Three new Lenovo Legion Go handhelds might utilize AMD’s Ryzen Z2 next year
Something to look forward to: Lenovo’s Legion Go debuted as one of the most prominent Windows-based Steam Deck competitors in 2023, and rumors of one or more follow-up devices have swirled for months. Amid leaks detailing AMD’s upcoming handheld gaming PC processors, new EEC filings indicate that Lenovo is preparing three new Legion Go models.
Three new Lenovo Legion Go handheld gaming PC variants recently appeared in Eurasian Economic Commission product listings. Although information regarding the devices is scant, the filings add context to prior leaks concerning Lenovo’s upcoming catalog.
The listings describe a Legion Go “S 8ARP1,” “8ASP2,” and “8AHP2.” The numbers don’t say much by themselves, but two of the listings likely describe products that emerged in earlier leaks. Lenovo previously mentioned plans to follow up the Legion Go, and the company’s website has mistakenly alluded to upcoming variants multiple times.
An older FAQ section on the handheld PC’s product page initially cited 7-inch and 8-inch models before Lenovo revised it (the currently available product features an 8.8-inch screen). Another mention of two new Legion Go variants briefly appeared in the technical specifications for the USB-C dock. Furthermore, YouTuber NITRXX shared photos of a chassis for an alleged “Lite” model with integrated controls and a smaller screen.
However, one can only speculate which chips will power the upcoming Legion Go devices. The first-generation model uses the same AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme SoC as the Asus ROG Ally, which includes the RDNA 3-based Radeon 780M integrated GPU.
The upcoming Ryzen Z2 series is the logical choice for a successor, but recent reports indicate that AMD is preparing three tiers for Z2. The fastest chip, the Z2 Extreme, combines an eight-core hybrid CPU with 16 RDNA 3.5 compute units, likely using the Radeon 890M iGPU. The middle-ranked Z2 might be a re-binned Z1 Extreme, and the lower-end Z2G uses an older Rembrandt CPU with an RDNA2 iGPU. While nothing has been confirmed, it would be unsurprising if each 2nd-gen Legion Go used one of them.
Compared to the 780M, which most handheld gaming PCs use, the 890M displays an impressive performance uplift in benchmarks, resembling a desktop GeForce GTX 1070 or Radeon RX 580. However, the Intel Core 258V’s iGPU fares even better, suggesting that the upcoming 2nd-gen MSI Claw might become a strong contender when it launches in late 2024.