Razer tweaks the mobile gaming formula with the Razer Phone 2, but are a bunch of small changes worth the upgrade?
The year of incremental smartphone upgrades begrudgingly marches along. With Samsung and Apple choosing to refine their annual phone launches with a barrage of subtle hardware upgrades, rather than adding flashy new features, phones in 2018 are sorely lacking in the innovation department.
Following the launch of last year’s Razer Phone, which introduced a high-refresh rate 120Hz display to smartphones for the very first time, I certainly didn’t expect the long-standing gaming firm to stick to the same well-trodden path. Ever-so-slightly tweaking the mobile gaming formula, the Razer Phone 2 has finally entered the battlefield, though in this case, its lack of noteworthy changes isn’t necessarily such a bad thing.
Razer Phone 2 review: UK price, release date and specifications
- 5.7in 1,440 x 2,560 IGZO LCD screen
- Octa-core 2.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor
- 8GB of RAM
- 12-megapixel f/1.5 (wide-angle) and 12-megapixel f/2.6 (telephoto) rear cameras
- 8-megapixel f/2.0 front camera
- 64GB of storage, expandable up to 2TB via microSD
- Android 8.1 Oreo
- 4,000mAh battery
- UK price: £779
- UK release date: 10 October 2018
Razer Phone 2 review: Design, key features and first impressions
Despite its short list of headline-grabbing changes, the Razer Phone 2 is primed to make the same hard-hitting statement again this year: there’s still space for a flagship gaming phone in your pocket.
Let’s begin with the trickiest game of spot the difference. The Razer Phone 2’s design has only slightly changed from last year; the size and weight is practically identical, tipping the scales at 198g and measuring 159 x 79 x 8.5mm, and it still comes with harsh-edged corners that are ready to rip a hole straight through the pockets of your jeans.
The phone is IP67 rated for dust- and water-resistance this time around, while a pair of speakers are placed above and below the screen, just like last year, along with a solitary 8-megapixel f/2.0 selfie camera.
Flip the phone over and you’ll begin to spot a few changes. The rear-mounted dual-camera arrangement has shifted to the middle and the back is coated in a layer of Gorilla Glass 5 for added protection against drops and scrapes. This new glass panel also helps support Qi wireless charging, with speeds of up to 11.25Wh.
Razer’s three-headed snake logo illuminates the back of the phone for the first time, and you can customise the logo with a choice of up to 16.8 million colours – just as you can with Razer’s suite of RGB-driven PC gaming peripherals. Don’t worry, you can adjust the brightness for lower visibility in dark environments, or if you just want to boost the battery life a little.
The Razer Phone 2 isn’t lacking when it comes to those checklist features, either. You can add a microSD card to expand its 64GB of built-in storage, and there’s a fingerprint reader positioned sensibly on the right-hand side of the phone which does double duties as a power button. Finally, there’s a USB-C port at the bottom, supporting the Quick Charge 4 standard.
The 5.7in, 120Hz, 1,440 x 2,560 resolution IGZO LCD screen returns, although it has seen a slight upgrade to a 10-bit panel, with enhanced colour accuracy and HDR improvements. Razer also says the Phone 2’s screen is 50% brighter than last year’s display, capable of reaching a retina-blinding maximum brightness of 645 nits.
There’s a slight upgrade in the hardware department, too: Qualcomm’s most up-to-date flagship processor, the Snapdragon 845, is running the show this time around, rather than last year’s 835 chipset. You should expect a decent performance jump if other 845-equipped handsets are any indication, and the Phone 2 also comes equipped with a generous 8GB of RAM for multitasking and gaming.
The phone has a pretty big battery too, with an enormous 4,000mAh in capacity. The worry is – and this is very much an isolated issue – that its 120Hz display might be just as power-hungry as its predecessor.
That display helped ensure that I struggled to reach a day’s use on a single charge last year, but an improved vapour chamber cooling setup could be just the ticket for improved stamina with this year’s model. Razer says this new cooling arrangement increases power efficiency by around 20%.
Lastly, there are a handful of improvements with the Phone 2’s camera capabilities. Razer’s latest flagship is fitted with a pair of Sony IMX sensors: the first a 12-megapixel f/1.5 wide-angle lens with optical image stabilisation, and the second a 12-megapixel f/2.6 telephoto sensor with 2X optical zoom.
That might not sound like much of a change, but the camera’s slightly-wider aperture allows much more light in than before, capturing images with greater detail in low-light conditions. The camera software has slightly improved too, with the addition of a Huawei-like “beauty” shooting mode, a portrait mode with blurred bokeh backgrounds and 120fps slow-mo video capture at a Full HD 1080p resolution.
Razer Phone 2 review: Early verdict
The Razer Phone 2 might not be a radical departure from last year’s blueprint, but if you’re a keen smartphone gamer then its silky-smooth high refresh rate screen still offers up a very tempting proposition. Throw in Qualcomm’s fastest-ever mobile chipset, an improved camera, IP67 rated protection and wireless charging into the mix, and the Razer Phone 2 has the potential to be a crucial addition to any gamer’s mobile arsenal.
Source: expertreviews.co.uk
