The Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 is a phone with a big specs to match its big name. Lenovo’s 2nd-gen smartphone aimed at gamers comes almost exactly a year after the company’s first, and it keeps some features like a 144 Hz display and a pop-up selfie camera that appears from the side of the device.
But, as expected, the new model kicks things up a notch. It has a faster processor, a bigger battery, a higher-resolution camera, and an updated cooling system.
The Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 goes on sale this month in China (where it’ll be called the Lenovo Legion Phone 2 Pro) and it’s set to hit select markets in Europe and the Asia Pacific region in May for €799 and up. Lenovo says North American availability is “to be determined.”
The entry-level model will ship with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, while Lenovo also plans to sell a 16GB/512GB model for €999. In some regions, the phone may also be available with up to 18GB of RAM.
While the phone has powerful specs including a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, LPDDR5 memory, and UFS 3.1 storage, it’s the Legion Phone Duel 2’s unusual design that really stands out.
Not only does the pop-up selfie camera rise out of the side of the phone rather than the top, but if you flip the phone around you’ll notice that the rear cameras are also in the middle. This is clearly a phone that’s meant to be used primarily in landscape orientation.
The cameras aren’t the only thing you’ll find in the center back of the phone. There’s also a logo illuminated by RGB lighting (because gaming), and a visible fan. The Legion Phone Duel 2 is one of the only smartphones with an active cooling system featuring twin turbo fans sporting 29 fan blades that can spin at up to 12,500 rotations per minute. Lenovo says the fans are quiet, generating a maximum of 27 dB of sound. But it’s still unusual to find phones with fans. The only other models I’m aware of are Red Magic gaming phones.
Lenovo’s phone also uses some passive cooling elements including a vapor chamber with liquid cooling.
Another special features is the phone’s eight virtual keys that allow you to interact with games:
- 4 x ultrasonic shoulder buttons
- 2 x capacitive touch areas on the back of the phone
- 2 x in-display force touch points
Lenovo says haptic vibration motors provide physical feedback when you use these touch buttons.
While plenty of smartphones have big batteries these days, the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2’s 5,500 mAh battery capacity actually comes from two separate 2,750 mAh batteries. They’re positioned on either side of the phone’s central hardware and offer a few advantages over a single battery.
The phone supports up to 90W fast charging per battery. Since there are two USB-C ports, you can plug in two fast chargers at the same time and take the phone from 0 to 100 percent battery capacity in a half hour. Lenovo says you can get a quick boost to 4,500 mAh in just 17 minutes.
The phone is available in “ultimate black” or “titanium white” color options.
Here are some of the key specs for the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2:
| Display | 6.92″ 20.5:9 (2460 x 1080) 144 Hz AMOLED 8-bit HDR gaming display 720Hz touch sampling rate Delta-E < 0.514 800 nits outdoor-readable brightness (1300 nits peak) 111.1% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio Pixelworks i6 AI tunning HDR10+ certified TÜV Low Blue Light certification DC dimming Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 |
| RAM | 12GB/16GB/18GB LPDDR5 |
| Storage | 256GB/512GB UFS 3.1 |
| Cameras (rear) | 64MP OmniVision flagship OV64A image sensor, f/1.9 aperture, 1.0 µm pixel, 7 lens, 82° field of view 16 MP f/2.2 aperture and 123° field of view 1.0 µm pixel Video recording: HDR 10+ video recording at 4K@30fps, 8K video recording at 24 fps, 4K video recording at 30 fps, or 60 fps, 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps, or 60 fps, 720p HD video recording at 30 fps / Slow motion mode: 720P@240fps, 720P@120fps,1080P@240fps, 1080P@120fps /Audio Zoom/Director mode /Dual mode |
| Camera (front) | 44MP Samsung GH1+ Camera, f/2.0 aperture, 0.7 µm, 5 lens, 84˚ wide angle Video recording: 4K video recording at 30 fps, or 60 fps, 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps, or 60 fps, 720p HD video recording at 30 fps / Slow motion mode: 720P@240fps, 720P@120fps, 1080P@120fps |
| Battery | 5,500 mAh (2 x 2750 mAh) |
| Charging | 65W fast charging or 90W (with adapter sold separately) |
| Audio | Dual front-facing speakers and Dolby Atmos • 7-magnet stereo speaker with dual smart amplifier for louder, deeper and less distorted sound effect • Equivalent to dual 1.6 cc speakers • Audio Output: 48 kHz / 16-bit standard (USB-C output) • Game Mode for better in-game sounding experience with localization capability • Four Microphones with noise reduction technology |
| Cooling | Integrated, Active, Twin Turbo-Fan Cooling System Intake fan with 29 fan blades 12,500 RPM; Output fan with 29 fan blades 15,000 RPM Passive cooling components Vapor Chamber liquid cooling Fans Max speed noise: 27dB |
| Sensors | Fingerprint sensor 3D motion sensor Electronic Compass Gyroscope, Proximity Ambient Light Sensor Quad Ultrasonic Shoulder keys Dual Capacitance keys Dual Force Touch sensor |
| Dimensions | 176mm x 78.5mm x 9.9mm (12.56mm mid) |
| Weight | 259 grams |
| Price | €799 and up (varies by region) |
One word of warning about this phone? Don’t sit on it.
I’m torn between the impressive specs and laughing my ass off at those who actually buy this thing.
Also : Fans Max speed noise: 27dB
This thing is louder than most laptops with active cooling.
Outside of emulators, I’m very much out of the loop on Android gaming. Is it “high end” enough now where “gaming phones” with these additional features/specs actually make any difference from any other flagship or even mid-range phone?
Absolutely nothing. It is well known that you don’t need 16Gb for playing mobages, it’s ridiculous but this is how marketing works, if you’re stupid enough you convince yourself that you need it.
Of course they’ll determine not to sell it here.