Razer Phone: A first look at the 120 Hertz smartphone screen // Update 17.01.2018: Razer Phone now available
16.1.2018
Translation: machine translated
Video: Stephanie Tresch
The Razer Phone is supposed to be a quantum leap. It is designed to impress with its stereo speakers and, above all, its display. Because it delivers a whopping 120 hertz. It will be on sale soon, we have had a look at it.
My first thought is: Is that a brick. I'm holding my LG V30 in my left hand. Compact, cute. On my right is the Razer Phone: a smartphone for gamers. It looks bulky, weighs a little heavier than the LG and has thick edges at the top and bottom. Under the bonnet, the Razer Phone has massive power. It is one of the most powerful phones on the market. In addition to a Snapdragon 835 CPU, the Razer Phone has 8 GB of RAM. No matter what you want to play with it, I want to see you push the phone to its performance limits.
A phone shamelessly made for gamers
I definitely don't have time for a review today, but I still want to talk about this device quickly. Because in the larger context of smartphones, Razer is doing one thing right: they're not making a phone for everyone. Sure, the Razer Phone can easily keep up with the big names in the industry when it comes to performance, but the American-Singaporean company has made a phone for gamers. Deliberately and without remorse. Does that mean that as a Samsung or Sony user, you won't get your money's worth? It doesn't. Quite the opposite. Anyone who wants performance in their trouser pocket or handbag should take a closer look at the Razer Phone.
But when I look at gaming hardware and the Razer Phone, it fits. The design of the phone is the same as we saw in 2015 from Nextbit with their Robin smartphone, but that's hardly surprising: Razer bought Nextbit. It's nice to see that the company hasn't reinvented the wheel where it isn't necessary and has left the angular design as it is.
The layout of the buttons on the phone is very reminiscent of a Sony smartphone. Two buttons on the left side and the power button with integrated fingerprint scanner on the right. This makes for a clean and minimalist back. The general shape also bears a certain resemblance to Sony's products - with the exception of the new series presented at CES.
120 frames per second
The Razer Phone not only has an absolutely un-Googleable name, but also a screen that changes the entire handling of the phone. The screen comes with a 120 Hertz clock frequency. This means that the phone rebuilds the image on the screen 120 times per second. Current smartphones are usually still at 60 hertz. In practice, this means that the Razer Phone runs much more smoothly. For some reason, the word "smooth" comes to mind, which surprises me considering the fact that the phone is bursting with power. I would have expected something wilder.
But: The 120 Hertz is not set at the factory. If you want to enjoy the full screen experience, you have to do this under Settings → Display → Refresh Rate. Fortunately, the screen resolution is set to the maximum by default, i.e. 2560×1440 pixels.
Big noise from small speakers
But gamers don't just want a nice picture and lots of power, they also want sound. They want it to really shred. That's why Razer has installed stereo speakers that really pack a punch. With Dolby Atmos. A quick test in the office attracts attention, even when the volume is at around 50 per cent. I want to turn it up.
As a test song, I use an instrumental track by the Swiss band Accreation, which I currently have on my local hard drive. It's called "Social Shadows" and actually has everything a good test track needs: rich bass and screeching guitars. In other words, sophisticated highs and good lows and lots in between.
The first thing you notice is that the usual tinny sound that all smartphone speakers deliver is gone. The sound is clear, rich and lively. Quite unusual for speakers on a phone. During the video shoot in the studio, me and video producer Stephanie Tresch spend seven minutes listening to music, even if we have to clear the studio in a few minutes because another shoot is coming up. It's worth it for us.
So, that's it. I'll be testing the phone more thoroughly in the coming days, because I want to experience something like this. But I think that's enough for a first look. <p
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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