Razer launches the Razer Phone 2, now with an RGB logo

[D13H4RD]

Barely a year after the launch of its predecessor, the Razer Phone 2 was just unveiled. 

 

The phone appears identical to its predecessor, although some key improvements were made. First, let's get the specs out of the way. 

Spoiler

SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon 845

 

CPU: Quad-core 2.85GHz Kryo 385 Gold (performance) + Quad-core 1.7GHz Kryo 385 Silver (efficiency)

 

GPU: Qualcomm Adreno 630

 

RAM: 8GB LPDDR4X

 

Storage: 64GB UFS 2.1 storage, microSDXC support 

 

Main camera: 12.2MP CMOS sensor w/ f/1.75 optically stabilized lens + 12MP CMOS sensor w/ f/2.6 lens w/ longer focal length 

 

Front camera: 8MP sensor w/ f/2 aperture, 60FPS recording 

 

Display: 5.72" 2560x1440 IGZO @ 120Hz

 

Audio: Dual front firing speakers, 32-bit DAC included with headphone dongle 

 

Battery: 4000mAh sealed Li-Po, fast wired charging (USB PD over QC4), fast wireless charging

 

OS: Android 8.1 Oreo 

 

The phone itself appears similar to its predecessor but makes some key changes within, one of which is a vapor chamber cooling solution that seems to be able to keep the device cool for longer.

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Razer has also paired it with better thermals to provide the best possible performance. Using a “vapor chamber” cooling system, benchmarks report better results on the Razer Phone 2 compared to even the OnePlus 6.

There are some other improvements as well, such as the addition of wireless charging, a camera setup which looks to be overhauled, louder speakers, a display that's significantly brighter and IP67 water and dust resistance. 

Quote

There are some big improvements to the Razer Phone 2, though. It’s now IP67 water resistant but retains the same front-facing speakers. Thanks to a dedicated amp for each speaker, though, Razer has actually managed to make this year’s speakers even louder, topping out at 103db. The 120Hz display is also back, but this time it’s 50% brighter, maxing out at 580 nits. Razer has also managed to deliver compatibility with Verizon Wireless in the United States this time around.

 

The cameras have also seen some major improvements. Razer Phone 2 adopts a new dual-camera system which consists of a standard 12MP wide angle sensor with OIS, as well as a 13MP 2x telephoto lens. Both are IMX sensors, and there’s also a Full HD front-facing camera. Based on early samples, it does look like a solid improvement. Razer has also added portrait mode, a better panorama mode, and a new beauty mode as well, in addition to the low-light improvements.

And as the title states, the phone also has Chroma RGB support. This goes not only for the Razer Snake logo on the back, which also doubles as an LED notification light, but also for the wireless charging stand that Razer is selling alongside the Razer Phone 2. 

How much does all of this cost? 

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As far as pricing is concerned, the Razer Phone 2 is $799, undercutting a lot of other major flagships but still a $100 increase from the original. Shipping starts “soon,” with pre-orders opening tonight. The “Mirror” finish will be available immediately with a matte “Satin” finish coming later in the year.

Source: 9to5Google

 

D13H4RD's opinion 

Despite my prejudice against Razer, mostly for their laptops, I quite liked the Razer Phone. It was different from the rest of the glass slabs and actually delivered stuff I had wanted, sans headphone jack. 

 

Well, this year, they seem to be correcting many of the problems people had with the prior. The cooling system looks to be better, the camera especially seems much more competitive and those speakers. 

 

Sadly, they went glass due to wireless charging. Hoping the matte version is nice. And also no headphone jack. I don't know but after seeing the RoG Phone and Galaxy Note9, I'm becoming less forgiving of phones that are big but somehow can't put a headphone jack. The predecessor didn't have one too, FWIW.

[Curufinwe_wins]

Yeah, one headphone jack short of being a near perfect media/gaming phone.

 

Well not sure how good the contrast of this display will be... oled's are just soo hard to beat for mobile media as a result, but those speakers.... gushing like it's 2014 and my M8 seems modern again...

