If you've been following for a while, you know that I haven't been happy with the Google Pixel 6a. It was much less powerful than my OnePlus 8T, but compatible with my Razer Kishi V2. Obviously, I play too many games.
I had been looking for a Razer Phone 2 for a long time, but those days are long gone. The Razer Edge is only available as a phone on Verizon, and I'm not switching. Since Android 14 on the Pixel 6a wiped my data, I haven't had an Android phone. I've been using it on Wi-Fi only. The Wi-Fi only Razer Edge will be just fine.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon G3X Gen 1 will be so much better than the SoC in either phone. The Snapdragon 865 in the OnePlus 8T was fine and I got it specifically because the Snapdragon 888 was overheating in several phones. Hopefully, I won't experience that.
The 144 Hz refresh rate of the OLED display is faster than the 120 Hz of the OnePlus 8T or the 60 Hz of the Google Pixel 6a. I'm betting not much is ready to use it, though. There don't seem to be many "holy shit!" games on Android.
However, even the ligher ones tax the Pixel 6a, which is why I wanted something better.
Newegg has a deal on the Razer Edge with a coupon for US$100 off US$299.99. Getting a product for 66% is good.
I'm guessing that with Steam Deck doing well and ASUS and Lenovo creating competitors, plus the previous Windows-baseed handhelds, Razer Edge hasn't been the big seller that they had hoped.
The only thing that might be a problem for me is that not all games use Google Play Games for their status updates. The good thing for me is that, since Android 14 wiped out the other information, I won't be worrying about those other games. I will likely have to transfer my music from my Google Drive backup.
Update 2024.07.20: It has arrived. The device directed me to connect the two devices with a cable to copy information. It connected to my main Android account easily. That set off the Google warnings immediately.
Then, it updated some system software, asked for permissions, etc.
The strange thing is that it's only using Android 12. It also didn't copy my second user account and barely copied any of the apps.
There doesn't seem to be a way to add another Home screen to host my games. I really don't want to use the apps drawer every time I want to start them. They probably think that everyone is going to use their Nexus app, even when the Kishi V2 Pro is not connected. I'm not sure that is a good choice. By the way, the Kishi V2, Pro or otherwise, takes power from the USB type-C port. If you're not well charged, you could go into the danger zone quickly.
The newer controller seems better with controls that are easier to find while playing.
They refer to the Edge as a tablet. It's certainly big but what is a tablet these days. Is a 6.8 inch display big enough for a tablet? My Google Nexus 7 tablets were just a bit bigger but there are a lot of phones on the market that are almost the same size. I don't know I'll be putting it in my pocket to game out of the house. This one is Wi-Fi only and, while I can provide an internet connection from my phone, it wouldn't be wise to have two devices without power.
It's almost charged to a good level again. Once I get my apps downloaded, I'll see how powerful it is.
It's powerful enough. It's like the Snapdragon 888 with a GPU upgrade. Device warms up too much. Graphics flow smoothly. I suppose it's a good thing that they didn't upgrade to Android 13 or Android 14. Perhaps, the 5G version is capable of being upgraded. It's a bit sad that it only has 128 GB of storage and 6 GB of RAM. My OnePlus 8T had 256 GB and 12 GB, respectively.
There is a huge black frame around the display. People talk about bezels but this feels more like an artificial frame that has nothing to do with the actual display. However, it's rounded in the corners and covers some of the display so it's difficult to press buttons.
Kishi V2 Pro feels like the older version, but with force (haptic) feedback. It's quite responsive on Asphalt 9 Legends/Legends Unite, although the game seems a bit sluggish since its re-design.
I've tried all of my Netmarble games and they work fine.
Those would be: Tower of God: New World, Seven Knights II, Solo Leveling: Arise, and Grand Cross:Age of Titans.
Black Clover M and Sword Chronicles: Awaken are also working just fine.
There are a lot of little, strange things about the interface that don't make sense but I suppose they wanted everyone to have the Nexus app running as their main interface. If you want a machine that isn't a phone, this is a good device. If you need a phone, buy something from OnePlus or Samsung, especially if you can get a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8, Gen 3. For the price I paid, it was an easy choice, US$100 for the controller and US$100 for the device.
Update 2024.08.02: Something was odd when I was updating a game. There wasn't enough space. I've been using a Google Pixel 6a with two accounts on 128 GB of storage. The Edge only has one account on 128 GB of storage. It's certainly possible that the games have become larger. However, there seemed to be plenty of space and I removed some screenshots and it was fine after that.
I just can't imagine that one account has suddenly become bigger than two accounts put together. Maybe, it's Android 12, although I had two accounts on the OnePlus 8T but I had 256 GB of storage.
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