Greetings friends and fellow enthusiasts!
This is Mikhailov from Team Retrogue, where we like retro games and the devices that bring them to us. Hot off the heels of my Best Buy Open Box adventure, I received another device from Ali Express. The Lenovo Legion Y700 is a tablet that is not well known. In fact, it is sold mostly in China.
I wouldn’t know about this tablet if not for Mister Petey in our Retro Handhelds Discord server. He’s a Lenovo guy looking to spread the word about Lenovo products from the Legion Go to the Think Smart View.
Paired with a good telescopic controller, this tablet is extremely capable for the starting price of $350. This article will demonstrate the aspects of the Y700 that make it the tablet to beat.
Telescopic Controllers
I tested three telescopic controllers with the Y700, and they all have their pros and cons. Please forgive the cat fur in the images. My cat Luna just wants to be on my desk and involved today.
GameSir X2S
The price of this controller is the most fair, starting at $45 USD. This may seem like a normal USB-C controller, but you can pop off the middle bracket, exposing the springs and allowing the handheld to function with a small tablet just like the Y700.
The controller is fairly comfortable and sturdy. The Lenovo Legion also possesses a second USB-C port on the side of the unit, allowing this controller to work in portrait mode.
The price is right, but people might not like the exposed springs.
BSP D8
The BSP-D8 is a Bluetooth controller that can extend very far…enough to house an 11″ tablet! No exposed springs here! You can also purchase this controller starting at $45 on Amazon.
While this is a very capable controller for landscape and portrait orientation, there is no direct USB-C connection, meaning you will have another thing to charge and you might not be happy if you are sensitive to input lag.
Razer Kishi Ultra
This controller feels the best out of all of the telescopic controllers I have ever used, but I cannot recommend it. It costs a whopping $150!
The controller I purchased for testing also broke within two weeks of use.
It is currently on its way back to Amazon while I await a replacement. It’s a shame because before it broke, I was really enjoying using this controller with the Y700. It makes the tablet feel just like a Playstation Portal.
The Screen and Processor
The screen on the Y700 is one of the most beautiful screens I have ever used on a tablet before, including iPads!
The Y700 boasts an 8.8″ 144Hz IPS HDR-Capable screen with a 1600 x 2560 pixels resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio. What does this mean for you, the end user? For starters, 4:3 content will look gorgeous on this tablet.
Super Mario World looked gorgeous right before the Kishi broke.
Thanks to the refresh rate, if you have a capable monitor and graphics card on your home desktop, you can also stream your PC Games in 120Hz utilizing Moonlight.
Skywalker Saga is a good example of a game that you can stream at 120Hz.
Android games that are capable of making use of the tablet’s refresh rate will also shine on the Y700. Because you can remove the telescopic controller, you can enjoy some gorgeous touchscreen-only games such as Chameleon Run.
This game is running at a full 144Hz! It’s incredibly smooth!
Further enhancing this beast is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor. While not quite as powerful as the Odin 2, utilizing Mesa Turnip Drivers, many high-end systems can be emulated on this Tablet.
Switch emulation is very capable on this tablet if you know how to set it up.
Portrait Gaming
My favorite part of this tablet has been the second USB port on the side of the unit, allowing a USB-C controller to plug in for portrait mode gaming!
This opens up a ton of potential for systems that just look great on portrait screens. Nintendo DS looks absolutely amazing on this thing, with both DS screens taking up all of the 8.8″ tablets’ real estate.
This is my new favorite way to play DS.
While 3DS doesn’t fill the screen, it still looks amazing at a 3x resolution, thanks to that Snapdragon processor. I have only witnessed small stutters while shaders are compiling.
It’s not perfect, but it’s darn close.
Both systems have full touchscreen support. While not tested at the time of writing, I imagine TATE Mode games will also look and play eloquently on this tablet.
Cons and Concessions
The tablet is not running the latest version of Android. You will be stuck on Android 13. Furthermore, there might be a bit of a wait if you order this tablet from AliExpress. I had to wait over a month for mine and was very concerned that it was lost in the mail.
If you receive a tablet with the Chinese ROM instead of the International ROM, you will have to go through some hoops in order to flash the international ROM. Thankfully, you do not need to root your device and unlock the bootloader, but it is still a bit of a pain.
This tablet also uses an IPS instead of an OLED screen. If you are into the sweet sweet OLEDs, this device might not be a good fit.
Conclusion
You can expect a full review of the Y700 on my YouTube Channel very soon, so be sure to subscribe so you can be notified when it is live. If you are interested in purchasing the Lenovo Legion Y700, you can do so at the button below:
What did you think of this article? Let us know in the comments below, and chat with us in our Discord!
This page may contain affiliate links, by purchasing something through a link, Retro Handhelds may earn a small commission on the sale at no additional cost to you.