The original Lenovo Legion Go was the first gaming handheld to opt for the larger, 8.8-inch display and removable hand grips. However, the Legion Go performed worse than its existing competition at the time, and felt almost half-baked. With the Legion Go 2, Lenovo kept all the things that made the first one unique, while improving the performance and tweaking the controls to make it more comfortable than its predecessor.

The Legion Go 2 is also one of the first handhelds featuring AMD's new Ryzen Z2 Extreme APU, which brings Zen 5 architecture and RDNA 3.5 integrated graphics to the handheld market. The Asus ROG Xbox Ally X will feature the Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme variant which includes the XDNA 2 NPU from the Ryzen AI 300 Strix Point series. The other Z2 Extreme handhelds, including the ROG Ally X (2025) and MSI Claw A8 are expected soon but don't have release dates just yet. At least in the US market.

So there's quite a bit of pressure riding on Lenovo for this Legion Go 2 launch. But have they stuck the landing?

Lenovo Legion Go 2 pricing and availability

It's a pricey Halloween gift

The Lenovo Legion Go 2 starts at a whopping $1,099. The entry level configuration features the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme APU with RDNA 3.5 integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD storage, and an 8.8-inch, 1920x1200, 144Hz OLED display. The Legion Go 2 also ships with a 65W charger, carrying case, and joystick conversion kit if you want to use your handheld for some flight-sim action. The base price is a massive increase over the original Legion Go, but that was to be expected after Lenovo released the Legion Go S Windows edition for $799.

The upgraded $1,349 model we got for review comes with upgraded memory to 32GB, but is otherwise identical to the base model. So that's a pretty hefty price hike for just 16GB more RAM, but these days gaming with 16GB of memory can be a little disappointing, particularly on more intensive titles. So if you have the spare cash and you really want to play Cyberpunk 2077 or Monster Hunter Wilds on the go, it's a worthy upgrade. If you plan to stick to more low-intensity indie titles or well-optimized games like Baldur's Gate III, you probably don't need the additional RAM overhead.

Lenovo offers 24/7 Legion Ultimate service with purchase of the Legion Go 2, which also includes a Next Business Day on-site warranty update. So at least you're getting solid service for the hefty Legion Go 2 price tag.

Better ergonomics, but still hefty

Holding the Legion Go 2 is more comfortable, but it's still too heavy

Lenovo softened a lot of the edges of the Legion Go 2, rounding out the hand grips a bit more and softening some of the harsh angles so it feels far more comfortable to hold than the first generation. The handheld also boasts dual Hall Effect joysticks for increased durability, which has become more standard across handhelds over the last few years.

Lenovo also added a few additional customizable buttons to the control scheme. Unfortunately, two of these rest on the right-hand grip right where your palm can hit, making them a bit useless for control mapping. This is ideal for using the controllers in FPS mode, but in handheld mode, it's very easy to accidentally trigger these buttons. So I would recommend against mapping them in games you plan to play in handheld or console mode. The trackpad on the right-hand side can also be easy to hit with the edge of your palm, particularly if you have larger hands.

This improved ergonomic design makes for a more comfortable gaming experience, but there's still one major hangup.

The Legion Go 2, like its predecessor, is on the heavy side as far as handhelds go. Thanks to its large 8.8-inch OLED display and removable controllers, the Legion Go 2 has some additional heft to it compared to the Asus ROG Ally X, Steam Deck, or even the MSI Claw 8 AI+.

My biggest struggle with most gaming handhelds is the weight of the system. While the Legion Go 2 is just barely over 2 pounds, the weight is often held on the weakest parts of your hands, which makes it feel far heavier. Even with the improved ergonomics of the Legion Go 2 compared to the first iteration, so much of the weight rests on your smallest fingers, which can lead to numbness in your hands for extended game sessions. You can offset this by using a lap desk or resting your arms on a pillow or knee, or, because the Legion Go 2 has a sturdy kickstand, you can use the kickstand to prop up the handheld on a table or desk. However, you've got to be careful of your posture since this can put a nasty tweak in your back if you don't have it at the right height.

The benefit to the Legion Go 2's removable controllers, however, is that you can always remove the handgrips and use the Go 2 like a portable monitor. The kickstand on the Go 2 is nice and sturdy and runs the entire backside of the handheld, so it's not likely to tip over. Unfortunately, the Legion Go 2 isn't packaged with a connector for the two controllers, though you can purchase an accessory to turn the handgrips into a controller. Though it's honestly easier to just connect your favorite gamepad via Bluetooth and skip that whole hassle.

The Legion Go 2 does come with an adapter to use one of the control grips as a joystick for flight sims or shooters, but FPS mode often requires additional control tweaks that don't feel worth the hassle in most games. But if you're addicted to Microsoft Flight Simulator, it's probably a nice feature to have and customize to perfection.

