A ridiculously high price makes the Lenovo Legion Go 2 a hard sell for gamers

After initially teasing us with a prototype back in January, Lenovo has finally announced the Lenovo Legion Go 2, as well as its release date and price. While the specs look undeniably good, the price is likely to be a huge barrier for most gamers, with the most expensive model costing $1,479.99.

That price creates a problem, especially when you compare it to the likes of the Steam Deck OLED, which has a starting price of just $549. This upgraded Lenovo handheld is undeniably powerful on paper, but the Legion Go 2 almost exactly doubles the price. Gaming handheld prices, which looked pretty budget-friendly just a year or two ago, are starting to look a lot less so, even if the entries in our best handheld guide are certainly getting more powerful.

Lenovo unveiled its new handheld at IFA 2025 in Berlin last week. Confirming many of the details we saw teased in this earlier Lenovo Legion Go 2 leak. The handheld features an 8.8-inch, 144Hz OLED screen with VRR (variable refresh rate) technology, able to synchronize the refresh rate with the GPU's frame rate. It also includes a 74WHr battery, fingerprint scanner, and detachable controllers, along with four different configurations to choose from.

Of four configurations, the two base model handhelds feature the AMD Ryzen Z2 APU. The cheapest has 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, costing $1,099.99, but if you want to boost up to 32GB of RAM, you'll need to spend another $100, with that handheld costing $1,199.99.

The two higher-end configurations feature the faster AMD Z2 Extreme processor. One model, with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, will cost $1,349.99. Meanwhile, the most expensive version, featuring a 2TB SSD and the same 32GB RAM config, will set you back the full $1,479.99.

All four options would put this handheld well ahead of the rumored Xbox Ally X pricing of around $999. If the price isn't an issue for you, the Lenovo Legion Go 2 is already available for you to pre-order at Best Buy, with a release date of October 31. It's also set to be the latest handheld featuring Windows with the Xbox-style interface, seen on the new Xbox Ally X, according to this report by The Verge.

Do specs like these, along with an improved handheld version of Windows, make the Lenovo Legion Go 2 a better option than a similarly-priced laptop? Gaming laptops with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 GPU, for instance, can be found for similar prices right now, and will (on paper) offer equivalent or better gaming performance, as well as a much better screen.

Much will rest on how well the Lenovo Legion Go 2 performs in the real world, but out-of-control handheld pricing like this is likely to push budget-focused gamers far away. That's a shame for gamers, but it's also a bad sign for the market as a whole. With any luck, gamers will continue to see newer Steam Deck rivals, with pricing to rival it, alongside top-end models like this one.

Pricing aside, we'll be keen to put the Lenovo Legion Go 2 to the test when it launches in October. Until then, make sure to check out our best gaming laptop guide if you're looking for a portable gaming rig, with options to suit any budget.

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