An Android-based rival to Steam Deck, Switch

So far we’ve seen a few notable portable gaming devices in 2021, such as the Nintendo Switch OLED, Steam Deck, and the recent GPD XP. Now, it looks like Lenovo was also gearing up its own device for a reveal earlier this year.

A GBA Temp forum participant on Friday discovered images showing a Lenovo gaming handheld. These images were in turn linked to the manufacturer’s website and suggested the name Lenovo Legion Play.

Liliputer tracked this information and discovered that the images had been uploaded to Lenovo Germany’s and Japan’s MWC 2021 web pages. This suggests that the company intended to launch the device earlier this year, but that plans have changed. So what exactly are we looking at then?

We were also able to grab the footage from Lenovo’s website, and it shows a gaming handheld running Android with some sort of custom launcher. We also see icons for Geforce Now, the Play Store, and several Google apps. Other notable details spotted in the images include USB-C connectivity, a 3.5mm port, two analog sticks, four face buttons, a D-pad, shoulder keys, and some sort of concave back. There doesn’t appear to be any cameras here.

In addition, the website contains a description of the product which was spotted by Liliputer, and we were also able to confirm this independently.

“Designed for AAA games, the Lenovo Legion Play is the first Android cloud gaming console. The console allows users to play hundreds of cloud games, stream their game library or play mobile games, ”the description says.

“It has a bezel-less 7 ″ 16: 9 FHD display, HDR 10, built-in controllers, two speakers, dual vibration and a 7,000mAh battery to deliver the best gaming experience. Our development program is open to all game developers. Coming soon in some markets.

There is no word on the chipset or other technical details otherwise. It’s also unclear whether Lenovo will position it as a pure gaming handheld or as a phone, although the first gallery image above appears to show a cellular signal strength icon.

We have reached out to Lenovo reps to find out what happened to this handheld and will update the item if / when it comes back to us. Would you buy the Lenovo Legion Play (assuming it has some flagship internals)? Let us know via the survey above.