The Smartest Portable Gaming Buy This Memorial Day? This Might Be It

One Benjamin off isn’t nothing… especially when it plays Elden Ring. Best Buy’s Memorial Day deal brings the Lenovo Legion Go down to $600, and while that’s not a budget impulse buy, it does make the “portable PC gaming” dream a little more accessible.

Specs-wise, the Legion Go holds its ground: Ryzen Z1 Extreme, 144Hz 8.8-inch display, RDNA 3 graphics, and 16GB of RAM. It’s overkill in a good way. You could absolutely wait for a deeper sale, but if you’ve already been eyeing a handheld gaming PC, this might be the moment you stop adding it to cart and start checking out. Let’s take a look.

What The Lenovo Legion Go Brings To The Table

First things first, we’re going to look at the processing. Obviously, the star of the show is the AMD Ryzen Z1. Eight cores and sixteen threads running up to 5.1GHz handle demanding games without the compromises you’ll typically come across in handheld devices. The integrated RDNA 3 GPU with 12 compute units delivers up to 8.29 TFLOPS of graphics performance, adding some serious juice to it.

16GB of LPDDR5X RAM at 7500MHz keeps games running smoothly even with Windows 11’s overhead. The 512GB NVMe SSD provides fast game loading, though serious collectors will appreciate the microSD expansion slot for additional storage. To top all of that, Windows 11 Home gives access to the entire PC gaming library – Steam, Epic Games Store, Game Pass, GOG, and everything else.

Design, Build, And Connectivity

Moving on, the 8.8-inch IPS touchscreen runs 2560×1600 resolution at a 144Hz refresh rate, creating one of the best handheld gaming displays available. 500 nits brightness makes sure you have visibility in various lighting conditions, and 10-point multi-touch support works well for Windows navigation. The screen size hits a sweet spot – large enough for detailed gaming without becoming too much for handheld use. Text remains readable, UI elements stay accessible, and games display enough detail to feel immersive rather than cramped.

Lenovo’s detachable controller approach sets the Legion Go apart from fixed-control competitors. The “Legion TrueStrike” controllers remove completely, transforming the device into a tablet with separate gamepads. The right controller doubles as a vertical mouse, which sounds gimmicky until you try playing FPS games – it actually works well for precision aiming.

The built-in kickstand gets you tabletop gaming without additional accessories. Set it up, detach the controllers, and you have a portable gaming station that works for multiplayer sessions or extended single-player gaming. The flexibility here is a lot more than what fixed-controller handhelds offer.

At 854 grams with controllers attached, it carries a little more weight than what you would expect, but then again the heft feels substantial rather than cheap. Definitely screams “I can take a hit or two”.

Two USB-C ports with USB4 and DisplayPort 1.4 support enable external monitor connections and fast data transfer. Wi-Fi 6E ensures fast wireless connectivity for game downloads and online play. Bluetooth 5.3 handles wireless headphones and other accessories without issues. The 3.5mm audio jack provides wired headphone options, while stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support deliver decent built-in audio.

Discounts on consoles are generally very rare outside of Black Friday/Cyber Monday, so when an opportunity like this comes along, I would urge my readers to go ahead and check it out. Granted that $100 isn’t a lot, but hey, you can get a couple more games with the money you save!

Make sure to hurry if you’re interested though, because the offer ends on 5/27.

BUY IT HERE FOR $100 OFF

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