Razer phone 2 review in Spanish (complete analysis)

The Razer Phone 2 has been released just over a year after Razer will launch its first gaming smartphone model. This second version, while not surprising, offers a slight renovation in the hardware section to keep up-to-date and rival in performance with star ships from other companies. Other new features are a slight touch-up in its design with slightly larger measurements, the Razer Chroma rear lighting system or the inclusion of wireless charging. Although other sections do not have a big change, we hope that the time and feedback from the first model have helped them improve and optimize.

We thank Razer for the release of the Razer Phone 2 for our testing.

Technical characteristics

Unboxing

Razer continues to bet on a fairly elegant presentation of the packaging of its terminals. The predominant color is black with the company logo printed on the center and the name printed on the side. The box opens in the form of a book, and inside we can find:

• Razer Phone 2. 24W Power Adapter. MicroUSB Type C Cable. SIM Tray Extractor. MicroUSB Type C Adapter to Audio Jack. Stickers.

An unusual design

Unlike the practical majority of terminals that opt ​​for a design with curved and rounded lines, the Razer Phone 2 continues to retain the rectilinear and rectangular design inherited from its predecessor, this includes the two front speakers, one at each end of the screen. As a consequence of the introduction of a slightly larger screen and the inclusion of wireless charging, the measurements are increased in thickness and width to reach 79 x 158.5 x 8.5 mm. In turn, the weight increases to 220 grams, a high amount that is not noticeable if we hold it with both hands to play, but it is more noticeable if we use it with only one hand.

Another change introduced in the design corresponds to the material of the back, which has gone from aluminum to glass, which gives a more elegant and premium touch to the terminal but it has some drawbacks such as its greater fragility against falls, the ease with that they mark the tracks and a worse dissipation of the heat, something to which the aluminum helped. Regarding the fragility of the glass, although it is a more fragile material than others, the company has taken special care in its resistance and durability against falls and scratches, something that we have been able to verify.

This back includes as a novelty the lighting of the Razer logo. This effect, which has been named as Chroma, which has a pre-installed application that allows its configuration.

Finally, the dual rear camera still maintains a horizontal format with the LED flash between both cameras, but they have been moved to the upper central part. These sensors protrude a few millimeters from the casing, making it dance on its back on a flat surface.

The grip, on the other hand, is not bad thanks to the fact that the lateral edges are kept in aluminum and prevents them from slipping.

The front of the Razer Phone 2, in addition to the stereo speakers and the screen that occupies a 72% useful surface, embeds the front camera and the proximity sensor in the upper speaker.

The side edges offer a slightly different configuration of the buttons than usual, in order to facilitate their use both horizontally and vertically. The volume buttons are located in the central area of ​​the left side and instead of being long travel buttons, they are button type. Its disposition to use them playing horizontally is good, but in vertical mode it becomes a bit more cumbersome. Right at the top of this side, there is the tray for two nanoSIMs or one nanoSIM and a microSD card, something that is appreciated.

The right side locates, also in its central area, the on / off button. This button includes the fingerprint sensor and does not protrude at all, it is pressed inward.

The upper and lower sides if they are more common. The upper one houses the noise-canceling microphone, and the lower only the microUSB type C port. The use of headphones is only possible through the microUSB port, either through an adapter or through headphones that have a native microUSB C connector.

Do not forget that the razer Phone 2 has the IP67 certification that makes it resistant against dust and water, if it is immersed for no more than 30 minutes at less than 1 meter depth.

In general, despite standing out from the design that other brands currently bet on, the design of the Razer Phone 2 likes, it has something that makes you feel that you have a different terminal and with very good finishes, without forgetting the logo, which It also adds an extra touch of showiness.

The screen returns with 120 Hz.

The Razer Phone 2 also stands out from the current trend to mount 6-inch panels, although in this case it is something that is rather marked by the inclusion of the front speakers and the fact of not wanting to create a terminal with gigantic dimensions. It is for all these reasons that we find a 5.72-inch screen with IGZO technology and Quad HD resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels and a maximum screen refresh rate of 120 hertz and HDR support. These last four characteristics are the same as we already saw in the previous model, the only thing that varies is the pixel density that drops slightly to 513 pixels per inch as the screen is slightly larger. The 16: 9 aspect ratio is maintained but the scratch protection goes from version 3 of Gorilla Glass to version 5. The aspect ratio may be a little out of line with other current terminals but it does not look outdated, it is the same ratio that we can currently find on any television.

The quality of the screen offers a great result in most of its features. The DCI-P3 color gamut offers a wide and rich range of colors that are supported by a fairly good saturation of these. In settings, in addition, you can configure the colors to show: natural, reinforced or vivid.

Blacks remain in a middle section between IPS and AMOLED technology, achieving a higher level of blacks than the first but less than the second. With the viewing angles we have not had any problems or appreciated any color tinting, so they are quite good.

