I spoiled myself and purchased a Lenovo Legion Go (you can grab one from Best Buy). While seemingly out of character of me to purchase such an expensive toy, the Legion Go (or LeNoGo as I lovely call it) was the best fit for my needs. And besides, using “boy math” my purchase was “free” as it was funded by a small profit in crypto (try not to roll your eyes).
But I digress, the Legion Go so far is a fantastic device. Granted, one that I’ve had for only a weekend.
I chose the Legion Go because I am a PC gamer, and have libraries across several launchers. While I know I could have modded a Steam Deck, or chose one of the other new gaming Windows devices, the Legion Go was just the right mix of power, form factor and compatibility.
Without further adéu here is my Lenovo Legion Go unboxing post with photos.
Lenovo Shipping
Before I begin with the photo show I wanted to highlight how amazingly communicative Lenovo was regarding shipment. I’ve never purchased anything online with more communication. The icing on the cake was the live UPS map that allowed me to track the delivery in real-time to my door. Which turned out to be essential as it required a signature and I was not home (special thanks to my Ring doorbell)
Here’s my Gmail inbox showing emails at every step:
It Arrives! Well padded.
Open box showing a fancy sleeve and space on the right for the 65W USB-C charger.
It has a hard shell case!
Open case showing lift strap. The case is tight, which is good and bad (more on that later).
The LeNoGo outside the case showing that there’s no room for the charger! I have no idea what that plastic thing is (yet).
Open case showing screen cleaning cloth with instructions on how to launch Legion Space… I didn’t see and blew right past.
Boot screen showing Lenovo Legion logo. Exciting!
Aaand it’s just Windows 11. Underwhelming and exciting as “it’s just Windows” is primarily why I chose the Legion over the Steam Deck, or Nintendo Switch.
Windows 11 touchscreen desktop. The touchscreen is quite usable in Windows making the tiny trackpad almost unnecessary.
Detached controllers which are both very cool and difficult to get used to after decades of using traditional one-piece controllers. Note: There are several 3D-printable bridges or connector for these controllers. Check out the forums!
The backside showing the very sturdy and flexible kickstand (sorry about the smudges). Also worth noting the plethora of buttons on these controllers which makes picking it up without mashing a few buttons impossible.
Legion Go with a banana for scale. Yes it’s big.
Lenovo Legion Space app which consolidates all your launchers and games into one interface. It’s decent, and being tied to a hardware button makes it very practical. Impatient me didn’t really know about this, and I started by installing Steam which worked, but I should have gone slower and updated drivers first (yes I should have known better)
Bonus pic showing one of my favorite games in action: Sky Force
Another bonus picture showing the new Contra: Operation Galuga game with my (newly paired) Steam controller.
Final Thoughts
- While waiting for Windows to update and reboot, I called support at 9:30 PM just to ask a question about registration. After pressing 2 and waiting for just 2 rings, a helpful man answered the phone! No waiting on hold, no menu maze, just a real person on the other line, and available so late! Lenovo clearly wants this Legion line of gaming products to succeed (or I got lucky).
- It’s not as heavy as you’d expect. Yes it’s big, but it’s not so heavy as to make holding it a chore.
- Detaching the controllers takes some practice. While easy, finding a method that isn’t clumsy takes time.
- Pairing my Xbox and two Steam controllers via Bluetooth was super easy (it’s just Windows!)
- Prepare yourself for updates galore. Both the Lenovo Legion Space app and Windows will have many updates that will need to be installed over your first few days.
- The firmware update gave me a brief scare. As is typical with firmware updates the reboot didn’t go quite as smooth as expected and I had two boots where the device turned on, but the screen was inactive. Another reboot and it solved itself, however some of my games had their video settings reset.
- I installed Steam, Epic, and EA with no issues. I have yet to find a game that will not run (I’ve installed about 10).
- Generally speaking AAA games will require lower quality settings to run smoothly but all games look great thanks to the amazing screen.
- Lots of performance options I have yet to dip into. I’m still new!
Purchase a Lenovo Legion Go
You can purchase a Legion Go from Best Buy!