Gamers, start doing your finger exercises because the first dedicated 5G gaming handheld, the Razer Edge, is going to make your world of pixels and precision a better place when it’s released on January 26.
The device’s official reveal was at RazerCon on October 15, and the excitement is now ramping up for what appears to be a system to take on the Nintendo Switch head-to-head, with Qualcomm flexing muscle with the added advantage of 5G.
Originally developed as the Snapdragon G3x, the Edge will let you play your favourite titles from downloaded apps, streamed from a console or via cloud gaming services.
Sure, the Logitech G Cloud already lets you do this, but it lacks the heft of 5G connectivity which will give the Edge the edge in the growing cloud gaming space.
Razer’s first handheld Android console will debut with two versions, the entry-level WiFi iteration will hit the scene for US$400, while the Razer Edge 5G model will come out of the gate at US$ 600. There will also be a Founders Edition that bundles with 2021’s Razer Hammerhead True Wireless earbuds for US$499.99.
The 5G unit will support sub-6 GHz and mmWave connectivity, which will help it combine gaming and entertainment in a handy portable device.
To use it as a tablet, just pop it out of the Razer Kishi V2 pro console-quality controller, which comes with a 3.5mm jack, USB-C port and HyperSense haptics, as well as microswitch buttons, analog triggers and programmable macros.
Promising reliability, low-lag and ultra-fast speed, the Edge itself features a 6.8″ AMOLED display with FHD+ 2400×1080 pixel resolution, and a 144Hz refresh rate, which they claim will make “games look better and run smoother than the competition”.
It runs on a Snapdragon G3x Gen 1, 3 GHz Kryo CPU, has 8GB LPDDR5 Ram, and internal storage of 128GB plus Micro SD up to 2TB.
The battery is 5000mAh, there’s a front-facing 5MP camera with 1080p @ 60fps, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 and its rolls through at 264g (401g with controller attached), and 260mm x 85mm x 11mm.
As for sound, it’s packing 2-way speakers with two digital mics and THX spatial audio.
