After showing off the next-gen Legion Go Gen 2 at CES earlier this year, Lenovo’s latest flagship gaming handheld is heading to Australia later this year, with pre-orders open ahead of a December 23 launch date, with Lenovo sending one over for us to check out.

In a sea of handheld gaming competition, the Legion Go Gen 2 stands out with a generously sized 8.8-inch OLED display with 144Hz refresh rate and HDR support, as well as including removable controllers that include a trackpad and a built-in kickstand. 

Pricing for the Legion Go Gen 2 starts at $1,899 with an AMD Z2 processor, or you can strep up to the latest AMD Z2 Extreme processor for $2,199 with all models including 32GB of DDR5 memory, with either 512GB or 1TB of on-board storage.

The Legion Go Gen 2 is a Windows 11 handheld gaming system, so all your favourite digital store fronts are there including Steam, GOG, EPIC, Xbox and more – or just installing any Windows app you want. 

As the year winds down, it’s always good to relax with some games, and I’ve been having a blast with the Legion Go Gen 2 for the last two weeks and here’s how it went.

Hardware

Design

The Legion Go Gen 2 is, like most handhelds, a simple idea, a large display with controllers either side, with enough power and battery for you to game on the move.

The centrepiece of the Legion Go Gen 2 is the 8.8-inch Full HD+ (1920 x 1200) OLED multitouch panel, which is a big upgrade over the 7” display of other gaming handhelds in terms of real-estate, especially with my older eyes – it’s no 18” laptop, but it makes a difference.

The OLED panel delivers crisp visuals with great colour representation with support for 100% DCI-P3 gamut, so it’s colour accurate  and while you won’t be editing photos or video on here – you could.

The panel also supports refresh rates from 60-144Hz which makes for smooth gaming. It’s also decently bright with the ability to output 500 nits, but has a peak brightness of 1100 nits, so while it can work outside it’s not great in direct sunlight, but it’s plenty bright inside.

The Legion Go Gen 2 has been refined between generations with the body sporting a revised button layout, with a more rounded design that is both easier to hold and makes reaching buttons like the power button easier.

The now top mounted power button has an LED ring around it, and was moved from the right hand side on last gen, and now also includes a Windows Hello compatible fingerprint sensor embedded in it, making logins a lot faster and more convenient.

Also on the top is the vent for the dual 2W speakers which output a decent, though not overwhelming amount of volume and clarity. Over the other side are the volume buttons, and a USB Type-C connector with a massive vent exhaust in the middle. 

On the base of the unit you get an audio jack as well as another USB Type-C port and a microSD card slot to expand your storage. 

The dual USB-C ports are welcome, though I do tend to prefer both on top – especially when using the kickstand on a desk. I have a USB-C hub with support for PD charging I use in situations like this which works well, also providing video out through HDMI if you do want to play on a larger display – if you add your own hub, or look at the Lenovo Legion Go Dock for $99.

The Legion Go Gen 2 is heavier than the last generation, but it also includes almost double the battery. If it gets too heavy, you can detach the controllers (we’ll get into this), set the unit down on any handy flat surface, extend a kickstand and then just hold the very lightweight controllers if you get tired. 

I’m impressed with the kickstand on the rear which sits flush with the rear when not in use, but can rotate up to 120 degrees to give you your perfect viewing angle. The kickstand is very solid, stiff when you need it to be, but easy to move into position – a great kickstand overall. 

The cooling on the unit has been well thought out, with the intake on the rear then venting out on the top – with the process fairly innocuous in that you never feel blasts of hot (or cold) air. 

Controllers

The Legion Go Gen 2 has a built-in controller, with parts mounted either side of the display. 

The layout is similar to anyone who’s used an Xbox controller, with the thumbsticks offset and the familiar ABXY buttons on the right.  

Lenovo has included Hall Effect Thumbsticks which are super durable – and should hopefully avoid the dreaded stick drift and dead spots. There’s also multiple configurable Y and M buttons you can assign in various games.

The controllers also include smaller buttons for navigation including shortcuts to Legion Space – Lenovo’s gaming software experience – so you can access settings even while in-game, as well as Alt-tabbing (switching apps) and more. 

The controllers when unmounted, can be used as individual controllers for local multiplayer games like It Takes Two and many more. Simply unclip, pair them and you’re off and racing. The controllers each have a USB-C port so you can continue playing while charging them at the same time. 

Of the two controllers, the Right Controller is by far the most interesting. 

The controller includes both a touchpad you can use to easily navigate Windows with just your thumb, as well as being set up for what Lenovo calls FPS mode. 

In FPS mode, you detach the controller, stick it in a supplied puck that keeps it upright and use it like a joystick which, when paired with a keyboard will give you that full First Person Shooter mode experience.

As well as the base puck, Lenovo also includes a cover to make the back a little more appealing to use visually, and it covers the pogo pin connectors.

The process to set FPS mode up is a little fiddly, and you do have to have a keyboard to fully make use of it. I have a small Bluetooth keyboard I used for HTPCs back in the day, and it works well – but having to lug more equipment sort of defeats the purpose. 

