Razer Phone Officially Announced

[mech]

Razer phone announced with:

• 5.7in 1440p variable refresh rate screen (120Hz)
• Android 7.1.1 Nougat
• 8GB of RAM
• 64GB of expandable storage
• Stereo front-facing speakers with Dolby Atmos
• 4,000mAh battery
• Snapdragon 835 processor
• Dual 12-megapixel cameras and is $700 USD and ships on November 17
• No 3.5mm Jack

I personally think that this overkill (it has double the ram of my laptop!), only for a certain few, and is not for me.

 

Original Article:

 https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/1/16519692/razer-phone-android-gaming-specs-release-date-price-photos

 

[Billy_Mays]

How much is it?

[Kobathor]

phone lookin like a BLOCKIER Pixel 2

how could you get blockier than a Pixel 2???

@Billy_Mays $700

[mech]

1 minute ago, Billy_Mays said:

How much is it?

700 USD forgot to put that

[PSUGuru]

Looks bland. Probably won't last.

[shadowbyte]

and with no headphone jack

for some reason

[Billy_Mays]

10 minutes ago, Kobathor said:

phone lookin like a BLOCKIER Pixel 2

how could you get blockier than a Pixel 2???

@Billy_Mays $700

@ScrappyZeDog You should update your post so that it conforms to Tech News guidelines - clean it up a bit, add a picture of the phone, and add your thoughts

Ok thanks 

[IAmAndre]

The conclusion of the article sums up my thoughts

Quote

The device is priced at $700 in the US (or €750 in Europe, £700 in the UK) and sold directly from Razer’s online store or Amazon.com, with a ship date of November 17th with online reservations opening today. That price tag means the Razer Phone is entering the most premium and competitive segment of the smartphone market. It’s going up against brilliantly designed pieces of hardware like the Galaxy Note 8, LG V30, HTC U11, OnePlus 5, and Huawei Mate 10 Pro. All of them have specs to match Razer’s, aside from that new screen; many of them have eliminated the bezels; and the majority also have headphone jacks. Why should you buy the Razer Phone ahead of all that great competition? Maybe Razer has a compelling answer, but after my experience with its new device, I can’t identify it.

This only makes me want the OP5 even more for like half the price, much smaller and easier to handle, and it also has a headphone jack if I'm not mistaken.

[Kobathor]

8 minutes ago, shadowbyte said:

and with no headphone jack

for some reason

cheaper to manufacture

[Dabombinable]

Phone aimed at gamers=no headphone jack?

[mech]

4 minutes ago, Dabombinable said:

Phone aimed at gamers=no headphone jack?

I know right

[Trixanity]

No IP rating.

 

And what about updates? They haven't mentioned anything about support.

 

Also, launching with Nougat. That likely means no Treble. That means reduced chance of long term support. So I'm imagining their MO will be to update their phone occasionally till the next iteration and then it'll be put on life support with an update or two over the following six months and then be killed completely with no official statement.

 

Sounds about right.

 

I hope Razer proves me wrong.

I do think they should have waited 4-6 months and launched with a Snapdragon 845 and Android 8.1 instead though.

[mech]

Just now, Trixanity said:

No IP rating.

 

And what about updates? They haven't mentioned anything about support.

 

Also, launching with Nougat. That likely means no Treble. That means reduced chance of long term support. So I'm imagining their MO will be to update their phone occasionally till the next iteration and then it'll be put on life support with an update or two over the following six months and then be killed completely with no official statement.

 

Sounds about right.

 

I hope Razer proves me wrong.

I do think they should have waited 4-6 months and launched with a Snapdragon 845 and Android 8.1 instead though.

The verge said that 8.0/8.1 will not come this year, I don't know about if it will get them and when... I also think they should have waited for the 845

[Trixanity]

Just now, ScrappyZeDog said:

The verge said that 8.0/8.1 will not come this year, I don't know about if it will get them and when... I also think they should have waited for the 845

I know about their promise to update it to Oreo in some form in Q1 but the difference between upgrading and launching with it is that Treble is mandatory if launched with Oreo and optional for upgrades meaning most upgraded devices won't get it due to the extra work required to port it to existing devices.

