Lenovo Legion Go 2 Review

It’s go astir cliche to kick astir rising prices successful 2025, but the Lenovo Legion Go 2 takes things to an wholly antithetic level. Because portion the archetypal Legion Go launched for $699 successful precocious 2023, the Lenovo Legion Go 2 starts astatine $1,099 and lone goes up from there, each the mode up to $1,479 for the highest-end model. The exemplary I reviewed is priced astatine $1,349.

Now, determination are definite things that the Legion Go 2 does overmuch amended than its predecessor – it has a beauteous and accelerated OLED show and mostly adopts the Legion Go S’s superior fastener layout. But is that worthy the sharply accrued price? That reply is evidently going to beryllium antithetic for everyone, but it’s a hard sell, particularly considering the Xbox Ally X launches lone 2 weeks aft this handheld gaming PC.

Design

At archetypal glance, the Lenovo Legion Go 2 looks a lot similar the archetypal Legion Go, but arsenic you look person the differences are striking. Just similar the Legion Go S, Lenovo moved the ‘start’ and ‘select’ buttons beneath the Legion buttons connected the precocious close and near of the chassis – they were beneath the near analog instrumentality connected the archetypal device. In their place, Lenovo added a mates of shortcut buttons, 1 of which activates Task View, and different brings up the Windows Desktop.

These are precise utile shortcuts to person contiguous entree to, and does spell a agelong mode to alleviating the symptom of utilizing Windows connected a handheld – astatine slightest until the Xbox Full Screen Experience launches for third-party devices aboriginal adjacent year.

Lenovo besides expanded the powerfulness fastener importantly successful bid to adhd a fingerprint reader, similar the ROG Ally X. This fingerprint scholar worked rapidly astir of the time, though due to the fact that of its awkward placement, it meant I had to contort my hands to unlock the device. That’s astir apt due to the fact that I person smaller hands, truthful it mightiness not beryllium arsenic overmuch of an contented depending connected your manus size. Instead, I recovered simply entering my PIN to beryllium little awkward each clip I went to unlock the device.

What hasn’t changed from the Legion Go is arguably the champion portion of the device: the ample interaction pad connected the close controller. This makes navigating Windows overmuch easier, and is astir apt the portion of the instrumentality I interacted with astir erstwhile I was mounting things up. Then there’s a slew of buttons and paddles connected the backmost and sides of the device. These are going to beryllium divisive, particularly those connected the close broadside – but they’re determination for a circumstantial purpose.

One happening you bash request to support successful mind, though, is that portion the Legion Go 2 is technically a handheld, it’s precise large. This happening is 11.64 inches long, 5.4 inches gangly and much than 2 inches heavy – and it weighs a spot much than 2 pounds. This is simply a immense device, and it tin decidedly commencement to measurement you down implicit longer gaming sessions. Luckily, determination is simply a mode astir it, acknowledgment to the Legion Go’s attack to controllers.

Just similar the archetypal generation, the Legion Go 2 has removable controllers, benignant of similar a sci-fi Nintendo Switch 2. And conscionable similar the Switch 2, 1 of the removable controllers tin enactment arsenic a rodent successful what Lenovo calls “First Person Mode”. To activate this, you deed a small power connected the bottommost of the controller, and it turns the controller into a benignant of vertical mouse, with the 2 buttons connected the broadside acting arsenic the near and close rodent buttons – near connected apical and close connected bottom.

This is decidedly a chill feature, and utile for an operating strategy that for each of Microsoft’s effort is inactive champion experienced with a rodent and keyboard. Still, you’ll request to battalion your ain keyboard to truly get the astir retired of the Legion Go 2 successful “First Person Mode”. Luckily, determination are plentifulness of super-portable keyboards retired determination these days.

But if you alteration FPS Mode, you’re evidently not going to beryllium holding up the handheld successful your hands anymore, which makes the basal connected the backmost travel successful handy. Just similar the original, this is simply a hinged kickstand that is astir arsenic agelong arsenic the tablet successful the halfway of the device. It is remarkably sturdy, and makes for a large mode to play games if you conscionable privation to prop it up connected a array determination with the controllers removed. Lenovo does merchantability an accessory that lets you slot the controllers into a much accepted form-factor, but it makes for a gamepad that is astir arsenic ample arsenic the notoriously beefy Xbox Duke.

All told, determination are twenty seven buttons connected the Legion Go 2, with astir of them being programmable successful the Legion Space software. You tin besides prevention antithetic fastener layouts arsenic templates successful the bundle and delegate them to gamepad mode oregon FPS mode. This was ace adjuvant for me, due to the fact that it fto maine tally my benchmarking bundle successful the inheritance without needing to plug successful a keyboard, similar I usually request to do.

On the bottommost of the Legion Go 2, you’ll find 3 ports: USB-C, a MicroSD paper reader, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Then, astatine the top, you’ll find an further USB-C port. I similar this configuration, due to the fact that it allows you to complaint the instrumentality successful a mode that’ll beryllium comfy nary substance however you’re utilizing it, alternatively than thing similar the MSI Claw 8 AI+, which conscionable has its ports astatine the apical of the device.

The apical of the Legion Go 2 is besides packed with ventilation, with six stretched retired hexagons that spit blistery aerial retired of the device. For intake, the Legion Go 2 sucks successful chill aerial done the back, done much of those stretched retired hexagonal cutouts. This ventilation method is precise effective, with the GPU not reaching supra 65°C passim my testing.

Next to the vents connected the apical are 2 talker grilles, 1 connected either broadside of the device. For a handheld, these get beauteous loud, but they tin conflict to overpower the vents. That said, you tin set the instrumentality curve done the Legion Space bundle to mitigate this problem.

Display

The existent prima of the Lenovo Legion Go 2 is the display. The archetypal Legion Go had a beauteous 1600p display, but it often ran into occupation whenever you tried to tally games astatine that autochthonal resolution. With the Legion Go 2, however, Lenovo scaled down the solution to 1920 x 1200, and swapped retired the LCD sheet to OLED, which makes for a important show upgrade, adjacent though it has a little resolution.

Across the board, games looked better, with brighter colors and much close achromatic levels, but it’s much than conscionable how it looks. The OLED show is besides fast, with a 144Hz refresh complaint that supports VRR (variable refresh rate) technology. In games that tin tally that accelerated connected an integrated graphics spot – looking astatine you Silksong – question is fluid and surface tearing is fundamentally a happening of the past.

Other than the Steam Deck OLED, the Legion Go 2 is the archetypal handheld PC that has an OLED screen, and adjacent then, the Steam Deck’s show was constricted to 90Hz, which is substantially slower. For OLED faithfuls that person been aching for an OLED handheld, this is going to beryllium the 1 to get, adjacent if it comes with a important terms increase. It mightiness conscionable beryllium worthy it if a non-OLED show is simply a deal-breaker. I’m not rather there, but aft utilizing the Legion Go 2 for astir a week, I tin decidedly spot the appeal.

Performance

The Lenovo Legion Go 2 is 1 of the archetypal handhelds to deed the marketplace with the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme – astatine slightest present successful the US. It does present a sizable show boost implicit the last-generation Z1 Extreme, but you should spell successful with tempered expectations.

I tested the Legion Go 2 against the archetypal Legion Go astatine 1200p and the Asus ROG Ally X astatine 1080p, and portion Lenovo’s caller handheld is simply a immense upgrade implicit the company’s archetypal handheld, the show pb narrows importantly against a likewise specced device.

For instance, successful Call of Duty Black Ops 7, the Legion Go 2 gets 39 fps astatine 1200p with the Extreme preset and FSR acceptable to “Quality”. With those aforesaid settings, the archetypal Legion Go falls behind, lone getting 20 fps successful the aforesaid benchmark with its banal settings. At archetypal glance, that’s highly promising for the Legion Go 2, but it’s a spot much analyzable than that.

Running the Asus ROG Ally X (the last-gen handheld powered by the Z1 Extreme – not the upcoming Z2 Extreme-powered Xbox Ally X, to beryllium clear) with the aforesaid settings, the handheld gets 32 fps successful the aforesaid trial with the aforesaid settings, albeit astatine a little 1080p resolution. That makes for astir a 20% quality successful earthy performance, though due to the fact that 1200p has astir 11% much pixels than 1080p, it’s astir apt person to a 25-30% show lead. That’s inactive a promising number, though overmuch little than the Go 2’s pb implicit the archetypal Go.

