Lenovo Gives Up on Its Dream of Android Gaming Phones

An anonymous reader writes: Android manufacturers occasionally try to push this idea of a "gaming smartphone" -- usually, these companies try to extend the "PC gamer" design motif to smartphones, with RGB LEDs and aggressive marketing. Since Android games are mostly casual pay-to-win tap fests, though, we often have to ask, does anyone want a gaming smartphone? If you're Lenovo, the answer is apparently "no," as Android Authority reports Lenovo is killing the "Legion" gaming phone business.

Also, most phones are "gaming phones" already...

[ffkom]

... in the sense that they are vastly over-powered in terms of 3D rendering performance - for anything that is not gaming. And please don't say you are doing your CAD work on your smart phone...

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[antdude]

I'm doing your CAD work on my smart phone... /s

Wrong market - High Quality Stereo Audio

[Fallen Kell]

I think they are marketing these things wrong. Go back to standard colors, no LED bling, and double down focus on the audio. A smartphone with forward firing stereo speakers will appeal to quite a few people...

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[Voyager529]

I think they are marketing these things wrong...A smartphone with forward firing stereo speakers will appeal to quite a few people...

I think you're partially right here. HTC was making phones as you describe, the One M7/M8/M9 had front facing stereo speakers; they even had the "Beats Audio" branding to go with it...and they didn't really make much of a dent in the market...so, I don't think front facing speakers will sell the way you're thinking. More to the point, anyone who wants audio like that can go and grab a Bluetooth speaker; there are 101 options that range from the tinny-but-cheap to the really nice JBL and Bose and Harmon Kard

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[The1stImmortal]

Have I reinvented the Game Boy? Yes. With good reason.

Sounds more like the Nokia N-Gage [wikipedia.org] really

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[tepples]

Have I reinvented the Game Boy? Yes. With good reason.

Add physical buttons and a directional pad as a standard feature, and you'll have reinvented the Game Boy. I've found that virtual gamepads are too prone to pressing the wrong button or to "whiffing" (pressing outside all on-screen buttons).

I think they're missing a bet.

[John.Banister]

They should make a folding phone that turns into a UWB display for a Steam deck that stays in the gamer's backpack.

There is a market, and it's competitive

[DrMrLordX]

The gaming phone market in Asia is pretty strong. Top contenders include the ROG Phone series as well as the Black Shark series. Lenovo just doesn't have the chops to break into that market.

"Killer app"

[Malays2 bowman]

Because Candy Crush just isn't it.

Half joking here, because there are a high amount of crap games, or games focused on micropayments with gameplay second compared to the amount of games that would make a "gaming phone" worth it.

And even "AAA" games run fine on a reasonably specced "non gamer" phone, so this is really a solution in search of a problem. People who are serious about gaming do it on a PC or a console instead of a small cellphone screen.

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[micheas]

I'd possibly purchase a gaming tablet for Zwift. A video game that connects to your indoor bicycle so you can compete against other people in virtual worlds.

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[jmccue]

To me a killer app would be something like the T420 but with a modern chip set. Plus *no* Nvidia and nome of that crazy duel video chips.

Android for gaming already exists

[Mr_Silver]

If you want an Android device for gaming, your best bet is to buy one of the SBC devices coming out of China - such as the Retroid Pocket 3+ or Anbernic RG405M. They'll happily play all Android games as well as emulate any retro console up to and including PSP and Dreamcast (often with 2x or 3x integer scaling).

Yes, a Steam Deck is a lot more powerful, can emulate almost anything and can play more modern games - but these devices are half the price and half the size of a Steam Deck.