Razer Phone 2 review: A brilliant second act
I was a big fan of final year'south Razer Phone, despite its obvious flaws. Razer made a pretty swift entry into the smartphone arena, pulling together expertise from its various acquisitions to put out a high-end smartphone with some unique features.
Fast forward a year and much has been learned. Razer is a company that listens to its fans and takes feedback very seriously. No-1 tried to hide from the issues the kickoff telephone had, instead, Razer's mobile team embraced information technology and went to work making things better.
The event is the Razer Phone 2. And it'south pretty like shooting fish in a barrel to say this is what we wanted the first telephone to be. It's a mild upgrade, only makes a number of important improvements which add together upwards to beingness a very good smartphone.
For gamers
Razer Telephone ii
$800
Lesser line: Razer simply fabricated its start phone better, and now it has a great telephone.
Pros:
- Impressive display.
- Great bombardment life.
- H2o resistant.
- Astonishing front end speakers.
- Wireless charging.
Cons:
- Large speaker grills a magnet for fluff.
- Drinking glass back = fingerprint magnet.
- No word all the same on Android 9.0 Pie.
- Camera is better, only nothing special.
Reviewing the original Razer Phone
The Razer Telephone 2 is very much a continuation of the starting time Razer Telephone. It takes the same design and principles and simply builds on them to brand information technology amend.
Since several comparisons are made throughout this review, be certain to check dorsum on our review of terminal year'south phone if you need a picayune added context.
Razer Phone review
Video hands-on courtesy of our pals over at Android Central.
Razer Phone tech specs
| Category | Specification |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Android 8.1 Oreo |
| Brandish | v.72-inches Precipitous IGZO 2560 10 1440 resolution 120Hz refresh charge per unit with UltraMotion sync Wide Colour Gamut (WCG) Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 |
| RAM | 8GB LPDDR4X |
| Storage | 64GB internal microSD card (class ten), 2TB max |
| Ports | USB Type-C Headphone adapter included |
| Sound | 24-bit THX certified DAC (headphone adapter only) Dual front facing speakers with individual amplifiers Dolby Atmos |
| Dual rear photographic camera | 12MP AF f/1.75 Wide 12MP AF f/ii.6 Zoom Dual PDAF Dual tone, dual LED flash |
| Front camera | 8MP f/ii.0 |
| Bombardment | 4,000 mAh Qualcomm Quickcharge 4.0+ |
| Wireless Charging | Aye |
| Wireless | 802.11 a/b/thousand/n/ac Bluetooth 4.2 NFC |
| Biometric | Fingerprint scanner (side power push button) |
| Bootloader unlockable | Yeah, straight through phone |
| Toll | $799 / €849.99 / £779.99 |
Razer Phone 2 hardware and design
Looking from the front end, yous'd be hard pushed to distinguish the Razer Phone 2 from its predecessor. Again Razer stuck to its own thing, and that means no notches, no extended displays, and a display flanked with giant speakers.
Mostly things are the same. You lot're notwithstanding looking at a 5.72-inch 1440p IGZO display with its 120Hz refresh rate and touch on polling and Razer's UltraMotion sync engineering science. What has changed for the sequel is that the display is now l percent brighter, which means yous can go outside with it in daylight and be able to run across things on your phone.
Razer continues to ignore the bandwagon, so no notches here.
It's still very cogitating, only at least with the screen brightness having been cranked up a few notches, you can encounter more than but your own face. Colors are vibrant, and all told, it'southward a stunning display. It looks great and it'south smoother than annihilation y'all've e'er seen on a phone.
The brandish is besides HDR once once more, and it'southward certified for use with Netflix and its HDR content. It looks as good as you'd hope, and the added brightness certainly gives it a heave. The Razer Phone 2 and its predecessor remain the only smartphones on the market place to offering a refresh rate as high this, with non even the ASUS ROG Phone matching it. By default, the display will be set to 90Hz, but Razer has worked a little magic under the hood to get the same bombardment life with 120Hz as you used to get having it fix to 90Hz.
In that location's a more than subtle improvement around the brandish area of the Razer Phone two as well. The starting time phone had a slight lip between the speaker grilles and the display glass and information technology drove me insane. The attention to detail on its successor is such that at that place is no more lip. It's a seamless transition so swipes are no longer interrupted by a concrete bulwark.
