Lenovo says it is 'clear' Legion Go faults 'not user error' and even devices out of warranty could be repaired 'free of charge'

If after installing BIOS version N3CN42WW on your Lenovo Legion Go, you have found it unable to get past the BIOS or entirely bricked, Lenovo says it's not your fault. The good news is that you will likely be able to get it fixed for free.

Taking to the Lenovo forums (via VideoCardz), Lenovo clarified that it was able to replicate the same bricking problem with three devices, while other Lenovo teams were able to update to N3CN42WW without any problems. They say, "as such the issue is most likely related to [a] specific component used on mainboards in a certain batch or batches, or the issue needs to have specific circumstances to manifest."

As part of this, the employee also states that "while the root cause has not been identified yet, it is clear it is not user error."

Finally, Lenovo confirms that those under warranty should aim to get the device fixed or replaced and "in the case of out-of-warranty devices, it should be repaired free of charge, but please check local laws."

The user the Lenovo employee was replying to is based in the European Union, and Lenovo clarifies that those in the EU will be covered even if not under warranty if the BIOS update caused the problem.

One user has replied to this post stating that they were told their Legion Go couldn't be repaired in Belgium as they were out of warranty, so one can only hope that the support team are made aware of this communication from Lenovo.

Details

This clarity has been expected by the Lenovo community for some time, who have been reporting bricking problems with this specific BIOS version for a while now. They were likely hoping for some sort of communication weeks ago when it first popped up, even if it were Lenovo simply acknowledging it has seen the problem. Version N3CN42WW appeared to have been released in June and was removed at the start of August, with no communication from Lenovo at the time. That means users were left in the dark for potentially weeks with a handheld that would simply not boot.

On August 4, a post went up on the Legion Go Subreddit, warning users not to update their BIOS. The comments section for this post has multiple users claiming their devices were also bricked by the update. At the time, one user reported they were given a price of €237 (about $273) from Lenovo to fix it. It has not been made clear if any users who paid the repair fee have gotten their fee back with this new communication from Lenovo.

Though it has not been possible to download the BIOS update via Lenovo for a few weeks now, users on Reddit were still cautious of updates even this week (though admittedly, part of that seems to be users taking the opportunity to jokingly take a swipe at Lenovo).

Now, if you try to update your Lenovo Legion Go BIOS, you will find version N3CN40WW, which was updated on August 5 this year, but it hasn't been made clear what the difference is between this and the same version number which launched on January 6 this year. Still, even if users will be getting their devices fixed, this period of uncertainty has likely taken some of the shine off the device for some. And with the memory crisis in full swing, buying a new device is simply unfeasible for many.