When it comes to reparability, the Steam Deck OLED barely beats out the Legion Go, according to a new teardown report from iFixit.
Both the Steam Deck OLED and Legion Go were made with repair in mind. To test how easy those repairs are, the team at iFixit took both devices apart, as if they were going to fix them.
Both devices earn the same points when it comes to the display and controllers. The Legion Go beats out the Steam Deck OLED on battery replacement, thanks to the pull-tab adhesives it uses. However, iFixit finds that there’s a bit more internal complexity in the Legion Go, making it difficult to access some of the internal components.
Legion Go (Credit: Joseph Maldonado)Overall, the site notes that “both the Legion Go and Steam Deck OLED are designed for gamers to take apart and repair with relative ease.”
The site gives the Steam Deck OLED a 9/10 and the Legion Go an 8/10. The major thing holding the Legion Go back is the availability of repair parts. While the Steam Deck OLED offers repair parts through iFixit and other sources, Lenovo does not for the Legion Go.
“Should Lenovo commit to selling OEM parts through any channel, as they generally do for their laptops, we would be excited to update their score based on the improvement,” the report says.
Regardless, the site acknowledges that it's great to see products made with reparability in mind that will in theory last longer than counterparts that don’t offer any repair options.