[D13H4RD]

Just now, Curufinwe_wins said:

but those speakers.... gushing like it's 2014 and my M8 seems modern again...

Yep, always loved those speakers. 

 

I took my HTC One M7 out of mothball and finally got the battery swapped and the camera changed. I immediately remembered why I got this phone over the Galaxy S4 the moment I played a YouTube video. 

 

They sound fantastic still 

[Rune]

Verizon compatibility?
Aaaaaaay

[I-r0k]

I expected nothing less. RGB is becoming a standard in today’s market. Not surprising.

[DrMacintosh]

Its a "gaming phone" yet runs a Snapdragon 845. The only thing that makes this a "gaming phone" is the RGB vomit and the 120Hz display......

(of which 0 games are going to take advantage of since most mobile games are capped at 60fps and its not like an 845 is going to be rendering more than that, lol)

[D13H4RD]

2 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Its a "gaming phone" yet runs a Snapdragon 845. The only thing that makes this a "gaming phone" is the RGB vomit and the 120Hz display......

I don't think they could have gone for anything better in the Android space. 

 

There's no new Tegra SoC, Apple's A-Series is limited to iPhones and MediaTek is so shite, they've basically evaporated from the market. 

 

I still do like the 120Hz display because it makes general use so much more pleasant and fluid. It's why I'm eagerly waiting for ProMotion to head its way to iPhones and others to follow suit. 120Hz isn't just a gaming thing. It actually affects daily use in a positive manner. 

[wasab]

4 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Its a "gaming phone" yet runs a Snapdragon 845. The only thing that makes this a "gaming phone" is the RGB vomit and the 120Hz display......

(of which 0 games are going to take advantage of since most mobile games are capped at 60fps and its not like an 845 is going to be rendering more than that, lol)

No, that thing runs on a 32 core Intel xeons. Don't you see that thing is already beefier than your potatoe Mac and desktop PC combined? 

[Arika]

and the world goes "meh"

[DrMacintosh]

5 minutes ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

I still do like the 120Hz display because it makes general use so much more pleasant and fluid.

Yeah but this is Android, unless developers update their apps just for the Razor Phone, everything is still going to run at 60fps

[Curufinwe_wins]

10 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Yeah but this is Android, unless developers update their apps just for the Razor Phone, everything is still going to run at 60fps

TBH, you (and I) would be surprised. Saw this list 8 months ago or so. Not sure how much things have changed since then... but it isn't "small" considering it covers a number of the popular games (in each genre) anyways.

 

FROM Razer's website

 

The list is as of January 2018, however, new titles are being added all the time and other titles may be supported.

Fighting Tekken Mobile Injustice Injustice 2 Mortal Kombat X Marvel Contest of Champions Shadow Fight 3	Racing Gear.Club Real Racing 3 Hill Climb Racing 2
RPG/MMORPG Battlejack: Blackjack RPG Evoland FINAL FANTASY BRAVE EXVIUS Final Fantasy XV: Personal Edition Fire Emblem Heroes Lineage 2: Revolution MARVEL Future Fight Middle Earth: Shadow of War Old School Runescape Runescape Space Rangers: Legacy Vendetta Online Summoners War: Sky Arena Soul Seeker Wonder Tactics	Arcade Pac-Man Pac-Man Pop! RC Soccer Super Samurai Rampage Chicken Jump Zen Pinball CATS: Crash Arena Turbo Stars Super Mario Run Subway Surfers Sonic Forces: Speed Battle Cooking Craze - A Fast & Fun Restaurant Chef Game BUST-A-MOVE JOURNEY Space Invaders Infinity Gene RAYSTORM DARIUSBURST -SP-
MOBA Arena of Valor Vainglory	FPS Shadowgun Legends Hitman Sniper
RTS Titanfall Assault Warhammer 40k: Freeblade Warfair World of Tanks: Blitz	Action-Adventure #KillAllZombies Alto's Adventure Bleach Brave Souls Bug Butcher Caterzillar Don't Starve Don't Starve: Shipwrecked Far Tin Bandits
Sandbox Minecraft Sandbox 3d	Other Armajet Boggle With Friends: Word Game Card Thief Chameleon Run The Simpsons: Tapped Out
Puzzle/Strategy Star Vikings Puzzle Quest 2 Mini Metro Hitman Go Lara Croft Go Deus Ex Go Flippy Knife Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle South Park Phone Destroyer Ballz Heart Star I Love Hue Groove Coaster 2	Sports Big Shot Boxing Golf Clash Golf Star MLB 9 Innings 17 OK Golf Pumped 3 Rythym Dub Dash Location-based Pokemon Go
Apps Plex

