A decade ago, SteamOS was significantly behind Windows 10 in gaming performance, but that's changed now. ArsTechnica's Lenovo Legion Go S testing results show that SteamOS will become the better option for portable consoles in 2025.
The publication tested five games — Returnal, Borderlands 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Homeworld 3, and DOOM: The Dark Ages. The results show that four of them have higher FPS when running on SteamOS.
The only exception was Borderlands 3 — on the Legion GO S it shows a higher frame rate when launched through Windows 11.
Additionally, during testing, the publication was able to additionally install newer ASUS drivers on the Legion Go S, which the company uses for its own ROG Ally portable console. The problem with Lenovo's drivers is that the company last updated them in January, while ASUS did so in May.
These results are particularly impressive considering that games run on SteamOS through the Proton compatibility layer, while they run natively on Windows 11. At the same time, it demonstrates Valve's significant contribution to the development of Linux gaming in recent years.