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 nan institution officially announces its successor today: nan caller Legion Go 2 is somewhat bigger, heavier, and costs at least $400 much than nan original.

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

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

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

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

Spec	Legion Go 2	Legion Go
Starting price	$1,099	$699
Screen	8.8-inch 1920 x 1200 OLED pinch 30–144Hz VRR, 500-nit pinch 1000-nit peak	8.8-inch 2560 x 1600 IPS astatine 144Hz aliases 60Hz, 500-nit
Chip	AMD Ryzen Z2 aliases Z2 Extreme	AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme
Memory	16GB (Z2) aliases 32GB LPDDR5X-8000 (Z2E)	16GB LPDDR5X-7500
Battery	74 watt-hour	49.2 watt-hour
Size w/ pads	11.64 x 5.38 x 1.66 inches (295.6 x 136.7 x 42.25mm)	11.76 x 5.16 x 1.6 inches (298.8 x 131 x 40.7mm)
Tablet size	8.11 x 5.38 x 0.9 inches (206 x 136.7 x 22.95mm)	8.27 x 5.16 x 0.79 inches (210 x 131 x 20.1mm)
Weight	2.38 pounds (1079g)	1.88 pounds (854g)
Ports	USB4 x2, MicroSD UHS-II, 3.5mm headset	USB4 x 2, MicroSD UHS-II, 3.5mm headset

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge