Razer Phone Review: 3 Months Later By Jeff Grubb's Game Mess

It's, the internet, you're busy. Let's do this, the razor phone- this is the first phone from razor and I have decided to kind of come through with my review right now after using it for about the last ten weeks or so, so on, November 17th, the razor phone started shipping after a review event where razor got on stage, and they showed the thing off and kind of talked about all the things that could do I've been using it. Since then, I've you know been using as my daily driver and I figured okay, yeah now's the time I feel pretty comfortable I'm ready to talk about like what it's been like to live with this phone and I. Think it's I think it's Simon's video said great with a couple of flaws that are obvious and aren't deal-breakers and or at least they haven't been, so we can dive right in I. Think let's go ahead and start with the details. I mean first seven hundred dollars.

You can get it from Racer calm. You can, I think there's a few other ways to get it right now. Amazon things like that, you can get it through AM, get it through Racer and not have to pay $700, but have to go through, like a third party enables you to pay a monthly pay them in a monthly installment that is I. I do believe that includes some interest on top of there, so you end up paying more than 700, but you know at that price. It puts it right in the fight for a top-of-the-line, modern smartphone.

There are more expensive phones, obviously out there there's the iPhone 10 for $1000. You know that's significantly more expensive, but you know it's kind of in that range you're at the beginning of that range. So does it stand up to that stuff? Well, I think so. So one of the reasons I wanted to do this review now is not just because I've been using it for a long time, but because I, because it's the first phone from Racer the company, is continually coming out with big updates for the phone phones. You know updates that change the camera updates that change the know what the screen is even doing, so I can do a comprehensive review about what it's like to live with the phone, but I can also you know it's its sort of an updated review as opposed to everything that came out at launch that deals with some of the newer features that is maybe I, think keeping it compelling and in the fight with some of these other phones that are coming out right now.

Now, let's, lets kind of you know beyond those details, I mean it, you can buy one right. The second $700 I think it's probably a good time to just kind of jump into the things I like about the phone we'll start here, and then we'll get to the things I, don't like, which I think are obvious. You'll understand the problems with them. Once I Google crashed, yeah cool, you understand the problems with them immediately, and you'll know if they are a deal-breaker for you. They haven't been for me so far, but there are reasons for that, and we'll get into it.

So what do I? Like well, I mean the first things first, and this is one: that's not going to be a big surprise. This is a great screen. It really is so it's its. You know, it's I, think it's the HD so like 3200 by 1800, I, think that's right, quad HD, or something like that, and you know it's, so it's you know. Super high resolution super high, pixel density.

That's great! That's I! Think a that's table stakes on any smartphone. The thing that separates this one, of course, if you're at all familiar with the razor phone you'll know this, it has a hundred and twenty Hertz refresh rate like and what razor basically calls ultra motion. So this screen is just beyond smooth. It's something! That's not going to show up on this video which I'm shooting at 30 frames per. Second, it's I do have some other footage where I try to do it at a higher frame rate or I.

Try to capture it, so you can kind of see and that's in another video, and I'll link that you know somewhere in the description where I know, I'm going over the features and make it good for gaming, and you can see that like when it's a 120 Hertz the scrolling is a lot smoother. You know it's, it's not something that it's not something that, like I, think you need, but once you have if it's hard to go back, especially just browsing the web and things like that. So I think oh yeah $124. So what am I doing? I'm reading a ton on my phone, that is the primary use I have for this device. So you know why there's 120 Hertz help with that, because as you're scrolling it keeps the text really crisp and you kind of still read has you're scrolling, and it's not going to be jumping around or have this sort of misting effect as you kind of scroll up like a like an old game gear.

You know, of course it's not it's not that bad, but then it's the same basic thing, that's happening, and that smoothness just makes for such a pleasant experience on the eyes that I have you know it does drain your battery a little more. But this thing also that's another huge feature. Four thousand William battery that battery is so big, then I've kept 120 Hertz on at all times, and this bone usually lasts me through the day, no problem, so uh yeah. If it's a kind of give and take I've taped, I've taken it took I have taco I have taken that hundred twenty Hertz frame rate, and I've just run with it. Because it's been, it's been so delightful, but that's not where the features of the screen stop.

