Razer Phone hands-on review

GSMArena team, 01 November 2017.

Razer Phone hands-on

The Razer Phone is a solidly built device, even if it doesn't quite have the most imaginative design. It's clearly based on the Nexbit Robin - the cloud-centric smartphone by the company that Razer recently acquired. The Razer Phone is much larger and heavier though - an extra half inch of display and over a thousand extra milliamps to the battery capacity will get you there.

Not the pretties phone around, but it feels solid as a rock Not the pretties phone around, but it feels solid as a rock
Not the prettiest phone around, but it feels solid as a rock

Razer seemingly didn't get the memo about flagships going all bezelless this year, as its phone has a display frame almost as thick as that of the iPhone 8 Plus (and the proportions of that one date back to 2014). At least here you have a couple of powerful speakers flanking the display so it has something to show for it. And if our recent survey is anything to go by many will be happy with the trade.

The speakers themselves are really impressive. They produce deep and impressively loud sound - we had no trouble hearing them over an entire crowd of talking people. The Dolby Atmos branding might be the as the one seen on the ZTE Axon 7, but the Razer Phone clearly has superior speakers.

The Razer Phone has no shortage of bezels and two impressive speakers The Razer Phone has no shortage of bezels and two impressive speakers
The Razer Phone has no shortage of bezels and two impressive speakers

The fingerprint scanner is embedded in the power button on the side of the phone - that makes the Razer Phone a real oddity in the US. The maker best known for doing fingerprint sensors that way is Sony and it has to disable them in its US units due to legal issues. Either way the side is a very convenient position for the scanner, but it is so flat that it's impossible to detect by touch alone.

On the other side of the phone sit the volume keys - no rocker here. They are sitting rather low, which isn't all that great when the phone is in portrait orientation. Yet they work great when the Razer Phone is in landscape mode and this phone is all about that - after all gaming and multimedia consumption are its forte. Ideally though, we would have preferred, if the buttons weren't as small and hard to push.

The sides of the phone The sides of the phone The sides of the phone The sides of the phone
The sides of the phone

Moving on to the screen - it's little wonder Razer started its presentation with it - the 120Hz IGZO QHD panel not only has excellent image quality, but really add a touch of extra smoothness to the whole phone experience. It's one of those things that you never knew you are missing until you see it, but then realize it's making a big difference.

Both games and general UI navigation feel great on the Razer Phone, but we wouldn't expect any less from a 2017 flagship, much less one that has its Snapdragon 835 backed by 8GB of RAM.

The Ultramotion 120Hz display is looking great The Ultramotion 120Hz display is looking great The Ultramotion 120Hz display is looking great The Ultramotion 120Hz display is looking great
The Ultramotion 120Hz display is looking great

You also get a toggle in the settings menu for reducing the screen refresh rate to 90Hz or 60Hz, if you want to expand your battery life even further. We'll see how much of an effect that has, once we are done with our battery test.

The refresh rate and resolution settings The refresh rate and resolution settings
The refresh rate and resolution settings

The software package is one of the more surprising bits about the Razer Phone. The phone runs stock Android with the popular Nova Launcher on top. The company got a special edition of that dubbed Nova Launcher Prime Razor Edition, meaning you are getting the full functionality without having to pay extra. It's currently on 7.1 Nougat but we got a promise for Oreo in Q1 of 2018.

Reader comments

Benchmarks seem disappointing for a smartphone touting itself on Superior gaming... Not that it did poorly but it's not going to give you anything better then other flagships and in some cases or clearly did far worse. Also using your smartphone for ...

  • Anonymous
  • 02 Dec 2017
  • tNw

Bet they did not think about the future of these phones by glueing the batteries. Only future fools that will keep parting with their money every year or two.