Legion Go 2 - The Growing Problem

Dave2D reviews the Legion Go 2: best Windows handheld yet, but at $1,500 it exposes a price-inflation crisis across the entire gaming handheld genre.

• Legion Go 2 costs $1,500 — over double the Legion Go 1’s current $700 Best Buy price for a mild performance bump.
• Powered by AMD Z2 Extreme: 10–15% gain at peak wattage, but 25–60% improvement at low wattages (10–15W range).
• Hardware upgrades include 8.8-inch 1200p OLED at 120Hz/500 nits/HDR, 50% larger battery, redesigned ergonomics and mouse mode.
• Trade-offs are significant: noticeably bigger, heavier, louder fans, and higher price — the opposite direction handheld gaming should go.
• Valve’s Steam Store ownership lets it sell the Steam Deck near cost; competitors like Lenovo must chase performance to differentiate, driving prices up.
• Dave2D argues the industry should stop chasing new chips and focus on optimizing existing silicon to make devices cheaper, thinner, lighter.
• At this trajectory, Z3 Extreme devices could hit $2,000 — pushing handhelds into 16-inch gaming laptop price territory.

2025-09-05 · Watch on YouTube