It seems like not a day goes by without a new price increase for gaming hardware. First, RAM prices went through the roof due to the ongoing global DRAM shortage, which is expected to last until 2030. CPUs quickly followed suit with both Intel and AMD announcing price hikes. Storage started to join the trend, and even Netflix and YouTube Premium got in on the action. Not to be left behind, the Windows gaming handhelds are next to join the party.
Lenovo has increased the price of its Legion Go S gaming handhelds. The price of the Z1 Extreme version with 32GB of RAM has increased from $899 to a whopping $1579 with SteamOS and $1679 with Windows. The latter currently has a discount running that reduces its price to $1049, but that's still a noticeable bump over the release price. The lower-end Z2 Go model with 16GB of RAM is now priced at $989, up from a launch price of $649.
This comes on the heels of a price hike for Lenovo's Legion Go 2, which raised its price from $1349 to $1999 recently. Mind you, the Legion Go S is supposed to be Lenovo's budget-oriented handheld gaming console, and even that is now priced at nearly $1700.
To put it into context, the Z1 Extreme model just saw a staggering 75.6% price increase, while the value-focused Z2 Go model went up by 52.3%. These are Best Buy prices, as Best Buy is the official retail partner for these consoles.
At these prices, one has to wonder whether going for a handheld gaming console is really the right move. In this price bracket, the Lenovo Legion Go S stops being a budget-oriented handheld and starts competing with gaming laptops, larger handhelds, and even full-blown gaming PCs. A viable alternative is the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally, which can be found for around $540 at the time of writing, with specs similar to those of the $989 Z2 Go.
