Razer Phone 2 Takes Mobile Gaming Very Seriously

The name Razer means a great deal to any consumer or retailer who follows or participates in the gaming community. As one of the leading manufacturers of gaming products—from keyboards to laptops and more—Razer has long been viewed as one of the leading brands in this space, and for good reason: their products are tremendous. Rarely do they ever miss the mark.

That said, analysts would tell you that one of the occasions where Razer did release a sub-par product was with last year’s Razer Phone. The company hopes to shake the negative image of that first foray into the mobile market with a refreshed version of the phone, aptly dubbed the Razer Phone 2.

The upgraded model keeps the original’s boxy design but takes things up several notches when it comes to the internal specs. The device will ship with an insane 8GB of RAM, Qualcomm’s QuickCharge 4.0 support, wireless charging support, NFC, Bluetooth 5.0, an IP67 rating, upgraded camera sensors (which was one of the biggest knocks against the original phone), and 64GB of internal storage with a microSD slot for additional storage. Additionally, the Razer Phone 2 will have a 5.7-inch LCD display that has a 2560x1440 HDR display.

Staying true to the Razer brand and its attention to detail when it comes to gaming, the phone will have a 50-percent brighter display and support a refresh rate of 120 Hz—a spec that is essentially unheard of in the smartphone space. And, recognizing that this phone is intended for some serious gaming experiences, Razer integrated its vapor chamber cooling system into the phone, which it said will allow the device to draw 20 to 30 percent more power out of the Snapdragon 845 chip than competing Android phones.

Turning to audio, the Razer Phone 2 is an absolute beast of a smartphone when it comes to sound quality. The phone is Dolby Atmos certified, and the company included a 24-bit USB-C DAC so normal headphone users can enjoy up to 24-bit audio.

And one final touch that gamers will undoubtedly love is the Razer Chroma-enabled logo on the back of the device. Integrating RGB support into a smartphone is such a Razer move, giving users the option to personalize their phone with an array of 16.8 million color options. The logo and color scheme can be manipulated for personalized notifications and alerts, and the logo supports three different lighting effects: static, breathing, and spectrum.

The accessory lineup for the device is also starting to take shape, and it’s just another example of how much of a gaming device this is. During the launch event on Wednesday, Razer showed off a new Raiju Mobile controller designed to turn the phone into a mini mobile gaming station. The controller, simply put, allows the user to be more accurate with their mobile gaming inputs and commands, and the fact that you can customize the different buttons on the device just brings that personalized gaming experience to another level.

What We’re Reading

• As Microsoft works more closely with Amazon and Alexa, Cortana may be going the way of Clippy. (techradar)
• The batter life on the Apple Watch Series 4 is so good, that it can now be used as a sleep tracker and for all-day wear. (9 to 5 Mac)
• You’ll soon be able to withdraw cash from PayPal at Walmart stores. (CNET)