Steam Deck OLED prices surge, Lenovo’s Legion Go S offers a cheaper SteamOS option
Valve’s OLED Steam Deck jumped to $789 for 512GB, while Lenovo’s SteamOS Legion Go S landed at $549.99 and suddenly looked like the smarter buy.
Valve’s sharp price hike turned the Steam Deck OLED from a hard-to-find bargain into a much harder sell. The 512GB model climbed from $549 to $789, and the 1TB version rose to $949, even as the handheld had only recently come back into stock after months of spotty availability. Valve blamed rising memory and storage costs, along with broader global logistical challenges across the industry.
That change reshaped the handheld market overnight. A device that had sat near the center of the conversation now sits well above the price many buyers had in mind, especially for players who were waiting for stock to normalize before spending. The new pricing puts much more pressure on rivals to offer a credible SteamOS option without drifting into premium-PC territory.
Lenovo’s Legion Go S became the clearest beneficiary. Lenovo unveiled the handheld at CES 2025 in Las Vegas and initially said the SteamOS version would start at $499.99 and arrive in May 2025. Later retailer listings showed the SteamOS model at $549.99 for the Ryzen Z2 Go version with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, while Best Buy also listed a higher-end Z1 Extreme SteamOS configuration at $749.99 with a planned release date of May 25, 2025.
That pricing made Lenovo’s machine look newly relevant. The Legion Go S SteamOS edition carries an 8-inch 120Hz display, hall-effect joysticks and a 55.5Wh battery, and Lenovo describes it as the first officially licensed handheld powered by SteamOS. For buyers who want access to the full Steam ecosystem without paying $789 for the 512GB Steam Deck OLED, the Lenovo device suddenly occupies a far more attractive lane.
It is not an automatic recommendation. The Legion Go S still asks shoppers to choose between the less expensive Z2 Go version at $549.99 and the faster Z1 Extreme model at $749.99, which narrows the gap with Valve’s newly inflated pricing. But the market now looks different: a once middling Lenovo handheld has become the practical SteamOS alternative, and Valve’s surge has made that comparison impossible to ignore.
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