Review Razer Phone

Summary

Razer Phone Designed as a device for enthusiasts, but not to regret it $ 699 You must forget about protection against water, good chamber and visibility on the screen during daylight.

Pros

minuses

Introduction

The term " Gaming smartphone" An old-timers can cause memories of modelsNokia N-Gage and Sony Xperia Play. Despite all the expectations and hopes from these gadgets, they turned out to be a commercial failure, because in priority there were bizarre gaming opportunities, and not the basic qualities of the smartphone.

Now released Gaming computers Razer companies hope to succeed where SONY, Nokia and others have failed. The new smartphone was created by the developers purchased last year by NEXTBIT and aims at gamers. However, this unit is not only for games, but with characteristics and capabilities that will be useful in everyday work.

This is a promising task, but as a result, Razer Phone was not so successful as many hoped. Despite the advantages, in its current state, this smartphone is difficult to recommend anyone except the tary fans of this brand.

The review was carried out on the basis of 10 days of working with a smartphone, which provided the manufacturer. The device works on Android 7.1.1 Nougat with a security update for September 2017.

Hardware components

Razer Phone can be called a remnant of tablet phones of past years, Which opposes all the trends of modern smartphones. It does not look like thin, long curious machines of 2017. The front stereo speakers are immediately striking, which give a very loud sound.

The block appearance of the NEXTBIT ROBIN smartphone has become an aluminum monolithic case, simple and rectangular, which resembles gaming laptops Razer. This is a serious device, but there is no external appeal, with which the developers usually try to lure gamers, such as tablet Acer Predator.

Razer Phone is big, heavy and working with it with one hand will be uncomfortable. But it is not confused with other smartphones. The Razer logo is located on the back cover.

Like Robin, Razer Phone uses a recessed power button on the side, to which the print scanner is built. Some complain about such a decision, others like it. It takes some time that the muscular memory is used to the location of the scanner.

The large size of the smartphone and the polished aluminum body make it slippery, but the rectangular shape compensates a bit of this disadvantage. The soft finish is perfectly felt in hand, but it is too easy to scratch, scratches are more noticeable than on glass smartphones.

Such a design will like not everyone, but for a niche product just right. Unusual appearance can be both advantage and disadvantage.

This is a smartphone for gamers, here you need the most productive components, in this case it is a processor of SNAPDRAGON 835 for Android. Volume of RAM 8 GB, constant 64 GB and there is support memory cards microSD. The accuracy of the battery is 4000 mAh, which by the standards of the flagships is a major value.

These are top-level characteristics, but there is nothing unusual in them. It is highlighted by a smartphone with its own screen. Here is the LCD panel with a diagonal of 5.7 inches and the Quad HD resolution, the update rate of 120 Hz. With smartphones on Android, this parameter is usually 60 Hz, so the games will be displayed more smoothly as the interface. The default frequency of 90 Hz is installed, but it can be increased by an increased energy consumption.

At first glance, the screen looks great, pleasant colors and good viewing angles. If you play or watch the video indoors, everything is fine. However, the reflection of light and low brightness make weak visibility outdoors.

For a premium smartphone, it is very bad, for the game device is also not good. Many would prefer the frequency of 60 Hz, if only visibility was good.

However, increased smoothness may be adopted by other manufacturers of smartphones in the future. The difference is noticeable, and even with a frequency of 90 Hz.

Most Android applications on such a panel have increased responsiveness. However, in terms of gaming support, there is a big obstacle. Pre-installed on the game apparatus, such as Titanfall Assault and Gear Club, perfectly go at the speed of 120 frames / s, but the rest is a big failure. If you reduce the frequency up to 60 or 30 frames in games like Need for Speed: No Limits, you can not notice the difference. Razer is working on supporting other Android-games, but the ability to play at a speed of 120 frames / s will not be widespread in the near future.

Another disadvantage is the lack of headphone connector 3.5 mm. As already mentioned, the built-in speakers are excellent, loud, clear, with bass. Often even too loud for things like notifications. There is also an annoying sound of blocking and unlocking, which will soon want to disable. But for wired audio you need to use the proprietary adapter with the THX certificate. Like all adapters, this easy to lose and do not want to carry with you everywhere.

