Gaming giant Razer has unveiled its first step into a whole new market with the Razer Phone, which it says hopes to take personal entertainment to a new level.
To do that Razer, known for its headsets and gaming laptops, has placed a 120Hz display into its new device, which means the screen refreshes at a much faster rate than any other smartphone. In fact it’s the same rate as a high-end gaming PC or the iPad Pro.
The result is smoother graphics when playing games, an activity this phone is laser focused on.
The 5.7-inch UltraMotion display, as Razer call it, also synchronises with the graphics processing unit (GPU) to reduce image lag as well as improve power efficiency.
Razer also says the phone will offer “true-to-life cinematic audio” by including Dolby Atmos technology and front-firing stereo speakers in the device – both unusual and powerful features to find on a smartphone.
The two speakers, place above and below the screen are also a very prominent part of this phone’s rugged design.
In more familiar territory there’s a 12 megapixel dual camera on the back and a 4,000mAh battery – at the top end of phone battery capacity but not surprising given Razer’s hope that users will spend a lot of their time gaming on the device.
There’s also a fingerprint scanner on the side and a USB-C connection.
The £699 device runs on Android – only 7.0 Nougat for now, but Razer says the update to latest release 8.0 Oreo will be available in spring 2018.
The reason for the delay is so Razer can optimise the new version of Android for that 120Hz display.
The Razer Phone also comes with Nova Launcher, which enables users to more widely customise their on-phone experience by tweaking widget layout and other organisational tools.
Pre-orders for the Phone are now live, and it will go on-sale in the UK on November 17.
