While my Lenovo Legion Go unboxing post mentioned some of my first impressions, I thought it helpful to expand on my experience over the first few days.
I remain impressed. While no device is flawless from start to finish, the Lenovo Legion Go continues to impress after a solid week of play.
My 22 first impressions in bullet list form:
- The screen is big, and fabulous.
- The device is big, but not too heavy to hold for 30-45 min.
- Running Windows is a double edged sword. It offers access to all my libraries but some games require tweaking, and some games just don’t work well.
- I had one worrisome issue, where the device would not power on. A quick visit to Reddit gave me the solution: hold power for 15-20 seconds. According to the post (and others) Windows can have sleep issues…
- I easily paired my two Steam controllers and Xbox controller.
- I had to admit I prefer my Xbox controller over all others including the built in ones.
- The buttons on the back side of each controller are somewhat annoying as they are easily pressed when picking up, holding or playing. Thankfully they do nothing in most games and applications.
- Make sure to check Legion Space for updates, as well as Windows. If you have experience setting up a new Windows PC, you know the drill.
- Battery life is so-so. This is a powerful device, and therefore you should never stray far from your power source.
- Some people complain about fan noise, it has never bothered me.
- I easily connected the device to my TV although without an official dock, it’s a little clumsy.
- Speaking of, there’s no official dock! An oversight for sure, most people buy Steam Deck docks.
- I haven’t had time yet to try out the novel “FPS” or First Person Shooter mode. Basically the right controller turns into a mouse, and for someone like me who’s terrible with controllers in FPS games this sounds intriguing.
- Some people have reported “wobbly” controllers but I’ve yet to have an issue. From what I hear you either have it out of the box, or you don’t. Thankfully I don’t.
- When I called Lenovo support for my “won’t wake up issue” they weren’t super helpful, or knowledgeable. I had to use Reddit to find a solution.
- My living room experience was decent, but some games had “two controller” issues and one a TV/second screen issue. It’s probably the games’ fault, but I won’t know until have more hours of playtime on my TV.
- The quality of the device feels exceptional. The photos and videos online do not do it justice. I was briefly worried about the quality of the controllers but have been impressed with the build and feel.
- The kickstand kicks ass. It’s offers a wide range of movement for upright, and tilted back orientation.
- The hard shell case is nice, but there’s no room for the charger. Bonus point for the hole in the front that allows charging with the case closed.
- Out of the “big three” launchers, Steam handles controllers and the touch UI the best. EA is annoying to use specifically scrolling which is finicky.
- Speaking of the touch UI, Windows with touch is actually decent and you’ll find yourself not using the touchpad as often as you’d expect.
- Legion Space, and the Lenovo hardware control panel interface, both available via hardware buttons are nice features and provide quick access to all the primary functions (gaming and config).
Purchase a Lenovo Legion Go
You can purchase a Legion Go from Best Buy!