[ATFink]

I personally don't care if the phone is blocky, but I think the lack of headphone jack was a terrible decision especially since this phone was supposed to be targeted at "gamers." The "gamers" are actually just enthusiasts and often times enthusiasts have headphones that require a 3.5mm headphone jack. Other enthusiasts plug in microphones or some other forms of equipment into the 3.5mm jack. People often times charge their phone while using the 3.5mm jack. People generally dislike dongles. Although I don't use the 3.5mm jack myself (I don't use my phone for much at all... I don't even listen to music on my phone. It is strictly a communication device/camera) many people do and anyone with a car older than 2010 probably doesn't have bluetooth to play music in their cars.

 

In Razer's case they just made a phone that is a block, so it doesn't seem like a constraining aesthetic prevented the implementation of the headphone jack. The phone's not waterproof and the engineers didn't have to cram wireless charging into the frame, so what size constraints prevented the engineers from implementing it? I doubt size had anything to do with the removal of the jack. I believe removing it for the sake of removing it in order to follow other phone manufacturer's "courage" was the real reason.

 

If the phone was more aesthetically appealing the refresh rate and front facing speakers (assuming they don't sound like crap) in combination would have been a pretty serious contender with modern phones. However people like the iPhone X for a reason. It is a very nice looking phone. People treat their phones like an extra limb nowadays. The masses will not flock to something that looks ugly (or even mediocre) on the outside.

 

I think now is a very difficult time for anyone to enter the phone production market. Razer is just a little too late to the party in my opinion. If they came in 2 or 3 years ago before waterproofing was normal and when phones weren't as size constrained as they are now they would have had an easier time selling this thing (because they would have been able to reallocate some effort to the aesthetics of the phone), but I think the phone is DOA for the reasons I have listed (ugly, not waterproof, no headphone jack). I hope other companies implement the high refresh rate screen, large battery, and the front facing speakers though.

[Septimus]

45 minutes ago, Trixanity said:

And what about updates? They haven't mentioned anything about support

In the keynote, they said that they are working on an update and that 8.0 would be pushed out to their phones in Q1. 

[Inkz]

Honestly, I like the phone with a few major caveats:

 

1. The camera- easily the hardest thing for a smaller/ new manufacturer to not be the best. Especially with tough competition like the Pixel 2 that rely on advanced software.

 

2. I can't get it on Google Fi

 

3. No headphone jack

 

4.  Meh on screen, build quality, etc. I can't judge yet, but not deal breakers to me, unless the screen is really bad.

[Ryujin2003]

Apparently Linus really enjoyed the hype about the battery life during the live stream. 7 while hours of mobile gaming! Sign me up!!!

 

 

But seriously... I hope Razer has addressed the structural integrity issues like their other products. I'm sorry it's be a weak phone. Look at it and the screen cracks.. maybe other manufacturers like ASUS and MSI or even Dell will start if this is a success?

[MrRavens]

Mmmm good ol Nova Launcher

[TrigrH]

2 hours ago, ScrappyZeDog said:

No 3.5mm Jack

fail.

 

Xperia XZ1 is the fastest gaming phone.

[Commodus]

The year is 2020.  Virtually every smartphone on the market goes without a headphone jack.  Bluetooth headphones are so ubiquitous and efficient that wired earbuds have virtually died off.  On LTT, forum goers are still crying "fail."

[TrigrH]

4 minutes ago, Commodus said:

The year is 2020.  Virtually every smartphone on the market goes without a headphone jack.  Bluetooth headphones are so ubiquitous and efficient that wired earbuds have virtually died off.  On LTT, forum goers are still crying "fail."

There is zero valid reasons to remove a headphone jack in a smartphone. 

 

Phones don't need to be thinner.

Waterproofing? Ship it with a plug or something, it hasn't been an issue for phones anyway.

 

A headphone jack lets you connect to high end headphones at home and cheap disposable crap when you are on the go. Forcing wireless solutions or stupid adapters, just adds cost to the consumer for no reason. Its not like phones with headphone jacks don't have bluetooth.

[Guest]

If this gets good community support on XDA and doesn't have serious quallity control issues, I might jump on this

1 hour ago, Inkz said:

2. I can't get it on Google Fi

You might not be able to get it through Fi (No financing there...) but you could use your sim in it if you are willing to give up the tower hoping.

[dizmo]

3 hours ago, IAmAndre said:

The conclusion of the article sums up my thoughts

This only makes me want the OP5 even more for like half the price, much smaller and easier to handle, and it also has a headphone jack if I'm not mistaken.

Eh, it's not entirely accurate. None of those phones have batteries this large save the Huawei, and none of them have impressive stereo front facing speakers. The phone has some impressive things, like 2 years of updates, basically stock Android, etc. Though I imagine the camera is shit, considering they did nothing to highlight it.

