A lot of high-end smartphones were launched yesterday, including the ASUS ROG Phone 3, Lenovo Legion Phone Duel, and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5G. While the Galaxy Z Flip 5G is a foldable device, the ROG Phone 3 and the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel are high-end gaming-focused smartphones. The Legion Phone Duel is the first device in Lenovo’s new Legion series, and it brings forth some interesting design ideas targeted towards gamers.
The Lenovo Legion Phone Duel is called the Legion Pro in China, for some reason. It comes with the fastest smartphone processor in the Android realm, a screen with the fastest refresh rate, a huge battery for non-stop gaming, wicked-fast charging technology, and a selfie camera that pops up from the side of the phone.
Lenovo Legion Phone Duel Specifications
Lenovo’s new gaming smartphone sports a 6.65-inch AMOLED display with Full HD+ resolution, a 144Hz refresh rate, a 240Hz touch sampling rate, and an in-display fingerprint reader. The phone’s body is made an aluminum chassis and Gorilla Glass at the front and the rear. The Legion Phone Duel has dual stereo speakers, four microphones, and pressure-sensitive side triggers (also known as shoulder buttons).
The phone is equipped with the Snapdragon 865+ processor, 8GB/12GB/16GB RAM, and 128GB/256GB/512GB UFS 3.1 internal storage. It runs Android 10 with ZUI12 interface that has special features for uninterrupted gaming and fast performance. There are specific pre-installed tools to record in-game video and broadcast it live. The phone’s four microphones offer clearer voice recording.
The Lenovo Legion Phone Duel has a 20MP selfie camera that pops up from the side. However, when you’re holding the phone in the landscape mode while gaming, the selfie camera appears in the top-middle portion, offering the best angle to record and broadcast your own video while you comment on the gameplay. The 20MP sensor (1/3.1) has F2.2 aperture, 0.9µm pixels. and up to 4K 30fps video recording.
In terms of imaging, the gaming smartphone comes with a dual-camera setup at the rear. There’s 64MP wide-angle camera (F.18 aperture, up to 4K 60fps video recording) and a 16MP ultrawide-angle camera (F2.2 aperture, up to 4K 30fps video recording). It lacks 8K and HDR10/HDR10+ video recording that is being found in modern high-end smartphones these days.
The Legion Phone Duel features connectivity features like GPS, 5G (sub-6GHZ SA/NSA), LTE, dual-SIM card slot, dual-band Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, and two USB Type-C ports (one on the side and one on the bottom). The phone is powered by a 5,000mAh battery and it supports a whopping 90W fast charging. The battery charges from zero to 50% in 10 minutes and 100% in just 30 minutes.
Gaming-focused features include the ability to use 5G (or any cellular connection) and Wi-Fi at the same time for lower latency and faster speeds. Lenovo is also offering various accessories for the phone, including a docking unit that allows the phone’s video to be mirrored on a connected monitor. There’s also a special cooling system that includes two heat pipes and a graphite sheet to save the processor from throttling.
Lenovo has also included the U-Engine dual X-axis vibration motor that has over 100 types of long vibration patterns and 13 kinds of low-response patterns for an immersive gaming experience. The phone also has a distinctive gamer-ish look to it, thanks to a carbon fiber styling on the rear along with an RGB-backlit Lenovo logo as well as Y-shaped icon.
Lenovo Legion Phone Duel Price, Release Date
The Lenovo Legion will go on sale in China on August 5, and the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant is priced at CNY 3,499 (around $500). It will be available in two colors: black and blue. The phone will also be released in Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and Middle East at a later stage. It won’t be launched in Canada and the US.
- Lenovo Legion Phone Duel (8GB RAM, 128GB storage): CNY 3,499 (around $500)
- Lenovo Legion Phone Duel (12GB RAM, 128GB storage): CNY 3,899 (around $557)
- Lenovo Legion Phone Duel (12GB RAM, 256GB storage): CNY 4,199 (around $600)
- Lenovo Legion Phone Duel (16GB RAM, 512GB storage): CNY 5,999 (around $857)
