Lenovo's Legion Go 2 Has Detachable Controllers and Could Rival the Nintendo Switch 2

Rumors of the seemingly imminent arrival of Nintendo’s Switch 2 may continue to pop up online, but Nintendo may not be the only gaming handheld this year with detachable controllers you can use independently from the main body. At CES 2025 Lenovo took the wraps off of two new Legion Go S handhelds, one powered by Windows and one powered by SteamOS. Lenovo also teased its upcoming Legion Go 2 handheld console that the company is aiming to ship at some point in 2025. And I got to see it — so far it’s a concept.

While I was able to pick up and hold a prototype version of the Legion Go 2, Lenovo wouldn’t let me turn it on or play any games on it. That’s common in the prototype world, but we tech journalists love to get our hands on working models whenever we can. 

Eventually, Lenovo says the Go 2 will feature a few notable improvements from its prior handheld gaming devices. The screen will move from an 8-inch LCD panel that’s seen on the Go S systems to an 8.8-inch OLED display (matching the same size as 2023’s original Go), the body will sport a new finish and the device will have a bigger battery than the original Go. 

Like the first Legion Go, the new prototype sports detachable controllers. Unlike the rumored Switch successor, Lenovo’s joysticks are not magnetic. Under the hood is a AMD Ryzen Z2 processor clocked at 3.3GHz with up to 32GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. The new model will run Windows, just like the first Go device. 

Picking up the device, it wasn’t the thinnest or lightest handheld I’ve used (the tablet alone weighs 1.96 lbs while the tablet with the controllers clocks in at 2.38 lbs) but given the powerful specs there is only so much room to pick that type of processor and an appropriate battery and fan. 

(By the way, the Go S won’t have the detachable controllers like the Go 2 prototype I saw. Instead, its controllers are similar to the Nintendo Switch Lite and permanently connect to the device.) 

Lenovo hasn’t shared when it will announce pricing or firm release dates for the Legion Go 2. In the near term, I’ll look forward to just turning it on.