Lenovo has confirmed reports that some Legion Go handheld gaming PCs are failing during a BIOS update, a problem gamers have described as bricking their devices. The company acknowledged the issue publicly for the first time three weeks after a Reddit user shared a repair bill of nearly $300, alongside other user reports of damage and costly fixes. Lenovo says the problematic update, labeled BIOS V42, was never distributed through its Windows Update service or the Legion Space app, and the company has removed it from its support website while it conducts further validation.
The company’s communications director, Jeff Witt, provided a statement advising affected users on a recovery step. Lenovo suggests that if a device shows a blank screen during the V42 installation, users should press and hold the power button for about 10 seconds, wait roughly one minute, and then turn the device on again. If the device does not return to normal operation after that, the company directs customers to contact Lenovo Support for additional help. Lenovo also stated that users who successfully completed the V42 update do not need to take any action at this time.
The issue only affects a specific model and a specific download path. Vulnerable devices are the original Legion Go 8APU1, not the Legion Go S or the Legion Go 2, and the update had to be downloaded directly from Lenovo’s website over a roughly two-month period before the company pulled it. Not every unit is affected, and a Lenovo forum post from an employee identified as Daniel_Legion said the problem should be repaired free of charge for devices under warranty. That same post added that out-of-warranty devices should also be repaired free of charge, but with the caveat that users should check local laws.
The Verge is seeking confirmation from Lenovo about that forum post, as Daniel_Legion has no other visible posting history on the Lenovo forums. The phrasing about local laws has raised questions about whether the company will extend warranty coverage to cover all BIOS-related failures. The employee also said that an investigation is ongoing, with a team in Europe able to reproduce the issue on three out of three devices tested, while other teams could not reproduce it at all. That suggests the problem may be tied to specific components on certain mainboards or to particular circumstances that trigger the failure.
One journalist at The Verge chose to install the same BIOS V42 on a personal Legion Go review unit and reported that after a lengthy sequence of black screens and warnings lasting about six minutes, the device booted successfully and even gained improved gamepad functionality for entering the Windows login PIN. The source article criticizes Lenovo for not reassuring customers more broadly before concluding its investigation, noting that another company, Framework, responded to a similar device-bricking BIOS update with a promise to fix affected devices even outside warranty. Lenovo has not yet made a comparable public commitment beyond the recovery instructions and the unconfirmed forum post.
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