Legion Go 2
The Lenovo Legion Go 2 receives broadly mixed reviews centered on a clear value proposition debate.
Reviewers universally praise the outstanding OLED display, improved ergonomics, and the Z2 Extreme's performance advantages at lower wattages, along with the substantially larger battery.
However, consensus criticism focuses on the extremely high price (starting at $1,100-$1,350, up to $1,850), the heavy and bulky form factor at 920g, the resolution downgrade from the previous generation, and the cumbersome Windows 11 experience.
The core disagreement revolves around whether performance improvements and feature upgrades justify the steep price increase and physical compromises—enthusiasts highlight the generational leaps in display quality and lower-wattage gaming efficiency, while value-conscious reviewers argue the modest top-end performance gains and limited battery life at high TDP don't warrant the cost.
[+] Strengths
- +Outstanding OLED display with 8.8-inch size, 1920x1200 resolution, 120-144Hz variable refresh rate, HDR support, and exceptional brightness and color quality.
- +Significant performance improvements with the Z2 Extreme APU, delivering 20-40% gains in lower wattage ranges and best-in-class power for a mainstream gaming handheld.
- +Improved ergonomics, redesigned controllers with better D-pad and analog sticks, new mouse mode for FPS gaming, and overall more comfortable hold than the original.
- +Substantially larger battery (50% bigger) delivering 35% or greater improvement in battery life with better power management.
- +Premium build quality with improved materials, fingerprint sensor on power button, better speakers, and strong overall hardware refinement.
[-] Drawbacks
- -Extremely high price starting at $1,100-$1,350 and reaching up to $1,850 for top configurations, making it expensive compared to alternatives and difficult to justify the cost.
- -Notably heavier and bulkier than the original model at around 920g (2 lbs), making extended handheld sessions uncomfortable and difficult to hold for long periods.
- -Resolution downgrade from 2560x1600 (QHD+) to 1920x1200 (FHD+), making the display less sharp than the previous generation despite the OLED upgrade.
- -Windows 11 OS creates a cumbersome, unintuitive experience with finicky setup, multiple required updates across different launchers, and touchscreen-dependent menus.
[~] Debates
- ~ performance+Performance shows significant improvements at lower wattages with 25-60% gains in the 10-15W range, making it the most powerful gaming handheld.-At the top end, performance improvement is only 10-15% over the previous generation, which is not massive.
- ~ battery+35% increase in battery life is pretty significant with the much bigger 50% larger battery.-Because it's a big OLED screen, it's still not a super long-lasting device.
- ~ design+New controls are better in just about every way with improved D-pad and analog sticks.-Detaching controllers is clunky, inconsistent, and doesn't feel premium.
- ~ audio+Speakers are significantly better with a decent improvement in quality.-Top-firing speakers don't provide immersive audio since sound goes up into the room instead of to your ears.
[+]The Consensus
ID_GRP: POSITIVE_FEEDBACK// Outstanding OLED display with 8.8-inch size, 1920x1200 resolution, 120-144Hz variable refresh rate, HDR support, and exceptional brightness and color quality.
"It has a sweet new OLED panel, 120 Hz variable refresh rate, 500 nits, supports HDR"
"it is absolutely stunning"
"This freaking panel is by far the best of best when it comes to handheld screens."
"this is probably the best screen that you can get in any handheld."
"It's got one of the best looking and largest OLED displays on any handheld."
// Significant performance improvements with the Z2 Extreme APU, delivering 20-40% gains in lower wattage ranges and best-in-class power for a mainstream gaming handheld.
"The bigger gains come at lower wattages. So like that 10 to 15 watt range. The Z2 Extreme really opens up and we see like a 25 to 40% but sometimes even like a 60% increase in performance"
"broadly speaking, we're talking a 20 to 30% uptick in performance"
"this is the most powerful and most complete gaming handheld package on the market right now."
"It's as powerful as a desktop gaming PC."
// Improved ergonomics, redesigned controllers with better D-pad and analog sticks, new mouse mode for FPS gaming, and overall more comfortable hold than the original.
"new speakers, new D-pad, new sticks, better ergonomics"
"the side is a lot more ergonomic. It feels a lot more comfortable"
"they've redesigned the ergonomics to make it much more comfortable than the original."
"The big change are the controls. And I think that these are better in just about every single way."
// Substantially larger battery (50% bigger) delivering 35% or greater improvement in battery life with better power management.
"we have a much bigger battery. It's 50% larger"
"I've seen about a 35% increase in battery life, which is pretty significant"
"The battery has also been upgraded. It's now 74 W hours, which is almost double as what it was on the previous model."
[-]The Drawbacks
ID_GRP: NEGATIVE_FEEDBACK// Extremely high price starting at $1,100-$1,350 and reaching up to $1,850 for top configurations, making it expensive compared to alternatives and difficult to justify the cost.