The astir utmost illustration of this is successful Forza Horizon 5, wherever the Lenovo Legion Go 2 gets 65 fps compared to 42 fps from the archetypal Legion Go, but the Ally X sits adjacent with the caller Legion astatine 65 fps. Again, that is astatine a somewhat little resolution, but it’s not similar you tin announcement the quality betwixt 1080p and 1200p by conscionable looking astatine it.

You tin spot this dichotomy successful 3DMark, too, which doesn’t trust connected show resolution. In Time Spy, the Legion Go 2 clocks successful astatine 3,936 points, compared to 2,811 points from the archetypal Go and 3,517 points for the Ally X. The second 2 devices some usage the aforesaid Z1 Extreme chipset, but there’s a monolithic delta betwixt their show – and that comes down to the RAM configuration.

The archetypal Legion Go, you see, shipped with conscionable 16GB of memory, compared to 24GB connected the Ally X. Lenovo was shy with its representation allocation, arsenic well, meaning that by default conscionable 3GB of representation is dedicated to the GPU. That’s wherefore the Ally X was truthful immense erstwhile it came retired past Summer, arsenic it had capable RAM to really provender the Z1 Extreme – allowing for immoderate immense show jumps.

Lenovo seems to person learned its acquisition there, arsenic the Legion Go 2 it sent maine for reappraisal has 32GB of RAM. In fact, you can’t adjacent get the Z2 Extreme exemplary with little than 32GB of memory, astir apt due to the fact that it would pb to sub-standard performance. However, determination is simply a exemplary with the less-powerful AMD Z2 APU that comes with 16GB of memory. Don’t bargain that 1 – I haven’t tested that 1 personally yet, but I can’t ideate it volition bash thing to warrant its $1,099 starting price.

With that successful mind, looking astatine the leveled playing tract (that is, not being hamstrung by an inadequate RAM configuration), it’s disappointing to spot specified a tiny spread successful show betwixt the Legion Go 2 and the last-gen Ally X. That said, the Z2E does theoretically person country to agelong its show a small further. After all, successful my trial suite, the Ally X with its Z1 Extreme volition leap to 95°C, wherever the Legion Go 2 peaks astatine 65°C successful the aforesaid workloads. Perhaps a firmware update, oregon immoderate customized overclocking, volition unlock much awesome numbers from the Legion Go 2. Otherwise, I’m definite determination volition beryllium a handheld that’ll propulsion this spot further, we’ll conscionable person to hold for it.

Battery Life

Any instrumentality that’s playing PC games connected a artillery is going to conflict to past much than a mates of hours earlier you person to plug it in. And portion the Legion Go 2 is nary different, it’s astonishing conscionable however agelong it tin last, adjacent successful demanding games.

I started a timer and started up Cyberpunk 2077 connected precocious settings to spot however agelong I could play, and I was amazed to spot it lasted a small implicit 2 hours seventeen minutes. For comparison, the Legion Go S – moving connected the much businesslike SteamOS – lasted conscionable implicit an hr and a fractional successful Baldur’s Gate 3, a likewise demanding game.

I besides ran the instrumentality done the PCMark10 artillery beingness test, to spot however agelong it volition past successful bureau applications – adjacent though I don’t deliberation it’s apt galore radical are going to usage it for Zoom calls oregon Excel spreadsheets. In that test, the Lenovo Legion Go 2 lasted 10 hours and 52 minutes, surpassing adjacent the Ally X’s 9 hours and 53 minutes successful the aforesaid test. That means, astatine slightest according to my data, the Lenovo Legion Go 2 present has the longest artillery beingness successful a handheld gaming PC.

There’s a mates of reasons for this. For one, OLED is overmuch much power-efficient than LCD displays, arsenic it tin conscionable crook disconnected pixels successful acheronian scenes. But a batch of it comes down to the Z2 Extreme. AMD’s caller handheld APU features RDNA 3.5 graphics cores, and portion they’re akin to the RDNA 3 cores recovered successful the Z1 Extreme, these cores were enhanced for AI laptops to boost powerfulness ratio without losing performance. It’s not capable to treble your artillery beingness automatically, of course, but a much businesslike chipset goes a agelong mode to boosting artillery life, particularly successful demanding workloads.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor astatine IGN and the PC components queen. You tin travel her @Jackiecobra