Stunning visuals and powerful sound

OLED displays are always the way to go

The Legion Go 2 has a massive 8.8-inch, 144Hz, OLED display. This adds to the weight of the system and has an increased power draw compared to an LCD or LED panel, but the vivid colors and near-infinite contrast ratio of an OLED display are hard to match. Throw in that 144Hz refresh rate, and it's a luxurious viewing experience.

While it's often more expensive to choose an OLED or mini-LED display, the color accuracy and high contrast of OLED and mini-LED panels are often enough to justify the cost, and the Legion Go 2 is no exception. Even loading screens on games like Baldur's Gate III and Final Fantasy XIV looked stunning, not to mention the actual gameplay. I've been playing those games for long enough that it's easy to forget just how fantastic they can look. And then I play them on a high-quality display and I'm reminded of just how visual a medium gaming is. So if you have the option between an OLED handheld and a non-OLED screen, the OLED is always going to be the way to go. Lenovo rates the Legion Go 2 display to 1,000 nits of HDR brightness, but in SDR you'll see brightness numbers closer to 300-350 nits at max brightness. This is perfectly adequate for indoor gaming, though the glossy OLED panel does love to catch a glare, so it might be a bit dim if you plan to use the Legion Go 2 outdoors.

Wherever you decide to use the Legion Go 2, that gorgeous display is augmented with a robust dual sound system featuring two speakers and two woofers, which gets a shocking amount of volume and great audio clarity for a dual-speaker array. So your games look and sound fantastic on the native hardware.

Performance and software

I expected a lot of the Ryzen Z2 Extreme, but the Legion Go 2 didn't quite live up

The Legion Go 2 is one of the first systems in the US to feature the Ryzen Z2 Extreme APU. The MSI Claw A8 technically beat the Legion Go 2 in the European market, but for American gamers, the Legion Go 2 is one of the first opportunities to get their hands on AMD's most powerful handheld chip to date. Unfortunately, much like the original Legion Go, the hardware just isn't matching up to expectations. That isn't to say the Legion Go 2 is a bad handheld. It's just not the most powerful version of the Ryzen Z2 Extreme and underperforms compared to the MSI Claw 8 AI+'s Lunar Lake SoC at 17W and 30W TDP. At 45W TDP, the Legion Go 2 is the most powerful handheld we've tested so far, but it's also the only handheld with a 45W max TDP. Both the MSI Claw 8 AI+ and Asus ROG Ally X top out at 30W TDP.

You can do some tweaking in Legion Space to adjust your fan curves and offset, which can get you a better balance of power and efficiency, and fine-tune your TDP, though the default Balanced and Performance profiles are pretty sufficient for general users. For the sake of benchmarking, I ran the game benchmarks with the Legion Go 2 set to its full 45W TDP.

In my hands-on testing, I was getting smooth 60 fps speeds on Bladur's Gate III on 1200p and Medium settings with the Legion Go 2 in balanced mode on battery without additional tweaks. I was also getting 45-55 fps on Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail on 1200p and Standard (Laptop) settings in balanced mode on battery.

Monster Hunter Wilds and Cyberpunk 2077 required a bit more tweaking to achieve smooth framerates without losing too much graphics quality, though I saw the best performance improvements by tweaking my game settings rather than adjusting the Legion Go 2's TDP or fan curves.

As far as battery life goes, I was able to run through my daily Final Fantasy XIV expert dungeon and trials roulettes with the Legion Go 2 at max brightness and balanced mode, with 59% battery life remaining once I'd quit the game. In benchmarking, the Legion Go 2 averaged 2 hours and 50 minutes of battery life on the PCMark 10 Gaming battery benchmark with brightness set to 50% and the handheld set to Balanced performance mode, which isn't too shabby for unplugged gaming battery life.

The biggest performance and battery hangup is Windows 11. Hopefully, the streamlined handheld OS planned for the ROG Xbox Ally family launches on additional devices; this would give the Legion Go 2 some additional performance and battery life headroom.

Should you buy the Lenovo Legion Go 2?

To buy or not to buy, that is the question

You should buy the Lenovo Legion Go 2 if:

• You don't already own a handheld gaming PC
• You want a massive OLED display on your handheld
• You want the latest AMD handheld APU

You should NOT buy the Lenovo Legion Go 2 if:

• You want the handheld with the best battery life
• You have smaller hands or find it difficult to hold a heavy gaming handheld
• You need to stay on a tight budget

The Legion Go 2 is a satisfying package, with a powerful AMD APU, stunning OLED display, robust sound system, and enough battery life to handle over an hour of online gaming and two hours of offline gaming. While the Legion Go 2 isn't breaking 30W performance benchmarks, it's powerful enough to handle even demanding games as long as you're willing to do a bit of settings tweaking to your graphics settings and your device TDP or fan curves.

It doesn't have the best battery life, as the MSI Claw 8 AI+ tends to be a bit more power efficient, and it's a bit unwieldy for folks with smaller hands or who have difficulty holding a 2+ pound gaming handheld for extended periods. But if you want a massive, gorgeous OLED panel and AMD's latest APU, the Legion Go 2 is a worthy choice. It's just expensive.