Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 Hands-on

Lenovo has finally launched in the Philippines its latest gaming smartphone and successor to the Legion Phone Duel from last year, the Legion Phone Duel 2. Check out our initial thoughts on the device below.

The Legion Phone Duel 2 brings plenty of improvements over its predecessor, which is evident in its new design. While the Legion Phone Duel comes in red and blue, the Legion Phone Duel 2 is now available in black and white, which looks intimidating and cooler at the same time. Like the predecessor, the Legion Phone Duel 2 is designed to be used in landscape for gaming, so we’ll talk about it in that orientation.

It features a larger 6.92-inch screen on the front, mounted with Gorilla Glass 5. It still uses AMOLED with FHD+ resolution and a 144Hz refresh rate, but with a significantly improved 720Hz touch sampling rate. It doesn’t have a notch or a hole punch, so you’ll get an unobstructed viewing experience.

Found on its left and right sides by the bezels are the dual-front speakers for stereo sound.

On the left is a microphone, while on the right are the USB-C port, microphone for calls, and the card tray for two nano-sized SIM cards.

Up top, we have the textured power/lock button, and directly underneath it is the motorized pop-up module for the 44MP selfie camera. You will also notice a vent for the passive cooling system.

Look on the shoulders, and you will see the ultrasonic keys.

Down at the bottom are another USB-C port, a microphone, the volume buttons, and the second vent for the cooling system.

Flip it on its back, and you will immediately notice that design that screams gaming, but in a sleek fashion. The module for the 64MP main and 16MP ultrawide cameras, LED flash, microphone, the RGB-illuminated Legion logo, and the RGB-illuminated fan for the cooling system are placed right in the middle. Also located here at the left and right-hand sides of the module are two capacitive buttons for additional control for gaming.

From this angle, the Legion Phone Duel 2 doesn’t look like any other smartphone you’ve seen before. It looks futuristic, exciting, and powerful.

When used as a regular smartphone in portrait mode, the Legion Phone Duel 2 is a very tall device at 176mm and wide at 78.5mm. It’s also chunky at 9.9mm and hefty at 259g. Those numbers mean that you’ll definitely need two hands to be able to navigate its UI easily. It’s still easy to grip, though, thanks to its curved frame and back panel.

When it comes to materials, everything about it is premium, which means a cold metal frame and smooth glass. Like with any glass, it’s a smudge and fingerprint magnet, so you’ll need to wipe it now and then if you don’t like using a protective case.

Powering the Legion Phone Duel 2 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G SoC with a 2.84GHz octa-core CPU, Adreno 660 GPU, 12GB or 16GB of RAM, 256GB or 512GB UFS 3.1, and two 2,750mAh batteries for a total of 5,500mAh capacity with support for 60W Turbo or 90W Dual-Turbo Charging. For the software, it runs on Legion OS 12.5 based on Android 11.

The unit we have right now is an engineering sample, so we can’t do some camera samples and benchmarks yet, but we’ll update you with a full review once we get a proper unit.

The Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 in Ultimate Black is priced at PHP 39,995USD 682INR 57,777EUR 649CNY 4,963 for the 12GB + 256GB variant and PHP 49,995USD 852INR 72,223EUR 811CNY 6,204 for the 16GB + 512GB variant. The Titanium White model will arrive soon.

Pre-orders begin from June 18-June 30, 2021. Every purchase will come with a free Lenovo HD100 Bluetooth Headset and a limited-edition Legion Pilipinas Jacket worth PHP 5,990USD 102INR 8,653EUR 97CNY 743. It will be available in all Legion Exclusive Stores and authorized resellers and Legion Flagship Store in Lazada. For more information, follow Lenovo Legion’s official Facebook page or visit www.lenovo.com/ph/en/legion.

Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 specs:
6.92-inch (2460 x 1080) AMOLED 20.5:9 display
144Hz refresh rate, 720Hz touch sampling rate
HDR10+, Pixelworks i6 AI tuning
Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G 2.84GHz octa-core CPU
Adreno 660 GPU
12GB, 16GB, 18GB LPDDR5 RAM
256GB, 512GB UFS 3.1
Dual-rear cameras:
• 64MP OmniVision OV64A F.19 main
• 16MP F2.2 ultra-wide
44MP Samsung GH1+ F2.0 front camera
Dual-SIM
5G, 4G LTE
WiFi 6
Bluetooth 5.2
NFC
2x USB-C (2.0 & 3.1)
GPS (L1+L5), A-GPS, GLONASS, BEIDOU (L1+L5), Galileo(L1+L5), QZSS
Fingerprint scanner (in-display)
Dual front speakers (7-magnet stereo speaker w/ dual smart amplifier)
Dolby Atmos
Four mics w/ noise reduction technology
ATA 2.0 (Advanced Technology Architecture)
Octa-Trigger (Quad Ultrasonic Shoulder keys, Dual Capacitance keys, Dual Force Touch sensor)
Dual HaptiX – Dual X-Axis Haptic Vibration Linear Motors
RGB lighting
Legion OS 12.5 (Android 11)
5,500mAh (2,750mAh x2) battery w/ 65W, 90W fast charging
Integrated Cooling System:
• Passive cooling components
• Vapor Chamber liquid cooling
• Twin Turbo-Fan Cooling System
176 x 78.5 x 9.9 mm (12.56 mm mid)
259 g
Ultimate Black, Titanium White