We may earn a commission when you buy through links in our articles. Learn more.

Lenovo gets desperate with new Steam Deck alternative

A revised, more affordable version of the Lenovo Legion Go is reportedly being worked on, with rumors suggesting a downgraded AMD Z1 chip.

lenovo legion go lite rumor

There’s apparently a new version of the Legion Go in the works, with the Lenovo Legion Go Lite possibly bringing lowered specs and a reduced price to match.

While the original Legion Go gaming handheld didn’t entirely reshuffle the order on our best handheld gaming PC guide, it certainly made a strong impression thanks to its massive screen and genuinely useful Switch-like, detachable controllers. However, its price was rather high, so rumors Lenovo is working on a cheaper version make a lot of sense.

The details of this new light version of the Legion Go are so thin on the ground as to be all but non-existent. Windows Central reports that its sources have said there’s a new less “prolific” version of the Windows-based handheld being worked on but that no specifics have been given, with the site instead offering up its own speculation.

This speculation includes that the Legion Legion Go Lite could use a smaller screen, remove the detachable controller feature – like the Switch Lite, and house a reduced-spec AMD CPU. The current Legion Go uses the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme that’s also used in the ROG Ally. However, the Lite version could move to the AMD Ryzen Z1 non-Extreme that’s also used in the lower-spec version of the ROG Ally.

All these suggestions would make a lot of sense, though ditching the detachable controllers would arguably remove the Go’s most compelling feature. Without that, it just becomes a bigger bulkier version of the ROG Ally and Steam Deck.

That said, if it keeps the kickstand and the large 8.8-inch screen, it could still be a tempting option for those that like the idea of their gaming handheld also doubling as their main video-viewing screen when traveling.

As to how much cheaper a Legion Go Lite might be. The original launched at $799, but has already dropped to $630 to be more competitive with more affordable handhelds. As such, if a Lite model did arrive with reduced power we’d expect it to be at least $100 cheaper to be even remotely tempting.

Until we learn more about the Legion Go Lite, you can have a browse of the best games that you might want to play on that device with our best Steam Deck games guide. Not all are guaranteed to work on competing handhelds like the Go but most will.