Late last year, renowned illuminator of gaming peripherals (and builder of great laptops) Razer released its first phone. At the time, the concept of buying a phone specifically for gaming was still a joke, but it turns out that Razer was ahead of the rest of us. The explosion of Fortnite into a billion-dollar game this year has settled any debates about whether mobile gaming is “real” gaming, and the smartphone industry — which has seen its sales stagnate recently — have hired a moving van to get on board the bandwagon.
Razer is already working on a Razer Phone 2, but the original is still a stellar device. It has specs that can still compete with the best: 8GB of RAM, 5.7-inch display, and a 4,000mAh battery. The only knock is that it uses the Snapdragon 835 processor, which has recently been overtaken by the Snapdragon 845. The star of the show, however, remains the 120Hz screen, which boasts a higher refresh rate than other smartphones for better graphics and — you knew this was coming — more accurate gaming.
From our review last November:
The real star of the show here is the display, which isn’t just extremely sharp and crystal clear, but also has a trick up its sleeve that gamers will adore: a 120 Hz refresh rate. The Razer Phone’s “UltraMotion” screen is a real treat whether you’re browsing the web or playing games. It’s incredibly smooth — and if you’ve ever played with a new iPad Pro, you know what I’m talking about — and makes even something as simple as catching a creature in Pokemon Go feel like an entirely new experience. The phone also dynamically adjusts its refresh rate based on what you’re doing, so it doesn’t burn through precious battery life if you’re not doing something that would benefit from the added smoothness.
Anyway, it’s on sale today for $399 directly from Razer. Normally, smartphone half-off deals or buy-one-get-ones require adding a line, buying insurance, or selling one or more organs in the promise of distant bill credits. In this case, there’s zero terms and conditions — you just enter the code WOOHOO at checkout, and the $699 pricetag turns into $399.
