I Performed the Lenovo Legion Go 2 Gaming Handheld. It’s a Massive Upgrade With a Greater Value

It’s been two years since Lenovo launched the Legion Go gaming handheld. It was massive and heavy, certain, but it surely additionally had poor battery life, actually loud followers and was saddled with Windows 11. To be truthful, it was one of many first of the current crop of Windows gaming handhelds, and the competitors hasn’t precisely been exceedingly higher. We could also be turning a nook, although, with the Legion Go S earlier this 12 months, the upcoming Asus ROG Xbox Ally and now, the Legion Go 2. 

Expected to reach in October, with an eye-watering beginning worth of $1,049, the Legion Go 2 is larger and higher than the unique — at the least primarily based on specs and the jiffy I spent enjoying with one. And once I say larger, I imply it is truly bigger in all instructions and ideas the scales at 2 kilos. 

The design may not look too totally different from the unique, however Lenovo truly made various adjustments. For instance, the bottoms of the removable controllers have been rounded, in order that they’re extra comfy. They now have Hall Effect sticks to assist with drift. There are three user-programmable buttons, a bigger D-pad and a greater general button format. And there’s nonetheless an FPS mode that permits you to use the correct controller like a vertical mouse. 

Lenovo Legion Go 2 specs

Display	8.8-inch 1,920×1,200 OLED 144Hz
Processor	Up to AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme
Graphics	Up to AMD Radeon 890M Graphics
Memory	Up to 32GB 8,000MHz LPDDR5X RAM
Storage	Up to 2TB M.2 2242 PCIe SSD (Gen 4)
Ports	USB 4.0 Type-C (x2), microSD card reader (helps as much as 2TB), 3.5mm Audio Combo Jack
Audio	2-watt stereo audio system, dual-array near-field microphone
Wireless	Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
Battery	4-cell 74Whr
Dimensions	11.6×5.4×1.7 inches (295.6×136.7×42.3 millimeters)
Weight	2 kilos (920 grams)
OS	Windows 11

The handheld continues to be constructed round an 8.8-inch touchscreen, however this time it is a great-looking OLED panel with a 30-144Hz variable refresh price. Disappointingly, the decision dropped from 2,560×1,600 pixels to 1,920×1,200. Perhaps that is for the most effective, although: Even with its new AMD processor and graphics chip, you may not be capable of reap the benefits of a 2.5K decision, however 1080p ought to be simply effective, particularly in case your tastes lean extra towards less-demanding indie and retro titles. 

Lenovo additionally bumped up the battery measurement to a 74-watt-hour capability — greater than 50% greater than the Legion Go’s battery. It additionally has fast charging with Power Delivery 3.0 assist by its high or backside USB-C ports. A 65-watt energy adapter is included. 

Both USB-C ports assist DisplayPort 2.0, so you’ll be able to simply hook up with an exterior show, with or with out Lenovo’s optionally available dock, or to a pleasant pair of show glasses. (Lenovo up to date its Legion Glasses, too, making them “slimmer, lighter and brighter.”) Lenovo even made it simpler to securely unlock the system by placing a fingerprint reader within the energy button on high. 

Will all of the updates repay? Maybe. But at $1,049 — and that is simply the beginning worth — the Legion Go 2 is in finances gaming laptop computer territory. Since it’s operating Windows 11, you’ll be able to at all times use it like a desktop PC that additionally simply occurs to play video games fairly nicely on the go, too.