Hands on with the Razer Phone 2, a smartphone for ‘Fortnite’ addicts

Almost a year after releasing its first gaming-focused smartphone, Razer is throwing its hat back into the arena. Behold: the Razer Phone 2.

For the uninitiated, Razer is a powerhouse in the game peripheral market, and the company’s second smartphone cements its place as an industry leader. The Razer Phone 2 is built specifically for people who love video games and want to do more of it on a touchscreen — namely with titles like Fortnite or PUBG Mobile.

To handle this, the new Razer Phone, which I got a chance to try out for a few minutes, is said to perform 30 percent better than the previous generation thanks to its Qualcomm 845 Snapdragon processor and Adreno 630 GPU. 

Moving onto the screen, Razer claims its new phone is the only phone with a true 120Hz display, which should basically eliminate those annoying stutters or lags during gameplay. Plus, the display on the Razer Phone 2 is bright. The company says it’s 50 percent brighter than its predecessor. 

Since the phone was made specifically for gaming, you’ll likely be using the Razer Phone 2 most in landscape mode, as it was designed to be comfortable in that position. In fact, when using it for gaming, you’ll find the phone has left just enough room on each side so that your hands never cover the screen.

Speaking of design, the Razer Phone 2 is still a lot like its predecessor in the looks department and boasts the same aluminum unibody. It’s nice and feels premium in your hand — but doesn’t quite match the same feel of a new iPhone or Pixel.

With all its big promises of high performance, you’re probably wondering about the phone’s battery. Razer claims the new Razer Phone 2’s battery can last up to 10 hours. That’s the same as the previous Razer Phone, but this one is packing much more power, particularly with its 120Hz screen display rate. 

However, aiding the battery is a feature called the Razer Cortex: Game Booster. It allows Razer Phone users to optimize their mobile experience by creating settings attuned to each game on their phone. 

For example, if you know you’re not going to need that max CPU performance and frame rate output for a simple puzzle game on your commute home, you can create settings that will be remembered every time you launch that game so it doesn’t drain battery life. 

The audio on the Razer Phone 2 is truly one if its greatest features. This phone can get loud and the sound never distorts. Combined with built-in Dolby Atmos surround sound, the Razer Phone 2 may be the most audio immersive experience I’ve ever had with a smartphone. Spend a moment watching a movie on the Razer Phone 2, and it’s clear this product comes from the same company that owns THX.

Boosting the Razer Phone 2’s entertainment system bonafides is the fact that it’s the only phone to receive official certification from Netflix for HDR video and Dolby Surround 5.1 audio content.

Upping the cool factor of the Razer Phone 2 is another feature making its way from Razer’s line of computers: the RGB Chroma light. Razer’s three-headed snake logo on the back of the phone can light up in over 16.8 million colors just like the Razer logo on the Blade 15 laptop. And as an added bonus for the Razer Phone 2, the logo on the back can light up based on a specific app’s notification. A new Gmail message notification can be set to appear with a red glow or a new WhatsApp message can give you the heads up with a green flash. It’s really not a necessary feature, but it sure is neat.

If you’re familiar with the first Razer phone, everything you love about it has been improved upon. Even a number of the things we hated about the phone have been dealt with. Razer’s rolling out a wireless charging unit with its Chroma feature that lights up while you use it.

The Razer Phone 2 is also water resistant. There’s still not a headphone jack, but that’s the way things go now.

However, one glaring flaw pointed out in our review of the first model still lingers: the camera. It’s not that the camera’s bad. It’s even been improved with a rear dual 12-megapixel camera and a front-facing 8MP selfie cam optimized for streamers with full HD video capabilities. They’ve even added a few camera features like panorama mode to the previous barebones offerings. Unfortunately, even with a phone so forward-thinking, in a market where basic smartphones are pulling out all the stops with slow-motion, time lapse, and cinemagraphs, the camera is left behind.

The new Razer Phone 2 is now available at Razer.com for $799. It’s a fantastic refresh that’s sure to make the hardcore gamers happy. After all, that’s who this phone is made for.