'Razer Phone' updates: Extremly high refresh rate and updated camera app; is it now worth the $700 price tag?
The Razer Phone came out with a promising design, but it ended up with some compromises that made it a less interesting flagship phone, at least in its price range. Luckily, the company is working the phone's software, with the latest camera update that promised better colors and low-light performance.
The Razer Phone comes with hardware commonly found in most Android flagships. It has 8 GB of random access memory (RAM), high-resolution display, powerful stereo speakers, and a dual camera setup. All of this is powered by a fast Qualcomm 835 Snapdragon processor.
Digging deeper, the phone shows some of its flaws. It has a big battery capacity, but it still has average battery life. Users of the phone also complained about its poor camera. It is not water resistant, which is a feature often offered for phones its price range. There's also no headphone jack — a puzzling design decision considering the Razer phones' size.
It does have a unique technology that sets it apart from other smartphones, and that is its very high and flexible screen refresh rate. While most Android phones can only go up to 60 Hertz (Hz), the Razer phone can go anywhere from 20 Hz to 120 Hz. It is the first smartphone to have this kind of refresh rate, which was then unique to the iPad Pro.
Faster refresh rate means smoother interaction with on-screen elements and more responsive touch controls.
However, the fast refresh rate comes with disadvantages, too. For one, it drains battery usage, although the phone knows to regulate the refresh rate depending on the phone's current's task. But its most glaring limitation is the use of IGZO Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) instead of the standard Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED). The 120 Hz display controller does not work with OLED yet, so the Razer phone had to go with the IGZO LCD.
The company is working on improving the phone, and they already rolled out an update that promises to make the camera software a lot better. Hopefully, this is the first of many updates that will make the phone competitive for its $700 price range.
