- cross-posted to:
- linux_gaming@lemmit.online
- cross-posted to:
- linux_gaming@lemmit.online
Dave2D reviews the legion steamOS version compared to the windows version, and talks about the differences in performance and user experience
You must log in or register to comment.
Look I know I am kicking a hornet’s nest here. First of all I am a Linux supporter, I have used the green Ubuntu since 2012, and I have been gaming on it since 2022.
But I am really curious about how the new ally 2 with the Xbox tweaked version of win 11 is going to turn out. Not that I would use it, if I get a handheld it will probably run Bazzite. But since Bazzite is basically a purpose built Linux OS for handhelds, I think the best comparison would be the Xbox team’s purpose built Windows 11 for handhelds.
I still believe Microsoft will take the loss even with the tweaked version, but just like how we will cry if they put for example Hannah Montana Linux and Microsoft beats it somehow in certain examples with their new Xbox win 11 mobile.
I don’t think that’s entirely unreasonable, I’m curious to see how those will compare too!
The issue is that you are comparing david to goliath. Its okay to compare the two but lets not act as if we’re not comparing the homemade go kart to a ferrari that has gotten trillions in funding over the years.
Linux could be half as good and still be the unbelievably better choice. With them trading blows is like the only time in history where david actually has a chance at winning.
Sorry if this has already been posted, this video is from a couple weeks ago, but I just saw it in my recommendations and thought folks might enjoy the win for Linux :)
It HAS been posted a bunch. Unfortunately I haven’t seen more thorough testing from more technical outlets since (all of those seem to be too busy with the Switch 2 to spend time in the Go S).
I did see a much smaller channel do a three way comparison between Windows, Linux and Bazzite on the Legion Go 1 and claim some better performance, but in normal use definitely not the 2x battery life Dave2D is reporting, which is consistent with my own experience owning a Legion Go 1 with the Z1 extreme and dual booting Windows and Bazzite since pretty much day one. From that experience I’d say performance is also heavily game-dependent. Gonna guess it has more to do with hitting memory limitations than anything else (incidentally, if you happen to own a non-Deck handheld, particularly one of the more niche ones built from laptop parts with a bunch of RAM, make sure to check how much VRAM is being allocated, it can make a big difference).
It’ll be interesting to re-run some of those checks more rigorously when the ASUS Ally with the trimmed-down Windows build drops.
It’s an interesting talking point to me because I suspect this has much bigger reach than the devices themselves. I wonder if anybody here owns a non-Deck device, and how many Decks are even owned. The Switch 2 ended up outselling the Deck in like a week, and best guess it’ll have outsold the entirety of the PC handheld segment by the end of the summer, definitely before the holidays.
I have lots of thoughts on where PC handhelds are at the moment, many of them not particularly positive, but it really feels like at this point in time nobody is talking about them as real products you may want to use and instead more as some proxy in online debate about PC software and hardware opinions.
A fellow LeGo owner! Yaaayyyy!!!
I’ve been rocking Bazzite consistently for a little over 6 months now, having switched between the big three Linux distros for a while. Other than the benefit of “it ain’t Windows,” I’m incredibly impressed by how hooking up my eGPU to the LeGo on Bazzite * just works. *
Oh, hey, a unicorn. I say to you, neigh.
I’ll be honest, the eGPU thing is a step too far for me, but I’m mildly impressed to learn it works. AMD, I presume? As fas as I know Bazzite don’t even provide a build with the Nvidia drivers on top of the Legion Go customizations, right?
I think Bazzite, at least dual booting, is a bit of a no-brainer for the Go because man, is Lenovo’s Windows software frustrating to use. I don’t understand why Lenovo decided to have two separate dedicated buttons for it, neither of which is a Home button. Whatever money they got from their stupid game launcher app serving you ads and sponsored links (I have to assume somewhere between 50 and 75 cents, given their market share) is not worth how frustrating that is.
Bazzite’s customizations are faster, more flexible and more convenient… and you get to use the other button to open your launcher’s menu, as nature intended.
I’ll say that less bonkers handhelds are much better to use even on full fat Windows. If you own a Go, though, you can absolutely see how Lenovo were first in line to tell Valve “just hook us up, we suck at doing this on Windows ourselves”.
My friend gave me his old 6800, so I sunk the money for a TH3 P4G3 (I don’t know why the model name says “the page,” but it’s really easy to remember!)
I chose the LeGo specifically for the FPS mouse because my primary intended use for the LeGo was photo editing and graphic design. When copilot showed up on my LeGo one day, I decided I’d rather own a brick than that completely ruined operating system, so I wiped everything and went for Linux. I still haven’t acclimated to photo editing on Linux, but holy shit, inkscape is fucking amazing.
On Windows, using the eGPU was a whole song and dance involving lots of incantations and magic. On Bazzite, it’s plug and go. It’s stunning being able to play Diablo 4 on ultra settings at 1200 resolution and 60-90 fps, should I want to, or on medium settings if I just want to chill and fuck around on an 8-inch screen.
The LeGo is the first piece of technology that I pre-ordered on the day sales started, and it’s the first computer that I’m considering replacing with its upgrade so soon. Depending on reviews, I might try to sell this one and upgrade to the 2 if I can actually take advantage of the extra RAM and upgraded FPS mouse. A current project I’m working on is remapping the buttons on the mouse and controller as input for plover, so that I can type and navigate in a totally comfortable, ergonomic position and potentially speed up my design/dev work.
I know that last paragraph had nothing to do with our previous exchange, but there ya have it. Nice to chat with someone who understands the joys of owning a Go.
That’s… an interesting use case.
Since we’re hijacking the thread to explain the weird reasons to own a Go, I have some egonomic requirements that make large and heavy handhelds a bit or a problem. I’m also the one person in the universe that thinks the Switch Joycon are fantastic and wishes more split controllers were available, for that same reason.
Unfortunately the Go controllers are… exactly what I want botched beyond recognition, is the best way to put it. They’re too large, you just can’t grip them correctly without accidentally pressing a bunch of buttons, the d-pad is mediocre at best… definitely not it.
I hate that I’m with you in kinda wanting to give them another chance with the Go 2, but man, is that a lot of money to sink into something that isn’t that much of a performance upgrade.
Frankly, for your use case I don’t know that the Legion Go would be my pick. There are a bunch of laptops I’d rather use instead, and compact mouse options aren’t that rare. That said, a tiny Linux tablet is a pretty unique proposition. If you’re thinking of an upgrade I’d still give some thought to the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 2025 edition, which has the newer Strix Halo AMD APU and Bazzite has started supporting explicitly (still in Beta, but hey). Definitely not the previous Z13s with dedicated Nvidia GPUs, but with explicit support it may be an interesting (if VERY expensive) choice for gaming and editing workloads. They also support the Minisforum V3, but that’s not that much more powerful than the Go. They seem to be heavily discounted now, though, so maybe there’s a next-gen incoming?
And that’s my surprising takeaway for Bazzite: They seem to be the only distro doing the legwork for these dedicated portable form factors. Not just handhelds but tablets and laptops, too. It’s a bit of a shame that it’s a bit of a quirky distro to daily drive. I think it shows that there is a bit of an untapped market for something like this that the mainstream desktop distros are not targeting well. I don’t necessarily need to go to Fedora’s page and pick between twenty versions with slightly different DEs, but it’d be nice to punch in the model of my old ASUS gaming laptop and get a download that I know will support my dGPU and do proper power management out of the box the way Bazzite does with its supported devices.
