€1,500 for Lenovo's Legion Go 2 gaming handheld with the Z2 Extreme is just too much
We recently reviewed the Legion Go 2, the current gaming handheld from Lenovo. Similar to its predecessor, you can still detach the two controllers of the Legion Go 2 and there is also an integrated kickstand. This means there are some usage scenarios and this is helpful when you consider the high weight, because you will definitely notice the weight if more than 900 grams after a while.
The big new feature is the screen, because Lenovo uses an 8.8-inch OLED screen with a frequency of 144 Hz. Even though the resolution is lower than on the previous IPS panel (1920 x 1200 vs. 2560 x 1600 pixels), the subjective picture impression is simply amazing: Rich colors, perfect black, fast response times and high contrasts. Fans of HDR gaming will also be very happy, because the OLED screen can reach more than 1100 nits peak brightness. Overall, the Full-HD resolution is also a better fit for the performance of the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme.
This brings us to one of the issues. AMD offered a good foundation for gaming handhelds with the Ryzen Z1 Extreme and the Z2 Extreme with the Radeon 890M is a slight improvement, while Intel caught up with its Lunar Lake processors and Arc Graphics 140V iGPUs. This means the overall level of performance only improved slightly over the last years.
The Z2 Extreme in the Legion Go 2 meets the expectations, but the problem is that you can already get the same performance from Asus or MSI for much less than €1,000. At the same time you should think if you really want to spend that much money right now, considering that Intel's new Panther Lake processors offer up to 70 % gaming performance at comparable power limits.
All in all, the Legion Go 2 is a good gaming handheld, which offers superior image quality compared to the majority of its rivals. Whether this justifies the big premium, though, is questionable. Please see our comprehensive review for more information about the Legion Go 2.
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