Review: Lenovo Legion Go 2
Since portable consoles arrived in our lives until today we have come a long way but the road is still long.
After it seemed we reached a kind of short pause in this scene and while many of us are waiting for the next generation of Valve, companies like MSI and ASUS have not stopped working on their new devices.
However, these two are far from being the only players in the market as Lenovo reminds us that it also has power, and not only that, it provides us with particularly strong devices to show us where the real competition is. Now I have the Lenovo Legion Go 2, the new device in the arena, and it is here to fight.
Pandora’s Box
I think this is the largest box I have ever received for a device of this type, I must say right now, not the Steam Deck, not the MSI Claw, not the Switch 2, and to some extent, even not my laptop came in a box this large for what was actually inside.
When we open the box, we find the case that actually takes up about half of the box, inside the case is the Legion Go 2 along with the disk for the console’s FPS mode and also a stand that I did not find a real use for.
The case itself is packed inside another cardboard similar to the Steam Deck.
Besides that, inside the box we find the 65W charger and also the console manual.
The first thing that definitely strikes me is the size of the device.
From the front, it does not look or feel particularly larger than the Steam Deck, but in terms of thickness?
I think this is the thickest tablet I have ever held, with a thickness of about 23 mm which is huge, but the reason for this is very good.
It is related to the console’s cooling, which I will mention later, but it also contributes to the rather heavy weight which reaches almost one kilogram (920 grams).
Similar to the previous version of the device, the controllers detach from the tablet itself, making this device essentially a Switch equipped with Windows as an operating system.
I will say now that the detachment and connection do not feel amazing, it requires a bit more effort than I would like, especially because Lenovo wanted the new controllers to also fit the first generation of the device. However, the ability to play with the controllers without holding the screen can sometimes relieve the weight you have to carry.
The Lenovo Legion Go 2 is equipped with an 8.8-inch OLED screen, the largest of any portable gaming computer (at least one I have handled) and it is a rather impressive display with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, definitely one of the device’s strong points in my opinion.
The screen finish is relatively glossy, which can create problems in direct lighting, but the screen brightness reaches on paper 1100 nits.
This is “fake” brightness, as the sensor detects that the device is in strong light and starts to whiten the display, while in practice the device reaches 500 nits.
However, during trips when the device was with me, the screen provided an excellent gaming experience.
Similar to the ROG Xbox Ally X, under the hood is the new AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor, also equipped with AMD graphics cores.
One thing I will note now, which is somewhere between a complaint and slight confusion, is that this device is capable of a lot, but it comes with an unclear limitation on the device’s VRAM, limited to 2 GB only for an unclear reason.
You do not need to work too hard to utilize the device’s full resources as this can be done through AMD software easily, but if I did not know I could play with such settings, I might have thought by mistake that this was a device that, honestly, with its resources, could be much stronger, and this almost made the device seem relatively weak, which is definitely not the story of this device.
Windows or not to be
My first impression of Windows on these portable consoles is still very bad, but apparently it can be improved.
At the first startup, the operating system loads to the desktop without problem, but without a keyboard and mouse that can be connected to the device,
performing all installations will probably be a headache for people.
To really start using the device, platforms like Steam and Epic Games need to be downloaded, drivers updated, and for some reason, at first you cannot even use the Xbox platform properly as a file or installation is missing to really connect the Xbox account on this device.
I am not really sure how I solved this problem in the end, but I hope the introduction of Xbox Fullscreen to more devices in recent days will solve all these software problems as we saw with the ROG Xbox Ally X.
Before I continue straight to Windows, I should mention some things about the controllers themselves as they contain many buttons.
On both sides, besides the Start and Select buttons, there are two additional buttons above them, one functioning as a speed settings button for the device and the other opens and closes the Lenovo software which should function like Big Picture for the device.
On the right side is a mouse pad under the joystick and on the left under the D-Pad are two buttons, one takes us to the desktop and the other opens all windows like WinKey + Tab for quick window switching.
Both controllers have programmable back buttons, and the right controller also has two side buttons usable in FPS mode of the console which turns the right controller into a kind of mouse, a nice mode that requires some practice to adjust control for different games as there are no automatic presets for different games.
Lenovo software will run when the device powers up and the first thing it shows is the store.
Besides that, there are also tabs for the library and device or controller settings.
The library tab is very intuitive and automatically adds games from Steam and Epic Games once we start downloading them.
The device settings allow considerable freedom regarding its operation, including the amount of power the device will use to run games with three preset modes from efficiency to performance mode, where the fans will also work maximally and make the device like an airplane blowing air at relatively high volume.
You can also control the screen refresh rate and resolution.
Regarding sound, there are no particularly interesting settings the device software does not come with an EQ to adjust anything.
In general, Lenovo software is convenient, it does not complicate too much as even the device’s “joystick” settings screen has a relatively detailed menu allowing control over what each button does.
My only complaint about the software is that when the device is in handheld mode, unlike FPS mode which requires using two buttons at the extreme right of the console, if I hold the console normally, sometimes these buttons are pressed.
These buttons are not useful except in FPS mode, but when pressed, they prevent a menu that can be opened mid game from opening or responding at all.
At first, I thought it was a software problem until I realized it was due to pressing two extra buttons that are actually not supposed to do anything at that moment, and it is not a setting that can be disabled.
But the numbers Mason, what do they say?
Now let’s talk about what the device is really capable of, as the software is a matter of personal preference.
I am sure some people would prefer to work without it or without some parts of what it offers.
The Lenovo Legion Go 2 is among the first devices to use AMD’s new processors for these devices, the Ryzen Z2 Extreme which currently exists in MSI Claw A8 released earlier this year and more or less moved away from Intel hardware as in their previous device in the series.
In addition, we also have the ROG Xbox Ally X released recently, and now we are at the third device while the arm is still open.
The Legion Go 2 uses built in graphics cores that do a good job but the problem, as I mentioned earlier, started when the device limited available VRAM to 2 GB, which made me think the device’s capabilities were much lower than what it can actually do.
In reality? It is capable of a lot and I am sure it has much untapped potential.
Without too much introduction, here are the numbers from a little over 30 games I ran on the device.
I set the games to Medium graphics, turned off Ray Tracing, set upscaling to Medium where possible, enabled AMD Frame Gen, and set the console to performance mode.
The results, as you can see, are not bad at all.
Gaming experience on the console is among the most impressive I have experienced from devices of this type.
Throughout, even while games were running, the device remained cool and pleasant to touch, thanks to the air vents that bring cold air into the console at the back and the fans that expel hot air from the top.
I will also note that while playing on the console, the battery lasted about 1.5 to 2 hours, which is not bad but slightly behind the numbers we saw with the Xbox Ally X. Still, it is good working time.
My biggest disappointment with the device is actually related to the speakers.
The sound is not particularly successful, providing only the minimum. While playing, it is probably less of a problem as most of us use headphones, especially with public transportation.
But at other times, when playing anything through the device, even background music, we can understand that corners were cut in the sound system.
Suddenly bass disappears, and with fast paced or metal music, it starts to sound bad, weird, and incomplete.
A bit disappointing in a device with considerable thought and investment in other aspects.
Bottom line
The Lenovo Legion Go 2 is a very strong competitor in the portable console market. It still has teething problems mainly related to using Windows, but the move to Xbox Fullscreen can help.
The real problem of this device is, of course, its price, which may make it difficult to recommend unequivocally when the competition is not far away and at more wallet-friendly prices for many players.
As of writing, the Legion Go 2 costs about 5,500 shekels, a very high price for the value offered.
This device has a lot to offer, but I do not know how big its audience will be at this price.
