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MagyarLenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 smartphone review - Active cooling for fast gaming
Possible competitors in comparison
Rating | Rating Version | Date | Model | Weight | Drive | Size | Resolution | Price from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 87.7 % | 7 | 04/2021 | Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 SD 888 5G, Adreno 660 | 259 g | 512 GB UFS 3.1 Flash | 6.92" | 2460x1080 | |
| 87.3 % | 7 | 02/2021 | Lenovo Legion Phone Duel SD 865+ (Plus), Adreno 650 | 239 g | 512 GB UFS 3.1 Flash | 6.65" | 2340x1080 | |
| 88 % | 7 | 04/2021 | Asus ROG Phone 5 SD 888 5G, Adreno 660 | 239 g | 256 GB UFS 3.1 Flash | 6.78" | 2448x1080 | |
| 90.4 % | 7 | 02/2021 | Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Exynos 2100 5G, Mali-G78 MP14 | 227 g | 128 GB UFS 3.1 Flash | 6.80" | 3200x1440 |
Case, features and operation - Unusual transverse case
Gaming phones are not exactly known for their restrained design. Lenovo's Legion Phone Duel 2 offers a fairly conservative color palette with black and white, but it is otherwise anything but ordinary: Like the predecessor, the smartphone is clearly designed for use in landscape mode and is considerably thicker in the center, where the cameras are found, and the RGB module on the back, which lights up or flashes during notifications or in gaming mode and can be configured in numerous colors and effects.
The storage configuration is exactly the same as in the predecessor, but there is a pleasant surprise: The price for the entry-level model with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of mass storage is 799 Euros cheaper than in the predecessor, the version with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of data storage still costs 999 Euros, and a charging station is included as an extra.
Once again, the display is extremely fast with a refresh rate of 144 Hz. The smartphone can be used very quickly in everyday use and scrolls very smoothly. The touchscreen's sampling rate has been increased again to 720 Hz, but only absolute pro gamers will notice a difference in reactivity.
WiFi 6 is on board. Our test device performs on a high level in our test with the reference router Netgear Nighthawk AX12 Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra or the Asus ROG Phone 5 Devices that offer even faster Wi-Fi. 5G is again available, as well as fast LTE with good frequency coverage, so that the smartphone can be used in almost all countries in the world.
The software is now based on Android 11, offers reasonably up-to-date security patches and provides a great user manual including videos, sound samples and direct links to the respective functions. External screens can also be connected via USB or Miracast, on which you can even run other apps than on the smartphone screen at the same time. The connection with keyboard, mouse or gamepad is also possible, as long as the respective game supports it.
The predecessor offered 2 assignable shoulder buttons for games, the Legion Phone Duel 2 offers 6: Two shoulder buttons on each side and one on each edge of the middle module, which can be operated comfortably with the middle fingers.
Cameras - front camera for streaming
At first glance, only little has changed in terms of the cameras. There are still two lenses on the back: The main lens with 64 megapixels and the wide-angle lens with 16 megapixels. These are the same lenses as in the predecessor, but the main camera can now record 8K videos due to the new SoC.
Photos are usually output with 16 megapixels with the main camera as well, but four pixels are combined into one to increase the light intensity. Shooting in full quality is also possible, but in a special mode. We already liked the predecessor's photos with many details and good colors, and this is also true for the Legion Phone Duel 2.
Pictures in low light and high contrasts also look quite detailed, but a slightly better brightening would still be possible, as other smartphone cameras show
The wide-angle camera could take sharper pictures and the brightening also lags considerably behind other high-end cameras.
The front-facing camera has been upgraded significantly. It now offers 44 megapixels and also works with pixel binning, which means it only outputs 11-megapixel pictures, but with a higher light sensitivity. The selfies look sharp and well-lit.
Unusual: The front-facing camera extends centrally out of the casing in landscape mode, but still works well for selfies in portrait mode. It can also be used well for video recordings, for example during streaming.
Image Comparison
Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.
