Steam Deck faces a new rival — SteamOS Legion Go 2's premium hardware should run games Valve's gaming handheld cannot

Lenovo has a huge presence at CES 2026, which isn't surprising given the OEM's (original equipment manufacturer) broad lineup of products coming to market this year.

As part of those announcements, Lenovo has revealed that its flagship handheld gaming PC is getting a new variant. Say hello to the Legion Go 2 — Powered by SteamOS, which is launching just a few months after the original Legion Go 2 (Windows)'s October 2025 launch period.

The addition of this operating system fixes the one gripe that many gamers have with the versatile handheld — Windows 11.

Now, this isn't to say the original model is bad; I gave the handheld a score of 4.5 Stars out of 5 Stars in my Legion Go 2 (Windows) review. However, there's no denying that SteamOS is better optimized for handhelds and provides a more console-like experience that many handheld owners prefer to Microsoft's operating system. That's still true even now that the Xbox Ally X's Xbox Full Screen Experience has rolled out to Legion Go 2 (Windows).

The downside is that moving away from Windows does remove support for one of the Legion Go 2's (also called LeGo 2 by enthusiasts) most convenient and reliable features. You see, SteamOS doesn't natively support biometric login, which means the SteamOS variant cannot use the fingerprint reader.

The most premium SteamOS handheld yet, with an equally premium price

For those of you who have an unshakable feeling that this announcement is old news, that's because the Legion Go 2 (SteamOS) actually leaked last month, ahead of its intended CES 2026 reveal period.

So, really, this announcement just confirms that this premium SteamOS handheld is real while also finally giving us a release date and starting price. Prepare your wallets, this device is going to be expensive, but that's because it has some of the best features of any handheld.

This handheld has an eye-watering $1,199 MSRP starting price, and there will presumably be a more expensive version as well. It's currently unclear how many configurations of the Legion Go 2 (SteamOS) are coming to market, but it seems like there will at least be two launching as soon as June 2026.

Now, spending over $1,000 on any handheld is a hard decision for many people to make, but as our own Editor-in-Chief, Daniel Rubino, explained, the Legion Go 2 also offers more features and better specs than competitors.

Let's take a look at those specs and features.

The SteamOS variant will obviously run SteamOS instead of Windows, but it's also coming with up to an AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor, which notably offers far better CPU and GPU performance than the Steam Deck's custom AMD chip.

RELATED: All AMD handheld chips and how they compare

In other words, the Legion Go 2 will be capable of running games far more smoothly than the Steam Deck, and it will even run some games that the less powerful Steam Deck cannot.

Meanwhile, it also has features that its biggest Windows competitor, the ROG Xbox Ally X, does not. Namely, Hall Effect joysticks, a built-in kickstand, detachable controllers, an FPS mode to use the right controller like a mouse, a touchpad, and a larger 8.8-inch OLED display.

So why does SteamOS improve the Legion Go 2 for so many users? Well, first of all, many people love that SteamOS feels more like a simple console interface rather than a full-blown PC, which makes the handheld feel like a truly dedicated gaming system. Secondly, Valve's Linux-based operating system is far better optimized for handhelds, allowing devices to run more efficiently, prolonging battery life and performance.

As an example, the ROG Xbox Ally X, ships with Windows. However, when the operating system is swapped out with SteamOS, the handheld offers more stable frame rates, quicker resumes, and up to 32% higher FPS (frames per second), which is a huge difference (thanks, Tom's Hardware). So, it's likely this is the same case with the Legion Go 2.

That all said, there is one notable downside that I previously mentioned — SteamOS does not support the fingerprint functionality that's tied to the power button.

I've used a number of handhelds, and I love it when I can log in simply by holding my finger to a button for a second rather than entering a pin. It's convenient and lets me dive into gaming faster. Unfortunately, some handheld fingerprint readers really don't work well — I'm looking at you, ASUS ROG.

I don't know how many times I've had to retry the Xbox Ally X's fingerprint reader in a row before having to give up and type in my pin. Meanwhile, my Legion Go 2 (Windows) has never given me an issue with biometric login, so it's sad to see this feature is there but isn't supported on the SteamOS variant.

Of course, I won't be surprised if a SteamOS modder gets inspired to make a homebrew fingerprint reader solution, if someone hasn't put one on the internet already. It's a somewhat niche feature, but that just makes it a challenge for Linux enthusiasts looking for an excuse to play with the operating system.

In the end, when it comes to handheld gaming PCs produced by the most prestigious OEMs, the Legion Go 2 truly offers the most versatile and premium playing experience. Now, it's gotten even more appealing for some thanks to the addition of SteamOS.

COMING JUNE 2026 ☀️

Lenovo Legion Go 2 (SteamOS): at Best Buy

The Legion Go 2 —Powered by SteamOS is set to launch June 2026. It offers an 8.8-inch OLED touchscreen, Z2 Extreme processor, detachable controllers with Hall Effect joysticks, and a touchpad.

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What do you think about the new SteamOS version of the Legion Go 2? Has this made the handheld gaming PC more interesting for you? Tell us about it in the comments.

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