One of the strangely enduring trends of the past few years is ‘gaming phones’, designs that are (sometimes dramatically) adapted for mobile gaming performance. Lenovo made one with its Legion gaming brand last year, and according to a leak posted on Antutu’s Weibo account, it’s redesigned again. This is weird, even for a gaming phone.
The first Legion phone was not exactly subtle, with a flashy rear styling, a mid-mounted camera module (so your hands do not cover it when you play) and a pop-up selfie cam on the side. The leaked photos of a second-generation version appear to be even more bombastic: the entire middle module has been lifted on both sides with separate panels, vaguely reminiscent of the grips of a Game Boy Advance. Unless my eyes are cheating on me, the center panel also has a small, built-in cooling fan, something that other cell phones retain for an additional accessory.
The distinctive pop-up selfie camera is not visible from behind, but there is definitely something on the side of the phone, as seen in the photo above. This appears to be a cosmetic change, as there is certainly no hole for a forward-facing camera on the screen itself. The stereo speakers appear to be intact, and the “ultrasonic trigger buttons” still appear to be in place, just like the USB-C port on the side. Again, for the game.
The original Legion phone features a state-of-the-art processor, massive dual-chamber batteries that recharge at 90 watts and uses a 144Hz screen with a 240Hz touch sample rate. Assuming these leaks are genuine and the phone is on the market, you can expect at least that much, with maybe a few more new tricks.