Hauptkamera BlumeHauptkamera UmgebungHauptkamera Low LightWeitwinkelkamera
Display - Snappy, but somewhat disappointing
The 144 Hz screen is not quite as bright as in the predecessor and thus only offers mediocre brightness rates overall. The AMOLED screen is too dark for a smartphone in this price range, but it is usable for everyday use as long as you do not spend too much time outdoors.
We like the fact that the smartphone generally offers a quite high PWM frequency so that the eyes are spared and a DC dimming mode is also available. Colors are a bit less accurate than in the predecessor, but they are still within limits as long as you do not want to perform professional factory correction on the screen.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 98 %
Center on Battery: 463 cd/m²
Contrast: ∞:1 (Black: 0 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 3.24 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5
ΔE Greyscale 4.4 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
95.3% sRGB (Calman 2D)
Gamma: 2.201
| Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 AMOLED, 2460x1080, 6.92 | Lenovo Legion Phone Duel AMOLED, 2340x1080, 6.65 | Asus ROG Phone 5 AMOLED, 2448x1080, 6.78 | Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 3200x1440, 6.80 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Response Times | 16% | 43% | 19% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 8 ? | 8 ? -0% | 2.4 ? 70% | 3.2 ? 60% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 6 ? | 6 ? -0% | 2.4 ? 60% | 2.8 ? 53% |
| PWM Frequency | 568 | 833 47% | 568 ? 0% | 250 ? -56% |
| Screen | 36% | 51% | 55% | |
| Brightness middle | 463 | 546 18% | 789 70% | 910 97% |
| Brightness | 466 | 550 18% | 795 71% | 913 96% |
| Brightness Distribution | 98 | 93 -5% | 98 0% | 98 0% |
| Black Level * | ||||
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 3.24 | 1.24 62% | 1.4 57% | 2 38% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 5.75 | 2.01 65% | 3 48% | 3.1 46% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 4.4 | 1.9 57% | 1.7 61% | 2.2 50% |
| Gamma | 2.201 100% | 2.303 96% | 2.27 97% | 2.06 107% |
| CCT | 7273 89% | 6200 105% | 6596 99% | 6512 100% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 26% /
29% | 47% /
49% | 37% /
43% |
* ... smaller is better
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 6 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 3 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 3 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows very fast response rates in our tests and should be very well suited for fast-paced gaming. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 13 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (21.5 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 5 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 3 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows fast response rates in our tests and should be suited for gaming. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.2 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 15 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (33.7 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM detected | 568 Hz |  | |
The display backlight flickers at 568 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) . The frequency of 568 Hz is quite high, so most users sensitive to PWM should not notice any flickering. In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 17900 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. | |||
Performance, emissions and battery life - Very good stereo speakers
The Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 and the Asus ROG Phone 5 fight a hot duel for the currently fastest gaming smartphone. There is no clear winner; both deliver a lot of power and should be able to render all current mobile games flawlessly in high settings.
Lenovo's Legion Phone Duel 2 offers a sophisticated cooling system including an active fan, which is also clearly audible under load. Nevertheless, the temperatures increase quite significantly during high load and reach up to 49.3 °C in our tests. That is quite high. Although the manufacturer wisely limits the heating to the center part of the case, where the hands rarely reach, the smartphone still feels hot when you touch it there.
Due to these high temperatures, there is no constant performance even despite active cooling: You have to reckon with almost 10% less performance after longer load according to the 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test.
According to our Pink Noise speaker test, the stereo speakers are much better than those of the predecessor. The speakers are also impressive overall: You can even hear the bass and the overall sound is very balanced. Lenovo's Legion Phone Duel 2 has one of the best speaker systems currently available in smartphones.
