It’s also held back by its minimal Razer Nexus software.
Players interested in an always-connected gaming handheld can also consider the Razer Edge 5G, a Verizon exclusive.
This unit is equipped with 8GB of RAM and both sub6 and mmWave 5G through Verizon’s web connection.
The Razer Edge, in all its boxy glory.
The equipment retails for $599.99, or $16.66/month for 36 months.
I reviewed the Razer Edge Wi-Fi, while Windows Central’s Daniel Rubino had the Razer Edge 5G.
The Razer Edge itself perfectly straddles the line between a small format tablet and your typical slab Android smartphone.
The Razer Edge is expertly constructed of matte black plastic and glass.
It nails the fundamentals in every way.
Maybe an Edge Pro variant will deliver those extra features in the future.
Separated from the Kishi V2 Pro, the Edge looks like a smartphone / tablet hybrid.
Its secret weapon, though, is a series of six vents and an active-cooling fan.
The Razer Edge isn’t the most powerful gadget out there, but it never struggled to keep up.
For this price range, I’m very happy with the Edge’s performance.
The Razer Edge has all the power it needs to blitz through the latest and greatest games.
It’s gorgeous, vivid, and as smooth as some of thebest gaming monitorsyou can buy.
The Razer Edge has a fantastic screen, although it could still be better.
The Razer Edge’s display is a highlight, and is far superior to its close competitors.
No matter what you’re doing, the Razer Edge’s display is sure to look fantastic.
I wish the Razer Edge got brighter, and it lacks HDR support.
Design-wise, though, I have more concerns.
The Razer Edge features curved corners, a common occurrence in modern devices (it’s aesthetically pleasing).
The Razer Edge is sacrificing a lot of potential screen real estate with these bezels and flared corners.
However, these corners areaggressive, resulting in sizeable potential screen real estate being lost.
The corners are large enough that in some games and apps, content is liable to be cut off.
There’s a lot of wasted space here.
The Kishi V2 Pro is the perfect companion to the Edge, but it certainly puts a dent in standby endurance.
Finally, Razer chose the wrong aspect ratio for this gear.
It’s as simple as that.
Fortunately, the Edge fares much better than I originally predicted, with one major caveat.
The Razer Edge is fantastic for cloud gaming, but it does great with native titles, too.
The Razer Edge’s battery life is good enough, except when left alone with the controller attached.
However, pushing the G3x Gen 1 results in substantial drain that the less powerful G Cloud never sees.
With the Razer Edge by itself, approximately 5% battery is lost for every 12 hours of standby.
The Kishi V2 Pro is great for games, but you can always take the Edge out and just use the touchscreen.
That’s fairly normal and expected.
Razer’s dull software experience (more on that below) only serves to compound the issue.
For the former, the Edge’s display can actually support the service’s higher refresh rates.
Getting 5G on the Razer Edge for Verizon
As for native gaming, the Razer Edge is in a much better place than the G Cloud.
The Epic Games Store is also preinstalled, for those who want to play Fortnite natively.
The Razer Kishi V2 Pro and virtual controls are a potent combination, despite some complaints.
GeForce NOW analyzing Verizon’s 5G network. Even on 2 bars, it’s enough to play games.
There are also dual mics at the top and bottom of the machine.
Finally, there’s a small front-facing camera and an ambient light sensor set in the top bezel.
I’ll quickly run through the quality of all these hardware features.
Playing Destiny 2 at 60 FPS over 5G using GeForce NOW.
First, the Razer Edge’s speakers are surprisingly loud, considering the size of the rig.
I’m not sure why the Razer Edge needs a camera, but at least the speakers are great.
The Kishi does feature slits to allow audio to escape, but the decrease is still there.
Settings for Verizon Adaptive Sound.
As for the mics and front-facing camera, they’re… functional.
The mics, at least, are fine, but the front-facing camera is as barebones as it gets.
The quality is that of a budget laptop webcam, and the app is literally the bare minimum.
For better and worse, the Kishi V2 Pro is practically identical to the regular Kishi V2 mobile controller.
If removing it would mean slimmer bezels or a larger display, I’d much rather have that.
After a week of constantly manually increasing the brightness, I turned it off altogether.
However, I criticized the G Cloud’s software experience for being inconsistent and incomplete Can Razer do better?
When it comes to versatility and the ability to play as many games as possible, the Razer Edge is miles ahead of the Logitech G Cloud.
… No, it cannot.
The Razer Edge’s software is the absolute bare minimum, including the simple Razer Nexus app.
The Razer Edge runs Android 12 with the Nov. 2022 security patch.
These speaker openings are small but mighty.
It’s still outdated, but not as outdated as the Logitech G Cloud.
All Razer did was preload some games and apps, including its own Razer Nexus and Razer Cortex.
I opened it once or twice and then promptly ignored it for the remainder of my review.
Even if the front-facing camera was high quality, the camera app is as barebones as you can get.
And, yes, it does actually support controller input.
But the Razer Nexus is, itself, boring and lacking in features.
As good as the hardware is, the software is barely there but at least it all works.
As pretty as the Razer Edge is, this software experience just doesn’t cut it.
The option for cellular connectivity is a huge plus, too.
Still, I had high hopes for the Edge that weren’t quite met.
If you live outside the US, you’re unfortunately out of luck.
If you thought this looks like any other Android smartphone or tablet, you’d be right.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Razer Edge: Should you buy it?
You should buy the Razer Edge if …
You should not buy the Razer Edge if …
The Razer Edge is more powerful and advanced, but it lacks that focus.
The Razer Nexus app is useful, but also very basic.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Configuring virtual controls can be time consuming and finnicky, requiring trial and error.(Image credit: Windows Central)
When you succeed, though, you can perform very well in mobile games like Pokémon Unite.(Image credit: Windows Central)
I was also able to play a little bit of Genshin Impact, although the camera controls were awkward.(Image credit: Windows Central)
I never thought I’d prefer the Logitech G Cloud over the Razer Edge in some ways (like software), but here we are.
The Razer Edge is great but compromised. I hope to see a Gen 2 deliver on its potential.
