Razer phone review in Spanish (full analysis)

When Razer, widely known for its gaming products, announced the Razer Phone a few months ago, nobody believed it. It was an important step to enter the smartphone market. Little by little the specifications were arrived at and everything made sense. Razer remains true to its style. Launched a device focused on gaming and gamers. That is why, we are facing a terminal with powerful hardware and performance to match. However, we are still talking about a smartphone. All sections must be valued, including those outside the video game world, such as the camera.

We thank Razer for trusting the product for their review.

Technical characteristics of the Razer Phone

Unboxing

Razer has designed one of the most careful packaging I've seen in recent times. Minimalist, with very good materials and with each accessory in a separate box with padded foam. It's bigger than we usually find, but it's worth it. Inside we find:

• Razer Phone. Power adapter. MicroUSB cable type C. Jack adapter 3.5mm to microUSB type C. SIM tray extractor. Quick guide.

Design

In recent years we have become used to the rounded shapes and edges on most smartphones. Trends are always created but in breaking them is the challenge. The Razer Phone have been unmarked and there is virtually no curved edge. The terminal, which measures 158.5 x 77.7 x 8 mm, maintains a flat style with straight lines. Anyone reading this can think of a grotesque, but that design suits him very well. It was obvious that after the purchase of Nexbit by Razer, the latter would take inspiration from the Nexbit Robin.

The good work of the company is seen in the use of quality materials. In this case, metal is the predominant material in the body of the device.

A drawback for some may be its excessive dimensions. Something that is marked by the difficulty of using it with one hand on some occasions. Unfortunately, you can't have everything at once: a big screen and ease of use.

This increase in measurements is given by the inclusion of two large speakers that occupy the upper and lower front frame. The company has not only wanted to provide the Razer Phone with good image quality, but has also decided to add sound to match. Between one thing and another, it is not surprising that it weighs 197 grams. An amount that is noticeable if it comes from a light terminal. But one ends up getting used to it.

Design details

On the front, in addition to the speakers, we find the ambient light sensor and the front camera. The screen is protected with Gorilla Glass 3. Be careful with the speakers, because sometimes they get dirty very easily. In the upper corner of the back are the dual camera and flash.

The drawback to this position is the ease with which fingers can appear on photos. Under the cameras, in the central area, you can see the screenprinted Razer logo.

The side edges bring something new. At the top edge there is exclusively the noise canceling microphone. If we go to the right side, we find access to the nanoSIM / microSD tray and surprisingly, the fingerprint sensor that also acts as an on / off button for the screen.

On the left side, there are the volume buttons located in a centered position. Unfortunately, both its position and its small size are not the most accurate. On more than one occasion, its pulsation is complicated. Finally, on the bottom edge is the typical microphone for calls and the Type C microUSB connector.

In general I like the design. In addition, most of the drawbacks disappear when playing horizontally with both hands. At the end of the day, it is the idea for which the Razer Phone is intended.

screen

The 5.7-inch screen is one of the best sections of this terminal. To begin with, we find a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels with IPS IGZO LCD technology. In this technology lies one of the improvements over other screens.

The transistors of the IGZO screens being superconducting allow a higher refresh rate. In this case we are talking about a 120 HZ soft drink. Double what most screens usually have. However, with just that technology, jerks could still occur in non-optimized games. Therefore, another technology called Ultramotion has been included. This is responsible for synchronizing the screen frequency with the Adreno 540 GPU.

It is appreciated that this greater refreshment is not only exclusive to games. The truth is that the experience both playing and performing other tasks is greatly improved thanks to the fluency gained. If you want to enjoy those 120 Hz while playing, it will be necessary for the game to be optimized for it. There are already a good handful of them with which to take advantage of that refreshment. Like, for example: Tekken, Injustice 2, Gear Club, Asphalt 8, Final Fantasy XV, Hitman Sniper, Titanfall Assault, and even Minecraft, to name a few.

As for other aspects of the screen, both the color, the contrast and the viewing angle are grated to a high level.

Brightness performs well outdoors, but could be even better . Sometimes with a little more direct light, it is difficult to see what is happening on the screen. It is the only thing that fails to be an almost perfect screen. Indoors, it is quite an enjoyment.

Sound

As I mentioned before, the inclusion by Razer of the two speakers in the front, is a great success. The terminal may have size, but the sound reproduced is one of the best, if not the best, that I have had the opportunity to hear on a smartphone. They sound crisp, powerful, and in stereo. Also, they are Dolby certified with Dolby Atmos support and that shows. In the demo included in the Dolby app, you can see how well the sound is wrapped and the great function of the bass.

The weird thing about a gaming-focused smartphone is the omission of the 3.5mm jack plug for the headphones. Not everyone has or is willing to buy wireless headphones. Admittedly, a THX-certified audioUSB Type-C to Audio Jack is included. But that supposes an accessory more than having to be carrying from one side to another.

OS

The Razer Phone, strangely enough, comes standard with Android 7.1.1 Nougat. By its release date, it was intuited or expected that it would come with Android 8 Oreo. However, we will have to keep waiting.

As for the personalization layer, it just seemed perfect to me. Why? The company has not included its own personalization layer, instead they include the NOVA Premium launcher by default. This means, practically pure Android and also with many more customization options.

Razer has included some special screen-focused adjustments. Among them is the possibility of changing the refresh rate of the screen and choosing between 60, 90 or 120Hz. Another setting allows us to even change the resolution displayed by the screen from 1440p to 1080p or 720p. With this it is possible to see some things in a larger size. With the default resolution everything looks smaller. Similar to what usually happens in PC monitors at high resolutions.

