Lenovo’s upcoming SteamOS handheld will cost $50 more than expected

The SteamOS-powered version of Lenovo’s Legion Go S handheld gaming PC debuted at CES 2025 with a somewhat attractive $499.99 price tag. At that price, The Verge’s Sean Hollister considered it a true Steam Deck rival, wedged neatly between the cost of Valve’s $399 LCD and $549 OLED models. The handheld recently went up for preorder at Best Buy with a higher $549.99 price (and a May 25th release date), and Lenovo communications director Jeff Witt confirmed to The Verge that this is the new cost for the base model.

What’s done is done, I suppose, but the $499.99 price seemed right for the Legion Go S. Despite its perks over both the Steam Deck LCD and OLED models (Hall effect joysticks, a larger 8-inch screen with variable refresh rate, a cozy design, adjustable triggers), its Ryzen Z2 Go chip didn’t blow us away. In fact, the Windows-based Go S models that Sean and I tested were outperformed by the Steam Deck. Simply swapping the OS will cure some headaches (mainly, that Windows on handhelds is an atrocious experience), but it’s unclear whether it will somehow let the Z2 Go do more.

A $50 price jump probably won’t spell failure for this device, but it makes the arrival of the first third-party SteamOS handheld a little less exciting. It’s not the only third-party handheld getting SteamOS this year; Valve confirmed it’s working on adding support for the Asus ROG Ally. Pierre-Loup Griffais, one of the lead designers of SteamOS and the Steam Deck, shared with The Verge at CES 2025 that a beta experience will “ship after March sometime.”