It keeps kind of getting better, for example, and this is one of the new features that just got introduced to the phone in the last week, razor has updated it to support HDR, and now it's sports HDR on Netflix. So as you're watching Netflix, you can get basically like HDR support along with 5.1, surround sound on your phone. It kind of makes this phone, maybe one of the better multimedia devices ever there are. You know, yeah, watching content on your phone I think you know there are times when you're like okay, we're starting get these big screens. I'm gonna start doing that, and then you realize I still don't love this I'm, just gonna wait till I get home and watch stuff there, and then there they introduce some new stuff and I.

Think right now we're definitely at one of those points where I'm Mike I could actually watch most stuff on my phone and be totally happy now. What makes the razor phone such a great multimedia experience? It's not just the 120 Hertz beautiful screen that you know. That's only going to go so far for video content, which is your know, 24 frames per second 30 frames per second, sometimes 60 frames per second. You know it supports all that stuff. It's great, and you know the high resolution of things crisp, but you know once you start getting that HDR, which is high dynamic range.

This enables you to get really bright. Whites like blaring, bright whites, and it also gives you very deep blacks at the same time, and those two things can exist on the screen at the same time, and it's an it's quite impressive, but then you also have the front-facing speakers and I will kind of combine these ideas, so you know I'm talking about it as a great multimedia device, but it's also, you know that you know is part of a larger topic of the speaker's themselves, so it has two front facing speakers on either side. That is why it has the chin which side is which yeah the chin and the forehead, and they're pretty big, big enough for you to grab with your thumbs without touching the screen, which is actually something I really like, and so you can. You know point to sir edit your face. You know turn on Netflix, get your high-definition HDR content and have these speakers blasting right at you, and you know if you're, not in public, if you're, not on a bus or whatever you know you just like you're in a hotel room or something it's its quiet.

A cinematic experience like it's kind of impressive, you know, and it's nothing like this- is going to really work on video or whatever, like, although that I'm recording for you guys trying to get rid of mics. My notifications, but like it sports like Dolby, damn it, what is it called? It has support for Dolby Atmos, that's right and THX. Certified racer owns thanks, so big, surprise that it's certified, but beyond that, like whatever it has Dolby Atmos support built-in, which is what it is like you. So you know it comes with the phone, so you could just have that stuff like on other stuff. You'll have to pay for it.

There's a licensing fee here, just it's built in, and you know you can go to more settings in the thing right on your notification screen and like play a demo and like I, played a demo of one of the Atmos things just with the speakers pointed right at me and the positional audio created by these two speakers. These two stereo speakers were out front blew my mind. There was a bird flying around my head, and I was freaking out yeah. It's a completely, completely baffling how good this phone can sound. Sometimes so, like I, said, you're sitting your hotel room, and you want to watch a movie, and you can put it on the TV, but it's almost better just to like to pull this thing up to your face.

You have all your content, you know where everything is you don't have to deal with, whatever the RO control for the know, TV in there, and you're going to have just a completely excellent experience, because the Razor phone is so good at what it does here when it comes to video and audio now, some other I think perfect features, and you know- and this, but maybe plays a little to the multimedia aspect. I think it still is a good phone for gaming I. Think if, let's say you have an Nvidia graphics card in your computer, and you download the moonlight app from the Google Play Store and you combine all these things together, your phone, the moonlight app and your Nvidia graphics card. You could stream PC games to this thing. No problem and again those speakers make it into like a perfect portable gaming device like even if, like you, don't, have the headphones, or you want to keep this plugged, and so you don't lose any power while you're playing games.

This thing is just excellent for that, and I've really been happy with that. As a Bluetooth controller, I can get stuff going right away and be playing Tu van, a divinity original sin 2 or whatever else, and it's just it feels great. It looks great. It sounds great. Furthermore, it looks so smooth I believe moonlight does support up to like 60 frames per second and I think they're trying to get updates to do faster than that like up to 144, so 120 should be supported soon.

