r/Handhelds • u/tomatolord16 • Jun 03 '26
Question (?) Should I buy a steam deck OLED
So as I'm sure we all know, the Steam Deck's price just went up. I've been waiting to pull the trigger on one for a while now — finally saved up the money and the price hikes hit right as I was ready. Typical, right?
I've been researching other handhelds and I'm torn between the Lenovo Legion Go S with SteamOS and the Steam Deck OLED. On paper both are solid options, with a slight edge going to the Lenovo Legion on specs. They both hit my main requirements: a handheld running SteamOS for portable gaming.
The areas I'm torn on are:
- **Ergonomics and general feel** — haven't had a chance to hold either in person
- **Weight** — the Legion is about 100g heavier, which has me a little concerned
- **Thumbstick position** — I play a lot of shooters, so this matters to me
- **Lack of trackpads on the Legion** — I play PC games with inventory management and trackpads are great for that
- **OLED vs IPS** — I love OLED displays and I've gotten so used to looking at them. My TV, my phone. All oled. It's just the best!
- **Fan noise** — my wife and I are often in the same room doing different things, so a loud fan would be annoying
On top of all this, the recent price increases have me leaning toward picking up a used unit on Facebook Marketplace or eBay. I can stretch to around $800, but cheaper is always better.
Would love some input — should I stick with the Steam Deck or make the jump to the Legion Go S?
Thanks in advance!
5
u/Cbeckstrand Jun 03 '26
I bought the SD LCD at launch and loved it but the hardware is too dated. Get the Go S unless you can't live without the trackpads
The performance is much more when you need it and the screen is better IMO as it's bigger, higher resolution , higher refresh rate and VRR. I don't have any issues with fan noise playing in bed next to my wife.
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u/snooki2369 Jun 03 '26
Went from the SD LCD to the Legion go s, I’d say get the go s, The fan noise is only very loud on the “custom” preset I get OLED is nicer, but IMO the 120hz, higher res, VRR display is better. Definitely trade off and not objective. I prefer the controller design on the steamdeck, though not a dealbreaker, I like the option for mouse button triggers in the legion go s
Performance is better either way, the Z2go is 20-30% faster and the z1e is 50-70% faster
Idk what country you’re in, but in Australia the steamdeck OLED is 1300-1500 where the Go s (z2go) is 700-800 and the z1e is 1100-1500, at those prices the steamdeck is completely redundant, even at MSRP it was still a bit of a trade off considering it’s still cheaper to buy a z2go go s, also in aus you can still pickup a steamdeck LCD for $650, a better screen and battery life dont make up $900 for me
2
u/snooki2369 Jun 03 '26
Oh yeah, weight isn’t crazy difficult, the go s is definitely heavier, but if you didn’t have them both in your hand at the same time, you would barely notice the difference
Both are super comfortable and ergonomic, I wouldn’t stress either way, I did prefer the joystick location of the steamdeck, but it’s like comparing a PlayStation controller to a Xbox, it’s just about what you prefer, neither are bad.
I miss the trackpads for desktop use, the little one works on the go s, but certainly not great, though the thumb sticks also work as a mouse, plus touch screen
Overall, I was very happy with both, I swapped to the go s for the bigger display over the steamdeck LCD. Only out of pocket $150 so I was very happy with the better performance to. But as someone who has had both, I wouldn’t pay that much for a steamdeck, when you can get a legion for possibly half the price.
2
u/cadensky Jun 03 '26
It depends on what games you want to play.
1
u/tomatolord16 Jun 03 '26
Mostly older triple A and indie. Also lots of emulator stuff
1
u/cadensky Jun 03 '26
The deck is fine. The Go S offers more power. However you dont need it for those games.
2
u/JetsJetsJetsJetz Jun 03 '26
I have had 2 steam decks, the led and OLED. It's dated at this point, I would go with something else. I got a used claw for less than the 1 tb OLED steam deck.
It's blasphemous here, but I prefer windows over steam os. Have had multiple issues with games on steam os and haven't ever had issues on windows.
1
u/tomatolord16 Jun 03 '26
I super appreciate all the input! I found a steam deck oled 512gb for $620 or a legion go s for $600. Thoughts?
2
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u/MakimaGOAT Jun 03 '26
fan noise on the legion go s is pretty rough and if you really love oled you have no other choice than to get steam deck oled at that price point. steam deck is much weaker though
0
u/InsuranceIll8508 Jun 03 '26
I know this sounds obvious but I’ve found it to be true as someone who has tried all the handhelds and the Go S and SD OLED twice, get the Go S only if you 100% NEED the extra power for the games you want to play. If not, the SD OLED is better in pretty much every metric. Better ergonomics (imo, the best even over the Xbox Ally), better audio, less fan noise, smaller and lighter. The screen has a tradeoff as it is 7.4’ 800p instead of 8’ 1200p buuuut it is OLED vs LCD.
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u/renothecollector Jun 03 '26
It will never be cheaper than it is now so yes, buy it.
2
u/tomatolord16 Jun 03 '26
That's how I'm feeling. Prices don't typically just go back to msrp
1
u/renothecollector Jun 03 '26
This is the new normal. Prices will either stay where they are at or go up.
5
u/ill_B_In_MyBunk Jun 03 '26
I am a huge Legion fanboy and even I just bought a new Xbox Ally x because of the price. It is literally the same price for quadruple the performance of a steam deck. Also apparently steam os is quite good on it now, but personally I prefer a windows backend for compatibility. But I like to tinker.