Razer Unveils Gaming Phone To Help You Play On The Go

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Razer, known for making gaming accessories and more recently laptops, has now come with a smartphone, more specifically a gaming-focused smartphone – Razer Phone. On Wednesday, the company showcased the smartphone at a launch event in London.

A gaming beast

Talking about the specs, the Razer Phone has a 5.7-inch IGZO display, 120Hz refresh rate, Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 and 8GB of RAM. The phone boasts of a “Ultramotion” display, which according to the company, would ensure no lag, stuttering, and other visual hiccups. The Razer Phone sports dual 12-megapixel cameras on the back, one takes telephoto shots, while the other is used for wide shots, and a 4,000 mAh battery.

The speaker quality is claimed to be excellent. The handset is equipped with Dolby Atmos audio, and is certified by THX. The speakers are placed so that they do not obstruct the gamers while playing. Along with dedicated amplifiers, the speakers also have a 24-bit “audiophile-quality” sound. Since, there is no headphone jack, a user will need to connect to Bluetooth or USB Type-C headsets.  The phone has another gaming-focused feature, called Game Booster, allowing players to change the settings for better gaming performance.

For gamers, the specs surely are attractive, but if we talk about the look and design of the phone, it appears that it was not in the priority list of the company. According to The Verge, it is like “someone revived Brutalist architects from the 1960s and tasked them with devising the world’s blockiest phone.” However, core gamers – the target audience of the Razer Phone – do not care much about the looks.

“It’s common knowledge that I’m obsessed with my smartphones, I play a ton of games on them and they’re my go-to for streaming content,” said CEO Tan Min-Liang at the launch event. “We have wanted to make a phone with gaming-level tech for years, and the Razer Phone delivers in every way we imagined.”

Will Razer Phone be a hit?

Going by the history, gaming-focused smartphones and tablets running on Android have not done well, for instance, Nvidia’s Tegra-powered devices. However, it has been a long time since we have seen a gaming-focused smartphone. Also, the global smartphone gaming market is massive and is growing.

Take the example of Honor of Kings, a popular game in China. The game has grown so popular that China’s “People’s Daily” referred to it as “Poison.” To keep the government happy, the game publisher had to put in a time limit. The same game is due to arrive in the U.S. and Europe, according to Yahoo.

According to an April report by the market intelligence company Newzoo, game revenues are expected to hit $108.9 billion this year, with mobile gaming accounting for 41% of that. By 2020, mobile gaming will represent more than half of the total gaming market. So, the timing of the launch could just be perfect.

The Razer phone is now available for preorder via Razer’s online store or Amazon.com, with a shipping date of Nov. 17. The phone costs $700 in the U.S., €750 in Europe, and £700 in the UK. Asian launch of the device will be announced later.

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