The $399 Razer Edge is trying to make Android gaming tablets

After years of trying to gaming phonesthe next big product category hardware manufacturers are trying to realize it’s obvious “Android gaming tablets.” You’re basically throwing the Nintendo Switch into the photocopier, load Android on itand we hope that users will choose content through Android games and growing (shrinking?) collection of cloud gaming services. Logitech set things in motion with the G Cloud Gaming Handheld last month, and now Razer is throwing its hat into the ring with the new Razer Edge handheld. This was it teased last month and it was fully unveiled over the weekend, and there are actually some interesting specs to check out.

First off, the main difference between the Razer and the Logitech handheld is that the Razer has active cooling. Razer neglected to show any internal images, but the 10mm thick case and six vents on the back make it look like there’s decent heat dissipation. Even if Razer were to put a normal phone chip inside, the fan would probably make it better than any phone, thanks to the fact that it doesn’t have to shut down immediately. Razer and Qualcomm say this is the first device with a “Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 Gaming Platform” SoC, but that seems to be just a marketing issue rather than any new technical development.

Qualcomm’s site on the new G3x Gen 1 it doesn’t provide any technical details, a big red flag that suggests there’s nothing brag-worthy here. Razer only says the chip runs at 3 GHz. Off the record, we can choose Geekbench listings for some details. Chip codename “Lahaina” means this should be the rebranded Snapdragon 888 SoC, Qualcomm’s flagship smartphone from 2020. That would make it a 5nm chip with one 3GHz Cortex X1 core, three 2.42GHz Cortex A78 cores, and four 1.4GHz Cortex A78 cores. .8 GHz. All frequencies are reported from Geekbench, and they are all normal compared to the phone version, which means this chip didn’t even get a frequency. However, phone chips die extremely quickly, so the fan should give this product decent sustained gaming performance not found on the phone Qualcomm just didn’t seem to want to admit it was shipping a 2 year old chip in this device.

The two-year-old chip will help keep the price down from the usual $1,000 Android phone, but all of these gaming tablets will have a tough time competing with the $299 Nintendo Switch (and $199 for the Lite version). Other specs include a 6.8-inch, 2400×1080 OLED display at a whopping 144Hz, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 5000mAh battery. There’s a MicroSD slot, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB-C port, a 5MP front camera (no rear camera, it’s a tablet) and Wi-Fi 6E compatibility. The $400 version is Wi-Fi only, the other SKU Exclusive to Verizon “Razer Edge 5G” promises Sub 6 GHz and mmWave connectivity at an unknown price. This is pitched in part as a portable cloud gaming device, so mobile access would allow you to play it away from home, although it will incur a hefty data bill.

Unlike Logitech tablets, the controllers are not permanently attached to the Razer Edge. Razer just made a normal tablet and threw a gamepad on a clamp in the box, the “Razer Kishi V2 Pro”. You get two analog sticks, ABXY face buttons, and six (!) shoulder buttons: digital L1/R1, analog L2/R2 triggers, and unique “M1/M2” buttons, which are tiny little nubbins next to the L2 trigger.

The Razer Kishi V2—the non-Pro version—is already a stand-alone product. Ars Tech Culture Editor Sam Machkovech reviewed it earlier this year and seemed to like the controller’s hardware while the device was looking for unusual configuration software that didn’t allow for reprogramming the buttons. The Pro version fixes one of Sam’s complaints—the lack of a headphone jack—and adds “Razer HyperSense haptics” for audio-triggered rumble. “Razer Nexus” controller software, with a rough rating of 2.6 stars included Play Storestill looks bad.

We doubt it’s a coincidence that Razer and Logitech came up with the same product idea within a month of each other. The puppet master for both companies is probably Qualcomm, with reports last year indicates that the chip company has been experimenting with Android devices similar to the Nintendo Switch, including showing “The reference gaming device” for several partners. It seems that some OEMs have taken Qualcomm up on the offer and decided to commercialize the product idea. With Qualcomm’s huge partner base, don’t be surprised if more of these devices appear. The Razer Edge ships in Q1 2023.