[Curufinwe_wins]

Side note, I would love to see a head to head review comparison of this and the ROG Phone. Asus went with a 90Hz amoled display instead of the 120hz igzo lcd. Also Asus's speakers look a bit less robust, but still stereo at least. 

 

Would be a nice comparison to have for those that are interested.

[DrMacintosh]

6 minutes ago, Curufinwe_wins said:

TBH, you (and I) would be surprised. Saw this list 8 months ago or so. Not sure how much things have changed since then... but it isn't "small" considering it covers a number of the most popular games (in each genre) anyways.

 

The list is as of January 2018, however, new titles are being added all the time and other titles may be supported.

Ahh, well in that case I’ll just move these goalposts  and just say how bad mobile gaming is in general. 

 

Something something, iOS versions of the app are usually better, something something better graphics APIs..........3D Touch controls? 

 

god I need to go to bed......and Razor needs to get those sales numbers up. Lol

[D13H4RD]

12 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Yeah but this is Android, unless developers update their apps just for the Razor Phone, everything is still going to run at 60fps

As long as it’s the core apps, I’m going to be fine.

 

All I’m waiting for is that one big push, and guess who has the influence to do so? Starts with an A.

[Curufinwe_wins]

1 minute ago, DrMacintosh said:

Ahh, well in that case I’ll just move these goalposts  and just say how bad mobile gaming is in general. 

 

Something something, iOS versions of the app are usually better, something something better graphics APIs..........3D Touch controls? 

 

god I need to go to bed......and Razor needs to get those sales numbers up. Lol

Understandable (for now  ). Asus also officially announced their gaming phone finally, so might be something we see rather quickly adopted moving forward. 90 Hz Oled vs 120 Hz LCD? It would have to be one hell of an lcd for me to take that trade.

[DrMacintosh]

4 minutes ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

All I’m waiting for is that one big push, and guess who has the influence to do so? Starts with an A.

Sucks that iPhone Xs and Xs Max did not have 120Hz displays. But with the phone already so expensive I think adding ProMotion on an OLED panel shaped so odly probably got put off until it’s more affordable for everyone. (They already have 120Hz Touch input)

 

Maybe we will see it in iPhone XI....11? Are they just going to call it iPhone from now on? 

[Curufinwe_wins]

3 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Sucks that iPhone Xs and Xs Max did not have 120Hz displays. But with the phone already so expensive I think adding ProMotion on an OLED panel shaped so odly probably got put off until it’s more affordable for everyone. 

I'm honestly not sure if such a panel is ready even for low-quantity use yet anyways. Asus obviously would have preferred 120Hz to 90, but 90 was all they are shipping at the moment.

 

Preorders start the 18th (DON'T PREORDER), and at least one review is known to be coming Oct 22.

[DrMacintosh]

Just now, Curufinwe_wins said:

I'm honestly not sure if such a panel is ready even for low-quantity use yet anyways. 

A controller for OLED high refresh and dynamic refresh (remember ProMotion supports cinematic all the way up to 120Hz in steps) is probably a pain in the ass to design too. With Apple making their own Graphics they probably need a custom controller. 

 

All of course driving the price up. 

[Curufinwe_wins]

Just now, DrMacintosh said:

A controller for OLED high refresh and dynamic refresh (remember ProMotion supports cinematic all the way up to 120Hz in steps) is probably a pain in the ass to design too. With Apple making their own Graphics they probably need a custom controller. 

 

All of course driving the price up. 

