Hands -on to Razer Phone: 120fps games on smartphones!

What is a smartphone for gamers?

Razer, known for gaming PCs and peripherals, has announced the smartphone "Razer Phone".Alex Cranz, a reporter of Gizmodo, who has a hands -on US, tells what the gamer perspective is, which does not fit in a high -end smartphone.Below, please!

According to Razer, they were going to make a smartphone from the beginning.However, they did not know what the smartphones they make or the smartphone for gamers were from the beginning, but just envisioned as a far dream.But their dreams are now available for $ 699 (about 80,000 yen).This Razer Phone, which specializes in games, has the potential to be an alternative to those who are tired of the recent and similar organic EL display + high -end smartphone on the back glass.

"This is the design, one," Razer's mobile president, TOM MOSS, told Gizmodo."The ratio is 18 x 9 OLED display, no bezel."

Razer Phone is a unique design similar to Robin in NEXTBIT, which was crowdfunded in 2016, but that should be the case, Razer acquired NEXTBIT.In other words, Razer got the Robin team to realize this smartphone.However, Robin had its own cloud function, and I could store apps that I didn't use much in the cloud, but I was really worried that it could be used properly.Fortunately, this function was not used in the Razer Phone, so it seems that Robin was not all copied, but only the good parts were used.

According to Moss, it was a reasonable decision to use Robin as the base of Razer Phone.So what is an Android smartphone for gamers?

The first characteristic is the design.The thickness of Razer Phone is 8mm, 7.7mm iPhone X and 7.It is slightly thicker than 5mm iPhone 8 Plus.The main body is all black aluminum, the edge has a sharp right angle, and the Razer logo on the back is on the back.Because it follows the Robin design, there is a thick bezel on the top and bottom, which has a built -in Dolby Atmos speaker.Mr. Moss says that this bezel dared to play the game naturally in Landscape Mode.However, depending on how you hold it, your thumb may block your speaker.

The specifications are equal to the same as other high -end Android smartphones, the processor is Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835, the RAM is 8GB, the battery is 4000mAh, and the battery can be rapidly charged from 0 % to 50 % in 15 minutes.The back camera is 1200 pixels.

Unfortunately, there is no headphone jack.There is only a USB-C port for charging, but it is also included for those who want to use wired earphones / headphones.

The display is LCD, not organic EL, and the size is 5.72 inch 1440p.The reason why the liquid crystal has a considerable "ghost" in Moss, OLED, that is, if you play Pac -Man, you will get a yellow afterimage after the character.The reason why ghosts are a problem is that the Razer Phone's refresh rate is 120Hz, that is, 120 frames per second.This refresh rate seems to be quite attractive to gamers.Because the display is beautiful, it seems to be difficult to miss the timing of hitting a punch and laser beam.120Hz is unprecedented on a smartphone, and it seems that Razer has a lot of "doing".

It was a short time that I could do it, but Android Nougat 7.1.I was able to confirm the frame counter in 1 (by the way, the OS will be updated to Android Oreo in the spring of 2018).When I played the game "RIPTIDE GP", the frame rate was always 80fps or more.

However, the frame rate often has an upper limit such as "30Hz" or "60Hz" on the app side, but at the time of launch, in addition to "RIPTIDE GP", "Final Fantasy XV", "Lineage 2 Revolution", "Tekken"., "Titanfall: Assault" etc. can be played with up to 120fps.

However, if you play the game at a high frame rate, the battery will be used more and more, so you can change it flexibly with the settings.You can drop the frame rate as needed, or you can set the frame rate for each app.For example, when you are on Twitter or Facebook, you can also set a detailed setting, such as 30 fps and 120fps when playing "Final Fantasy XV".

… And if you look so far, Razer Phone may be quite attractive, but there are some questions.For example, a camera.The camera I saw in Hands -on has poor control, and Razer has little investment in camera technology.So I'm not sure if other companies who have invested a lot for a perfect smartphone camera, such as Apple, Google, and Samsung, can compete with other companies.

And there is certainly a core fan base in Razer, but I don't know if other people are interested in it.Razer Phone will be sold at real stores in Microsoft, so you may be interested in Windows fans.In the first place, it's a strange time to enter your smartphone now.Razer said many times that smartphones were always planned, even if they would enter the maturity market.But most people have their favorite smartphones, so it's a mystery how many people switch to this smartphone for a 120Hz display and Android games.

And Android games tend to be the second largest of iOS.There is a hand to use an emulator, and there is also a mobile version of "Final Fantasy XV", but how many people buy Razer Phone without the thinness of such content?That would be clear if Razer Phone was released on November 17.No, I already decided!You can make a pre -order here from here.We also accept delivery to Japan (but it is unknown whether it has passed through skill).

Source: Razer

Alex Cranz -Gizmodo US [Original text]

(Miho Fukuda)