Lenovo Legion Go vs Lenovo Legion Go 2

Lenovo unveiled the first Legion Go on 1 September 2023 and followed it with Go 2 on 6 September 2025, and at arm’s length they’re the same idea: an 8.8-inch, 144Hz Windows tablet with controllers that detach from the sides. The surprise is the screen. Go 2 has fewer pixels than the original, 1920 × 1200 against 2560 × 1600, on an OLED panel instead of IPS.

Side by side

The original’s column is machine type 8APU1. Go 2’s is 8ASP2, with the Ryzen Z2 Extreme, unless a row says otherwise.

Spec	Lenovo Legion Go	Lenovo Legion Go 2
Machine type	8APU1, many configurations now withdrawn	8ASP2 (Z2 Extreme); 8AHP2 (Z2)
Screen	8.8-inch IPS, 2560 × 1600, 144Hz	8.8-inch OLED, 1920 × 1200, 144Hz
Brightness	500 nits	500 nits typical, 1100 nits peak
Color and HDR	97% DCI-P3, 1500:1 contrast	100% DCI-P3, DisplayHDR True Black 1000
Glass	Gorilla Glass 5	Gorilla Glass 3
Chip	Up to Ryzen Z1 Extreme, 8 cores, 3.3–5.1GHz	Ryzen Z2 Extreme, 8 cores, 2.0–5.0GHz
Memory	16GB LPDDR5X-7500	16GB or 32GB LPDDR5X-8000
Storage	256GB, 512GB or 1TB M.2 2242	512GB or 1TB M.2 2242, and/or up to 2TB M.2 2280
Battery	49.2Wh	74Wh
1080p video at 150 nits	7.55 hours	15 hours
Other battery rating	MobileMark 25: 7.1 hours with controllers	Not published
Charging	65W: about 30% in 10 min, 70% in 30 min, 100% in 80 min	Up to 50% in 30 min; 65W adapter or none
Right touchpad	28.5 × 28.5 mm	24 × 24 mm
Weight	Under 640 g; under 854 g with controllers	About 920 g with controllers
Size with controllers	298.83 × 131 × 40.7 mm	295.6 × 136.7 × 42.25 mm
USB4 ports	Two, 40Gbps, PD 3.0, DisplayPort 1.4	Two, 65–100W in, 15W out, DisplayPort 2.1
Cooling	Legion Coldfront	Legion Coldfront 2.0
Wireless	Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3	Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
Price	$699 US start, October 2023	Expected €999 start

More pixels, or OLED and HDR

The original’s screen is a 2560 × 1600 IPS panel: glossy with an anti-fingerprint coating, 10-point touch, Gorilla Glass 5 and TÜV Low Blue Light certification, rated for 500 nits, 97% of DCI-P3 and 1500:1 contrast. On the same 8.8 inches, that’s the sharper of the two.

Go 2’s screen is a 1920 × 1200 OLED with the same glossy anti-fingerprint finish and TÜV certification, behind Gorilla Glass 3. Its brightness ratings are 500 nits typical and 1100 peak, it’s certified for DisplayHDR True Black 1000 and covers 100% of DCI-P3 on 8ASP2, though an 8AHP2 configuration sold in the US was listed at 97%. Both refresh at up to 144Hz. If HDR and OLED are what you’re after, Go 2 is the only one of the two that has them; if you want the most detail on an 8.8-inch screen, the original keeps that.

Half as much battery again

Go 2’s battery is 74Wh, against the original’s 49.2Wh two-cell battery. Lenovo rates both for 1080p video playback at 150 nits, and that’s the one like-for-like figure: 15 hours on Go 2 against 7.55 on the original, about twice as long. The original also has a MobileMark 25 rating of 7.1 hours with the controllers attached, and its controllers are rated for 11 hours on their own, from 900mAh each.

On paper the original charges faster: Super Rapid Charge reaches about 30% in 10 minutes, 70% in 30 minutes and 100% in 80 minutes on its 65W USB-C adapter. Go 2’s Rapid Charge reaches up to 50% in 30 minutes, although, working from the two capacities, half of its bigger battery holds about as much as 70% of the original’s. Go 2 comes with a 65W USB-C Power Delivery adapter or none, depending on the configuration.

