I know that I probably have smaller hands than the “average” gamer. My hands are the perfect size to fit into a Pringles tube, or to hold the Joycons of the original Nintendo Switch without cramping. Normally, this causes me basically no issues when searching for gaming peripherals. Plenty of mice feel good in my hands, I can work with most controllers, and in some cases it’s even an advantage – like in the case of the Switch, where the buttons are quite small. But in the case of the Lenovo Legion Go 2, which is by many measures a sleek powerhouse of a handheld machine, I felt for the first time in a long time that there was a device that wasn’t designed with me in mind. Though Lenovo have highlighted its ergonomic design as one of its key features, I found myself limited in the length of time I could spend using it. My limiting factor for a gaming session wasn’t battery life – not by a long stretch, the battery lasted about three and a half hours even when playing a demanding game – but instead, comfort. Which is very frustrating, because there is so much that’s good about this machine. I just wish I could have appreciated it.
In terms of its actual material construct, the Lenovo Legion Go 2 does feel good to touch. It’s tactile, with an excimer coating that does a great job of hiding fingerprints and keeping the device feeling like it’s high quality. The grips feel good beneath your fingertips, and every piece of its construction feels sturdy, from the kick-stand that allows it to be rested on a surface, to the hall effect joysticks that feel smooth and showed no signs of wear in the several week period of my device use. This is one hefty unit, which is both its greatest strength and its biggest weakness – it feels indestructible, but that construction gives it some serious weight.
Because the Legion Go 2 is heavy. For someone with larger hands, who was able to get a more comfortable grip on the detachable controllers, this may have been less of a problem. For me, I was having to contort my hands into some strange positions in order to hit all the buttons I needed (particularly for an action or FPS game), so it was a little tough to hold onto the weight. It feels important to note that along with small hands, I also tend to have quite long fingernails, which clearly the device also did not expect. Using the Legion Go 2 immediately post-manicure, with nails that allowed me to wrap my hands around the controller differently, was far more comfortable than with long nails. I know this sounds trivial – but it had a real effect. It’s hard not to feel like there’s a certain type of person this device wasn’t designed for, and that person is me.
Which is exceedingly frustrating, because there’s no denying that this device performs. It has an AMD Z2 Ryzen processor in it that allows it to pack some serious punch, and I was able to run fairly beefy (but slightly older) games like Cyberpunk 2077 or Marvel’s Midnight Suns on the highest graphics settings without it breaking a sweat. Newer games, like The Outer Worlds 2, caused it to struggle a little on higher settings – but it would happily run them at a lower setting which, due to the smaller screen, didn’t really hinder the experience for me.
For the most part, it also managed to stay cool, even while clearly working hard. The fans are so quiet I barely noticed them, and it took trying to use it on an absolutely scorching hot Australian day for me to become at all concerned about potential overheating. When I was holding the device up, it wasn’t an issue, but because of the weight, I was often trying to rest it in my lap or on a cushion – at which point it started to become more than a little warm. But when used the way it’s intended, or used with the kickstand, the Legion Go 2 is more than capable of running cool.
The most impressive feature is by far the 8.8” OLED screen, which makes every activity done on the device look super sharp – whether it be gaming, or scrolling social media (the touchscreen makes it quite good for this, particularly when the controllers are detached and it can be treated like a tablet). Colours are vivid, and the 144Hz refresh rate shows every image smoothly and without screen tearing. Gaming on the Lenovo Legion Go 2 looks great, and even though it can be connected to a broader Lenovo ecosystem, I’m not sure there are many who will want or need to. The speakers sound great too, so playing it in handheld mode is – ergonomic issues aside – a joy.
In the few weeks I spent putting the Lenovo Legion Go 2 through its paces, it did very little else to disappoint. The fingerprint reader on the power button can be a little finicky, and sometimes I had to prompt the screen a few times to allow me to put in a pin to access the device instead if it didn’t like the angle I was trying to touch it from. Setup was mostly easy, but there are a whole host of buttons on the device that can be a little confusing until you find out what they do – or what they can do – so it can take some getting used to. Lenovo’s in-built software allows you to tweak a lot of the settings around buttons and joystick sensitivity, as well as controlling system settings and balancing performance with battery consumption, but it can feel a little overwhelming at first.
At the end of the day, my overall impression of the Lenovo Legion Go 2 is that it’s trying to pack a lot of things into its design – perhaps too many things. There are multiple customisable buttons on each of the detachable controllers, with one of them also housing a mouse wheel that I simply couldn’t find a comfortable way to use. I think it could have done without most of these buttons, but I also have no doubt that there are probably those who would make great use of them. As far as it being ergonomic… well, someone else may have to be the judge. If you have small hands, make sure you try one out before you buy it. If you’re someone that can use the device, and it feels good in your hands, it’s an easy recommendation – I know others who already own them and love them, and with this performance, I can see why. Lenovo, if you’re listening, I’d love it if you could give me this exact device, but just a liiiiittle smaller – then you will have something pretty special.
The Lenovo Legion Go 2 can be purchased from the Lenovo website, or participating retailers, for an RRP starting at $1,809.00.
Player 2 was provided a Lenovo Legion Go 2 on loan for the purposes of this review.
