Interview

 
Because Lenovo Legion Phone Duel really managed impress us, we wanted to find out more about how Lenovo sees the gaming smartphone market, which is why we talked to Brian Tang, Lenovo Legion Mobile Gaming Business Unit Director. Brian leads Lenovo’s mobile gaming team. He has over 10 years of experience in IT product planning across Laptops, All-in-One PCs, Tablets and Smartphones. He has extensive experience in the gaming industry, leading mobile gaming product development across various brands.

LAB501 – Hi Brian, thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. First of all, Lenovo Legion is an established gaming brand, with a strong presence in gaming notebooks & desktops, and a whole array of peripherals, from monitors to mice, keyboards and mousepads. What were the reasons for entering the gaming smartphone market in 2020?

Brian Tang – From what we’ve learned from our Legion gaming community, we see there’s a lot of growth in the mobile gaming industry. This is what drove the design and production of Lenovo Legion Phone Duel. 2020 marked the start and we’re actively looking at where we go from here.

LAB501 – Do you think there is room for an exponential growth in the gaming smartphone segment in the next couple of years, or will it remain a super high-end niche, dedicated to the hard-core enthusiasts?

Brian Tang – Yes, we see the potential and growth in the gaming industry certainly over the next few years. For us, it’s about focusing not only on hardcore gamers but broadening access to devices such as the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel so that we meet the needs of gamers everywhere. Also, as more regionally downloadable Google Play mobile games get better and more fun to play on the right device with higher refresh rates – like the 144Hz provided by the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel — the more popular mobile gaming will become with the masses.

LAB501 – What are the main advantages Lenovo Legion Phone Duel brings in comparison with its main competitors?

Brian Tang – When looking at the phone you could argue that ‘duel’ could be spelled both ways – not only the ability to fight fiercely but also its many ‘dual’ design concepts, which is core to its innovation. Our ATA (Advanced Technology Architecture) structure creates a perfectly balanced gaming experience. In terms of hardware, we have the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus 5G Mobile CPU and a dual liquid thermal system, a dual speaker, 5000mAH battery life thanks to dual batteries on either side and dual 90W fast charging ports. Also the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel gives the gamer an optimized horizontal UI, a 20MP front pop-up live selfie camera for on-the-go streaming, plus the virtual gamepad functions for both touch and move simulations via Legion Assistant, together with the Legion Realm App to provide the most immersive gaming experience.

LAB501 – Lenovo Legion Phone Duel is one of the first and few smartphones to use Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+. However, unlike some of the competitors models based on 865+ or 865, Lenovo Legion Phone Duel uses a fully passive cooling system, without any fans, and yet it still manages to match or outperform the most powerful gaming smartphones available on the market today. How did you manage to do that?

Brian Tang – The Legion Phone Duel’s innovative ATA (Advanced Technology Architecture) structure delivers much of this. The CPU and other heat sources are placed in the middle of the phone, with the area that you hold equipped with low temperature rise devices, such as dual heat pipes and large-area multilayer graphite sheets. The temperature of this ‘holding area’ of the Legion Phone Duel can be around 3-4°C lower, which not only aims to provide higher gaming performance, but also makes it more comfortable for the gamer to hold with both hands for longer periods of time.

LAB501 – Do you have any plans to launch any accessories (gamepad, docking station, custom protective covers) for Lenovo Legion Phone Duel?

Brian Tang – We designed this first generation smartphone to meet the same core gaming sensory feature requirements as a virtual gamepad, such as adding the shoulder buttons to enhance control and our virtual “thumbstick” that simulates the feel and behaviour of a real joystick. We don’t think we need to add additional, but we do provide a protective cover as standard. That said, we continually listen to the Legion community to prioritize which attributes and new accessories are most important to mobile gamers.

LAB501 – Is there any chance we will ever see the 8GB / 128GB 500 USD China version sold in other markets as well in the near future?

Brian Tang – At the moment we are focused on bringing the 12GB/256GB and 16GB/512GB spec to Europe.

LAB501 – Is this the start of a product series? Will we see more Lenovo Legion phones in the future?

Brian Tang – At the moment we are focused on bringing this one to market. Innovating smarter and more immersive gameplay has always been a hallmark of Lenovo Legion, and we have a long history of co-engineering consumer experiences with Qualcomm…so the future will tell!

LAB501 – From your internal testing, do you have any estimation regarding the duration of life of the pop-up camera (number of pop-up / retreat)?

Brian Tang – We believe the pop-up camera is good for around 400,000 uses. The front camera also supports general 1080p HD video capture and 4K recordings at up to 30 FPS (frames per second) for high-quality footage!

LAB501 – Thank you for your time Brian and looking forward to see what you guys are preparing for the future!