A section in which few terminals can compete with the Razer Phone 2 is in the fluidity that the 120 Hz screen refresh provides, being very noticeable in the supported games but also during web browsing or by the system, when scrolling through any list. It is not only gained in fluidity but also in milliseconds of tactile response, with a lag of less than 8 milliseconds, ideal for general handling but especially for games. In the settings it is possible to change the refresh rate and choose between: 60, 90 and 120 Hz.

The brightness was the weakest section of the previous model, but with the Razer Phone 2 they have learned to learn from their mistakes and this time the maximum brightness has been increased to almost 600 nits, around 200 nits more. That is something that is noticed and that allows you to enjoy the screen even in sunny outdoors.

Among the extra adjustments, along with the aforementioned possibility of changing the hertz, we can also modify the screen resolution between 1440p and 1080p, although this change does not have much impact on the final battery consumption. It is also possible to change the size of the content on the screen, the display in night mode or the ambient screen to show notifications when it enters sleep mode.

Ideal stereo sound

There are smartphones with good sound and others with a mediocre sound, but almost all agree on having the only multimedia speaker on one of the side edges or on the back. And not one of the Razer Phone 2's biggest advantages is putting the speakers in the front, and not just one but two. That from the start is an incentive, but if you also have the Dolby Atmos certification, things improve. It is not like other certifications that are very useful for advertising but then do not contribute anything. In this case it is the opposite.

For starters, the speakers have commendable power along with crystal clear sound. As if that were not enough, the stereo sound is configured in such a way that it makes a really good emulation of the surround sound, this, together with the bass that the terminal itself generates, achieves a good simulation of what a 5.1 would be, keeping the distances. The demo itself available in the sound settings is a good example of this, however that surround sound is also enjoyable with the netflix app that supports it, and even a sound improvement is noted in games and YouTube videos.

In the same settings option named above, we will find different equalizations to choose from depending on the content we want to play, a smart equalizer and the possibility of activating the optimization of dialogs and bass

It is a pity, on the other hand, not having a 3.5mm Jack input for audio. This is compensated for by including a Type C microUSB jack or DAC adapter. It is obviously something to be thankful for, but it makes us have to depend on an extra component. Ignoring that, the sound quality received in the headphones maintains the power and clarity that the speakers show off.

An almost pure system, but without Foot

If the speakers surprise for good, the operating system offers an unexpected surprise by not coming standard with Android 9 Pie, instead it comes with Android Oreo 8.1. A version that seems a little late for a terminal released these dates. On the other hand, a negative aspect in my opinion is the almost obligatory series of downloads and updates carried out by the terminal the first time Wi-Fi is being configured and configured, without having the possibility of skipping it. It should be done in the background once the user has accessed the operating system.

Leaving that aspect aside, the system runs like a shot, the fluidity is noticeable throughout the system and that feeling is increased with the aforementioned 120 Hz.

The visual style is given by the Nova launcher theme, which is installed by default, giving a style that is very similar and almost brother to Android One, but with many more configuration options and with the difference of the green and black design that they have system icons, menus, and system windows. A style that fits a lot with the terminal and, of course, with the brand itself.

One of the default and most important applications of the Razer Phone 2 is the Game Enhancer, where in addition to being able to find recommended games, it also allows us to choose between several optimization modes: one of energy saving, another in which the performance of games, and a final custom mode , in which we can adjust the different options on our own for each particular game.

Among the settings we also find, the one in charge of managing the rear lighting and the type of lighting. Even notification notification can be activated by this lighting.

The expected power

The Razer phone 2 updates SoC to be the latest on the market, this means that, despite maintaining the 8 GB of LPDDR4X RAM, the SnapDragon 845 is mounted, this year's great protagonist along with the Adreno 630 GPU. Great hardware that you couldn't ask for more this year, and that was known to get the most out of to achieve the desired performance. However, not only the power is important, it is necessary to take into account the internal cooling, for this Razer has implemented a steam chamber. After our tests we have been able to verify the good work done by this camera, since after a long time playing, the sensation of heating of the terminal was quite imperceptible.

The Razer Phone 2 achieves an AnTuTu score of 259961, quite high but not ranking first. In Geekbench he achieves 2363 in single-core and 8595 in multi-core.

Regarding internal storage, the only available model comes with 64 GB with the possibility of inserting a microSD of up to 1 TB. That storage capacity seems to us somewhat insufficient for a terminal of € 800 and that is designed to play and store games. His would have been to mount at least 128 GB.

Razer has not been in the trend of easy unlocking either, something that they do not need either, since the fingerprint sensor placed on the on / off button is enough for them. The operation of this sensor is good but not perfect. To turn on the already unlocked Razer Phone 2, you need to press the button in, it is not worth just pressing your finger lightly, even on some rare occasion the fingerprint has not been recognized the first time. You should be able to recognize the fingerprint without having to press your finger if it has been used recently.

Cameras are still a pending issue

The two rear cameras both have 12 megapixel sensors. The main one also has a focal aperture of 1.75, a pixel size of 1.4 microns, a dual pixel PDAF and OIS. The secondary, on the other hand, has a focal length of 2.6, a pixel size of one micron and a 2x optical zoom.

