Lenovo finally unveiled its first Legion gaming smartphone. The Legion Duel
(Legion Pro in China) is a dedicated mobile gaming phone that brings out all
the top current specs like a 144Hz refresh rate screen, Snapdragon 865+ chipset
and also adds a signature side-mounted pop-up camera which allows gamers to
capture live commentary in landscape mode on the device. It’s going directly at
the likes of the Asus ROG, Nubia Red Magic and Black Shark lines in the budding
gaming smartphone category.
The Legion Duel is built around a
6.65-inch AMOLED display with the aforementioned 144Hz refresh rate. The
display features minimal bezels, dual speakers and comes with a built-in
fingerprint reader and 240Hz touch sampling. The side-mounted 20MP selfie cam
allows for an uninterrupted display and is ideal for recording commentary
during gaming sessions. Adding to the gaming experience are the
pressure-sensitive side triggers and 4 mics for optimal sound recording.
Lenovo announced it’s already optimized
the 144Hz display and shoulder triggers for 130+ games and is constantly
working to get more developers on board to take full advantage of its hardware.
The Duel also sports an advanced cooling system with two heat pipes as well as
Lenovo’s U-Engine dual X-axis vibration motor which promises over 100 types of
long vibration patterns and 13 kinds of low-response ones.
Under the hood, we have the Snapdragon
865+ which promises 10% CPU and GPU gains compared to the Snapdragon 865. The
phone will also ship with up to 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB UFS 3.1 storage.
Around the back, we have a 64MP primary camera alongside a 16MP ultrawide
snapper located in the middle. The battery comes in at 5,000mAh and is actually
separated into two 2,500 mAh cells. It offers blazing fast 90W fast charging
which can do a full charge in just 30 minutes. To achieve that you need to plug
in chargers in the two USB-C ports - one on the bottom and another on the left
side and fill the two cells simultaneously.
The phone sports Wi-Fi 6 which can work
together with the 5G connection to bring blazing-fast download speeds and
uninterrupted low-latency gaming. Lenovo will also offer a range of accessories
for the Legion Pro, including a dock which allows for easy connection to a
monitor.
The Legion Duel comes in blue and red
colors and will go on sale in China start on August 5. The phone will be
available for pre-order later today with the entry-level 8/128GB variant going
for CNY 3,499 (US$ 500). There’s also a 12/128GB model for CNY 3,899 (US$ 557) as
well as a 12/256GB version for CNY 4,199 (US$ 600). The top of the line 16 GB RAM
and 512GB storage trim will set buyers back CNY 5,999 (US$ 857). The phone is
expected to arrive in Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Latin America
later but there are no plans to for it to launch in the US.
