Better than Steam Deck – this is the 5-star gaming handheld I bought in the Cyber Monday deals myself

After months of going back and forth, this deal made my purchase decision remarkably easy

Lenovo Legion Go S
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)

Even though I own more than 20 retro gaming handhelds, I've always held off from buying a Steam Deck – mainly in the vain hope that a Steam Deck 2 would come along to win me over.

However, while that's still nowhere near being released, two things have just won me over. First, Valve's first ever Steam Black Friday sale lists 100s of SteamOS-optimised games for as low as £1 / $1. And second, a 5-star gaming handheld many believe is better than the Steam Deck is at an unbelievable price.

The Lenovo Legion Go S is the only other PC handheld that runs on SteamOS from the box and it's available on John Lewis in the UK with £110 off, and Best Buy in the States with up to $250 slashed off the usual retail price.

Even better is that the 32GB Z1 Extreme version has £100 off too – on Lenovo's own website in the UK. That deal is so good I've made the plunge myself.

Lenovo Legion Go S UK deals

Lenovo Legion Go S – 16GB, 1TB SSD, Ryzen Z2 Go
Save £109.01
Lenovo Legion Go S – 16GB, 1TB SSD, Ryzen Z2 Go: was £549 now £439.99 at John Lewis

Running on the Z2 Go CPU, the 16GB Legion Go S comes with SteamOS preinstalled and an 8-inch Full HD+ display with a 120Hz refresh rate.

Lenovo Legion Go S – 32GB, 1TB SSD, Ryzen Z1 Extreme
Save £100
Lenovo Legion Go S – 32GB, 1TB SSD, Ryzen Z1 Extreme: was £699 now £599 at lenovo.com

A true step-up model, this version of the Lenovo Legion Go S has double the RAM and a much faster processor. It's one of the most powerful PC gaming handhelds on the market today, in fact.

Lenovo Legion Go S US deals

Lenovo Legion Go S – 16GB, 512GB SSD, Ryzen Z2 Go
Save $200
Lenovo Legion Go S – 16GB, 512GB SSD, Ryzen Z2 Go: was $649.99 now $449.99 at Best Buy

This standard version of the Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS) comes with a 512GB SSD and 16GB of RAM. It also runs on the Z2 Go processor, but still sports the excellent 8-inch 120Hz display.

Lenovo Legion Go S – 32GB, 1TB SSD, Ryzen Z1 Extreme
Save $250
Lenovo Legion Go S – 32GB, 1TB SSD, Ryzen Z1 Extreme: was $899.99 now $649.99 at Best Buy

The super-powered Z1 Extreme Legion Go S has an amazing 28% off at Best Buy. And it's worth remembering that the display is VRR (variable refresh rate) enabled, so adjusts in real time for the smoothest gaming experience.

These deals are truly awesome for a portable PC that's arguably better at running Steam games than the Steam Deck itself.

Indeed, we gave the 32GB Lenovo Legion Go S five stars in our review earlier this month.

Steam Black Friday deals

Once you've opted for the right handheld, you just need to fill it with games. And with Steam's first ever Black Friday sale in its final days, you can grab a last minute bargain.

For example, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is just £1.18 / $1.49 right now – with a staggering 95% off – and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order – one of the best Star Wars games of all time – is just £3.49 / $3.99.

There are literally hundreds of other bargains like that, while some other superb games that run well on a handheld are also dirt cheap – such as Dave the Diver at just £9.35 / $10.99.

Even recently released AAA titles have big discounts – GTA V Enhanced is just £14.99 / $14.99 for example.

Rik Henderson
News Editor

Rik is T3’s news editor, which means he looks after the news team and the up-to-the-minute coverage of all the hottest gadgets and products you’ll definitely want to read about. And, with more than 35 years of experience in tech and entertainment journalism, including editing and writing for numerous websites, magazines, and newspapers, he’s always got an eye on the next big thing.

Rik also has extensive knowledge of AV, TV streaming and smart home kit, plus just about everything to do with games since the late 80s. Prior to T3, he spent 13 years at Pocket-lint heading up its news team, and was a TV producer and presenter on such shows as Channel 4's GamesMaster, plus Sky's Games World, Game Over, and Virtual World of Sport.

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