Razer Edge 5G was announced by the company at RazerCon 2022 as the company’s first handheld gaming device. It is claimed to be the world’s first dedicated 5G handheld console. Teased for the first time back at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) earlier this year, the company has partnered with Verizon to allow the Android gaming handheld device to stream games via Xbox Cloud, NVIDIA GeForce Now, or Steam Link. The device is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 Gaming Platform making it the first dedicated Android handheld to feature the processor. The Razer Edge will be released in January 2023, according to the company.
Following hot on the heels of the launch of the Logitech G Cloud handheld which is entirely focussed at cloud gaming, the Razer Edge 5G is a fusion of a touchscreen Android tablet and a pro version of the popular Razer Kishi V2 controller. The controller gets two notable additions here — Razer HyperSense advanced-haptic feedback and a 3.5mm audio port. The Razer Edge 5G has flat edges and a slightly curved back with six-speaker grilles. The device comes in black with matching controllers.
Having partnered with Verizon on the launch, the Razer Edge 5G has Verizon throwing its 5G “Ultra Wideband” weight behind the handheld, but there is a Wi-Fi version on offer too. Should you decide to go full-tilt, the Verizon-exclusive 5G version does allow you to throw in a SIM card for true wireless mobility.
The Razer Edge will start at $399.99 (roughly Rs. 33,000) for the Wi-Fi edition. There will also be a Founders Edition priced at $499.99 (roughly Rs. 41,200), which will come with the Razer Hammerhead True Wireless earbuds. The 5G version of the Razer Edge will launch later at an unknown price. Razer is already accepting pre-orders and will start shipping in January 2023.
In terms of internals, the Razer Edge 5G sports a 6.8-inch FHD+ AMOLED screen with a 144Hz refresh rate. The display visibly has curved corners. The device also has a 288Hz touch sampling rate and Gorilla Glass protection. Powering the Razer Edge is the Snapdragon G3x Gen 1, a Qualcomm chipset announced in 2021 that is mainly designed for gaming devices.
The chipset is paired with 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM. There is also only one storage configuration — 128GB (UFS 3.1) — but there is a microSD card slot for up to 2TB of storage. There is a 5000mAh battery inside the device, and it charges via a USB Type-C port. There are also two microphones, two-way speakers, and THX Spatial audio support. There are no cameras on the back of the device, but there is a 5-megapixel camera in front that supports 1080p video recording. On the connectivity front, the Razer Edge comes with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 support, according to the company.