SteamOS without Steam Deck

Like SteamOS developer Valve in one Blog post reports, this is the first licensed third-party model with the operating system. So far this has only been running on the in-house system Steam deck and is specifically optimized for this. However, Valve is now working with Lenovo to expand support for “third-party” hardware. This could lead to difficult times for the future distribution of Windows 11 on gaming handhelds, which is often the alternative for mobile gamers. SteamOS is considered popular and offers players some clear advantages in terms of performance and operation, and the Steam gaming platform can be integrated natively into the device. Valve also tries to optimize as many games as possible from its own catalog for mobile gaming – which is not always the case under Windows.

How does SteamOS perform on hardware?

In addition, the Legion Go S should make it possible for the first time to directly compare the performance between the systems. The handheld comes onto the market in the basic version with an identical hardware configuration for both operating systems: The Lenovo Go S uses either the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme or the AMD Ryzen Z2 Go, an 8-inch WQXGA display, offers up to to 1 terabyte of device memory and has 16 gigabytes of RAM. The Windows version is also planned in a variant with 32 gigabytes of RAM.

Cheaper without Windows

Another advantage for gamers who choose the SteamOS model is the price. For the SteamOS version it is 499.99 US dollars (around 485 euros), which is significantly lower than for the same product with Windows 11. It is 599.99 US dollars (around 582 euros). Official prices in euros have not yet been determined at this point.