Back for more
The Razer Phone is back (and this time it’s personal). At a recent livestreamed event, Razer unveiled the latest iteration of the Razer Phone. The form factor and specs of the new phone are fairly similar to its predecessor, with a few notable exceptions.
The original Razer Phone was sold through Three Ireland, and there’s no reason to assume that they won’t sell it again.
The Razer Phone 2 comes in two variants, with pre-sale beginning in the US at 12.01 AM PST on the 11th of October:
- Mirror Glass ($799, 64GB Storage)
- Satin Glass ($899, 128GB Storage)
In Ireland, the pricing remains similar in that the starting prices are €799 and €899 respectively.
Here are the full specs:
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 (Previous model: Snapdragon 835)
- 8GB RAM (Same as previous)
- 4000 mAh Battery (Same as previous)
- IP67 Dust & water resistance (New for Razer Phone 2)
- 645 Nits screen
What’s new
The new Razer Phone has a number of new under-the-hood features. The device can (finally) charge wirelessly, which was something the first edition lacked when compared with other flagships. The handset is now cooled using vapor chambers, which should dissipate heat and reduce throttling — according to Razer.
Also, there’s RGB everywhere on this phone. The back panel is partially RGB, and the charger is fully Chroma-compatible. I think it’s fair to say we’ve reached peak Razer. Although the original phone had support for Dolby Atmos, the Razer Phone 2 also supports Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. HDR support is also available for Netflix (although the new iPhones have HDR support for YouTube).
In terms of software, there’s also been a few changes; the camera app has been redesigned with ease of use in mind, and the game booster app now automatically applies optimal graphics settings for games. The phone also comes with a whopping three microphones, one of which is solely for noise cancelling.
Who is it for?
It’s clear that the new Razer Phone is built with gamers in mind. There are much cheaper similarly-specced phones (such as the Pocophone F1, which also has a Snapdragon 845). However, the Razer Phone does have quite a few unique premium features — such as the 120hz screen and 5.1 surround sound. On the other hand, the Razer Phone has historically lagged behind other flagships in other features — particularly in the camera quality. This new model does much to fix the glaring issues with the first Razer Phone; namely the lack of wireless charging and lack of water-resistance. As long as you aren’t too bothered by the subpar camera, the Razer Phone 2 does still represent a decent cost-to-performance ratio. Just about.
