Recently Razer showcased some of its hottest tech at its own 2022 RazerCon event. There was plenty of talk about upcoming Razer products and partnerships at this green energy powered con, but one was a bit different than what we expect to see from the brand. In amongst a slew of headsets and the likes, we got a bit of a closer look at the Razer Edge, a dedicated 5G gaming device.
The new Razer Edge looks a lot like many of the Switch styled machines we're starting to see pop up. This year we've seen portable PC gaming take off with hybrid consoles like the Steam Deck receiving high praise. All sorts of competitors are coming in to take a piece of that portable PC console pie, with high end promises like OneXPlayer's new AMD 6800 powered machine -- but Razer is doing something a little bit different with the Edge.
Rather than go after the high-end portable PC market, Razer's Edge is a bit more like a gaming phone than a Steam Deck styled device, at least for now. The Edge is an Android powered tablet that comes pre-installed with launchers like Epic, as well as streaming services like Xbox Cloud gaming and Nvidia GeForce Now. There's no mention of a Steam client here aside from when talking about remote play, making it immediately quite different to those portable gaming PCs.
Though a gaming PC it is not, it still houses some pretty nice mobile gaming kit starting with a 6.9" AMOLED screen that supports a 144hz refresh rate at a 2400x1080 resolution. Behind the screen you'll find the Snapdragon G3x chip designed specifically for mobile gaming. This is backed up by a 3GHz Kryo CPU with 8 cores, paired with an Adreno GPU. The unit is then powered by a 5000mAh battery, which is pretty huge and should get you a fair few hours of gaming, provided that 5G connection doesn't drain it down too quickly.
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The Razer Edge tablet makes up the brains of the device, which comes bundled with the familiar Razer Kishi V2 Pro. While I haven't tried one, the Kishi has been available in some form or another for a while, and has proven to be fairly popular among phone gamers. This is a mobile controller that stretches around the back of the Edge, giving you those switch style side mounted controls. It boasts Razer's HyperSense haptics, microswitch buttons, a satisfying D-pad, and a 3.5mm audio jack which is always nice to see.
The bundle will be available in both 5G and Wi-Fi (whatever that stands for) variants launching in the United States before other regions. Currently, the Wi-Fi version is the only one to have a price, going for $399.99 USD on Razer's official store and set to launch in January 2023. You can preorder it now with a refundable $5 deposit to ensure you're a part of that first release. The 5G offering is set to go up exclusively for preorder at Verizon, but the details are yet to be provided. Razer has advised that they will be available from Verizon in due time.
