Lenovo Legion Go: Unveiling of the Handheld Console at IFA 2023
Most of the rumors about the newly unveiled Lenovo Legion Go portable console were true, as shown by the company’s announcement at this year’s IFA 2023 trade show in Berlin. This handheld console has an 8.8-inch LCD screen with a QHD+ resolution of 2560×1600 pixels, just as the unofficial information indicated.
The refresh rate of the screen is also 144 Hz, which normally has a 16:10 aspect ratio with a maximum brightness of up to 500 nits. However, its display does support different resolutions, such as 1600x800p, and its refresh rate can be reduced to 60Hz for better power management.
Detachable controllers called Legion TrueStrike seem to be inspired by the Nintendo Switch console, and have mushrooms with a Hall effect that, among other things, does not allow the joystick to move or drift.
The controllers have plenty of buttons, including a touchpad, as well as ten “switches” on their sides (shoulders) that can be reconfigured for commands.
LenovoHowever, Lenovo has gone a step further and added a basic controller module that attaches to the right controller via magnets and allows you to prop it up and use it as a mouse. It also has an optical sensor at the bottom just like a computer mouse.
The console will be powered by the AMD Ryzen Z1 series of chips, and can be configured with an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor, as previously announced by rumors. The GPU side is covered by the RDNA3 architecture, and the configuration will be up to 1 TB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage along with a microSD card slot that supports up to 2 TB of additional storage. All Lenovo Legion Go versions will have 16 GB of LPDDR5X RAM running at 7500 MHz.
Cooling of the console will be provided by a dedicated thermal system consisting of a cooler with liquid polymer blades and reaching a maximum volume of 25 dB while the total graphics power (TGP) remains at 25 W.
The handheld console has two USB-C ports with functions that support DisplayPort 1.4 and Power Delivery 3.0, the aforementioned microSD slot and a 3.5 mm audio input. Lenovo Legion Go connectivity extends to both Wi-Fi 6E3 and Bluetooth 5.2.
The software side, as announced by several insiders, is covered by Windows 11 with a special “layer” called Legion Space. That’s where all your games will live, and Lenovo offers three months of free access to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with every Legion Go handheld.
Finally, on the battery side – the handheld has a capacity of 49.2 watt-hours that supports fast charging that is said to promise 70 percent in 30 minutes of charging. Lenovo Legion Go will arrive with a 65 W charger. And finally, the price of this device will start at 799 euros for the basic model, which will be available from November.