Announced at an event in London in November 2017, the Razer phone is an Android phone by the gaming laptop brand Razer. The phone is said to be a result of Razer's acquisition of smartphone startup Nextbit in January 2017.
The phone was made with a focus on mobile gaming. Knowing Razer and the kind of gaming products it makes, this is likely to be a capable smartphone.
Razer CEO, Min Liang Tan confirmed in a tweet that he is willing to bring the Razer phone to India. Here's what to expect from the smartphone:
The Razer phone will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, powered by 8GB of RAM. It will have 64GB of internal storage, with a microSD card slot for expansion. The Razer phone will have a 4,000mAh battery for gamers who like to play for long hours.
While many manufacturers don't care about the camera of their gaming phones, the Razer phone has a dual camera setup on the back that also has various levels of optical zoom. On the front, the Razer phone houses an 8 megapixel camera.
The phone was launched with Android Nougat 7.1.1, which can be upgraded to Android Oreo.
The display is a 5.7-inch IGZO IPS display, with a resolution of 1,440 x 2,560 at 551 pixels per inch. The thing about the display, however, is that it is the first of its kind to sport a 120Hz refresh rate in a mobile phone. The fingerprint sensor is located on the power button itself.
Here are the specifications of the Razer phone:
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
- Battery: 4,000mAh Lithium Ion
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 64 GB (expandable)
- Camera: Dual 12-megapixel
- 8-megapixel front camera
- OS: Android Nougat 7.1.1
- Display: 5.72 inch, IGZO LCD (1,440 x 2,560 resolution) 120Hz
Asus ROG Phone
Once launched, the Razer phone will go compete against the Asus ROG Phone. Here’s what the ROG phone has to offer:
Announced at the Computex 2018, the ROG phone will come with a 6-inch display with a refresh rate of 90Hz.
The ROG phone will be powered by a 2.96 GHz Snapdragon 845 processor and 8GB RAM - this is one of the fastest processing phones. The ROG phone will have 512 GB storage, which will again be a first of its kind.
What makes the ROG phone different from the Razer phone is the X Mode. Squeezing the sides of the ROG Phone activates the gaming-optimised X Mode.
Upon squeezing the sides, the complete UI of the phone switches to a red theme.
The X Mode optimises the phone for gaming by closing applications running in the background. Once in X Mode the processor prioritises the RAM and data transfer accordingly. The X Mode also activates the AeroActive Cooler, the additional fan accessory offered in the phone.
Here are the specifications of the Asus ROG phone:
- Processor: Speed-binned 2.96GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
- GPU: Qualcomm Adreno 630
- Display: 6-inch, 18:9 (2160 x 1080) OLED panel with 90Hz refresh rate
- Dimensions: 158.8mm x 76.2mm x 8.6mm
- Weight: 200g
- Battery: 4,000mAh
- Memory: 8GB RAM
- Storage: 128GB or 512GB
It will be interesting to see these two gaming phones go head to head once they are widely available. Stay tuned for that.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)