Summary created by Smart Answers AI
In summary:
- PCWorld reports that Lenovo’s Legion Go 2 handheld gaming PC price surged by $650 in under six months, jumping from $1,349.99 to $1,999.99.
- Other Legion Go S models also experienced price hikes ranging from $50 to $150, while competitor Asus ROG Ally prices remained stable at $1,000 for the top model.
- Component shortages appear to be driving these significant price increases, particularly affecting higher-end models with Ryzen Z Extreme processors in the handheld gaming market.
If you’re tired of hearing how expensive PC components are getting because of the “AI” RAM crunch, imagine how tired I am of writing about it. But it looks like it isn’t going anywhere soon. Lenovo’s Legion Go handheld series, which stretches from nominally affordable on the Legion Go S to pretty dang pricey for the Go 2, is also climbing up there.
The top-of-the-line Legion Go 2 launched at $1,349.99 late last year. According to the Best Buy listing, this package with a Ryzen Z2 Extreme CPU, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage is now $1,999.99. That’s a $650 increase in less than six months, as VideoCardz.com notes (though that particular model is currently out of stock).
This got me curious, so I used the Internet Archive to compare the current prices of all Legion Go S configs on Best Buy to their original launch prices. Excluding used and refurbished packages, I found five variants:
Clearly the prices are trending higher, and the more premium the package, the more Ryzen Z Extreme the difference. But as VideoCardz points out, similar handhelds like the Asus ROG Xbox Ally haven’t seen the same price increase. The Xbox Ally X with the Z2 Extreme processor is the same $1,000 at Best Buy that it was at launch. The less powerful non-X variant is $600, even currently on sale for $540. Either nobody’s buying the Asus machines or Lenovo’s attempts at stockpiling RAM have failed spectacularly. (Or, possibly, those integrated RAM modules come from AMD along with the Ryzen CPUs.)
It’s worth pointing out that the Steam Deck, which remains the most popular PC gaming handheld even years after its launch, went out of stock six weeks ago and it’s still out of stock today (at least on Valve’s product page). Other handheld gaming PCs are being curtailed or even cancelled due to dwindling component supplies and high prices.
The best time to buy a handheld was six months ago. The worst time to buy might be six months from now, assuming that’ll even be possible.