MANILA, Philippines – The gadget show that is CES 2025 has given us a peek at the upcoming gadgets and devices that will be coming to store shelves this year or in the near future.
Since the trade show’s inauguration all the way back to 1967, it has been the annual hub for consumer tech enthusiasts looking for the next big thing — TVs, computers, appliances, wearables, gaming devices, and more recently, cars as well.
In this article, we’re taking a look at a fairly new category of devices: handheld gaming PCs. Kickstarted by the Steam Deck in 2022, the market has seen traditional gaming laptop brands such as Lenovo and ASUS throw their hat in the ring. Here are some of the new products in this category announced at CES 2025.
We loved Lenovo’s Legion Go when we reviewed it last year. We loved that it had the biggest screen among rivals from ASUS and Steam, and its Switch-like removable controllers.
Now comes a new batch of Legion Go models starting with the Legion Go S.
The Legion Go S will come in separate models, most interesting of which is the one with SteamOS instead of Windows 11, making this the second device outside of the Steam Deck. One of the top benefits? The SteamOS model, expected to come in May, will be the cheapest ever Legion Go at $499 or $100 cheaper than the entry level version of the first Legion Go.
As Forbes said, the SteamOS version is cheaper because it doesn’t have the “Windows tax.”
The Go S comes with either the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip, already found in the Go 1, or a newer, cheaper but slightly lower performing Ryzen Z2 Go. The Go S loses the detachable controllers, and has a smaller, slower, lower resolution screen (8-inch, 1920 x 1200, 120Hz LCD, VRR) compared to the original (8.8-inch, 2560 x 1600, 144Hz, VRR), but has a slightly better battery (55.5Whr) versus the original’s 49.2 Whr.
The Go S will also be able to take in more RAM at 32GB max, compared to the 16GB max of the original.
The top-of-the-line Legion Go S variant is expected to launch this January at $729, with more variants to come in Q2 2025.
The Legion Go S offers a budget variant. But the real new upcoming hero product of Lenovo’s gaming handheld line is the Legion Go “2”, currently presented as a prototype at CES 2025. But for convenience’s sake, we’ll temporarily call it the Go 2 here.
Lenovo said “final production details are still being refined” but revealed specs including the new AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor, the true follow up to the Z1 Extreme of the first-gen devices; up to 32 GB of RAM, and an 8.8-inch, 1920 x 1200, 144Hz 500nit display with Variable Refresh Rate (VRR).
The resolution is a departure from the first-generation’s 2560 x 1440, but the smaller screen may have benefits for battery life. Speaking of, the Go 2 comes with a huge jump in battery to 74Whr from 49.2Whr.
There’s no release date or price yet.
Aside from the new handhelds, the brand, like rivals ASUS, Acer and MSI, also announced new models for its gaming laptops with the latest Intel and AMD CPUs, and NVIDIA RTX 50 Series GPUs, and AMD Radeon GPUs.
Loved the Legion Go but thought its 8.8-inch screen was just simply too small for you? (First of all, who are you, the Incredible Hulk?) Well, fret no more, our green giant friend, Acer comes to the rescue with the largest ever handheld, the Nitro Blaze 11.
Not only that, the Blaze 11 (and its “tinier” Blaze 8 with an 8.8-inch display) has the 2560 x 1440 resolution that the newer Legion Go devices are losing.
Specs: AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processors, 16 GB of LPDDR5X memory, and up to 2 TB of storage, Radeon 780M GPU, 55Whr battery.
The original Legion Go was already pretty weighty at 854 grams. The 11-inch Blaze breaks the kilo barrier at 1050 grams.
Price and availability: Both arrive in Q2 2025 in the US, with the Blaze 8 starting at $900, and the Blaze 11 at $1100. – Rappler.com