"They're painfully expensive. They're also thicker, heavier, louder, bigger, but the price is the pain point."
"it's very expensive. This Z2 Extreme version will cost you £1,099 or in the US $1349"
"is it worth 1,400 bucks? No, it's not. Man, that's so that's that's a month of rent and a car payment. Like, that is a huge number."
"this thing is $1,350. ... These prices are insane."
"this has a significant price increase. It's almost double the price of the original Lenovo Legion Go."
// Notably heavier and bulkier than the original model at around 920g (2 lbs), making extended handheld sessions uncomfortable and difficult to hold for long periods.
"The Legion Go 2 has gotten noticeably bigger."
"this is such a heavy device. It's about 920 g"
"It's heavy. Like, it's super freaking heavy... you got to hold it from the middle. You can't hold it from the side. You can't hang it down"
"additional battery does mean additional weight. So now it is 920 g as opposed to around 850 on the previous model. ... this does make it one of the heaviest handhelds on the market right now."
// Resolution downgrade from 2560x1600 (QHD+) to 1920x1200 (FHD+), making the display less sharp than the previous generation despite the OLED upgrade.
"It is lower resolution than before. It's now 1200p instead of 1600p"
"the resolution's been downgraded... we've basically gone from quad HD plus down to full HD plus"
"resolution is a downgrade from the last gen Lenovo Legion Go. The 2023 version came with a QHD plus 2560 by 1600 display."
[~]The Great Debates
ID_GRP: CONTESTED_POINTSperformance
Reviewers disagree on the magnitude of performance improvement. Some highlight significant gains at lower wattages (25-60% in the 10-15W range) and call it the most powerful handheld, while others emphasize that top-end performance improvements are modest (10-15% at max power), which they view as not justifying the cost increase.
[+] For
"The bigger gains come at lower wattages. So like that 10 to 15 watt range. The Z2 Extreme really opens up and we see like a 25 to 40% but sometimes even like a 60% increase in performance"
"broadly speaking, we're talking a 20 to 30% uptick in performance"
"it is already an up to 30% improvement over the Z1 Extreme... That's actually really good because that's going to give you a load of battery life saved and also really good performance at that wattage."
[-] Against
"when it comes to performance at the top end... it's like a 10 maybe 15% bump over the previous gen, it's not a massive gain."
"It's over double the price for what I would say is like a mild improvement in performance."
"we're not getting that much more than we did out of the Z1 Extreme."
battery
Opinions vary significantly on battery life. Some reviewers highlight the substantial improvement with the larger battery delivering 35% more runtime or 7+ hours in low power modes. Others note that at high TDP settings, battery life remains insufficient at just 1-2.5 hours, limiting practical gaming time.
[+] For
"I've seen about a 35% increase in battery life, which is pretty significant"
"Low power mode for indie and 2D gaming. You're going to see over 7 hours of run time."
"Battery life is definitely better than the first gen"
[-] Against
"because it's a big OLED screen, it's still not a super long-lasting device."
"35 watt mode... is an hour and 20 minutes."
"it still feels like you don't get enough gaming time... on balance settings, I was getting around 2 and 1/2 hours... settings and bumped up the TDP, then I was getting 2 hours or less"
design
Design opinions are split over the controller attachment/detachment mechanism and overall form factor. Reviewers praise ergonomic improvements and new input options, but criticize the clunky controller attachment system, excessive weight and bulk, and design compromises like the placement of various buttons.
[+] For
"The big change are the controls. And I think that these are better in just about every single way."
"the side is a lot more ergonomic. It feels a lot more comfortable"
"this FPS mode thing is legit. It's a very usable mouse when you need it."
[-] Against
"I really don't like the way you detach these controllers... it's just clunky. It's inconsistent and it just doesn't feel premium"
"because the controllers are removable, they kind of have give to them. They're kind of wobbly, which is frustrating when you're like really trying to clamp down"
"It is pretty heavy though, so playing it in bed is kind of like endurance training."
"getting these off is actually still a pain in the butt. ... This still has that same kind of clunky structure."
audio
Audio implementation divides reviewers. Some praise the upgraded speakers as loud and significantly better quality. Others criticize the top-firing speaker design for directing sound away from the player and limiting immersion, with one reviewer noting the audio isn't fully immersive.
[+] For
"The speakers are also significantly better. ... the quality is a decent improvement."
"they've upgraded the speakers... they're good... the speakers are really loud."
"Good news is they sound great and they get pretty loud."
[-] Against
"but they're upfiring. So, you don't get that like that immersive audio."
"they're top firing, so the people in front of you will hear your games great, better than you even."
"it is top firing audio, which I think is less than ideal because it kind of just goes up into the room instead of right directly into your ears."