Competition in the handheld market is heating up once again, as Lenovo is rumored to announce a budget-friendly Legion Go S soon. Thanks to new data from WinFuture, the Legion Go S is likely the first handheld to be powered by AMD's new Z2G APUs—expected to debut in 2025—while offering a 120 Hz 1080p screen, a 512GB SSD, and 16GB of RAM.
The Ryzen Z2G - short for Z2 Go - is allegedly based on AMD's Rembrandt architecture featuring eight Zen 3+ CPU cores and an RDNA 2 iGPU (Integrated GPU) with 12 Compute Units. While the Z2G doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the latest Ryzen AI 300 (Strix Point) APUs - or even Phoenix, for that matter - it is significantly cheaper to produce and should result in lower shelf prices. On a more technical level, the Z2G mirrors AMD's Ryzen 7 6800U, which features 16MB of L3 cache - standard for all octa-core APUs from AMD - and 4MB of L2 cache. The clock speeds might see a slight bump - currently at 4.7 GHz - but don't expect a drastic change in performance.
Other specifications include 16GB of soldered LPDDR5 memory and a PCIe 4.0 512GB SSD using the shorter M.2 2242 form factor. Regarding connectivity, the Legion Go S supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 technologies. The display features an 8-inch 1080p IPS panel running at 120 Hz, so you are missing out on the deep blacks and color-rich experience of an OLED. For context, the Steam Deck OLED starts at $549 but with a slower APU, so there's a bit of give-and-take everywhere.
There is also a 55.5Wh battery, which is larger than the original Legion Go's, but battery runtime might be held back due to the aging architecture. Nonetheless, you can also use the Vantage app to set a custom charging threshold so that your handheld runs completely on AC power if you like preserving your battery's life.
Sadly, the report mentions that the Legion Go S has built-in controllers, so custom third-party alternatives will not be compatible. We aren't sure if the joysticks and triggers are based on Hall Effect technology, and hence, the inability to swap out controllers will be quite unappealing for enthusiasts. A few European retailers quoted an initial price of $650. Minus the VAT (assuming that was included), the expected pricing comes out to be $500 - just $50, shy of the Legion Go, which has a faster APU and a better display.
We will likely see the Lenovo Legion S in action next month at CES, where AMD is also expected to unveil its Z2 lineup of APUs alongside many other offerings. For the most part, the final retail price is subject to change and may be lower when the handheld officially launches.
