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Razer reveals the Razer Phone 2, next stage in gaming-focused smartphones

Razer is just getting started in the smartphone world, unveiling its second iteration of its high-end Razer Phone.

Ozzie Mejia

October 10, 2018 8:00 PM

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Wednesday's Razer Flagship Gaming event has been filled with major reveals regarding what's next in Razer's continuing line of gaming products. The latest announcement centered around the Razer Phone, which is now getting an entirely new model.

The Razer Phone 2 looks to improve upon last year's original Razer Phone in a variety of ways. It'll still run the 5.72-inch 120Hz UltraMotion display featured in the original Razer Phone, albeit with a 50 percent brighter display. But Razer is also touting a 30 percent increase in performance, running on a Qualcomm 845 Snapdragon chipset and Qualcomm Adreno 630 GPU. In addition, Razer will cool things down with the Razer vapor chamber cooling system, which will help the unit maintain a good temperature, even as it tries to meet the demands of the high-end gamer.

Other major features include:

• A rear dual-camera setup, utilizing a 12MP wide-angle lens with optical image stabilization and a 12MP telephoto lens with 2x zoom. The front of the phone will use an 8MP camera with full HD, capable of 1080p video.
• 8GB system memory, with 64GB internal storage. A micro SD card slot allows for an addition 1TB of external storage.
• The Razer Chroma RGB lighting system, allowing users to customize their phone's lighting effects in tune with app notifications.
• Wireless charging via a new glass back, along with Qualcomm QuickCharge 4+ for quick charging via USB-C cable. Razer is claiming a 0-50 percent charge in just 30 minutes.
• Compatibility with LTE Gigabit networks for downloads as fast as 1.2GB per second.
• Clearer and louder dual front-facing speakers, improved from the original Razer Phone. It now maxes out at 103 decibels.
• A 4,000 mAH capacity battery, offering a full 10 hours of bettery life at 120 Hz.
• Certified by Netflix for HDR video content, as well as Dolby Surround 5.1 audio.
• Water resistant for up to 30 minutes.

On the gaming spectrum, Razer is touting an optimized experience, citing continuing partnerships with various gaming publishers. Among the games said to be optimized for Razer Phone 2 use are PUBG Mobile, Marvel Future Fight, and RuneScape. Furthermore, Razer is launching the Razer Cortex app, dedicated to Razer Phone users. This app allows users to organize their games, while also recommending games that are optimized for 120 Hz gaming. While it's aimed at Razer Phone users, the app is available to all Android phone users via the Google Play store.

The Razer Phone 2 continues Razer's push into the mobile phone market. In addition to the original phone, the company also unveiled a laptop shell codenamed Project Linda back at this year's Consumer Electronics Show.

The Razer Phone 2 is set to release in two different versions, with a mirror and satin version. The phone is coming soon and will release for $799. Preorders are set to kick off at 12:01AM PT Thursday morning on the Razer website.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?