More than just announcing a few new laptops, Lenovo’s showcase at CES 2025 made it clear just how much further the company’s vision for gaming hardware goes than merely chasing its competition.
Thanks to the newly-unveiled Legion Go S, the company is now poised to execute a full-blown pincer maneuver against its rivals in the gaming handheld niche.
Speaking to Reviews.org Australia, Lenovo’s Volker During revealed that while the company’s first two handheld PCs may have launched more than a year apart, the devices were actually developed in tandem.
“Our research during the design phase of the Legion Go Gen 1 showed that some gamers preferred consoles, some preferred mouse/keyboard gaming, some defined “mobile” as couch vs. desk, some thought of it as gaming anywhere outside the home.”
While the company did bring a prototype for its second generation Legion Go handheld to this year’s incarnation of the world’s biggest consumer electronics tradeshow, During was quick to say that consumers should expect more than just a few spec-bumps as the handheld category continues to grow.
“It is not enough to just iterate on previous generations—we are looking to deliver improvement, both for the Legion Go family as well as its position in the larger portfolio of Legion and LOQ gaming devices, as well as expansion, with our growing ecosystem of Legion devices, software, and peripherals,” he said.
All told, this position isn’t all that different to one that Valve have taken when it comes to the Steam Deck. Back in October 2024, Steam Deck designer Lawrence Yang told Reviews.org Australia that there was no real reason that gaming handhelds should follow the same cadence as their laptop-shaped counterparts.
“From our perspective, that’s kind of not really fair to your customers to come out with something so soon that’s only incrementally better,” he said.
Another area where During overlaps with his competition is the notion that the explosion of interest by consumers in the handheld form-factor isn’t necessarily going to eat into the demand for budget-friendly gaming laptops, which typically cost a similar amount.
“Their gaming laptop serves a specific need, and our handhelds simply complements our customers’ more mobile lifestyles so they can break away from the desk for a bit and game on the couch, while travelling, or in between classes,” During explained.
“There is as much overlap between budget PCs and handhelds as a gamer decides is necessary for their unique setup,” he said.
Intriguingly, During didn’t rule out the potential for a SteamOS-powered laptop when asked.
That said, During was quick to emphasise the central role that the feedback from fans and customers – from focus groups to forum posts – is having on how Lenovo’s Legion lineup evolves across the board.
“These interactions might not always be in an official Lenovo capacity, but the collective passion of our Gaming team at Lenovo is informed by each member’s individual passion for the industry, the market, and the culture of gaming,” he said.
Pointing to the positions taken by his counterparts at Microsoft and Valve, During said that the company is approaching the handheld category as an extension of the core gaming experience rather than a rival to it.
From Lenovo’s perspective, handheld devices like the Legion Go and Steam Deck are about activating the appetites of consumers who have bought way too many games collecting dust in digital libraries. It’s for that reason that During doesn’t see the impending Nintendo Switch 2 as a disruption to the growth seen in the gaming handheld market.
“The Nintendo Switch and the Legion Go represent two fundamentally different approaches to the handheld space—the Legion Go at heart is a PC in a handheld form factor, and with that comes the freedom that PC gaming has to offer,” During said.
“The Switch is a Nintendo console that offers users access to Nintendo’s library of games and other third-party titles. Again, there’s freedom of choice in that distinction, and I do not see why a gamer can’t happily own both should they want access to all of their favorite games.”
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