That's um a really cool way to play games. If your home network can support it, no other things I like um, you know I talked about it a little, but that battery really is impressive. Four thousand William it is gonna, get most people I think through the day without an issue. It's just a's just a huge thing, and if you do need that extra juice you can like you, don't have to start going into battery saver mode. First thing you could do is just go down to 90 frames per second, instead of 60 or 120 kinds of be in that sweet spot, and you'll get quite a bit more time.

If you do need more time going on 60, and then you can start playing around with battery statement uh you know modes or whatever uh but I, think that's on like a heavy use day. It's on a traveling day. That's not that's, not something I! Think you're going to have to worry about its something. I've barely ever worried about the phone just keeps going and going and going if you're not familiar with battery sizes in phones, 4000 is way on the high side and that's like that's what you're getting like some tablets. So to get this, as opposed to like a 2500 William battery or a 3,250 William battery.

Those are tiny compared to what you have in here um. What else I like the look and the feel and the design it is kind of got this matte black? On the back of my it's kind, it's not quite matte, but it's not um super reflective. So you don't get a ton of fingerprints. It's just kind of like this, this flatter color, but at the same time I think it looks really nice it is. It feels like a plastic kind of like a yeah kind of like a half plastic, half rubber, half metal sort of thing.

It's its using a combination of materials for sure, I think around the front up here it is you get some brushed aluminum and yeah I, just think it looks so unique. Furthermore, it stands out, especially I. Think with these speakers on the front. You know it's a very tall, looking device, and you know the screen looks really cool, but I mean I. Think with so many galaxies out there Samsung galaxies and so many iPhones.

It is fun to go out someplace and be the person taking out something that does look different and has its own look and feel. That is refreshing. It's kind of a good way to you know express yourself now: it's not super different, it's not like a device or anything like that. It's still in that same realm of design, but still I, think razor can be hit-and-miss with the look of look at look of their products. I think this is a hit for sure it might be one of their better ones for sure I, like bulk of their laptops, a ton still do I have forever, maybe the best looking PC Windows laptops for sure, and then the phone is kind of in that same design, mentality, I.

Think. Finally, well I want to talk about the durability. There's some other things. I could probably go over just real quick. It has a 64 gigabyte storage in it, like as a minimum I, think I'm, not sure if it has any other options.

That's enough. It's usually enough space for most people. If you want more, it has support for an SD card which is uh. It's that's good, too. I love them I.

Think all phones should have that. It's weird: when they don't, so you can kind of expand that and that I mean and that's where media can go movies. Music photos. You take videos, you take all that can go on that SD card and that leaves plenty of room on the on that built-in hard drive for apps and data and things like that: okay, so durability. One of the reasons actually I mean I could just tell the store, so I was using them as Samsung Galaxy s, 8 plus for a while it's around here somewhere.

That was the phone I was using before this I like that phone. It's good, but I like barely dropped it, and it got a huge crack on the back, and then I barely dropped. It again and a big chip mistake the front and I mean it's a real bummer I mean these phones are so expensive, and I love. Waterproofing I do I, think that's a cool feature, but boy would I just prefer these phones not break when you like to drop them just barely, and so I was, you know, razor unveiled the phone, and I'm like before the event before the event. I was like whatever I: don't I, don't need to be into the razor phone I.

Don't I, don't need to learn anything about this thing, and then they came out, and they showed it off, and I'm, like man that looks pretty cool and then the next day my phone breaks, and I'm like um. This is before my phone breaks am I talking to razor PR hey. Can we get one for review, maybe and like oh well, we've got a line so long, so many people were already? You know ahead of you. I'm like okay, I get it so my phone breaks, and I'm like oh man that would have been nice if I could have like had this phone at least for a while to review and yeah they're like okay, yeah. Well, no one say anything to that.

But then I like was like complaining about my phone and hey. You know Racer, CEO and Twitter. You know, hey I could do a review. My phone just got busted up, and he's like okay yeah, but soon you one more all right. Let's do it! So that's why they sent me.