Chips, memory and storage

The original goes up to AMD’s Ryzen Z1 Extreme, with 8 cores, 16 threads, clocks from 3.3GHz to 5.1GHz, and 8MB of L2 plus 16MB of L3 cache. Lenovo also sold it with a 6-core Z1, so the Legion Go name alone doesn’t tell you which chip you’re getting. Go 2’s 8ASP2 model moves to the Ryzen Z2 Extreme, again 8 cores and 16 threads, clocked from 2.0GHz to 5.0GHz, with the same cache. Both use integrated AMD Radeon graphics (Lenovo calls the original’s RDNA), and Go 2’s runs DirectX 12 on shared memory. Lenovo gives no graphics core counts or power limits for either, so the chip names are as far as a spec comparison goes.

Memory is soldered on both. The original has 16GB of LPDDR5X-7500. Go 2 has 16GB or 32GB of LPDDR5X-8000 on 8ASP2; Lenovo notes that the installed chips are LPDDR5x-8533, held to 8000 by a platform limit. The 8AHP2 model uses LPDDR5X-7500, also in 16GB or 32GB.

The original holds a 256GB, 512GB or 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD in the M.2 2242 size, plus microSD cards up to 2TB. Go 2 is the one to choose if you want room to grow: it takes the 2242 size at 512GB or 1TB, the longer 2280 size at up to 2TB, or a drive of each, and leaves an extra 2280 slot free next to its card reader.

Controllers, the touchpad and the weight

The original’s TrueStrike controllers have ABXY, a D-pad, Hall-effect sticks, bumpers, analog triggers, Legion, View and Menu buttons, an FPS switch, a mouse wheel and mouse sensor, six assignable grip buttons, HD haptics and a 6-axis IMU. Its right touchpad is a buttonless Mylar pad, 28.5 × 28.5 mm.

Go 2’s controllers keep the FPS switch and a mouse wheel, which Lenovo places on the right, alongside ABXY, a D-pad, two sticks, shoulder buttons, triggers, assignable Y and M buttons and release buttons. Go 2 senses motion with a 6-axis gyroscope and room light with an ambient light sensor, and has a mouse sensor too. Lenovo describes the original’s sticks as Hall-effect but doesn’t say the same of Go 2’s. The touchpad shrinks to 24 × 24 mm. On Go 2 the power button doubles as a fingerprint reader, which the original lacks, and there’s an RGB ring.

Go 2 is heavier. The original weighs under 640 grams without its controllers and under 854 grams with them; Go 2 is about 920 grams with controllers, of which the controllers account for under 210 grams. Without controllers, the original measures 210 × 131 × 20.1 mm and Go 2 206 × 136.7 × 22.95 mm. The original comes in Shadow Black, Go 2 in Eclipse black PC-ABS.

Ports, cooling and the rest

The original has two USB4 ports at 40Gbps with Power Delivery 3.0 and DisplayPort 1.4, plus a 3.5 mm headphone jack, a microSD slot and pogo pins for the controllers. Lenovo’s 8ASP2 spec dated 25 May 2026 gives Go 2’s two USB4 ports 65 to 100W of input, 15W of output and DisplayPort 2.1, and adds charge-only USB-C ports on the controllers, while Lenovo’s US overview still lists DisplayPort 1.4 and Power Delivery 3.0 for those ports. The overview’s line about external displays up to 8K at 30 refers to what the ports can carry, not to gaming at 8K.

Cooling moves from Legion Coldfront to Legion Coldfront 2.0. Both have Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, through an AMD RZ616 radio on the original, and both have two 2W speakers, which Lenovo calls woofers on Go 2.

What it costs, and who should upgrade

The original launched in the US in October 2023 at $699 for the 512GB model, and at €799 including VAT in Europe. Lenovo lists many of its configurations as withdrawn, so you’re likely to be buying one used. Lenovo expects Go 2 to start at €999, on sale from September 2025, and its announcement gave no dollar price.

If you own an original and like its screen, keep it: Go 2’s main gains are OLED, HDR, battery and memory, not resolution. If you’re buying one used, check that it has the Z1 Extreme and not the 6-core Z1. If you’re moving to Go 2, check the machine type: 8ASP2 is the Z2 Extreme model described here, and 8AHP2 uses the Ryzen Z2 at 3.3GHz to 5.1GHz, with slower memory and storage up to 1TB in the 2242 slot. If you’d rather have a one-piece handheld, or SteamOS instead of Windows, Lenovo’s 8-inch Legion Go S is the other option. Prices and configurations change, so check lenovo.com before you buy.