Legion Go 2 Z2 Extreme 6 Months Later: Long-Term Review

Six months ago here in the US, on October 31st, 2025, the Legion Go 2 Z2 Extreme finally dropped. Even with a release price of $1,349, I was very excited to cover it after a couple of years with the original Go. This isn't another deep dive into specs and benchmarks, since I've covered those in my past reviews and they're still relevant. It's an honest look at what's still great about the Go 2 Z2 Extreme six months later, and what isn't.

Quick take

The 8.8-inch 144Hz VRR OLED is still one of the best screens I've used on a handheld.
The Z2 Extreme is still much better than the Z1 Extreme at low TDPs, and the versatility of the detachable controllers and kickstand doesn't get old.
Build quality has been great, and updates, including a GPU driver and Xbox mode, have helped.
It's still large and bulky as a true handheld, battery drops to about 1.5 to 2 hours when pushed, and the fan is noticeable at 25W and up.
The price hikes are the whole story now, and they make it almost impossible to recommend right now.

The model I'm using

This is my own unit, Lenovo's flagship Legion Go 2 with the Z2 Extreme, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.

AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme with integrated Radeon 890M graphics
32GB LPDDR5X-8000
1TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD
8.8-inch 1200p OLED, 16:10, 144Hz VRR with HDR
74Wh battery
Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3
Two USB-C ports, headphone jack and microSD card reader

Legion Go 2 specs graphic: AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme, Radeon 890M, 32GB LPDDR5X-8000, 1TB SSD, 8.8-inch 1200p OLED 144Hz VRR HDR, 74Wh battery, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 — The Legion Go 2 Z2 Extreme specs from the video.

The goods

The OLED screen

The large 8.8-inch OLED with 144Hz VRR and HDR is still one of the best I've used on a handheld. It's a standout feature, especially for anyone who won't settle for less than an OLED on a handheld. After six months, the screen still feels absolutely premium and makes games look fantastic.

Gameplay on the Legion Go 2 Z2 Extreme's 8.8-inch OLED screen with the performance overlay showing 40 FPS — Gaming on the Legion Go 2's 8.8-inch OLED. Overlay reads 40 FPS.

Z2 Extreme performance and efficiency

The AMD Z2 Extreme is still much better at low-TDP performance than the older Z1 Extreme, which means better battery life and performance while using less power. The UI also feels snappier than on the original chip, around Windows, Xbox mode and load times in games. It's still a nice upgrade over last gen.

Versatility

Just like the original Legion Go, the versatility doesn't get old. The detachable controllers and the kickstand still make a great tabletop gaming option, or you can ditch the controllers altogether for more of a tablet experience. It's really nice to have all these options, and it's something I still enjoy six months later.

A detached Legion Go 2 controller next to the handheld's screen — The detachable controllers are still one of the Go 2's best features.

Build quality

The build quality has been great since launch. From day one, I've loved how the Go 2 feels compared to the original. It's definitely more comfortable, even if it's still a large handheld. Nothing has broken or given me any issues, and the hardware still feels premium.

Updates and support

Software and driver support has its good and bad points. On the good side, there have been Legion Space updates and multiple driver and BIOS updates since launch, and they've helped fix some performance issues and smooth things out. A GPU driver update finally came months after launch and fixed some games like Elden Ring, so those don't crash or give me major issues now. We also got full Xbox mode support. It came later than on other handhelds, but it's been working well. There are complaints, but credit is due for the support we have gotten in the first six months.

The bads

There's a lot Lenovo really nailed with the Legion Go 2 models, but no handheld's perfect, and six months in there are some things to complain about, some old and some new.

Size and comfort

If you want a true handheld and won't be docking it, detaching the controllers or using the kickstand, it's still going to be a larger, bulky experience for a lot of people. That's the trade-off for the big screen, removable controllers and kickstand. The Go 2 is much more ergonomic and comfortable than the original, but it's still not nearly as comfortable as something like the Steam Deck or the Xbox Ally X.

Battery life when pushed

Battery life can be really good with the right games and settings on the Z2 Extreme. If you crank things up to 25 or 30 watts with higher settings, higher screen brightness or HDR, though, you can get down to about 1.5 to 2 hours. That's still about double what the original Go got at similar settings, so it's a gain, but for a lot of people it may still seem low. For me, I'm not that unhappy if we can hit close to 2 hours when really pushing things.

Legion Go 2 battery life graphic at 80% brightness and 30% speakers: Quiet 8W about 5 hours, Balanced 15W 2.5 to 3 hours, Performance 20W 2 to 2.5 hours, Manual 35W about 1.5 hours — The battery life graphic from my earlier testing, shown in the video: about 5 hours at 8W down to about 1.5 hours at 35W.

Fan noise

I really only notice the fan at 25 watts or higher, or in heavier benchmarks and CPU loads. You can definitely hear it when it needs to spin up, but most of the time it isn't running that way, so it's not that noticeable for me. Luckily, there's no fan whine on mine. If you're docking or maxing it out a lot, though, expect to hear the fan.

The price

This is the big one. The entire Legion Go line has seen major price hikes, and the Go 2 models are where the first big jumps happened. Here are the US prices at the time of the video:

Model	Launch price	Price in April 2026
Z2 Extreme, 1TB (the one I have)	$1,349	$1,999 (about $2,000)
Z2 Extreme, 2TB	$1,479	About $2,850, pushing $2,900
Z2 (non-Extreme)	$1,099	$1,499

Bar chart comparing Legion Go 2 US launch prices with the increased prices for the Z2, Z2 Extreme 1TB and Z2 Extreme 2TB models — Legion Go 2 US launch prices vs the increased prices, from the video.

These are insane price jumps all around, and they're really the whole story now. Who can I really recommend these to at these prices, even with all the great things I like about the Go 2? It was already an enthusiast device, and now it's an even more enthusiast device that feels locked behind a large paywall. I think for now, these prices have essentially killed the Legion Go 2 and the whole Go line until things come down, if they come down at all.

Six months in

The Go 2 remains one of my favorite recent handhelds. I love the large OLED display, games look amazing on it, and the device still feels great. My coverage of it will keep going for a long time. But at current pricing, it's almost impossible to recommend until prices hopefully come back down. The new prices make all the other points, good and bad, not matter a lot right now, and that's a shame.

When the first Go came out in 2023 for $699, it brought an amazing handheld PC to the mainstream market at a good price. It feels like those days are long behind us. I really hope not, because that would be a major slowdown for the growth of the PC handheld market.

For more on this handheld, see my Legion Go 2 vs Xbox Ally X comparison and the Legion Go hub.