SteamOS 3.7 Outperforms Windows on Lenovo Legion Go S Handheld

The Lenovo Legion Go S handheld gaming PC shows significantly better performance and battery life when running Valve's SteamOS compared to Windows 11, despite identical hardware. YouTuber Dave2D's tests reveal that SteamOS offers 5 to 10 percent better game performance at low to medium settings and more than double the battery life in some cases. SteamOS benefits from Valve's Proton compatibility layer and superior power management, including an efficient sleep system, whereas Windows struggles with power usage and slow resume times. Valve's recent SteamOS 3.7 update expands official support for additional AMD-powered handhelds beyond the Steam Deck, enhancing features like variable refresh rate frame limiting, battery charge controls, and AMD CPU frequency management. This growing ecosystem and clear performance advantages highlight the challenges Microsoft faces in unifying Xbox and Windows for handheld gaming, with the risk that more OEMs will favor SteamOS for portable devices. Overall, the evidence suggests that SteamOS is rapidly becoming the preferred platform for handheld PC gaming, especially for AMD-based devices like the Legion Go S.