Lenovo Legion Phone Duel Smartphone Review- Gaming phone with 144 Hz screen
Possible competitors in comparison
Bewertung | Rating Version | Datum | Modell | Gewicht | Laufwerk | Groesse | Aufloesung | Preis ab |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
87.3 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 02 / 2021 | Lenovo Legion Phone Duel SD 865+ (Plus), Adreno 650 | 239 g | 512 GB UFS 3.1 Flash | 6.65" | 2340x1080 | |
89 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 12 / 2020 | Asus ROG Phone 3 SD 865+ (Plus), Adreno 650 | 240 g | 512 GB UFS 3.1 Flash | 6.59" | 2340x1080 | |
90.4 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 02 / 2021 | Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Exynos 2100 5G, Mali-G78 MP14 | 227 g | 128 GB UFS 3.1 Flash | 6.80" | 3200x1440 | |
84.7 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 10 / 2020 | Nubia RedMagic 5S SD 865, Adreno 650 | 218 g | 128 GB UFS 3.1 Flash | 6.65" | 2340x1080 |
Case, features and operation - Unusual cell phone
In red or blue, but in any case with a very unusual chassis design, the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel comes to your home. Even the packaging is unusual: It consists of several triangles that you open to reveal the phone, accompanied by a machine sound that comes from a small speaker including a battery in the package. That is pretty cool, but of course questionable in terms of the environment.
The metal and glass chassis feels high-quality and refracts the light at the back, which looks good. The Legion lettering and the large logo in the center glow in different colors. The positioning of the main camera and the flash is unusual; both are in the center of the smartphone. However, this actually corresponds to the positioning of a conventional camera. Overall, it is noticeable that Lenovo has optimized the smartphone for a landscape orientation of the screen, and one of the two USB-C ports is located in the center of the long side.
The smartphone comes with either 12 or 16 GB of RAM and 256 or 512 GB of UFS 3.1 storage. This puts it on a similar level as Asus' ROG Phone 3; Samsung's Galaxy S21 Ultra cannot keep up here. 5G is installed, the audio signal is output via USB-C, and an adapter for 3.5 mm jacks is included in the smartphone.
WiFi 6 is also available, but the Legion Phone Duel ranks rather behind in the comparison. The Wi-Fi is not slow in our test with the reference router Netgear Nighthawk AX12, but it is a bit slower than in other smartphones in the price range.
The software is based on Android 10, but is specially adapted. It offers a very good user manual including videos, but it is not always perfectly translated and the security patches were completely outdated at the time of testing.
For real gamers, there are two touch-sensitive areas that can be used as shoulder keys that can be customized for different games. Physical buttons would have been more suitable here, but they serve their purpose.
There is a fingerprint sensor behind the screen. It is a bit far down for our taste, but it is reliable. It is not active when the screen is turned off, and you at least have to activate the always-on display. Thanks to the 144 Hz screen and the fast processor, the smartphone can be operated quickly and feels very responsive.
Cameras - High image quality
The rear camera offers two lenses: The main camera with 64 megapixels, which increases the light yield via pixel binning, but then also only takes pictures with 16 megapixels, and a wide-angle lens.
The photos of the main camera are rich in detail and colorful. However, there could be more detail in dark areas in low light and high contrasts. The sharpness also decreases slightly towards the edges.
Videos can be recorded in a maximum of 4K resolution. The picture quality is also convincing here. The autofocus reacts quickly and precisely, but the brightness adjustment could be a bit more elegant.
The front-facing camera extends centrally from the casing's long side, which is also unusual at first glance, but not that bad in everyday use. The camera also takes detailed pictures and has no problems with fine structures like hair.
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.
Hauptobjektiv BlumeHauptobjektiv UmgebungHauptobjektiv Low Light

Display - Fast and color-accurate
The screen's resolution of 2,340 x 1,080 pixels is usual, but 4K gaming is not possible. The brightness is solid, but lower than all comparison devices. The color reproduction is quite accurate; we measured in the "natural" color mode.
With its 144 Hz frame rate, the screen feels very smooth in operation and can reproduce scrolling well. Although not many games support such high frame rates yet, that should change in the near future and then you can get small advantages in fast shooters due to the fast screen.
The AMOLED screen flickers as usual at brightness levels below 100%, but the frequency is quite high.
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Brightness Distribution: 93 %
Center on Battery: 546 cd/m²
Contrast: ∞:1 (Black: 0 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 1.24 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.89
ΔE Greyscale 1.9 | 0.5-98 Ø5.1
95.7% sRGB (Calman 2D)
Gamma: 2.303
Lenovo Legion Phone Duel AMOLED, 2340x1080, 6.7" | Asus ROG Phone 3 AMOLED, 2340x1080, 6.6" | Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 3200x1440, 6.8" | Nubia RedMagic 5S AMOLED, 2340x1080, 6.7" | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Response Times | 15% | 14% | 32% | |
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 8 ? | 3.6 ? 55% | 3.2 ? 60% | 2.8 ? 65% |
Response Time Black / White * | 6 ? | 2.4 ? 60% | 2.8 ? 53% | 2.4 ? 60% |
PWM Frequency | 833 | 255.1 ? -69% | 250 ? -70% | 581 ? -30% |
Screen | -40% | 1% | -98% | |
Brightness middle | 546 | 625 14% | 910 67% | 589 8% |
Brightness | 550 | 630 15% | 913 66% | 592 8% |
Brightness Distribution | 93 | 88 -5% | 98 5% | 90 -3% |
Black Level * | ||||
Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 1.24 | 2.6 -110% | 2 -61% | 3.1 -150% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 2.01 | 4.5 -124% | 3.1 -54% | 7.2 -258% |
Greyscale dE 2000 * | 1.9 | 2.5 -32% | 2.2 -16% | 5.6 -195% |
Gamma | 2.303 96% | 2.22 99% | 2.06 107% | 2.31 95% |
CCT | 6200 105% | 6750 96% | 6512 100% | 6633 98% |
Total Average (Program / Settings) | -13% /
-22% | 8% /
6% | -33% /
-55% |
* ... 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. » 15 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (20.9 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 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 17 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (32.7 ms). |
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
Screen flickering / PWM detected | 833 Hz | ||
The display backlight flickers at 833 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) . The frequency of 833 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 8619 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. |
Performance, emissions and battery life - Fast in everyday use and charging
Of course, you expect a lot of performance from a gaming smartphone in the first place, and thanks to the Snapdragon 865+, this is also given in Lenovo's Legion Phone Duel. The performance remains constant even under longer load, as the 3D Mark Wild Life stability score of 99.2% shows.
