Legion Go 2’s pricing attracts backlash, and Lenovo’s response falls flat
The Steam Deck begins at $400. That’s one in every of its most interesting features, even years after it launched. The brand new Lenovo Legion Go 2 begins at $1,050, and it goes as much as $1,350 in case you actually need to max its specs. Maybe that’s an unfair comparability, but it surely’s one which loads of followers are making anyway… and Lenovo’s response to them isn’t serving to.
In a current interview at IFA 2025, PC Watch of Japan (by way of Home windows Central) requested Lenovo executives concerning the excessive pricing. It begins at €1,000, “which is near the value of a laptop computer,” in line with a Google translation.
“The Legion Go 2 is dear due to the high-performance processor, OLED show, removable controllers, and ergonomic design that make it so highly effective,” replied a consultant. “Subsequently, the Legion Go 2 targets fanatic players who’re keen to spend money on their hobbies. They worth customizing their very own {hardware} and constructing their very own setups, and so they select such {hardware} even whether it is costly.”
The consultant supplied up the Legion Go S as “a extra inexpensive possibility.” That’s a handheld that begins at $600 for the SteamOS model and goes as much as $830 for probably the most highly effective {hardware}. “Inexpensive” is pulling lots of weight right here, in a kind issue that’s nonetheless pretty restricted even in comparison with a desktop PC on the similar worth.
Direct gross sales comparisons are onerous to make, contemplating the paucity of knowledge out there. But it surely looks like the Steam Deck remains to be outselling its newer competitors by a big issue, even given its three-year-old {hardware}. SteamOS—which is best than Home windows 11 for gaming in nearly each manner—is definitely a part of that success.
However I can’t assist however discover you can get a top-of-the-line Steam Deck OLED for just a bit greater than Lenovo’s “extra inexpensive possibility.” It doesn’t assist that within the US, customers shall be paying for the present administration’s import taxes on principally every part, too.
Lenovo appears to be betting that players love the hand-held PC kind issue a lot that they’re keen to pay double and even triple for {hardware} that’s extra highly effective and versatile. I’m certain some are, however when I take a look at these worth tags, I simply see diminishing returns. A Legion Go 2 with an AMD Z2 Excessive processor and 64GB of shared reminiscence can do greater than a base mannequin Steam Deck… However 3 times extra? Nah.
Maybe a revitalized Home windows 11—with a refreshed interface that’s set to debut on the Asus ROG Xbox Ally—may shake up this equation. (Asus remains to be afraid to place a worth on that gadget and we solely have a month till its deliberate launch.) However even when it does, it gained’t be till someday subsequent yr that the brand new UI involves different units just like the Legion Go 2. Even when I had been tempted to purchase a handheld PC with a four-figure price ticket, I’d need to wait till that possibility grew to become out there.