The Razer Phone ii is a slab, in the best possible way. Every bit everyone else chases decreasing screen to body ratios, Razer is providing an antidote. Information technology'south a phone for gamers after all, and gamers need something to hold onto while they're laying down shots in PUBG Mobile or Fortnite (other games are besides bachelor). But beyond that, you can't have massive front firing speakers without somewhere to put them.
Somehow Razer kept the giant forepart speakers and made it water resistant.
And and then the dust and fluff magnets have returned for another outing. Two large speaker grilles at opposing ends of the phone, only somehow, Razer found a way to brand the phone IP67 water resistant while keeping the speakers.
I also previously described the Razer Phone as existence the one that could be "too loud," and guess what? Razer made the Razer Telephone ii even louder. For gaming, it's perfect, and with the Dolby Atmos turned on the sound quality is very proficient. With it off everything sounds apartment and a piffling tinny, the sort of sound you lot'd await from a smartphone. With information technology enabled the audio is rich and quite well counterbalanced.
Flip the Razer Phone 2 over and y'all'll find the only major design changes. The fingerprint sensor resides on the side of phone in the power button, simply the back is now glass and the photographic camera has been centered. With a glass dorsum comes wireless charging, another feature folks were asking for. Razer even made its ain wireless charger, and of class, it has Chroma.
Of course the logo lights up.
Which brings me to the political party piece. The Razer Phone ii is a little like a mullet: Business organization in the forepart, party in the back. Does the Razer logo light up this year? You bet your sugariness derriere information technology does. You won't be able to sync information technology with your other Blush accessories, but Razer brought its trademark lighting arrangement to its new phone with a dedicated mobile app to command it.
It's not just for show, though. If you place your telephone confront down a lot, the logo can light up to show you have notifications. Battery life volition take a hit, but y'all can turn it off entirely if you lot desire, and you take control over the color and the effect y'all want information technology to brandish.
It feels like a proper Razer product now.
Other little nuggets worth highlighting:
- The vibration motor feels like it's certainly improved on the starting time Razer Phone simply it'due south still not a patch on some of the market leaders, like Apple.
- Once again there's no headphone jack and the included USB-C to 3.5mm dongle houses a 24-bit THX DAC. Music sounds incredible with a good set of headphones, but if you'd prefer, Razer has updated its USB-C Hammerhead earbuds to include ANC.
- If you're not a fan of the fingerprinty nature of glass phones, Razer will also exist selling a Satin terminate version which has a matte rear.
Razer Phone 2 software and gaming performance
The tale of the software on the Razer Phone ii is basically the same as it was 12 months ago. Information technology's nearly stock Android, with Razer continuing a partnership with Nova Launcher Prime to be pre-loaded. At that place's no bloat, with only Razer's ain applications and those which come with Android being pre-loaded, and the experience is top notch. You'd find more preloaded guff on a Razer Blade laptop with Windows ten.
Information technology'due south Android 8.one for at present with no timeframe for Pie.
What's also going to irritate some telephone buyers is the same thing that irritated them with the kickoff Razer Phone: Information technology launches on a previous version of Android. The reasons for this remain the same. While the software is substantially a near-stock feel, in that location'southward a lot going on underneath, not least the UltraMotion engineering.
These things (sadly) tin can't code themselves, so information technology's Android 8.1 Oreo for now. Razer hasn't yet committed to a timeframe for an update, simply on by experience, we'd be hopeful of something in Q1 2022.
Razer's custom apps are all useful. The theme shop returns with a host of exclusive Razer themes, including the infamous toaster, as well as a host of game-related ones. Razer Cortex has been redone for mobile and integrates with the returning Game Booster. Game Booster allows you some pretty tight control over how you want the operation of your phone to be when gaming on a per championship basis, though not all options can be inverse in every game.
Cortex is as well a great fashion to find games that are optimized for the Razer Phone and support the 120Hz display fully. It's worth playing effectually with both to get the all-time experience.
Operation is very important on a piece of Razer hardware. The Razer Phone ii is billed as a gaming flagship, that is, it'due south for gaming just it's likewise for folks who just want a kicking-donkey high-end smartphone. It'south packed with power, with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor and 8GB of RAM. 64GB of storage is enough for most, just a micro SD menu slot is present to expand it equally much equally you need.
Just similar earlier, the Razer Phone 2 is an absolute fauna.
The performance is easy to sum upward: The Razer Phone 2 is an absolute creature. There'southward not a unmarried game on the Play Store I've tried that has offered annihilation but an incredible experience.