However, the smartphone gets quite warm during operation; we measured 45.7 °C. However, this warming cleverly occurs in the center of the smartphone, where the hands are not in landscape mode.
The stereo speakers of the Legion Phone Duel are directed to the front and get averagely loud. On maximum power, they seem a bit overpowered and emphasize trebles very strongly. At 3/4 of the maximum volume, the sound seems rounder overall. Overall, the speakers are OK, but there are definitely better systems in the high-end sector.
Lenovo has divided the battery into two parts. It has a total capacity of 5,000 mAh. This has the advantage that both batteries can be charged simultaneously via the two USB-C ports and the charger with two cables. Thus, the Legion Phone Duel achieves ingenious charging times: Approximately 40 minutes from 0 to 100%. If you do not have the charger at hand, you can of course only use one of the two USB-C ports, but both batteries are still charged. The smartphone lasted 14:11 hours in our Wi-Fi test. That is not a record, but quite good and much longer than Samsung's Galaxy S21 Ultra.
PCMark for Android - Work 2.0 performance score (sort by value) | |
Lenovo Legion Phone Duel | |
Asus ROG Phone 3 | |
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra | |
Nubia RedMagic 5S | |
Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ (Plus) (12355 - 14979, n=6) |
Lenovo Legion Phone Duel | Asus ROG Phone 3 | Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra | Nubia RedMagic 5S | Average 512 GB UFS 3.1 Flash | Average of class Smartphone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AndroBench 3-5 | 15% | 30% | -5% | 39% | 49% | |
Sequential Read 256KB | 1711 | 1710 0% | 1710 0% | 1348 -21% | 1846 ? 8% | 1941 ? 13% |
Sequential Write 256KB | 765 | 772 1% | 1077 41% | 674 -12% | 1199 ? 57% | 1558 ? 104% |
Random Read 4KB | 207.7 | 274.3 32% | 316.7 52% | 213.3 3% | 282 ? 36% | 280 ? 35% |
Random Write 4KB | 220.6 | 280.6 27% | 279.5 27% | 243.5 10% | 338 ? 53% | 320 ? 45% |
Temperature
(-) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 45.7 °C / 114 F, compared to the average of 35.1 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 63.7 °C for the class Smartphone.
(±) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 42.1 °C / 108 F, compared to the average of 33.9 °C / 93 F
(±) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 33.8 °C / 93 F, compared to the device average of 32.8 °C / 91 F.
Loudspeaker
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
» 86% of all tested devices in this class were better, 7% similar, 7% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 36%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 96% of all tested devices were better, 2% similar, 2% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 24%, worst was 134%
Asus ROG Phone 3 audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (89.9 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 18.8% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (7% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 3.9% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (4.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 3.4% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (3.2% 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, 99% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 36%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 10% of all tested devices were better, 3% similar, 87% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 24%, worst was 134%
Battery life
Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 5000 mAh | Asus ROG Phone 3 6000 mAh | Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5000 mAh | Nubia RedMagic 5S 4500 mAh | Average of class Smartphone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Battery Runtime | |||||
WiFi Websurfing | 851 | 912 7% | 702 -18% | 730 -14% | 1009 ? 19% |
Pros
Cons
Verdict - This gaming phone does a lot right
Lenovo's Legion Phone Duel is a good gaming smartphone that can actually be used very smoothly thanks to its 144 Hz display and is future-proof for games. The manufacturer often goes unusual ways, such as placing the camera in the center of the casing or the centrally extending front camera. However, after a short familiarization phase, we actually find these quite good.
Whether you like the case is a matter of taste, but it is certainly not restrained. It is stable and ergonomic. We also like the cameras. The picture quality is convincing and the front-facing camera takes good selfies. The battery life is good and the smartphone charges extremely fast thanks to the dualbattery and the dual charging port. However, the heavy charger has to be accepted in return.
Lenovo's Legion Phone Duel is a gaming phone with a fast screen, many clever details and a few minor flaws.
The screen could be brighter, but the display is convincing and the system's performance is also more than sufficient for current mobile games.
All in all, Lenovo has come up with some clever details, which makes the Legion Phone Duel appealing not only for gamers. In other areas, especially the localization of the software, the final touches are missing and Lenovo should urgently release a software update for the security patches.
Price and availability
The Lenovo Legion Phone Duel is currently only available via
. It costs 899.99 Euros with 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage and 999.99 Euros with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage.<br />
Lenovo Legion Phone Duel
- 08/31/2022 v7 (old)
Florian Schmitt