Razer Phone hardware components at the same time have superiority and compromise. This is a unique smartphone with high performance, as well as some shortcomings.

Software

Android works on this device extremely fast, including for Accounting processor, screen optimization up to 120 Hz. The device works on Android 7.1.1 instead of Android 8.0. The update is scheduled for the 1st quarter of 2018.

In general, the system looks like a clean Android, although there are green color accents in the Spirit of Razer. There is support for graphic topics, a store for them with the choice of icons and wallpaper. The default Loader Nova Launcher Prime supports Google's tape. It works quickly and allows you to flexibly set it up.

Razer shell is quite light. The Game Booster application is one important replenishment of the system, it allows you to choose autonomy or performance, disable notifications so as not to interfere with play.

Apart from several changes, there is nothing to say about the Razer software. Most of the work was aimed at optimizing the 120 Hz screen update frequency, so it turned out a very responsive version of Android.

Autonomous operation

, taking into account the battery with a capacity of 4000 mAh should not cause surprise work of a smartphone For one and a half days between under charging. Of course, if you play all the time, the charge is not enough even for the whole day. In any case, autonomy is high, even at the maximum update frequency.

With the screen enabled, the machine is able to work for more than 6 hours. This is a little less than that of Huawei Mate 10 Pro, but still a good indicator.

This is the first smartphone that supports the Qualcomm Quickcharge 4+ quick recharging standard. It is not as fast as OnePlus Dash Charge, but here is a larger battery. In any case, we are talking about advanced technology.

To observe the unity of the style, the adapter USB-C > USB-C has the same design as the adapters on Razer laptops.

cameras

In the current state of the camera of this smartphone are a sad sight. For a smartphone for $ 700 it is unacceptable. You can hope for software improvement in the future, but while photos come far from the best.

Behind there are two sensors of 12 MP, the main has lenses with aperture F / 1.75, telephoto auxiliary lenses F / 2.6. They do not have optical stabilization images, but it cannot be called a radical disadvantage. So you can call low quality photos. They are constantly obtained too dark, flat and lifeless, with weak lighting become filled with digital noise, especially if compared with competitors. With perfect lighting, the photos are not worse than images on other smartphones, but on this advantage of the camera ends. It can be said that the quality is below average.

The camera application also does not inspire optimism. There are no no shooting modes, not counting the switch HDR. It is impossible to quickly increase the image in the telephoto mode. To do this, you need to spend your fingers on the screen, which is uncomfortable on such a smartphone. There are no panoramic shooting and manual settings, such as shutter speed and ISO. In addition, the application is heated, constantly loses focus, it does not comply with the standards of smartphones of any price category.

All this also applies to video shooting, although there is support for the recording in 4K format. Autofocus experiences problems that spoils image quality.

We can say that this is the worst camera in smartphones at a price of $ 700. In Essential Phone, she also leaves much to be desired, but here the situation is even sadder.

Should Razer Phone should be bought?

Currently, the device leaves mixed feelings. The camera is the main disadvantage, the main reason is not to buy Razer Phone. Over time, she has the chances of becoming better, but at the moment is far from ideal.

In addition, it is strange to see a smartphone for enthusiasts without important functions for enthusiasts, such as a headphone connector and the latest version of the Android operating system.

Also do not forget about protection against water and the screen, which does not look too good. In the rest of the smartphones at this price and above these components are performed better.

Razer Phone has a high productivity and copes with any games. Despite this, he is not worth now that they ask for him. Competitors like Huawei Mate 10 Pro are aimed at the general public and screen, but more balanced as a whole, having good performance, autonomy, the latest version of Android, an excellent camera and water protection.

It is unlikely that Razer Phone will comprehend the fate of N-Gage or Xperia Play. These two models were doomed initially. Razer Phone has a more solid foundation, but its set of functionality is still unfinished, execution leaves much to be desired. If developers continue to develop this concept, hope for success remains.

Until then, the audience of the smartphone will be limited. If you are not experiencing an irresistible desire to play Android games with a 120 Hz screen update frequency, better to pay off.