One he's like yeah: we built the others like a tank trust me, it's gonna, be fine. Am I okay? Well whatever to that sure uh-huh he's not lying. This thing is a tank, so I've been using this phone so to be fair, this is not the one I've been using since November 17th. The one they sent me originally was a pre-production like not quite prototype, but it's not one from the production line, and it had an issue with a screen so that one sent back they sent this one. Instead, this one is a final model that actually came from the production line and it- and so you know so- this has been at least a month.

I've had this one and the results are that I have dropped this one because I'm still clumsy and stupid, but I have drummed quite a few times and no shatters. Nothing like there's no glass on the back to break, which is I, mean I'm, starting to really hate glass. On the back for fun, I guess I get it looks, cool or feels cool, but this looks cool and feels cool too, and it's not going to shatter just because. You tapped it on something and in the front the screen, which has to be like a know, shatter a little material. That's just the nature of the way.

The thing works, it's its, it can take it. That's the thing it can take it. It has taken it way more. Actually, the drops that this one's gone through has been worse than the Samsung Galaxy. So I've been super happy with it.

The only thing is, and I yeah there's like one scratch here. What you can't see I can only see when I'm really looking for it, and it is not noticeable during use, so that uh, you know the gorilla glass or whatever they're using does a perfect job of making sure that's only sort of noticeable when you're looking for it when you're shining a light on it. When it's turned off, maybe we could see it. No I can't I, don't think so. Um yeah scratches are just going to happen.

I had a ton more scratches on the galaxy a plus a month after using that than I have on this one too. So, but I don't know. If that's here, their point is, is that I have I've been very happy with the razor phone so far it is. It seems like if you want something different. You want a pen that looks cool.

You could do that. It has the best media features. I really do think. That's the case yeah and if you want something, that's going to be durable, and you know I think they have. They have cases now for which I honestly should get, so I can keep having a durable device.

Yeah, I think this is a perfect option. That is not to say that it doesn't have drawbacks. So, let's get into what I don't like and I. Think the big thing here is these I think some of these will be dealbreakers for some people, and they haven't quite been for me yet, because I've either found ways to deal with them or they were never a problem. They're, never something I actually care about the first place, but there are two big ones: I think the first is the camera.

The camera is not great, and I'll try to put some photos up and here, so you could see what I'm talking about that I've taken with this thing, the photo the camera it looks washed out, it's it always like it. Almost your shots are gonna, look blurry, I think a lot of times unless you're really trying to get a good one and coming from the galaxy is. Plus to this it's been a big disappointment. That's been the biggest problem. The s8 pluses camera was phenomenal.

I really think that was a great camera, especially on low-light, just a phenomenal performer in all kinds of circumstances. This camera less. So it just doesn't look good, and you know relative to the competition. In most scenarios that said, I have found my own ways of dealing with this. You know most of the time when I want to take pictures.

My wife's around we could just use her camera, but also you know, razors trying to update the camera. I think they're making progress there at least making it easier to use it used to have like a really long, shutter and taking pictures was really slow on top of not looking great they've sped things up, and I think the images have improved slightly, and they definitely remove some bugs that were causing image issues. But it's not night and day difference that said, I think I have found my own way to make it a 90-day difference- and this is not necessarily easy, but it's not hard either the Google camera, which is not it, which is in the Google Play Store, but there is one that they may make specifically for their phones, the pixel phones, I, think Nexus is back in the day and this app comes with HDR plus, and this is you know, the high dynamic range for picture taking, which takes like usually takes like three pictures with like super high exposure or super low exposure or somewhere in the middle, and it combines you know, uses an algorithm to combine all these together into one image that looks just you know, mind-blowing. Now that's on every phone you know, you'll have you'll have HDR here you have HD. HD are everywhere, but Google's HDR+ uses Google's, like super smart machine learning to know like how the photo is supposed to look, and so, as it goes through this Google Plus algorithm, your photos come out.

