More and more people spending time playing mobile games, the market for gaming phones is bigger than ever. That being said, gaming brands have been duking it out by offering insanely-specced ones like the ASUS ROG Phone 5 and the Lenovo Phone Legion Duel 2.
On our ROG Phone 5 VS Legion Phone Duel 2 comparo, we check out which gaming phone is the better alpha dog. Before we start off, let’s check out their specs:
ASUS ROG Phone 5 Specs:
- Snapdragon 888 processor
- 8GB/12GB/16GB LPDDR5 RAM
- 128GB/256GB UFS 3.1 storage
- 6.78-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display, 144hz refresh rate, 1ms response rate, 300hz touch sampling rate, 10-bit color
- 64-megapixel f/1.8 main camera with PDAF, 5-megapixel f/2.4 macro camera, 13-megapixel f/2.4 ultra-wide-angle camera
- 24-megapixel selfie camera
- 4G, 5G
- WiFi 6e, Bluetooth 5.2, in-display fingerprint scanner
- GameCool 5 Cooling System, AirTrigger 5, Stereo speakers, ESS DAC
- 6000mAh 2-cell battery
- 65w fast charging
- Android 11
Lenovo Legion Phone Duel 2 Specs:
- Snapdragon 888 processor
- 12GB/16GB LPDDR5 RAM
- 256GB/512GB UFS 3.1 storage
- 6.92-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display, 144hz refresh rate, 2.8ms response rate, 720hz touch sampling rate, 10-bit color
- 64-megapixel f/1.9 main camera with PDAF, 16-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle camera
- 44-megapixel f/2.0 ISOCELL GH1+ pop-up selfie camera
- 4G, 5G
- WiFi 6e, Bluetooth 5.2, in-display fingerprint scanner
- Stereo speakers, dual cooling fans, capacitive shoulder buttons
- 5500mAh 2-cell battery
- 90w fast charging
- Android 11
Design
Gaming phones are all about making a statement, and both the ROG Phone 5 and Legion Phone Duel 2 are no stranger to it. While the ROG Phone 5 looks similar to its predecessor with the addition of fancy pixel LED panel for the ROG logo, the Legion Phone Duel 2 takes things up a notch. With the phone intently designed to be used horizontally, the camera module and the RGB-lit Legion logo is placed on the center, giving a sense of symmetry for both the left and right panels.
Because of the Legion Phone Duel 2’s design, Lenovo still placed the pop-up front camera in the side–it’s weird to use it on a normal day, but makes good sense when using the phone in landscape mode.
While both phones offer capacitive triggers, Lenovo managed to incorporate a total of four triggers on the Legion Phone Duel 2 compared to just two on the ROG Phone 5.
Display
A fast and high-quality display is important for any gaming phone, and both the ROG Phone 5 and Legion Phone Duel 2 have Full HD+ AMOLED panels with blazing fast 144hz refresh rate, high maximum brightness, and great color accuracy.
Both phones have their respective strengths, however: the ROG Phone 5’s smaller 6.78-inch panel has an insanely fast 1ms response rate and 300hz touch sampling rate, while the Legion Phone Duel’s bigger 6.92-inch panel sacrifices response rate (it is at 3.8ms) for an insane 720hz touch response rate.
Cameras
While gaming phones do not really focus on cameras, ASUS and Lenovo still try to pack good hardware with their latest offerings. Both the ROG Phone 5 and Legion Phone Duel have a 64-megapixel main camera, though the former opts for a triple-rear camera setup with a 13-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera and 5-megapixel macro camera. The Legion Phone Duel 2, on the other hand, keeps things simple with just a 16-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera.
It’s a different story with selfie cameras: the ROG Phone 5 keeps its 24-megapixel snapper in a notch, while the Legion Phone Duel 2 hides its 44-megapixel snapper in a pop-up module that is noisier than other pop-up cameras.
Internals
There’s no need to question how powerful these phones are, as both are packed with the best possible internals: Snapdragon 888, up to 16GB LPDDR5 RAM, and up to 512GB UFS 3.1 internal storage. While both phones can be configured with an insane 18GB of RAM, the ROG Phone 5 in that configuration is exclusive to the top-tier Ultimate variant (that has a monochrome display at the back), while the Legion Phone Duel 2 with 18GB RAM is exclusive to China–at least for now.
Given how powerful the internals are, both phones have their own respective cooling solutions that include vapor chamber cooling and actual fans. While the ROG Phone 5 uses an external fan with the AeroActive cooler accessory, the Legion Phone Duel 2 packs not just one, but TWO fans inside the phone itself. This does not come as a surprise, since the Legion Phone Duel 2 is physically larger than the ROG Phone 2, allowing Lenovo to add additional components inside the phone itself.
Battery
To accommodate fast top-up speeds, both phones had to go for a 2-cell solution that has all the internals placed in between the two cells. While the ROG Phone has a bigger overall battery capacity at 6000mAh (vs 5500mAh), the Legion Phone Duel 2 has faster charging speeds at 90w–IF you plug both USB-C ports into the 2-port 90w charger that comes with it.
By charging using one port, the Legion Phone Duel does 65w wired charging, which is the same with the ROG Phone 5’s charging speeds.
ROG Phone 5 VS Legion Phone Duel 2 Price
This is where things get interesting: for 799 Euros(~Php 46.2k), you get an 8GB/128GB for the ROG Phone 5 while you get a 12GB/256GB variant with the Legion Phone Duel 2 for the same price. For 999 Euros(~Php 57.7k), that is the 16GB/256GB variant for the ROG Phone 5 and 16GB/512GB for the Legion Phone Duel 2–with the latter also bundling a dock along with the package.
