An Android-based rival to Steam Deck, Switch

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

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

Liliputing followed up on this information and discovered that the images were uploaded to Lenovo Germany and Japan’s MWC 2021 webpages. 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 able to retrieve the images from Lenovo’s website too, and they show a gaming handheld running Android with a custom launcher of sorts. We also see icons for Geforce Now, the Play Store, and several Google apps. Other notable details spotted in the pictures include USB-C connectivity, a 3.5mm port, dual analog sticks, four face buttons, a D-pad, shoulder keys, and a concave back of sorts. It doesn’t look like there are cameras here though.

Furthermore, the website contains a product description that was spotted by Liliputing, and we’ve been able to independently confirm this as well.

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

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

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

We’ve contacted Lenovo representatives to find out what happened to this handheld and will update the article if/when it gets back to us. Would you buy the Lenovo Legion Play though (assuming it’s got flagship internals)? Let us know via the poll above.