Specs

I must tell you from the very beginning that Lenovo Legion Phone Duel will not be sold in the US, being launched in 8 countries (Germany, Great Britain, France, etc.) in Europe, and a few more others in Asia. However, I really wanted to test this phone, because it seemed the only phone capable of competing with the monstrous ASUS ROG Phone 3 for the “best gaming smartphone on the market” title.

Lenovo Legion Phone Duel is based on the most powerful version of the Qualcomm SM8250 chipset, namely Snapdragon 865+, with the Kryo 585 core clocked at 3.1GHz (compared to 2.84GHz for the 865 model), while the graphics solution is clocked at 645MHz, compared to 587MHz for the 865 model. At the moment, Snapdragon 865+ is the most powerful chipset available on the market, being integrated by only a few manufacturers.

Both Lenovo Legion Phone Duel and the Chinese version, Lenovo Legion Pro, are based on the same chipset, but offer different RAM / storage options. Lenovo Legion Phone Duel is available in two options – 12GB LPDDR5 and 256GB UFS 3.1, and 16GB LPDDR5 and 512GB UFS 3.1, which is the unit we received for testing. For Legion Pro, there are two more versions, equipped with 8GB / 128GB, respectively 12GB / 128GB.

Lenovo Legion Phone Duel has a 6.65″ HDR10+ AMOLED display, with FHD+ resolution (1080 x 2340 pixels) and a layer of Gorilla Glass 6 on top for protection. It boasts a refresh rate of 144Hz for the display, and 240Hz for the digitizer, which is the top spec we can get right now for a gaming smartphone.

Another interesting feature is the battery, with a capacity of 5000 mAh. In fact, there are two 2500 mAh batteries, which can be charged simultaneously, with the help of the two USB-C ports we find on the phone. The power supply comes with two cables, Lenovo Legion Phone Duel currently implementing the most advanced Fast Charging (90W) solution available in stores. The battery reaches 50% after only 10 minutes of charging, and we can get a full charge in only 30 minutes.

The feast continues in sound department, where we can find a Dirac Audio stereo solution, based on two front speakers with large speaker chambers (1.4 cm3) and two AWINIC AW88264 amplifiers. Last but not least, Lenovo Legion Phone Duel has 4 noise cancelling microphones, so no matter how you grab the phone, at least two microphones will be in the clear.

The main camera is based on a 64MP sensor (1 / 1.72 ″, 0.8µm), coupled with a fast (F1.9) 25mm lens with phase detection autofocus. The second camera is based on a 16MP sensor and an ultra-wide lens (F2.2, 16mm), while the front camera is based on a 20MP sensor (1 / 3.1 ″, 0.9µm) and a super bright 25mm lens (F2.2) positioned on the side of the phone. Obviously, this is a rectractablecamera, designed to integrate perfectly in the landscape usage mode, for which Legion Phone Duel is optimized.

Connectivity wise, we are dealing with a 5G modem, capable of download speeds of up to 2.52bps, respectively 900Mbps upload speeds, as well as Cat18 LTE modem (800Mbps download / 210Mbps upload), WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity. Depending on the configuration, Lenovo Legion Phone Duel will be available for ~ 600 Euros, in the case of the 12 / 256GB version, or 850 Euros, for the 16 / 512GB version tested by us. The starting price for the Legion Pro in China, in the 8 / 128GB version, should be ~ 3499 ¥, which means roughly 500 USD.