OP5 isn't that great, and you might as well wait for the 5T/R11s.

3 hours ago, Kobathor said:

cheaper to manufacture

Apparently it was to fit the amps, speakers, and larger battery. I only buy the speakers and amps.

2 hours ago, Trixanity said:

No IP rating.

 

And what about updates? They haven't mentioned anything about support.

 

Also, launching with Nougat. That likely means no Treble. That means reduced chance of long term support. So I'm imagining their MO will be to update their phone occasionally till the next iteration and then it'll be put on life support with an update or two over the following six months and then be killed completely with no official statement.

 

Sounds about right.

 

I hope Razer proves me wrong.

I do think they should have waited 4-6 months and launched with a Snapdragon 845 and Android 8.1 instead though.

They've said 2 years of updates. Not terribly surprising to launch with Nougat.

I don't think it makes sense to wait for a new SD chip. Especially since it'd likely be longer than that, given Samsung gets first dibs again. If you're waiting 8 months, why not wait another 12 and get the 855? Or another year and get the 865?

2 hours ago, ScrappyZeDog said:

The verge said that 8.0/8.1 will not come this year, I don't know about if it will get them and when... I also think they should have waited for the 845

2 years of updates, Oreo in Q1. It's been mentioned.

I don't think they should have. That's a massive delay, plus Samsung already has dibs on the first batch.

2 hours ago, ATFink said:

-snip-

In Razer's case they just made a phone that is a block, so it doesn't seem like a constraining aesthetic prevented the implementation of the headphone jack. The phone's not waterproof and the engineers didn't have to cram wireless charging into the frame, so what size constraints prevented the engineers from implementing it? I doubt size had anything to do with the removal of the jack. I believe removing it for the sake of removing it in order to follow other phone manufacturer's "courage" was the real reason.

There's a few issues with your points..

• Anyone can spend $20 or less and get Bluetooth in their car.
• The speakers/amps are likely to blame for the lack of a headphone jack, plus ease of design, and a relatively green team.
• People like the iPhone X because it's an Apple product. Plain and simple. It's nice, for sure, but there's always going to be hype around their products
• There are loads of phones that don't offer waterproofing, and honestly it's not that big of a deal. It's still more of a nicety than a necessity.
• The phone's meant to look like that. They just reused the Robin 2, and put their own branding on it. I'd be interested to see what they came up with if they'd designed it on their own. Given their laptops, I'd guess something Apple inspired.

I'd love to see high refresh rate panels become the norm on higher end phones! Once I see how it affects battery life. If it's a huge hit, I don't think it's really worth it.

1 hour ago, Ryujin2003 said:

-snip-

But seriously...I hope Razer has addressed the structural integrity issues like their other products. I'm sorry it's be a weak phone. Look at it and the screen cracks.. maybe other manufacturers like ASUS and MSI or even Dell will start if this is a success?

Dell has made phones in the past. Asus has made phones for the last 12 years, and has a pretty large current catalog on offer.

46 minutes ago, TrigrH said:

There is zero valid reasons to remove a headphone jack in a smartphone. 

 

Phones don't need to be thinner.

Waterproofing? Ship it with a plug or something, it hasn't been an issue for phones anyway.

 

A headphone jack lets you connect to high end headphones at home and cheap disposable crap when you are on the go. Forcing wireless solutions or stupid adapters, just adds cost to the consumer for no reason. Its not like phones with headphone jacks don't have bluetooth.

Eh, if you're a true audiophile and have high end headphones you have something a lot better than a phone to stick them into. On the go, sure, but a lot of people drive. No need for them there. There might be a resurgence of the headphone jack once the younger millennials, whom drive less, are older and have more spending power. The adapters are included. There's no added cost there.

[TrigrH]

1 minute ago, dizmo said:

Eh, if you're a true audiophile and have high end headphones you have something a lot better than a phone to stick them into. On the go, sure, but a lot of people drive. No need for them there. There might be a resurgence of the headphone jack once the younger millennials, whom drive less, are older and have more spending power. The adapters are included. There's no added cost there.

I doubt even "true audiophiles" use a separate media player for music lol.

Many cars don't have Bluetooth.

A single adapter doesn't solve the issue. Its easily lost and even if you bought one for everything you own with a headphone jack it still wouldn't solve the issue if you forgot to bring headphones in the first place.

 

No headphone jack adds cost to the consumer for no real reason. All you have listed is a bunch of excuses to why it shouldn't be a problem, which is still disagree with.