Creating a gaming smartphone is one of the very old fixed ideas of the mobile industry. From the moment Nokia released the first phone with a "snake" sewn into it, mobile phone manufacturers have been infected with the idea of making a game phone. Many tried to create their own ultimate gaming solution: Nokia, Sony, Samsung, Acer, and even Fly. But none of the manufacturers had the patience (and money) to create around their system an ecosystem of developers working for it and a lively community of gamers. Only Google and Apple managed to create platforms in which mobile toys could thoroughly take root. But at the same time, there are no pronounced gaming flagships on both platforms - each smartphone is more or less gaming. And now, when all the manufacturers have already come to terms with the fact that there will be no gaming smartphone, how a company very far from mobile phones, but very close to gamers, entered the stage with it. Razer Company.
Of course, the network was full of rumors long before this announcement (and we even wrote about them). But somehow it was stubbornly unbelievable that the manufacturer of gaming peripherals for computers (and consoles) would again make a trick with its ears and release a mobile gaming prodigy. And they took it again (as before with the Razer Blade laptop, Project Ariana projector, Razer Kiyo camera for streamers, streaming microphones and a bunch of other near-gaming bells and whistles) pleased their fans with an unexpected novelty. Well, let's see what is so gaming in this smartphone.
We carefully look at the renders of the gadget, and, just like with the Razer Blade, at first we don’t quite understand what makes it gaming, except for the black and green design and the Razer logo on the back. But in fact, the main gaming buns are in front of us. First, it's a screen. The Razer Phone has a so far unique and one of a kind matrix with a refresh rate of 120 Hz, a diagonal of 5.7 inches, a resolution of 2K and an extended color gamut. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? And this is not surprising, because the wizards from Sharp worked on this display, adapting their developments and technology of gaming IGZO matrices to a mobile phone. But by itself, high frequency support does not provide any special advantages, for smooth (without graphical artifacts) gaming, you need synchronization of the frame rate produced by the video card and displayed by the monitor. And Razer, together with Qualcomm, developed such a technology, calling it UltraMotion. Yes, the Razer Phone is the first smartphone to feature Nvidia's G-Sync.
Secondly, we have stereo speakers in mind. We haven't heard it live yet, but Razer's CEO claims it's the loudest smartphone on the market (all because of the two power amplifiers). True volume is not its main advantage. The main advantage of the Razer Phone sound system is support for Dolby ATMOS technology and the fact that the sound path of the device has received THX certification. It's the first smartphone (and phone) to pass the certification usually reserved for top-end home theater and non-home theater audio systems.
Thirdly, from the external signs of gaming, there is still a layout of buttons. Usually they are moved closer to the top of the smartphone, and in the Razer Phone they are installed in the middle: on the one hand, the volume control, and on the other, the power button combined with the fingerprint scanner. Thanks to this arrangement, the keys in the horizontal position of the smartphone do not fall under the fingers and do not interfere during the game.
Next, let's move on to the filling of the Razer Phone. The device was equipped with the most powerful mobile processor currently available - Qualcomm Snapdragon 835. And so that it could fully reveal its gaming capabilities, 8 were added to it ... no, not like that. EIGHT gigabytes of RAM. The built-in storage of the Razer Phone is only 64 GB. But fortunately there is a slot for memory cards that supports drives up to two terabytes. To avoid overheating, the device uses an advanced cooling system that redistributes the heat of the processor to the entire surface of the all-metal body. As a result, even the most demanding toys warm up the smartphone by only a couple of tenths of a degree. All the hardware described implies some pretty serious power requirements, and Razer engineers tried to satisfy them. The device is equipped with a 4000 mAh battery with support for Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+, which allows you to charge the battery by 85% in just one hour. Such a battery is enough for 64 hours of music listening, 16 hours of video, or 7 hours of continuous playing mobile games.
Razer did not forget about those who like to take photos / videos and make themselves. The Razer Phone uses a newfangled dual-sensor photo module with a resolution of 12 MP. It has one wide-angle camera and the other a telephoto camera. Moreover, unlike some competitors, switching between cameras is made not stepwise, but smooth, as when using zoom lenses in conventional cameras. The front camera is simpler and is equipped with a conventional photomodule with a resolution of 8 MP.
With these specs, you might expect Razer to be a brick phone, but it's actually comparable to the iPhone 8+. The dimensions of the Razer Phone are 158.5x77.7x8 mm, and the weight is 197 grams (and this is with one and a half times the battery). The price for the novelty, surprisingly, was set quite sane - $ 700. Of course, on the way to us, it will grow one and a half times, but still, with such a pricing policy, this smartphone has every chance of success. However, partnership with game developers promises him success. Already at the start, Square Enix and several other successful studios promised to launch games adapted to the technologies used in the smartphone. And if at least five more major mobile publishers join them, then you don’t even have to worry about the future of the Razer Phone.
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