Legion Go 2 official: Lenovo’s new flagship handheld costs $1,099 — and up

Lenovo’s Legion Go was a polarizing handheld gaming PC, and that won’t alteration arsenic the institution officially announces its successor today: the caller Legion Go 2 is somewhat bigger, heavier, and costs at least $400 much than the original.

But successful galore different ways, it looks similar Lenovo listened — and truthful this handheld, with its Switch-like detachable wireless controllers, built-in kickstand, and hidden optical mouse, mightiness conscionable beryllium the eventual portable PC erstwhile it arrives this October.

We already knew its recently sculpted controllers made it acold much comfy to clasp and rodent around; now, it besides has 50 percent much artillery and perchance the champion handheld surface wealth tin buy.

Not lone did Lenovo find an 8.8-inch OLED sheet — with the inky blacks and gorgeous colour OLED tin spend — it’s a existent 30–144Hz adaptable refresh complaint surface with a autochthonal scenery orientation, meaning adjacent games that tin lone support 31 oregon 32fps connected its handheld spot should inactive springiness you each other framework of smoothness implicit 30. The archetypal Legion Go didn’t person VRR astatine all, and galore VRR screens lone spell down to 48Hz, truthful 30Hz is simply a bully improvement.

And due to the fact that Lenovo picked a lower-resolution sheet astatine 1920 x 1200 alternatively of the overkill 2560 x 1600 of the original, it should beryllium that overmuch easier for its caller Z2 oregon Z2 Extreme spot to present capable frames, too.

Speaking of those chips, the AMD Ryzen Z2 and Z2 Extreme astir apt aren’t large upgrades implicit the past question of handhelds. In fact, AMD admitted to maine astatine CES that the Z2 is simply a lucifer for the Z1E, but with bundle enhancements. The Z2E is simply a humble upgrade implicit the Z1E, according to ETA Prime’s aboriginal tests with an MSI Claw A8. Every framework counts successful a handheld wherever the latest games conflict to play smoothly, but I would anticipation for more. Perhaps Lenovo got much retired of it — I callback the archetypal Legion Go being a tad faster than the archetypal ROG Ally contempt utilizing the aforesaid Z1E chip.

You tin besides present get 1TB of retention by default successful North America, with 2TB successful the highest-end config. All but the entry-level SKU person 32GB of RAM. There’s besides a fingerprint scholar successful the powerfulness fastener now, which is rapidly becoming a modular diagnostic connected Windows handhelds.

And those sculpted controllers, which you’ll besides beryllium capable to bargain and link to the archetypal Legion Go since they usage the aforesaid mounting system, present person a due pivot-point D-pad alternatively of the level and shallow transverse fastener of the original. They inactive diagnostic drift-resistant Hall effect joysticks, too, and astatine CES I saw that the close pad’s rodent skate accessory present locks into spot truthful you don’t fling it disconnected erstwhile utilizing the FPS mouse.

I’m acrophobic that handheld gaming PC prices are headed the incorrect direction. The Legion Go 2 starts astatine $1,099.99 with an AMD Z2, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. You’ll walk $1,199.99 for the exemplary with 32GB of RAM, $1,349.99 for a Z2 Extreme with 32GB / 1TB, and $1,479.99 for the aforesaid with 2TB. I already thought the MSI Claw 8 AI Plus was pricey aft MSI bumped it $999.99, and portion this is pricier still, I wouldn’t beryllium amazed if that Claw’s Intel Lunar Lake spot whitethorn beryllium competitory with the Z2E successful Lenovo’s caller handheld.

But terms and show aren’t everything, and Lenovo already has the $830 Legion Go S with SteamOS for those who request to walk a small little for bully performance. The Legion Go 2 whitethorn tempt those who’d wage other for the champion Windows handheld acquisition — though I fishy we whitethorn beryllium redefining the Windows portion of “best Windows handheld experience” after the Xbox Ally X arrives connected October 16th.

Speaking of Windows and SteamOS, Lenovo isn’t announcing a SteamOS mentation of the Legion Go 2 astatine this time, spokesperson Jeff Witt tells The Verge. As of embargo time, Lenovo hasn’t confirmed erstwhile oregon if the Legion Go 2 volition get the aforesaid Xbox full-screen acquisition arsenic Asus’ Xbox Ally handheld, but Microsoft has said some non-Asus handhelds volition get it successful 2026.

Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge