A YouTuber claims that Windows was actively causing some handhelds to run poorly, at least versus SteamOS

As Valve rolls out official support for handheld consoles outside of the Steam Deck, we're seeing people compare Windows versus SteamOS performance on the same hardware. After all, if swapping operating systems scores you better framerates and less power drain, jumping ship for the performance gains alone would make a ton of sense.

Well, if one YouTuber is to be believed, Windows's negative effect on handheld gaming performance was more profound than we first believed. They claim that the Lenovo Legion Go S runs a ton better when it uses SteamOS instead of Windows and saves a lot on battery life.

The SteamOS Lenovo Legion Go S shows notable improvements over the Windows version

The experiment was performed by Dave2D on YouTube, who made a video about his observations on the Lenovo Legion Go S. If you're unaware, the Lenovo Legion Go S originally shipped with just Windows on it; however, a few days ago, we saw Valve release official SteamOS support for the console, which allowed Lenovo to sell SteamOS variants of the Legion Go S and for people with the console to install SteamOS over Windows.

The first thing Dave2D noticed between the Windows and SteamOS versions of the Lenovo Legion Go S was the price. Because Windows is, you know, Windows, the consumer has to pay extra for the license fee, which bumps the price up to around $730. The SteamOS version doesn't have this issue, and as such, goes on sale for just $599. The hardware and controls are the same; the only difference is the operating system and the console's color.

One would be forgiven for believing that the cheaper console would run worse. Well, Dave2D's tests proved the opposite.

When comparing framerates for low and medium settings in games like Cyberpunk 2077, Doom Eternal, and The Witcher 3, the SteamOS version saw around a 10-15 FPS boost compared to the Windows version. The SteamOS Lenovo Legion Go S also gives you far more battery per charge, lasting over six hours while playing Dead Cells. That's a good deal more than the Windows variant, which only manages two hours and 47 minutes of play time before the battery goes flat.

However, you'll notice in the above images that Dave2D also compared the SteamOS Lenovo Legion Go S to the Steam Deck itself, and things aren't looking so cozy for Valve's hardware anymore. While the Steam Deck still ekes out a win in terms of battery life and price, the Lenovo Legion Go S has it beat in the framerate department, scoring 10-15 FPS more than the Steam Deck at 15W. Plus, the Lenovo Legion Go S can push beyond 15W for even more frames, so that's definitely a plus.

Given that Microsoft is rumored to be releasing its own handheld (which will undoubtedly use Windows), the company will have a hard time convincing people to use Windows over SteamOS in its current state. We'll have to see if Microsoft can improve Windows and make it more suitable for handheld use.