Yeah, but ignoring that... I actually don't think such a panel exists yet. Otherwise, Asus would be pushing 120 just like Razor instead of 90 on their Oled panel. hehe

[DrMacintosh]

Also....Android OEMs.....unless there is a heatsink in there and a fan....you don’t have a “cooling” solution. You have a heat redistribution solution. You’re just spreading the heat over more area, specifically the battery in the case of some phones with heat pipes these days. 

Spoiler

That’s not a good thing

 

[Curufinwe_wins]

6 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Also....Android OEMs.....unless there is a heatsink in there and a fan....you don’t have a “cooling” solution. You have a heat redistribution solution. You’re just spreading the heat over more area, specifically the battery in the case of some phones with heat pipes these days. 

  Hide contents

That’s not a good thing

 

Well technically speaking... using a heatpipe to spread the heat more uniformly over a larger portion of the casing, behind the casing, shortens the mean thermal resistance path-length and thus improves cooling performance.

 

One can argue about the tradeoffs in battery temperature and SoC temperature, but it does help. Also, for better or worse, Asus is including in box their attachable fan system.

 

http://web.mit.edu/16.unified/www/FALL/thermodynamics/notes/node118.html

[DrMacintosh]

1 minute ago, Curufinwe_wins said:

attachable fan system

Probably for worse. We can’t keep encouraging more heat output to the point where you might want a fan attached to your phone. 

 

Anroid chip designers need to focus on power efficiency and performance using low power cores and making sure the high power ones don’t fry. 

[Curufinwe_wins]

9 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Probably for worse. We can’t keep encouraging more heat output to the point where you might want a fan attached to your phone. 

 

Anroid chip designers need to focus on power efficiency and performance using low power cores and making sure the high power ones don’t fry. 

I think it's a fairly large issue for the mobile market in general. I don't see any significantly better throttling behaviors in this test on iOS devices compared to Android, and some of the Android devices even manage much lower throttling percentages. Either way though, ARM's biggest perf gains right now are in their little cores, so we should see that indeed continuing. 

 

 

PS: Posting this image has nothing to do with scores across devices, but rather comparing devices in their own test after thermal loading (example the S9+ offers 73% sustained, the iPhone X offers 75%). I have no doubt that the A11 and A12 are notably stronger peak cpu's than their respective gen Snapdragon counterparts. Just look at the percentage of score for the Snap and Apple on each device. 

[Curufinwe_wins]

8 minutes ago, valdyrgramr said:

Outside of their mice, I'm not really a huge fan of their products.  This phone is a gimmick like the ROG phone, but why do all these threads turn into Apple vs everything?   This is an android phone.

Cause one did it first

 

Anyways, it wasn't actually an intense back and forth, more friendly conversing in this case. 

 

Definitely a gimmick for now, but I don't think any of us would dislike having high refresh rate displays and stereo sound become standard on phones.

[dizmo]

Eh, to be fair they have fairly large speakers, and they use their own amps, which also requires additional space. Headphone jacks take up a fair bit of internal space.

I'd have liked to see a larger battery in this. Or hopefully better optimization.

Not really my type of phone, but I'm sure it'll sell decently.

 

I hate their events. Pretty cringe worthy.

 

...at the price, though, I'd rather have a Pixel 3.

 

55 minutes ago, Arika S said:

and the world goes "meh"

I did when I saw it was going to be the same, months ago, though I am surprised they upgraded as many aspects as they did.

28 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Also....Android OEMs.....unless there is a heatsink in there and a fan....you don’t have a “cooling” solution. You have a heat redistribution solution. You’re just spreading the heat over more area, specifically the battery in the case of some phones with heat pipes these days. 

  Reveal hidden contents

That’s not a good thing

 

That's what a cooling solution is. Redistribution of heat. What exactly do you think a cooling solution is?

7 minutes ago, valdyrgramr said:

Outside of their mice, I'm not really a huge fan of their products.  This phone is a gimmick like the ROG phone, but why do all these threads turn into Apple vs everything?   This is an android phone.

Because we have Apple's Industry Affiliate and Pusher, @DrMacintosh