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Lenovo’s next gaming phone is coming soon, here’s what we hope to see

By Martha Rowinsky on March 17, 2021

Credit: Ryan Haines / Android Authority

Lenovo jumped into the gaming phone arena in a big way last summer with its Legion Phone Duel. It packed everything we could ask for into a gaming phone – a massive battery, plenty of RAM, and an impressive display. Now, it’s just about time for the sequel. Lenovo has only dropped a couple of teasers so far, and the few extra details we’ve been given as part of an Android-based partnership have made us even more excited to see what’s indeed on the next Legion gaming phone.

See also: Here is the Lenovo Legion gaming phone in all its glory

A powerful new processor

We’ve already learned a little about Lenovo’s Advanced Technology Architecture, or ATA, which seems to be the company’s design philosophy for the next-gen Legion Phone Duel. The goal is to better-align the phone’s processor and cooling elements for maximum performance. This suggests that the next-gen Legion Phone Duel won’t compromise when it comes to specs, which is just what we like to hear.

Qualcomm’s most powerful option when the original Legion Phone Duel launched was the Snapdragon 865 Plus chip—a bold onboard move at the time. Most of the new flagship devices we’ve seen so far this year have come with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 chip on board, and from what’s been hinted at on social media thus far, Lenovo’s next Legion gaming phone looks promising too.

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As the new star of the show, Qualcomm’s flagship chip the Snapdragon 888 should offer the best gaming performance on the market. Curious to see if later, Lenovo decides to add a powerful midrange phone to its Legion family.

Lenovo’s original Legion Phone Duel also came with up to 16GB of RAM onboard as well as up to 512GB of storage. We should expect similar options this time around that are ready for all of your favorite games.

Impressive cooling technology

Gaming phones, like gaming PCs, tend to run hot under pressure. The more action you see in-game, the harder your phone has to work to keep up, so we’re guessing that Lenovo has something clever up its sleeve. So far, the company has hinted at a “Twin Turbo” setup, which looks like the phone will incorporate two powerful fans.

One drawback with some PC fans is that they tend to run loud, so it will be interesting to see how Lenovo handles that once we’re able to get hands on the product. You won’t want a phone that sounds like a jet engine taking off, so maybe Lenovo has more than the pair of fans lined up.

See also: The best Lenovo phones you can buy in 2021

An all-day battery

With all this supposed ‘smarter’ hardware working overtime to power and cool such a high-performing, 5G-connected phone, having a big battery is a must-have to be able to play for hours on end from wherever you happen to be.

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Lenovo’s original Legion Phone Duel came with a huge 5,000mAh battery and incredible 90W fast charging on the highest-spec model. There’s always a chance that Lenovo will be able to fit an even larger battery into their new next-gen Legion phone, and it would be nice to see the fastest charging make it to all models. Lenovo seems to be leaning into the fact that this is its second gaming phone, so maybe we’ll see an improved version of the dual battery from the Legion Phone Duel?

If Lenovo does stick with the dual-battery design, a second USB-C charging port could go a long way. You could continue to recharge your phone without ever leaving your favorite games. After all, the less time you spend plugged into an outlet, the better.

A large, smooth display

If you’re all charged up and ready to game for hours on end, you better have an impressive screen. Small, dull screens don’t draw users in, so until a sample unit is shown to us, we’re simply hoping for a big, bright panel on the next Legion phone. The first Legion Phone Duel set the bar pretty high with a crisp 144Hz refresh rate and Full HD+ resolution. We’re not sure if Lenovo has come up with an even faster refresh rate, but we don’t expect the phone to get any smaller.

Lenovo’s Legion Phone Duel shipped with a 6.65-inch AMOLED display that was optimized for horizontal use. After all, few people game vertically, if any. We expect this gaming-centric interface to continue, with uniquely designed gaming themes tuned for landscape mode and to resonate with gamers.

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Even more gaming goodness

Gaming phones, like gaming PCs, are unmistakable. They feature completely unique styling with plenty of carbon fiber details and futuristic shapes. The Legion Phone Duel came in Vengeance Red and Blazing Blue when it first released, so maybe Lenovo will take a similar approach this time around.

Gaming controllers also come with distinctive buttons and triggers to keep you at the top of your game, so hopefully, Lenovo can find a way to integrate advanced controls into the new Legion phone. We might also see a new version of the side-mounted pop-up selfie camera. It’s one of the most unique features from the Legion Phone Duel, and it worked impressively well the first time around.

We can sit here all day and take guesses as to what Lenovo has in store to fill in the blanks with what’s still missing, but we’ll just have to wait and see. The company keeps trickling out hints on their social handles, so we’ll share them with you as we learn more.

Published in Android and General

Martha Rowinsky
Martha Rowinsky