Razer Phone Coming to India, Will Go Against Asus ROG Phone

The Razer phone is a result of Razer’s acquisition of smartphone startup Nextbit in January 2017.

The Razer Phone when launched in India will be pitted against the Asus ROG Phone.

(Photo: The Quint)

Announced at an event in London in November 2017, the Razer phone is an Android phone by the gaming laptop brand Razer. The phone is said to be a result of Razer's acquisition of smartphone startup Nextbit in January 2017.

(Photo: Razer)

The phone was made with a focus on mobile gaming. Knowing Razer and the kind of gaming products it makes, this is likely to be a capable smartphone.

Razer CEO, Min Liang Tan confirmed in a tweet that he is willing to bring the Razer phone to India. Here's what to expect from the smartphone:

The Razer phone will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, powered by 8GB of RAM. It will have 64GB of internal storage, with a microSD card slot for expansion. The Razer phone will have a 4,000mAh battery for gamers who like to play for long hours.

(Photo: Razer)

While many manufacturers don't care about the camera of their gaming phones, the Razer phone has a dual camera setup on the back that also has various levels of optical zoom. On the front, the Razer phone houses an 8 megapixel camera.

The phone was launched with Android Nougat 7.1.1, which can be upgraded to Android Oreo.

(Photo: Razer)

The display is a 5.7-inch IGZO IPS display, with a resolution of 1,440 x 2,560 at 551 pixels per inch. The thing about the display, however, is that it is the first of its kind to sport a 120Hz refresh rate in a mobile phone. The fingerprint sensor is located on the power button itself.

Here are the specifications of the Razer phone:

• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
• Battery: 4,000mAh Lithium Ion
• RAM: 8GB
• Storage: 64 GB (expandable)
• Camera: Dual 12-megapixel
• 8-megapixel front camera
• OS: Android Nougat 7.1.1
• Display: 5.72 inch, IGZO LCD (1,440 x 2,560 resolution) 120Hz

Asus ROG Phone

Once launched, the Razer phone will go compete against the Asus ROG Phone. Here’s what the ROG phone has to offer:

Announced at the Computex 2018, the ROG phone will come with a 6-inch display with a refresh rate of 90Hz.

The ROG phone will be powered by a 2.96 GHz Snapdragon 845 processor and 8GB RAM - this is one of the fastest processing phones. The ROG phone will have 512 GB storage, which will again be a first of its kind.

(Photo: Asus)

What makes the ROG phone different from the Razer phone is the X Mode. Squeezing the sides of the ROG Phone activates the gaming-optimised X Mode.

Upon squeezing the sides, the complete UI of the phone switches to a red theme.

The X Mode optimises the phone for gaming by closing applications running in the background. Once in X Mode the processor prioritises the RAM and data transfer accordingly. The X Mode also activates the AeroActive Cooler, the additional fan accessory offered in the phone.

(Photo: Asus)

Here are the specifications of the Asus ROG phone:

• Processor: Speed-binned 2.96GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
• GPU: Qualcomm Adreno 630
• Display: 6-inch, 18:9 (2160 x 1080) OLED panel with 90Hz refresh rate

• Dimensions: 158.8mm x 76.2mm x 8.6mm
• Weight: 200g
• Battery: 4,000mAh
• Memory: 8GB RAM
• Storage: 128GB or 512GB

It will be interesting to see these two gaming phones go head to head once they are widely available. Stay tuned for that.