Looking pretty good, almost on most cameras, you know it's its. The was already using that on the Google is+ to get even better shots on that phone and when you bring it here, it's still not as good as what we're getting on some other stuff, but it looks way better, and it gets past that bar of being good enough in most situations, especially low light. It looks perfect in low light. So you know you have to side load that you have to open. You know, allow unknown sources.

You have to go download the stuff find it somewhere. Then there's a bunch of settings you have to get working that could be. There could be a pain like right now, I think I want the one I put on this phone is not quite working right, as opposed to one on the previous racer phone. That I had that that one was working a lot better, so yeah so like yeah, you're going to have to give it take. I haven't taken the time to get it working on this one.

So yeah you'll have to take the time to get it set up, but once you do, you can have a camera that works. Fine, as is, however, it is not acceptable, and I think for a lot of people. They want to have a camera with them at all times. That's not just gonna work, but it's gonna look great that they don't have to like babysit. That's just going to give them great results in every situation.

That's not gonna, be the razor phone I think for most of you and if that's the case, I probably go was probably go with something else, but razor continues to update it. So maybe that'll change I'll try to stay on top of that and see what it looks like you know again: I'm going to try to keep showing the photos that I take, and if these look okay to you, and I'm, probably picking the best ones, I haven't done this. Yet you know, then you know if like this is good enough for you, and maybe in that case who cares? You know, the camera. Camera is what it is and if you can live with these shots, then still consider this phone for sure, the other, the other thing I, don't like god, man what? Why is there? No headphone jack, so it uses USB, see I love that I've got enough devices now between my laptop, my switch there's some other things that all use USB, so I have enough chords lying around at this point. There's always a charger around for me to you know, make sure this is charging, no matter what room I'm in that's great, but why couldn't they just put a headphone jack right next to it? So what you end up having to do is you can use Bluetooth, which okay, I love being Wireless I really do I hate wires are just gonna, be the death of me.

I really hate wires, cords everywhere, there's so many cords through here, and I'm, always messing stuff over like moving things from one place to another, so cable management isn't really an option for a lot of this stuff. I hate cords I'm getting off on a tangent. That said, you know, Bluetooth runs out of battery, and you know if you Bluetooth I, don't know if I put it in my pocket and I have a coat on or something there's just enough interference between that my headphones, and you know I'm six feet tall, that's kind of tall. You know not super tall, but it's relatively tall. That's just enough space for like occasionally to drop out or whatever, and that sound great.

If I have it in the wrong pocket, it's annoying. So what you can do is, thankfully, the razor phone comes with its own adapter, but this adapter. You know it might be flimsy. The first one for sure I used if like a day, and then it is like it, stopped stay like remaining in the USB port. It would like you'd hold it like this, and it would just like fall out the new one, and this is again this is the production model.

This is the one you should get. If you order a razor phone, this one, it has worked a little better, although I feel like I have to like insert it and turn it around a couple of times to get the USB to realize. Oh, there's a device to plugged in it's an audio device. We need to send power and audio out to it and not to the speakers its just um. It's just weird, because boy is the 3.5 millimeter headphone jack, the most popular IO part in the history of humanity, and it works, and everyone knows how it works, and it works every time and there's just no reason not to support it. I mean I'm sure they must have reasons, but right now it's were in growing pains, and it is frustrating situations like you want to power.

Your phone up, and you want to listen to stuff on your headphones at the same time, it's your going to be a headache. You're gonna, like you're gonna, be in a rough spot. We're okay, well, I, have to use Bluetooth now, but what? If I'm in bed and my Bluetooth headphones? Headphones, are kind of bulky. I don't want to lay on the side of my head with those things on. So what I do? I'm yeah? It's just it's a bummer yeah, not the end of the world because again, Bluetooth headphones are preferable, I think in most situations, if you can make them work, you know they're just going to keep getting better.

Some of them have like 30-hour battery life battery lives. That's a really long time! That's gonna! Get you through most situations as long as you keep charging them regularly. So yeah, it's fine, I, just I, don't get why we can't have both. That's all so yeah um trying to think. If there's anything else, I don't like I mean it's.