It does get a picayune warm later a prolonged session gaming, especially if you lot've ready everything to maximum performance, but nothing worse than either its predecessor or other high-end phones. Naturally, the everyday operation is every bit impressive. Gamers crave performance and the Razer Telephone delivers.
Mobile gaming is a continually growing space, with a number of console franchises coming to Android, and games like VainGlory which have healthy competitive scenes that play best on Razer Telephone ii.
Razer Phone 2 bombardment life and camera
The battery in the Razer Phone 2 is no bigger than the last i at 4,000mAh, but with some tweaking, Razer has managed to match the bombardment life of the one-time phone'south 90Hz mode on the new one at 120Hz. The Chroma logo on the back will decrease your utilise depending on how often you desire to meet it glow.
The uncomplicated truth is this is easily an all-mean solar day phone and usually beyond that. If you game a lot, information technology'll reduce, merely fifty-fifty and then I simply managed to burn nearly 40% having played between iii-four hours of Need for Speed: No Limits. There's really nothing to crusade whatever business with the battery life on the Razer Phone 2.
What was a business coming in was how proficient the improved camera would exist. Resolution and aperture are the same equally terminal year, but information technology's all-new hardware and Razer has taken the software portion a lot more seriously. For starters, the stock camera app now has the sort of features you'd await to find.
The Razer Telephone ii camera is starting from a much better place than its predecessor.
That means portrait mode, panorama, even dazzler mode, all are found in the new Razer Camera app on this telephone. It seems mad to praise such a affair, only the starting time attempt was so arid information technology could barely exist called a camera app. Nosotros however take nothing in the fashion of transmission controls, but at to the lowest degree all the point and shoot modes are there.
But, how does information technology perform? Well, I'm happy to say it's ameliorate than the Razer Telephone by a adequately broad margin. It's still not going to claiming the Samsung's, the iPhones and the Pixels of this world, but information technology's non horribly disappointing. That said, information technology'due south not much across adequate for a phone at this price signal, and at that place'south still plenty more I call up Razer can clasp from the fairly capable hardware.
Focusing is fast, there's no issues with shutter lag and switching between 1x and 2x zoom is smooth and speedy. The digital seamless zoom is also a big comeback on previous attempts, and while it could still be smoother, it's at least not slow plenty to read a book while waiting for it to complete any more.
Images are generally pretty good, and I'm especially pleased with the portrait mode. While it can sometimes completely fail to function, this is probably simply a bug that can be fixed. When it works, border detection, particularly on the unmarried front-facing camera is actually very good. I've seen much worse from more than experienced phone makers.
Rear images are fairly detailed and quite punchy looking but have a tendency to get blown out likewise hands and the processing adds too much sharpening. The panorama mode is very like to Apple's in that y'all concur the phone vertically and just move slowly round keeping the arrow cardinal, and results are pretty skilful with no obvious signs of stitching.
Since I received my review unit there have been two camera updates, so honestly, I'grand still getting a true experience for it. Information technology's merely been in what I'd call its retail ready state for a couple of days (panorama was the concluding to arrive), and I'm confident Razer will keep working on it. Only at least this year the foundation is much improve. If the photographic camera is your number one priority on a phone, y'all're still going to desire to look at something like the Pixel iii.
The bottom line: Should you purchase the Razer Phone 2?
I've fabricated no secret of my love for the original Razer Phone. In a bounding main of "me-also" devices, Razer made a phone which non only stands out merely genuinely appeals to me as a gamer. It's a great high-stop phone that's also good for gaming on. Gaming isn't its sole purpose for existing, and I appreciate that.
The Razer Phone 2 is outstanding.
The Razer Phone 2 isn't much different to the first one, but that'southward not a bad matter at all. Razer isn't following whatsoever trends, isn't pretending it'southward going to compete with Samsung and Apple. Information technology's making a phone for people who like both nice phones and gaming. If you already own the first one, it's not necessarily an essential upgrade, just information technology's one y'all'll enjoy. If you held dorsum, and so you lot should certainly catch this one.
My appreciation for the Razer Phone 2 isn't just that it's a great phone for gamers similar myself. It's that Razer listened to its fans, took on board feedback from the first phone and prepare well-nigh making all those things improve. On that forepart, it's a roaring success.
The Razer Phone 2 is outstanding.
Superb phone
Razer Phone 2
The Razer Phone nosotros ever wanted.
Razer didn't just add Chroma, information technology improved every surface area of criticism from the first phone and now it has a genuinely bully mobile device.
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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/razer-phone-2-review
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