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Razer Edge 5G: Mobile handheld console offers 144 Hertz display

Oct 17, 2022

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Razer combines the smartphone controller Kishi V2 with an Android console optimized for cloud gaming and a 144 Hertz display. The result is a “5G handheld”, according to Razer the first of its kind, with other conceptual parallels to the Nintendo Switch or Valve's Steam Deck A handheld console for the cloud gaming era

In contrast to the two well-known competing products or models, Razer's Edge is not primarily intended for local rendering of games, but primarily for streaming. Although Android apps with the Qualcomm Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 – consisting of a 3 GHz fast clocking Kryo CPU with 8 cores and an Adreno GPU – as well as 8 GB LPDDR5 memory can also be played directly on the device, they are pre-installed such as Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce Now. The Razer console can also be used for Steam Link. In any case, a 6.8-inch OLED touch display with a resolution of 2,400 × 1,080 pixels and a refresh rate of 144 Hertz is used for display – this makes the handheld superior to both the Steam Deck and the Nintendo Switch; both consoles offer a 60 Hertz panel with HD resolution.

The special feature is that Razer's Edge will also appear as a 5G model in addition to a Wi-Fi version. With a Sub 6 mmWave antenna and eSIM, the console should be the ideal handheld for triple-A games on the go, argues Razer. The battery, with a capacity of 5,000 mAh, is between the Nintendo Switch and the Steam Deck. On the one hand, the power consumption when just streaming a game instead of rendering it should be lower and thus the runtime will increase, on the other hand, constant 5G wireless connections are not necessarily less power-hungry. Only independent tests will therefore provide information about the actual runtimes, because Razer does not provide any information on this.

Both variants of the Razer Edge offer WLAN according to Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, a USB Type-C port and a 3.5 mm jack. The internal memory is 128 GB of Universal Flash Storage according to version 3.1, and microSD cards of up to 2 TB are also supported. Razer does not comment on the actual bandwidths. Apart from that, the handheld console offers stereo speakers, two microphones and a front-facing 5 MP camera that can record Full HD videos at 60 FPS. The end device weighs 264 grams – but without physical controls, which are added in the form of the Razer Kishi V2 and increase the weight to 401 grams. The gross mass is therefore roughly the same as that of the Nintendo Switch, while the Steam Deck is almost 300 grams heavier.

Control via smartphone controller

The Kishi V2 Pro is a marginally improved one Variant of the Kishi V2 smartphone controller mentioned at the beginning. The following buttons are also part of the game:

Two clickable analog sticks
A mechanical D-Pad
Four buttons (A/B/X/Y)
Two triggers (L2/R2)
Two bumpers (L1/R1)
Two programmable multifunction keys (M1/M2)
Menu and Options keys
Nexus and Share keys

Some of the same microswitches are used that Razer also uses in the Wolverine V2 gamepad designed for Xbox consoles. In addition, the Pro version has haptic feedback thanks to Razer HyperSense and the aforementioned 3.5 mm jack. Razer provides a configuration app on the Edge.

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But a third handheld console offers itself as a comparison: Just a few weeks ago, Logitech presented the G Cloud Gaming handheld in cooperation with Tencent; a similarly designed mobile console, which, however, comes without a mobile connection, with weaker hardware and a 60 Hertz display.

From January 2023 initially only in the USA

With a recommended retail price of However, at $400 before taxes for the WiFi variant, Razer's Edge is also around $50 more expensive than the G Cloud Gaming handheld; the manufacturer has not yet given a price for the 5G variant. The only thing that is certain is that the console will initially only be sold in the United States, starting in January 2023. Razer does not say when it will be launched in this country.