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Razer’s cloud gaming handheld begins at $400 for the WiFi-only mannequin

Written by Jeff Lampkin

Razer, it’s possible you’ll recall, not too long ago teased a 5G handheld machine that is targeted on cloud gaming. The corporate took the chance at RazerCon to formally announce the system, which it calls the Razer Edge — yep, Razer lastly went there with its branding.

The Edge has a 6.8-inch AMOLED display with a refresh charge of 144Hz and a Full HD+ decision of two,400 x 1,080. Razer claims the show has 87 % extra pixels than rivals’ gadgets. The Steam Deck’s display, as an illustration, has a 1,280 x 800 decision. The Edge’s Gorilla Glass touchscreen additionally has a 288Hz sampling charge, which ought to make it fairly darn responsive.

Razer labored with Qualcomm and Verizon on this machine. It runs on the Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 Gaming Platform, which was developed completely for the Edge. The machine has a 3Ghz octa-core Kryo CPU and an Adreno GPU, together with energetic cooling and 6 air vents. Razer says early benchmarking exhibits that the Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 delivers two to 3 instances the speeds of typical cell platforms, such because the Snapdragon 720G.

A person wearing headphones and sitting on a couch while holding a Razer Edge handheld gaming device.

Razer

The machine has a 5,000mAh capability battery, in addition to 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB of storage. On the audio entrance, there are two-way audio system with Verizon Adaptive Sound and a pair of digital microphones. There is a webcam too — you may have the choice to livestream your gameplay.

The Edge is comprised of an Android 12 pill housed inside the brand new Razer Kishi V2 Professional controller. The latter has the identical analog triggers because the Kishi V2, together with microswitches, programmable buttons and what Razer claims is an “ultra-precise” D-pad. What makes the Kishi V2 Professional completely different is that it has HyperSense haptic suggestions and, blissfully, a 3.5mm headphone jack. Collectively, the pill and controller weigh 400.8 grams, which is a bit lower than a pound.

As for the video games, the Edge, which can solely be out there within the US on the outset, will include launchers for Epic Video games, Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce Now preinstalled. You will additionally be capable to entry distant play providers comparable to Steam Hyperlink, Moonlight and Parsec.

Razer Edge

Razer

Since it is a cloud gaming-focused machine, connectivity is essential. Razer says the Edge has WiFi 6E that performs on an “uncongested” 6GHz channel and has multi-gig bandwidth assist for quick obtain and add speeds. While you’re on the go, you can hook up with cloud gaming providers by means of 5G so long as you will have the correct mannequin.

The 5G model of the Razer Edge is a Verizon unique. Pricing and actual availability will probably be confirmed later, however it needs to be out in January, across the identical time because the WiFi mannequin. That model will run you $400 and it will be out there from Razer’s web site and RazerStore places. You may reserve one for a refundable deposit of $5. Razer hasn’t revealed pricing or availability for the standalone Kishi V2 Professional controller.

That is not an insignificant value for the WiFi mannequin, and it is doubtless that the 5G model will price extra, however the specs appear strong for the cash. It looks like an possibility price contemplating for on-the-go cloud gaming when you’d somewhat not slot your telephone right into a controller and you do not wish to lug a Steam Deck round.

The Razer Edge is not the one handheld machine targeted on cloud gaming. Logitech’s $350 G Cloud Gaming Handheld, which does not have WiFi 6 or 6E assist, will probably be out there subsequent week. Different notable producers are turning their consideration to cloud gaming as nicely. Google this week introduced three Chromebooks from Acer, ASUS and Lenovo which are designed for streaming video games.

Razer Edge

Razer

The Edge was removed from Razer’s solely product announcement at RazerCon. Together with the Kraken Kitty V2 Professional wired headset (that includes swappable bunny, bear and cat ears with Chroma RGB lighting) and another gear, the corporate confirmed off its Hammerhead HyperSpeed earbuds. 

The earbuds characteristic Chroma RGB, energetic noise cancellation, Bluetooth 5.2 and a couple of.4GHz connectivity (by way of a USB-C dongle you’ll be able to plug into your console or different machine) to reduce latency. Razer claims you may stand up to 30 hours of complete battery life, factoring in prime ups from the charging case. Hammerhead HyperSpeed is on the market in PlayStation- and Xbox-braded variants. The earbuds price $150 and they are going to be out there in November.

Hammerhead HyperSpeed earbuds and a Razor Edge gaming handheld device

Razer

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About the author

Jeff Lampkin

Jeff Lampkin was the first writer to have joined gamepolar.com. He has since then inculcated very effective writing and reviewing culture at GamePolar which rivals have found impossible to imitate. His approach has been to work on the basics while the whole world was focusing on the superstructures.