Lenovo has announced its latest gaming phone, the Legion Phone Duel 2.

Here's everything you need to know about the new phone.

What is it called?

  • Legion Phone Duel 2
  • Legion Phone Pro 2

The previous version of this phone was announced with two names: the Legion Phone Pro was available in China and the US, the Legion Phone Duel was available in the UK and Europe.

The new version will be called the Legion Phone Duel 2 in the UK and Europe. In China it will be known as the Legion Phone Pro 2, continuing the naming used previously.

Price and availability

  • 8 April pre-order, available in May 2021
  • 12/256GB: £699/€799
  • 16/512GB: £899/€999

Lenovo hosted the online launch for the Legion Phone 2 on 8 March. You can watch the launch again right here.

The Legion Phone Duel 2 is now available for pre-order and there are two versions available in Europe - 12/256GB and 16/512GB. There may be other versions available in other regions.

As stated above, the 12GB model will start at £699, making this a competitively-priced flagship level phone.

Lenovo Legion Phone 2 photo 5
Lenovo

Design

  • 176 x 78.5 x 9.9mm (12.56mm on bump), 259g
  • RGB Legion logo
  • Raised central active cooling system

The rear of the Legion Phone 2 is going to get a lot of attention. It's constructed from three glass panels set in the metal frame of the phone, with the centre sitting higher than the sides. That central area houses the RGB logo, the cameras and the active cooling elements of this phone. 

Because the Lenovo Legion has the core hardware in the centre of the phone, with the battery split on either side, it's the centre of the phone that's put to good use for cooling. There's a passive system comprised of grahite panels and a vapour chamber to disperse heat, and an active system using copper pillars and pipes to vent the heat to the outside. The external fan - visible on the rear of the phone - is there to draw in cool air and drive the expulsion of hot air via the vents on the top and bottom of the phone. 

The bump on the back makes it look a little more like the handheld console than a phone, with the addition of touch areas around the phone to enhance the gaming options. There are twin shoulder buttons on the top, touch panels on the rear and support for additional touch areas on the display. In total there's over 200 options to customise the controls for your gaming.

That results in a big phone, yes, but there's a lot going on here and you do get a big display too.

Lenovo Legion Phone 2 photo 7
Lenovo

Display

  • 6.92in AMOLED
  • 2460 x 1080 pixels, 144Hz
  • HDR10+
  • 720Hz touch sampling rate

The Legion Phone Duel 2 gets a larger screen than the original phone, with a 6.92-inch display. It's an AMOLED panel with a Full HD+ resolution.

As expected, it will offer up to 144Hz refresh rates and you'll be able to check the rate you're getting in games using Lenovo's in-game panel to see your stats. 

It also supports HDR10+, which means your movie streaming will look great - but on top of that, Lenovo is offering HDR optimisation for your games, allowing it to enhance the visuals. That will mean things look better, giving you an advantage. 

In addition, Lenovo has ramped the sampling rate of the display to 720Hz. That means it will reduce input lag and detect touches sooner, which could give you a competitive advantage.

Core hardware

  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G
  • 12/16/18GB RAM, 256/512GB storate
  • 5500mAh battery
  • 90W charging

The Legion Phone Duel 2 will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G. That means the latest performance and lightning-fast connectivity.

It's also going to land with options for 12, 16 or 18GB RAM, although we're not expecting all models to be available in all regions. Storage will be 256 or 512GB.

There's a 5500mAh battery split into two cells, allowing faster charging. We saw the previous Legion Phone do this and the ROG Phone 5 has also used this approach. 

The charging rate is given as 90W, but Lenovo is keen to point out that from 0-82 per cent will take 17 minutes - the equivalent of 120W charging - while 82-100 per cent will take 13 minutes. As the final part of charging is slower (to preserve battery health), the 90W figure is an average. 

To get that fast speed you'll need to use both charging ports. You can charge via one port - and there's also the option to game while connected and bypass the charging, just powering the phone, meaning it doesn't get hot.

The battery claims to give you over 7 hours of PUBG gameplay.

Lenovo Legion Phone 2 photo 6
Lenovo

Cameras

  • 44MP, 0.7µm, f/2.0 pop-up selfie
  • 64MP, 1.0µm, f/1.9 main
  • 16MP, 1.0µm, f/2.2 ultra-wide

Let's start with the selfie camera because that's what people will be talking about. It's a pop-up unit on the side of the phone. We saw this on the previous Legion Phone and it has its pros and cons. 

The big advantage it offers is that it keeps the display free of clutter and it's ideally placed for recording while playing games. It can be used for live streaming to YouTube or Twitch, or to capture yourself while you play, with the option for a custom avatar. 

There are two cameras on the rear of the phone, in that centre bulge, which means you're not putting your fingers over them all the time when playing games.

There's a 64-megapixel main camera and a 16-megapixel ultra-wide camera. 

The downside to the arrangement of cameras is that they are slightly less conveneient when you're just using your phone as a normal phone, but we expect them all to give decent results.

A timeline of the leaks before launch

Here's a chronology of the leaks for the Legion Phone Duel 2 prior to launch.

6 April 2021: Legion Phone 2 appears in real world photos showing off rear cooling fan

Photos of the new Legion Phone Duel appear, showing off the design of the new device.

24 March 2021: Lenovo Legion Phone 2 Pro will launch on 8 April

The launch date for the Legion Phone 2 has been confirmed on 8 April.

12 March 2021: Lenovo Legion 2 Pro gaming phone could offer 130W fast-charging support

Chinese certification body lists Legion Phone 2 Pro with 130W charging.

10 March 2021: Lenovo's next Legion Phone surfaces in benchmarking results

A benchmarking result has revealed some key details for the Legion Phone 2.