00:00So first came the MSI Claw A8, second came the Xbox ROG Ally, and now the third one's come to play.
00:07This is the Lenovo Legion Go 2, and there are some pretty tasty upgrades to talk about here.
00:14Let's get into it.
00:17So the three big upgrades come in the screen, the design of it, and also what's happening internally as well.
00:23So starting up front, you've got a 1200p OLED display, which is running at 144Hz.
00:29Technically, this is a lower resolution than the previous Legion Go, but as you started to realize, the handheld chips in this aren't really that good at being able to render resolutions that high.
00:40And the games already look really hella pretty enough on a 1200p OLED display like this.
00:49Backing it up is the Ryzen Z2 Extreme chipset with 32GB of LPDDR5 RAM, which is running at 8,000MHz.
00:57This is ensuring super zippy multitasking, and it means you're not necessarily going to get bogged down by trying to run complex games like Doom the Dark Ages right here.
01:09So of course, the main showpiece of the Legion Go 2 is the detachable controllers.
01:14Essentially, what happens when a Windows gaming handheld gets a little bit busy in the bedroom with a Nintendo Switch.
01:19And honestly, given how thick this device is, that's actually warmly welcomed, because this is a hefty machine.
01:28And with good reason, because there are some significant upgrades happening under the hood here.
01:32For starters, you have the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme chipset.
01:35As you've seen from when I've been testing other handhelds supporting this chip, this is meaning drastically better performance.
01:43And also, massively improved AI gaming performance as well, with the likes of AMD FSR.
01:49Providing super smooth frame rates like this, with resolution scaling, and even a little bit of frame generation on the side.
01:55The controls have been given a nice ergonomic upgrade as well.
01:58This reminds me a lot of the ROG Xbox Ally, in terms of it feeling a lot more like a controller grip in the hand.
02:06So, this is so much more comfortable than when you kind of got controller grips that have the more flatter profile of the previous Legion Go.
02:14And then, of course, if you are playing FPS titles, this is where this comes in.
02:19So, I've used this previously on the Legion Go 1, and it's one of those features that can be quite easily forgotten.
02:26Because you're mainly playing with, like, the control sticks, and you don't really think about what else it could do.
02:33However, here, especially when you've got a frame rate which is high enough that you could do some pretty good competitive first-person shooting.
02:40This could give you, like, a really good competitive advantage over other people playing on controllers.
02:44So, of course, what this all means with thicker ergonomic controllers, the thicker side profile of the handheld, is it's not necessarily as portable as other handhelds that you can get out there.
02:57So, for example, the MSI Claw A8 is definitely a lot thinner, and it's definitely a lot lighter than this as well.
03:03But also, you've kind of got to think about that trade-off between portability and good handheld performance and ergonomics.
03:10It's got to feel comfortable to play for hours and hours and hours on end.
03:14Of course, when you're snapping the controllers off, you need to be able to use a kickstand on the back of the display.
03:19And this one unfolds to quite a dramatic angle, around about 110 degrees.
03:24And what this essentially means is you can just rest it down, take the controllers off, and play to your heart's contend.
03:31Flanking the side of this display, you've got your controller pads as well.
03:34So, these detach.
03:36You've got your face buttons.
03:37You've got your analog sticks.
03:38Everything's in the same place as you'd expect.
03:40It's a very familiar design.
03:41You've got your trackpad.
03:42You've got macro buttons as well for programming different sets.
03:46Up on the top, you've got the main exhaust vent.
03:47You've got volume buttons.
03:48You've got the power switch.
03:49On the bottom, you've got a USB-C, which does support AR glasses.
03:53And you've got the microSD card slot for expanding that storage.
03:56In the hand, it's a hefty device at 920 grams.
04:00Basically, nearly a kilogram.
04:02Oh yeah, definitely.
04:03Like, you can just do some bicep curls.
04:05Feels good.
04:06For a while, Lenovo is throwing everything in the kitchen sink at this.
04:09With the Ryzen Z2 Extreme chipset, 32 gigs of DDR5 RAM, super fast PCIe Gen 4 SSD.
04:16It's just one problem.
04:19This is still running Windows 11.
04:21And what I saw from the performance overhead that was afforded to me with the Xbox RO GLI,
04:26really sort of like blocking out the background tasks of Windows 11 desktop mode,
04:30and just focusing on the Xbox user experience.
04:32I can already tell you that it's going to be a little bit compromised by running all the background tasks of Windows 11 in the background of this.
04:39And also, with it being Windows 11, you're getting all of your standard, it's just a bit awkward, on an 8.8 touchscreen.
04:49Don't go wrong.
04:508.8 is definitely a lot better than the 7 inches that I've tried in the past.
04:53But in terms of navigating around it, the Xbox UI is definitely always going to be way better.
04:58In terms of when the Xbox UI is coming, I know at the moment it's exclusive to the Asus ROG Xbox Ally,
05:05but I've also been told it should be coming to other Windows handheld devices in 2026.
05:10No specific date yet, but watch this space.
05:13It should really lift the roof on what frame rates this can achieve.
05:17Because at the moment, you're already getting pretty good frame rates.
05:22So for example, this is running at 1080p.
05:25You've got settings turned up to a range of medium and high.
05:28You've got FSR on as well.
05:30And on here, you're getting a pretty damn rock solid 60 frames a second.
05:36That CPU is definitely working overtime to kind of overcome Windows 11 running in the background to keep this running as smoothly as it is.
05:43So should you buy this particular handheld?
05:44Well, it comes down to what your preference is in terms of what key features come from handhelds like this.
05:53Do you want the prettiest screen on a handheld?
05:56Get this one.
05:58Do you want more versatility in the way that you play games with your handheld?
06:02Get this one.
06:03There's so many different ways that the Legion go to edges ahead of other handhelds in this space.
06:07But there's just an Xbox ROG Li X problem in the way in terms of what performance that can give you versus this.
06:16Essentially, it can have the same specs.
06:18It does.
06:19Like, it says it on the card and everything.
06:21But without that software tailor-made for gaming handhelds, it's going to be that little bit hamstrung compared to what ASUS can do.
06:30So what we can do is sit and wait for the Xbox UI to finally come to this handheld.
06:36Or maybe even put SteamOS on it.
06:38Who knows?
06:38But let me know what you think.
06:39Would you guys get the Legion go to?
06:41Go ahead and let me know in the comments.
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