The other extra setting is the Game Booster. In it we can manage several modes: energy saving, Performance or Custom. With the latter you can manage each game separately. This includes modifying CPU GHz, screen resolution, fps speed, and contour smoothing.

performance

If the Razer Phone stands out in one section, even more than in the others, it is in this one. This is attested to by the Snapdragon 835 Octa-Core processor with 4 kryo cores at 2.45 GHz and another 4 at 2.15 GHz. As an accompaniment to the graphics it has an Adreno 540 GPU and all of it is finally seasoned with 8GB of RAM. It is normal that, if the company wanted to take out a player terminal, it would put the meat on the grill with one of the most powerful processors in recent months.

And what can be said about its performance? Well, obviously it performs extremely well. Any app or game tested has run without jerks or stuttering. In Antutu, the result has been 206310. In PCMark 7708. Only surpassed by the Iphone 8.

It can be said that the system is fluid, but in this case, with the high refresh rate, the word fluidity falls short.

However, such processing load ends up being noticed in the form of heat. In certain games the back part gets a little warm. It does not become something out of the ordinary, but it shows. Above all, it contrasts with the cold sensation that the metal body leaves when it is at rest.

The performance, on the other hand, of the fingerprint sensor is perfect. Well, perfect with nuances. If only your finger rests on the sensor, the terminal will not be unlocked. That only works if the screen is already on previously. In order to unlock quickly you have to press and hold the power button. It's hard to get the hang of it, but once it's done, it works wonders.

Finally, it should be mentioned that the Razer Phone includes 64 GB of internal storage. The minimum required today for any high range. Although, without a doubt, it would not have hurt to have 128 GB.

Main Camera

Razer has included two main rear cameras of 12 megapixels each. The first with f / 1.8 aperture and the second with f / 2.6 aperture. However, I still do not understand very well why they added two cameras and then hardly give it any use.

Many terminals with double cameras make use of them to create an interesting Bokeh effect, take black and white photos or choose the angle according to the moment. With this double camera you can not do any of that. The only utility is to be able to perform, beyond the 2X optical zoom, a digital zoom of up to 8x. The problem is that, in the end, that digital zoom does not give such good results.

Focusing on the photos, it must be recognized that the autofocus works quickly thanks to the built-in hybrid approach. This generally helps to get sharp photos in well-lit environments. Colors are also usually displayed fairly correctly without oversaturation or washes. The contrast may sometimes fail in certain scenes. As always, the use of the high dynamic range HDR function can help improve the final quality of the snapshot.

Without HDR

With HDR

In areas with less light, you can see the good work of the camera. The scenes are usually portrayed without a sharp loss of sharpness. Even the colors are displayed acceptably. Not the same with the contrast again, it appears somewhat washed out. In general, it can be said that the camera does a good job in these cases.

4K video recording, secondary camera and interface

It is possible to record video in both 4K and 1080p. The quality is quite decent, in scenes with little movement it behaves more or less well. The problem appears in moving scenes or if a camera is swept, as can be seen in the video. On the other hand, the 8-megapixel front camera with f / 2.0 aperture makes good photos for the use it will be given.

However, the biggest problem is the software. The interface is minimalist to extreme levels. Only the button to activate the HDR, the grid, the timer, the flash and the exposure selection are found. Nothing else. Even the settings menu is sparse on options. This aspect should be further refined in future updates. He still lacks work. The only option to have some more options is to pull external applications.

Battery

As it could not be less, the battery must have an important capacity to achieve good autonomy. Above all, seen the built-in hardware and display. Therefore, a 4000 mAh capacity battery has been included. On much less powerful devices, that same battery could last up to two days. With the Razer Phone, that number obviously decreases a lot.

Making normal use with social networks and web browsing, it is possible to reach the end of the day without problems. However, as soon as something more was demanded of the phone in relation to games, the battery arrived at the end of the day very very fair.

To have added more battery would have been to add more weight and size than it already has. It is understandable.

The Razer Phone incorporates fast charging, but not any one but the QuickCharge 4 version. It is certainly one of the fastest we have seen. It is capable of recharging half of the 4000mAh in just half an hour. For 100% it takes approximately twice as long.

The charging cable, aside from its good quality, has a microUSB type C connector on both sides. There is no problem using it with the included power adapter. Instead, it becomes almost impossible to connect it to most PCs on the market since they do not have that port. They should have included a USB connector on the other end like most companies do.

Connectivity

There are not many new features in this section and we find the usual: Bluetooth 4.2, 4G LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi a / b / g / n / ac, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Display, GLONASS, GPS, Beidou.

Conclusion and final words about the Razer Phone

Razer has launched its first smartphone in the best possible way and through the big door. It is easy to search for their strengths. It is one of the most powerful on the market, with an enviable display and refresh rate and sound beyond doubt. Even the interface is what is expected, although it is necessary to update the operating system to Android 8 Oreo.

There are always things to improve! With the battery they have done what they could, but it is true that it falls short. The camera is another weak point, where it lacks improvement even though it doesn't do a bad job. But since they incorporate two cameras, they should have taken more advantage of it. We hope that some improvement will be seen shortly at the software level.

For those who like to play with the best of the best today, this will be your smartphone. For those who do not, they will also enjoy everything it offers. As always, the only barrier may be its high sale price of around € 750. Today it offers things that no competitor has, so it is already worth it.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ Very good quality screen.	- Cameras with room for improvement.
+ 120 Hz refresh rate.	- Correct but insufficient battery.
+ Unmatched sound quality.	- Too basic camera interface.
+ Very powerful.
+ Stable SO and with NOVA Launcher.
+ Excellent fast charge.

The Professional Review team gives the Razer Phone the Gold medal and recommended product:

Razer Phone

DESIGN - 91%

PERFORMANCE - 98%

CAMERA - 82%

AUTONOMY - 83%

PRICE - 80%

87%