unbalanced for the device - it chases even some recent desktop CPUs, even with some thermal considerations, putting up very strong performance, while the GPU languishes with performance more around an nVidia 1030, more Radeon 455 or about half the performance of my old GTX780. It could have got away with a significant reduction in resources allocated to the CPU and much more to the GPU! the lack of VRR support on a device like this is almost criminal - fortunately I didn't get it primarily for gaming use. (Also the screen causes some issues which is a bit unforgivable - I get better performance at the same resolution on an external monitor, sometimes by quite a bit - possible due to the use of a native portrait screen as some have mentioned.

 

[Rroff]

This is pretty cool, shame don't think it is available in the UK and these kind of things are always hilariously expensive for what they are

Though far from an ideal product with the lack of video out, etc. but still.

 

[Purgatory]

£647.99 at lenovo at moment with 2 screen protectors .. so heads up for anyone that wants one.

Lenovo Legion Go

Lenovo Legion Go has AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processors with RDNA graphics. Plus it features an 8.8″ QHD+ Lenovo PureSight Gaming display and Legion Space.

www.lenovo.com

 

[willhub]

@Rroff
Must be something wrong with the Go, the Ally has the same APU but performance is more around a 1060 maybe even higher, Absolutley not a 1030.

 

[Rroff]

@Rroff
Must be something wrong with the Go, the Ally has the same APU but performance is more around a 1060 maybe even higher, Absolutley not a 1030.

Depends a lot on the game - I'll try and get some more benchmarks but it varies between around 1030 and 1060 performance. How hard something hits pixel fillrates or memory bandwidth can have a huge impact on how it stacks up against desktop GPUs.

 

[LostCorpse]

aaronn onine store seems to have those pocket AIs but look to be based out of Germany if any one was interested.

 

[Rroff]

aaronn onine store seems to have those pocket AIs but look to be based out of Germany if any one was interested.

The Razer Core X Chroma is probably a better bet if someone wants an eGPU though lacks the portability factor. The lack of video out on the pocket AI tends to impact its performance in this use case.

 

[LostCorpse]

yep watched the video they said that also.
its a neet idea, i think we could see some more like that in the future, gives so much more life and flexibility and a way to upgrade these handhld devices that it seems silly not to do i or something similar in the future.

 

[Rroff]

Legion Go Update 01.05.2024 | Lenovo Gaming (US)

<p>Happy New Year Everyone!</p> <p>Getting back into the swing of things with the weekly updates on Legion Go. Our teams have had varying degrees of breaks and vacations and we're all catching up with each other at the moment, but we have made some progress over the last few weeks on some key...

gaming.lenovo.com

Update on what they are hoping to do with the next update - a lot of it is very tentative or they "hope" to be improving though

 

[carl5363]

How does Fortnite play on this? I play on the Switch and it's terrible so keen for a better handheld.

 

[willhub]

How does Fortnite play on this? I play on the Switch and it's terrible so keen for a better handheld.

FWIW considering same APU, I was getting around 40fps on my Ally with very nice graphics, however I was playing the Fornite Lego, looked great!

 

[carl5363]

Thanks, I'm going to wait for the Nintendo Switch 2 as I've heard some good things about it.

Playing a good game of Fortnite on a handheld is something I've been after for a while. Switch is too laggy, buggy and its locked at 30fps.

 

[willhub]

Thanks, I'm going to wait for the Nintendo Switch 2 as I've heard some good things about it.

Playing a good game of Fortnite on a handheld is something I've been after for a while. Switch is too laggy, buggy and its locked at 30fps.

Nintendo Switch 2 is expected to be around PS4 performance so similar to a Z1 Extreme APU it seems, maybe less/more powerful I suspect and is also due the back end of this year it seems, and remember, it can only play Nintendo games unlike the GO/Ally/ (Intel)THE CLAAAAAAAW!

 

[ninja2000]

This is pretty cool, shame don't think it is available in the UK and these kind of things are always hilariously expensive for what they are

Though far from an ideal product with the lack of video out, etc. but still.

wow I have got to get my hands on one of those!

Have been enjoying my legion EGPU with mine, performance is much better than I expected with a 4070. I had bought the EGPU to use with a surface pro 9 but it was so buggy I ended up shelving it

 

[Rroff]

Wish they'd sort their customised AMD GPU drivers out - has to be the 3rd one in a row they've screwed up the install script and Adrenalin doesn't work properly without messing about with the extracted driver package. They keep talking about sorting it but then nothing gets done

 

[EddScott]

Have just ordered one of these.

I had a Steamdeck at launch and sold due to lack of use but I've missed it quite a bit. Rather than order the OLED deck, I decided to give the Go a try.

Be interesting to see how it compares. Hoping I won't regret not buying a deck

 

[Rroff]

Hopefully got a Razer Core X Chroma turning up today - been a bit of a pain ordering it (their website isn't exactly great and the first payment failed with everyone involved claiming nothing to do with us... and the amount sitting there pending indefinitely so that'll be fun to deal with...) and delivery keeps flicking on and off being delayed...

Some rather mixed reviews of the unit including people saying the cheaper one without the extra hub is better due to it taking bandwidth from the GPU so we'll see. I've got a few recent(ish) GPUs lying about so useful potentially to be able to use one of those.

EDIT: Turned up - so far so good, bigger and heavier than I'd anticipated though obviously having a full size GPU in there it won't be small.