Case

Yeah, this is a good case. If you’re investing a couple of thousand dollars into a portable gaming device, the least they can do is provide a case – and Lenovo has come in clutch with a very nice padded case. 

The zip up case has a padded interior, which easily fits in the device itself as well as the FPS puck and cover for the controller. There’s other options on the market, but for a case included in the box, this is excellent. 

Performance

A new generation of hardware, SHOULD include an updated system and for their flagship, Lenovo have gone with the latest silicon from AMD, the Ryzen Z2 Extreme Processor with AMD Radeon 890M Graphics integrated and 32 GB LPDDR5X-8000MT/s of RAM with a 1 TB Gen 4 M.2 SSD.

As above, you can purchase the Legion Go Gen 2 with ‘just’ a Ryzen Z2 processor, but we got the more powerful Ryzen Z2 Extreme option and overall, it’s a super quick and performative system, taking under 25 seconds from powering on to being in Windows and ready to game. 

Games like Fortnite and HollowKnight: SilkSong both played like a dream, heading over 120fps with ease. They both handled super smoothly and it’s gaming like this, which makes you really buy into the Windows Gaming handheld market. 

The game performance is good, though varied. I had to really scale down Crysis and CyberPunk 2077 settings to get a decent 40-ish fps frame-rate, while others like FC26, Fortnite and Sons of the Forest achieved a relatively decent 50-60fps. 

To compare against the competition, I ran it through the 3DMark benchtests and here’s how it went. 

Battery and Charging

The original Legion Go had a relatively small 49Wh battery like many of the initial handheld gaming devices that launched. The second generation has fixed this with a much larger 4-cell 74Wh Li-Ion battery. There’s a 65W USB-C charger included in the box as well to keep you charged.

As far as how long you can use it for, my son used FC26 for about 2.5 hours, and I got almost to three hours on Hollow Knight at a hit before it went flat. I am a little disappointed that Microsoft’s ‘Full Screen Experience’ wasn’t available just yet which promises improvements on this front, but we’ll hopefully get it for next time.

The 65W charger included in the box  is relatively compact and can into the supplied case. It’s decently fast too, with the system fully recharged in a bit over 90 minutes.

Software

Windows

The Lenovo Legion Go Gen 2 is a Windows 11 gaming handheld. It’s launched running Windows 11 25H2, with support through to October 2028 – but you’ll also receive OS Service updates, so updates will flow!

Windows Gaming: Full Screen Experience

Microsoft has become invested in the Windows experience on gaming handhelds since their collaboration with ASUS on the ROG XBOX ALLY and ROG XBOX ALLY X.The devices brought Microsoft into the discussion on performance, ease of use, battery life and more, indeed we saw great improvements generation over generation in that device thanks to Microsoft’s ‘Windows Gaming: Full Screen Experience’.

The Legion Go Gen 2 comes with Windows 11 25H2 and in theory it should include the ‘Windows Gaming: Full Screen Experience’ which is is rolling out now as part of Microsoft’s Windows 11 25H2 update. In the patch notes for this release, Microsoft says it ‘improves system performance while gaming, battery life, and reduces the startup time of your device’ – but the update isn’t available. Once you have the update, you should just enable it by going to Settings > Gaming > Full screen experience – except it’s not there. 

Is this a little exclusive thing for the ROG XBOX ALLY X? It’s not clear, but I’d love to give it another whirl to find out when it arrives.

Legion Space

WIthout the Windows Gaming: Full Screen Experience, Lenovo has done a masterful job with their Legion Space Software. Legion Space is there when you first launch into Windows as a launcher – or just available in-game, activated by the button just next to the display on the left controller – or quick settings using the button on the right controller.

The software has a leanback experience and operates fully, and easily using thumbsticks and ABXY buttons – though the touchpad on the controller is right there if you need it. 

The Legion Space environment has all you need to access your games, settings and even deals on more gaming. 

Final Thoughts

The Legion Go Gen 2 has basically everything. Lenovo has thrown the hardware pile at the device – to all of our benefit. 

The handheld has a gorgeous, and large OLED display which is responsive and makes games look great. The controllers, while vastly over-engineered for my simple tastes, offer versatility and utility for gamers no matter what level they’re playing at.

The under the hood performance of the Legion Go Gen 2 also shows just how much Lenovo has included here, with the Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor more than capable of providing a high-end gaming experience, especially when backed up with a load of RAM and a fast SSD.

The software experience, while ok, is still Windows and can be a little clunky – though Lenovo’s Legion Space saves the experience. There’s also the missing Windows Full Screen Gaming Experience, which could also help a heap on performance, battery life and more – when it arrives, so it’s possible this great system could get even better.

Overall, this is a gaming handheld on steroids. It’s going to play everything you want and for a decent amount of time, with enough customisation options to keep gamers at any level happy.

You can pre-order the Lenovo Legion Go Gen 2 now through The Gamesmen, JB Hifi and of course Lenovo, with devices looking set to launch on December 23.