In scenes with good light, the photographs show a high level of detail and good colors, which do not appear oversaturated or washed. The contrast is kept at a decent level, but sometimes it could be better and it is necessary to use the HDR manually, since in automatic it does not do such a good job sometimes. By slightly zooming in on the captures, you can quickly see that the image has more grain than normal in this type of sensor.

Without HDR

As the light decreases, the details and colors continue to be maintained, and it is already in night scenes where the main protagonist is the grain and a slight lack of contrast. In this aspect it is clearly below many terminals in the same range.

The incorporation of the second camera in the Razer Phone 2 gives rise to the possibility of taking photos in portrait or bokeh mode, and of making the zoom 2x. The latter has been improved with respect to the zoom of the previous model, although it is still somewhat erratic at times.

The Portrait mode that the Razer Phone 2 performs is generally good, almost always achieving a good separation between focus and background. She just seems to have a little more trouble with her hair and not always.

Video recording can be 1080p at 30, 60, or 120 fps or 4K at 30 and 60 fps, and stabilization is done fairly decently. The quality achieved in this case is very similar to that of the photos, with great detail, especially in 4K, and good colorimetry, but the grain is still present. Recording at 30 fps is not entirely smooth, so it is recommended to choose a larger framerate.

The front selfie camera has 8 megapixels and a focal aperture of 2. This camera does not offer as much detail as the rear or offers great contrast but maintains balanced colors.

The portrait effect of this camera, despite only using a single camera, performs a blur effect quite well achieved, with the occasional failure.

The camera interface is rather simple and has the basic options: Panoramic, Beauty, Portrait, Photo and Video; some of it are easily accessible from the main interface like flash, HDR mode, flash and timer.

Amazing autonomy

In this section, the company has continued to be aware of how important autonomy is in a terminal of this type, which is why they have provided the Razer Phone 2 with the same 4000 mAh of the previous model. Although on other occasions, we analyzed the autonomy based on its duration with normal use, in this review it was necessary to carry out another test giving more attention to the Razer with games. The final result has been quite satisfactory and has left us with a good taste in the mouth. Playing the battery has lasted 18 hours, of which, just over 4 and a half, were screen. Instead, making normal use, the battery lasted almost 2 days with an incredible 8 hours of screen.

Quickcharge 4.0+ fast charging has also performed very well, managing to charge half the battery in half an hour and fully charge in just over an hour. A great merit, since we are talking about a 4000 mAh battery and not 3000 or similar.

It is appreciated the inclusion of Qi wireless charging in the terminal, which is also one of the novelties with respect to the previous model.

Connectivity

The Razer phone 2 has Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac, MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, A-GPS, GLONASS, VoLTE, and NFC.

Conclusion and final words of the Razer Phone 2

Al César what is César, the Razer Phone 2, like its previous model, is designed and sold as a smartphone aimed at the gaming market, hence many of the features and details it has. The main scourge that could be found at first glance is the design or size, but they are not aspects that are marked by why, but are designed to maximize the playable experience, which is what they are going for. During our testing, even the design has seemed attractive to people who do not play a single game, in the end everything is taste, but the grid is not synonymous with ugly and in this particular case, I like it. Added to this is the back lighting, beautiful and not seen in many models, fully customizable and even deactivatable.

With the incredible speakers and the great screen quality with their 120 Hz and higher brightness, they have also done a great job. The same can be said of a battery that surprises with its duration or the clean and fluid operating system.

You could expect more from the power, but there is not much more to scratch unless you take your own SoC out of your sleeve.

The main defects that can be removed from the Razer Phone 2 are with respect to the camera, below expectations, and being a gaming terminal is not an excuse for not having placed more importance on them.

On the other hand, launching a current terminal to the market with the previous version of Android does not make much sense, although it is not a big defect, but it is to be expected that the batteries will be put in and an update will be released soon.

Not having included more storage would not be a problem if it were not for the price of the Razer Phone 2, in this case it is important to have added an amount according to what it costs.

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In short, the Razer Phone 2 is a very good smartphone in practically everything necessary to play. Like a normal smartphone, it limps on cameras. The price is one last aspect to take into account, since it is around € 800, a high price but that each one will value depending on what they are looking for.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ The 120 Hz and the brightness of the screen.	- It does not incorporate Android 9 Pie.
+ Powerful and without heating.	- The quality given by the cameras is improvable.
+ The sound given by the stereo speakers is magnificent.	- Does not include audio jack, although it does have an adapter.
+ The autonomy is quite good.	- Size and weight do not make it so ergonomic with one hand.
+ The rear lighting offers a good look along with the glass.	- Includes only 64 GB of storage for the price it has.

The Professional Review team awards him the gold medal:

Razer Phone 2

DESIGN - 88%

DISPLAY - 90%

SOUND - 97%

PERFORMANCE - 92%

CAMERA - 77%

AUTONOMY - 91%

PRICE - 81%

88%

A great smarpthone gaming

A smartphone that has everything but where the camera limps.