It's an Android phone. You have all the benefits of that, along with the drawbacks. I think the benefits are, you know, and the drawbacks are well-documented, I think modern Android, it's like I think it's 7.1 Android 7.1. At the moment. It is it's fast, it's responsive they.

They use the Nova Launcher, which is a popular third-party launcher for like a home screen and app management and stuff. What they're you could there are all kinds of replacements for that you can do whatever you want, and then you know it's not it's not quite as slick and not quite as simple to use. Maybe as an iPhone I, don't know, I've been using Android. So long everything is simple for me, but yeah, that's not necessarily racer hasn't failed or succeeded. Yet when it comes to how it's the only Android I think, the best thing I could say is that they haven't thrown a ton of to write their own from you know from your know: they've thrown a ton of their own on top of this version of Android, so that it feels like Android with the skin like Touch ID or whatever, whatever the hell.

What was out there on all these other phones were all for a long time and still is in some cases. You know they do have like their own calculator, clock, contacts, downloads and settings at least their own skins for those app buttons. You can see them up there and that's yeah, that's whatever it doesn't really get in the way of anything, though I guess the biggest thing is that there's this Racer theme store, which you can, you know it's gonna, come right with it. Click on that it's going to go. It also comes with a couple of games: I, don't think they're pre-installed, they might not be.

They may install the first time you like open up the Google Play Store arena of Valor, titan fall, Assault gear, dot, Club and World of Tanks Express camera with them. Subtitle is, and I'm not going to click on it. Those are all games to take advantage of the gaming features of the razor phone, so they print stall to like kind of get. You in you know try these out. There are partners help you know if you, you know we're paying them money, they're, paying us money to get on the phone.

However, it works so yeah like the game. That's tough! It's easy to get rid of that those things it's not like you're stuck with the stuff. You can delete it immediately and never have to think about it again. So the Android experience that Racer is dealing with pretty good. So far, not ahead.

You know it's not going to overwhelm you with a bunch of junk. That's great I will be interested to see how Varese Racer software team does with Android updates I hope we don't fall behind very quickly. I think Racer knows that gaming audiences on average, which you know they're still going after a game, an audience with this phone on average that that's a group of people that are going to be aware if they are far behind on a different version of Android than what they able I. Think with you know, iPhone, which is a much more a broader audience. People fall behind on that iOS or on that OS, and they don't even notice.

They don't care their phone, just works, they don't think about it, whereas on Android people, I think especially on a racer phone people are going to want to be up-to-date, so we'll see how rates are does with that, but yeah I think uh, uh. Otherwise, it's just been I think it's just been a solid phone. It's been a perfect phone. It's its surprising that a company can come out with a product like this, a first first-time product and really nails. So much of it.

I think I also think it's a bit disappointing and kind of obvious that the things are going to screw up with a camera which you know so many phones just suck that for so long, and it's like. Finally, some people are starting to get their acts together. When it comes to the camera, you know Samsung and Apple tend to actually like leapfrog one another Google is in there as well with their phones. Google Pixel phones they're all kind of what leap frogging one another in terms of quality as they released a new phone, but that's only have been a recent development and before that yeah it was just. I phone had a good camera and everything else was kind of like huh.

This isn't quite as good and that sucks, so razor race comes out with their phone and yeah. The camera is still kind of part of that old, lineage, not surprising. As for the headphone jack I get used up, this is Sarah. This is our future. It's not coming back.

Apple's dropped it Google has dropped, if I think Samsung's, probably going to drop. It Motorola already dropped it yeah that thing's it's its not long for this world, so yeah, that's just the way it's going to be so yeah. That was a lot of talking. I know real final thoughts, other than say I ain't going to keep using it and I will kind of stay on top of it and, as updates come in we'll see if I need to update this review at all or come in with any new announcements or feature. You know deep dives that might work we'll see for now, though I think I'm just going to say thank you for watching, if you're wondering whether I recommend the razor phone.

The answer is yes, as long as you understand what kind of camera you're getting and yeah that does that once again, I am I'm Jeff Grubs, with games beat. com. This was the razor phone review and I will see you next time, thanks for watching adios.

Source : Jeff Grubb's Game Mess