The battery has become a bit more powerful, and the battery runtimes are even better than in the predecessor: 15:07 hours in our WLAN test indicate several days of operation without charging. If you do need to charge, it is done very quickly thanks to two charging sockets and up to 90 watts of total charging power: The battery is full again in well under an hour. Convenient: One of the two charging ports is located in the center of the smartphone's long side, so you can also use the power port comfortably when gaming in landscape mode.
| PCMark for Android - Work 2.0 performance score (sort by value) | |
| Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 | |
| Lenovo Legion Phone Duel | |
| Asus ROG Phone 5 | |
| Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra | |
| Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G (10231 - 15027, n=10) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (9101 - 12871, n=4, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 | Lenovo Legion Phone Duel | Asus ROG Phone 5 | Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra | Average 512 GB UFS 3.1 Flash | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AndroBench 3-5 | -13% | 3% | 14% | 20% | 5% | |
| Sequential Read 256KB | 1999 | 1711 -14% | 1779 -11% | 1710 -14% | 1877 ? -6% | 1502 ? -25% |
| Sequential Write 256KB | 754 | 765 1% | 795 5% | 1077 43% | 1156 ? 53% | 1111 ? 47% |
| Random Read 4KB | 262.6 | 207.7 -21% | 291.4 11% | 316.7 21% | 281 ? 7% | 247 ? -6% |
| Random Write 4KB | 261.5 | 220.6 -16% | 278 6% | 279.5 7% | 333 ? 27% | 271 ? 4% |
Temperature
(-) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 49.3 °C / 121 F, compared to the average of 35 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 56 °C for the class Smartphone.
(±) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 43.8 °C / 111 F, compared to the average of 33.8 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 28.5 °C / 83 F, compared to the device average of 32.7 °C / 91 F.
Loudspeaker
Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (84.9 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 17.7% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (7.4% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 4.1% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (4.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 0.9% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (2% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (12.9% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 0% of all tested devices in this class were better, 0% similar, 100% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 38%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 9% of all tested devices were better, 2% similar, 88% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Lenovo Legion Phone Duel audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (82.2 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 67.2% lower than median
(+) | bass is linear (0% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(-) | nearly no mids - on average 67.2% lower than median
(+) | mids are linear (0% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(-) | nearly no highs - on average 67.2% lower than median
(+) | highs are linear (0% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(-) | overall sound is not linear (117.1% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 85% of all tested devices in this class were better, 7% similar, 7% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 38%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 95% of all tested devices were better, 2% similar, 2% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Battery life
| Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 5500 mAh | Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 5000 mAh | Asus ROG Phone 5 6000 mAh | Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5000 mAh | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Runtime | |||||
| WiFi Websurfing | 907 | 851 -6% | 754 -17% | 702 -23% | 913 ? 1% |
Pros
Cons
Verdict - Great gaming phone
Next to Lenovo's Legion Phone Duel 2, its predecessor almost looks like a prototype, that's how many improvements and further developments there are. The SoC offers much more power, the operating options have been expanded once again, the software is much more up-to-date, the battery runtimes have been improved, and the concept of the predominantly landscape gaming smartphone has been consistently thought further.
But there are also some small setbacks: The screen is no longer as bright and not as color-accurate, but it still offers quite eye-friendly, because high-frequency PWM and even gentler DC dimming on request. The strong heating of the case also worries us.
The Legion Phone Duel 2 is a comprehensively equipped gaming smartphone that is not too expensive and can also convince outside of the gaming features.
The camera still shows high detail sharpness, but is not quite on the level of the best smartphones. The runtimes are decent and the load times are extremely short.
For gamers, the smartphone offers many well-explained additional features, such as gamepad support and no less than 6 freely assignable triggers, which are, however, only touch buttons, which does not necessarily benefit the accuracy.
Overall, the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 is a well priced, comprehensively equipped gaming smartphone. Its looks might make it unsuitable for the conference table, but it offers a lot for gamers.
Price and availability
Starting in May, the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 will initially only be available via Lenovo's website. The prices are 799 Euros for the version with less memory and 999 Euros for the better equipped version. At the time of testing, there is still a promotion with a 100 euro discount.
Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2
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08/31/2022 v7
Florian Schmitt
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