I’ve seen a lot of handheld gaming PCs come down the pike since the Steam Deck changed the game…and I wouldn’t buy any of them for myself. That’s because Windows 11 isn’t great for gaming on these little gadgets. But SteamOS is, and now you can install it on some of the competitors, including the new Legion Go S. And today it’s on sale for $499.99 at Best Buy, more than $200 off.
So if you haven’t been following along, the Legion Go S is the first non-Valve device that officially supports SteamOS. But it’s not this Legion Go S — the white version comes with Windows 11 installed. It’s also more expensive at $760, which is quite a bit more than originally planned when Trump tariffs took effect. The black version of the handheld is the SteamOS version, and while it was initially planned to cost $500, it now goes for $600.
But here’s the fun part. You can just install the free SteamOS on your white Legion Go S, directly from Valve, and turn it into that objectively better version, while also saving some money with this deal. Heck, you technically get a “free” copy of Windows 11 in there, making it even sweeter. This is the base model of the Legion Go S, with a somewhat pokey Ryzen Z2 Go processor and “just” 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. But that’s still $50 cheaper than the Steam Deck with the same storage and RAM, a smaller, lower-resolution screen, and an older CPU.
You save money and get a better machine, all you have to do is put in a little elbow grease to make it run a better gaming operating system. Sounds like a fun time to me, but I’m a weirdo who writes for PCWorld.
Best Buy is running this sale during Amazon Prime Day, so it seems likely that it won’t stick around forever. Other stores aren’t matching it, but you can get the older, bigger, and more Switch-y Legion Go (sans S) for the same price. It’s also compatible with SteamOS, by the by.
Get a SteamOS-compatible Legion Go S handheld for $500