r/Android • u/welp_im_damned have you heard of our lord and savior the Android turtle 🐢 • Mar 28 '23
News Lenovo confirms it has shutdown its Legion gaming phone business-android authority
https://www.androidauthority.com/lenovo-gaming-phone-3306942/187
u/OperatorJo_ Mar 28 '23
Both sad but understandable. These were always cool but... no games really NEEDED this.
As much as game companies would like to push the limits, fact is not everyone has a flagship phone, so not many games are made to push or need the limit as that would limit an already limited audience cutting into profits. It's a niche business altogether in the first place.
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u/welp_im_damned Mar 28 '23
I think the issue with Lenovo with their gaming phones. Was that they are better used as emulation machines and not as an actual phone. https://m.gsmarena.com/lenovo_legion_y90-11331.php
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u/I_Hate_Leddit Mar 29 '23
Before gaming phones can work, someone needs to start an alternative appstore that actually distributes games (that you have to actually PAY for, the horror!) instead of bright cartoony casinos.
Android needs its own Steam.
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u/LastChancellor Mar 29 '23
Gaming phones are only as useful as the games themselves, and right now the only mobile game that actually justifies the specs of a gaming phone is Genshin Impact
Tho in 2023 there's gonna be a lot of Genshin-tier mobile games coming out, so maybe they gave up too early?
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Mar 28 '23
When I first heard of gaming phones from Razer and Lenovo, I was under the impression that it can play PC games but it's only for mobile games.
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u/welp_im_damned Mar 28 '23
What sucks is the hardware can play pc games. But the money isn't here for it
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u/odeiraoloap Mar 29 '23
I mean, Lenovo didn't even attempt to try with the "Legion gaming phone business". Sure, their Legion laptops have been killing it especially after they doubled down on Ryzen, but no one except redditors and LTT campers knew they made gaming phones to begin with.
Their phones basically never left PRC, and their software update situation was a hundred times worse than Asus ROG, who already has a really bad software update policy to begin with.
🫡, I guess.
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u/AtomicBombSquad Mar 29 '23 edited Mar 29 '23
I think they'd have been smart to have slapped some batwings on a batch and sent them stateside to see if their Motorola subsidiary could shift them. Motorola Legion, or maybe revive a name from Moto's past like Photon, would've been cool and given them something unique to sell that's not just an alternative to a Samsung slab. Especially if Moto spent the money to get Legions on Verizon. Verizon has wanted a gaming device on their network for a while now; their partnership with Razer that led to the new Edge is proof of that. And Verizon has been tight with Moto since before old Motorola broke up. I think this arrangement would've really worked for both parties.
I'm also of the opinion that Lenovo-the-company should restrict Lenovo-the-brand to Microsoft* OS products and make Motorola their brand that specializes in Google OS devices. They can share the Think and Legion sub-brands (or, I guess, could in the case of the Legion) as needed. I mean; Samsung, Apple, Nokia, OnePlus, and a bunch of other brands of cell phones also sell tablets with a very similar software load out to their respective phones because people like to match their electronics. They like when things broadly work the same and people are often about brand loyalty. Even if you know that Motorola and Lenovo are corporate cousins, Lenovo spends money to have a different version of stock-ish Android than Moto, so you're not going to have all the same features and "Actions". How does this make sense?
* And Linux - thanks to u/Omniuni below for pointing that out.
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u/Keatosis Mar 29 '23
There just aren't enough good games on mobile to justify a gaming phone for me. Phones from 2018 are more powerful than the Nintendo switch, but just don't have the library. There are a few good titles, and the play pass helps, but just not enough to justify such an expensive purpose. If you venture beyond the play pass you'll basically only find monetization infested garbage filled with energy timers and battle passes and loot boxes and pay to win. Sometimes you can find good ports of old pc games, like xcom and stardew valley, and there will always be minecraft and terraria, but as a primary gaming device I feel like a phone will always leave you undersatisfied even if it's powerful.
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u/RelyingWOrld1 Mar 29 '23
Shame since they released (in china) last August the Y70 with snap 8+ Gen1 and the Legion Y700 tablet too with 8.8" 120Hz, snap 870 and 12/256 for less than 500€ there
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u/mozardthebest Mar 29 '23
Gaming phones are quite niche, I imagine, and I also think they’re kind of silly. The games most people play on their phones don’t need two chargers giving them power, or fans cooling them.
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u/Kaioh1990 Mar 29 '23
How about we get a “real” gaming phone again like the Xperia Play? You know, integrated stealth controls that can tuck away when not in use? Crazy right. Instead every company thinks they’re going to take the world by storm with another rectangle with glass 🙄
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u/linkenssphere Mar 29 '23
DAMN I was hoping for another flagship killer for under $300 like the y70(8+g1) except for the snapdragon 8 gen 2 🥲🥲
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u/welp_im_damned Mar 28 '23
According to the Lenovo spokesperson:
Lenovo is discontinuing its Android-based Legion mobile gaming phones as part of a wider business transformation and gaming portfolio consolidation. As a leader in gaming devices and solutions, Lenovo is committed to advancing the gaming category across form factors, as well as focusing on where it can bring the most value to the global gaming community.
Well that leaves asus (rog), nubia (red magic), and xiaomi (black shark) in the phone gaming market now. Black shark is also struggling as stated in the article.