If you’re looking to buy a new gaming phone the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel is out today, and it might be great for the task if you can get around its one peculiar selling point.
You see, the Phone Duel seems designed for use held horizontally – its pop-up front camera and two rear cameras work best when you’re holding the phone sideways, as presumably you’ll be buying this phone if you’re spending most of your screen time gaming.
The phone is available to buy now from Lenovo’s website, and it’ll cost you £899 (roughly $1,175, AU$1,645) – that’s quite a lot for a smartphone, especially a gaming phone (which tend to have mid-ranged prices) but given the specs (which we’ll run through in a moment), the price may make sense.
We have yet to test the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel, but once we do we’ll make sure to test it thoroughly to see where it places on our list of the best gaming phones.
Lenovo Legion Phone Duel specs
The Lenovo Legion Phone Duel has a 6.65-inch screen, with a 1080 x 2340 resolution and 144Hz refresh rate, so it sounds like games will look good viewed on it.
The processor is the relatively new Snapdragon 865 Plus, joined by 16GB RAM, and that should ensure super-fast processing power. The 865 Plus has a built-in 5G modem, so you’ll be able to take advantage of the super-fast connection standard where it’s available.
In terms of battery capacity, you’re looking at 5,000mAh, made up of two 2,500mAh batteries. Lenovo predicts this will last a full day of use or seven hours of ‘intermittent gaming’, whatever that means. The handset can power up at a whopping 90W, which is the fastest we’ve seen in a smartphone, and even faster than the 65W of some Oppo phones, so it’ll get you back to full in no time.
The pop-up front-facing camera is 20MP (presumably this bizarre side placement is because the phone is designed to be use predominantly held horizontally) and on the back there’s a 64MP snapper joined by a 16MP ultra-wide camera. These rear cameras are in the middle of the phone, not at the top as in most devices, which is certainly a curious placement.
Finally, Lenovo says there are ultrasonic trigger buttons on the handset, which could function in a similar fashion to the Black Shark 3 Pro’s physical trigger buttons to enhance gameplay.