Razer Edge WiFi Review - The Best Android Gaming Experience

I have fallen back in love with handheld gaming this year and it appears to be the perfect timing. The Razer Edge Wifi has got to be the sleekest handheld gaming platform I’ve gotten my hands on and I’ve been having SO MUCH FUN with this thing. Not only has this given me a comfortable way to get back into gaming, but it was easy to jump back into that world given this device runs Android for all my mobile games, but I was also able to download Geforce Now, XBox Cloud Gaming, and Steam Link so I can access a bunch of my console or PC games for more versatility.

Since it runs on Wifi 6E, you can stream games from your PC or console, it also has Bluetooth 5.2 AND a 3.5 mm headphone jack (in the controller), plus 2 pretty decent stereo speakers with THX spatial audio and a mic, along with a 5MP front facing camera. And while this looks like a phone, it’s definitely not. Technically in the settings, it’s labeled as a tablet. There is no rear camera, and there’s no e-Sim or physical sim slot. And there are some intriguing vents on the back, signifying that this thing is a powerful lil beast.

My version is the WiFi version, though a 5G version also hit the market earlier this year as well. This one came out in January and I got my first hands on experience with it at CES at the Razer booth, but I’m grateful to Snapdragon and Qualcomm Technologies for gifting this unit to me via their Snapdragon Insiders program. The Razer Edge Wifi uses the Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 Gaming Platform, so of course I gotta put this thing to the test, right? That Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 Gaming platform - this is the first device as of January powered with that chipset. It’s a hardware chip - an active cooled gaming chipset with a 3 GHz Kryo CPU - so you get higher framerates with your Android games and an overall impressive processing experience. Those vents keep it cool using internal fans. While gaming you can definitely hear those fans, but it’s a pretty minimal sound.

This costs $399 for the Wifi version, it sports a real nice 144 Hz AMOLED display and comes with this Kishi V2 Pro controller in the box. So again, versatility - you can use this with touchscreen games OR you can attach the Razer Edge Wifi to the Kishi V2 Pro and play with the controller - analog trigger, macros can be programmed, and it’s got haptics. The Razer Edge Wifi detects the controller, and will also detect if the game you’re playing supports analog controller use over touchscreen.

The built in Nexus App gives you a dashboard for gaming - so you can do things like remap buttons on your controller and set up virtual controller mode, which allows you to play touchscreen games with the Kishi V2. I suggest turning on the HyperSense Audio Haptics for a bit more of a fun in-game experience. Oh, and check for firmware updates in here too. Now, anytime you open games via the Nexus Launcher (the little circle button on the controller), it’ll remember those settings and let you use them in games.

Virtual controller mode is cool, but it won’t work for every game even so because some games have weird layouts or menus that will still require you to touch the screen.

The controller is detachable, but when you attach it, it connects to the Edge via the USB C port. I was a little worried the audio would be muffled when attached, but there are holes in the controller that feed audio to the front of the device. It’s secure, firmly in place, didn’t feel loose, and is a comfortable experience to game on. And you don’t need to disconnect it to charge it - since there’s a USB C Port on the controller itself.

I was a bit iffy on the screen when I first took it out of the box given those pretty thick bezels, but it’s very smooth and fast, and it’s a really high resolution - at 6.8” FHD+ 2400 x 1080 - that’s loads better than some of it’s closest competition in terms of price. It almost feels like a miniature tablet because it’s a thick boi. It’s made out of plastic but feels super sturdy and robustly built.

The 5000mAh battery is a worthy component, and it charges at a max of 25W. In my experience the battery draw varies depending on what you’re doing. You’ll get somewhere around 15 hours passive battery life. While gaming: 7-8ish, but that drops a lot if you hop into cloud gaming, down by a few hours. If you charge it via the passive USB C Kishi V2 Pro port, it drops the charging speed significantly to around 15W. So there are some caveats even though that’s a generous battery size. Also keep in mind, it’s running Android, so hitting the power button only turns of the display, not the device itself, so it’ll still slowly drain battery life even while it’s in this standby mode.

The storage caps at 128GB, but luckily there is a microSD card slot for additional storage up to 2 TB. The Wifi model is capped at 6 GB RAM.

I find it kind of annoying that there’s no fingerprint sensor or face unlock, since I have to move my hand to the screen to unlock it from the controller - I have little hands, so this is more exaggerated. But given it runs Android, I absolutely recommend setting up a lock with a PIN on it so you’ve at least got that security, because you can run lots of other Android apps on here too, not just games, so that could be a security concern.

It packs in the Qualcomm Adreno 660 GPU, and thanks to those internal specs and that nice display refresh rate, you’ll get some really smooth and beautiful graphics while in game. I had a great experience playing lots of my go-to’s. I noticed that the framerates didn’t appear to drop and I didn’t notice any lag issues. It gives you great performance in game, and the display is high contrast, with deep colors and excellent response between the controller and the device. The aspect ratio is kinda limiting especially with games that are built for a more square aspect ratio so it might look weird for folks who are used to the more traditional games.

I did run a couple of benchmarks through 3D Mark and these were my findings.

So is this for everyone? No, I don’t think so. Some folks will be more than happy to just use their flagship phone for similar power and processing in games. But half the price of a flagship for a device that is specifically made for mobile or handheld gaming, with a great screen and haptics, and with a controller? It’s a good deal, especially if you’re accessing games you’ve already purchased.

This is a fun device, and I was more impressed with it than I thought I’d be. I do wish the battery lasted longer, but I’ve taken to putting it back on it’s charger every night after I’ve gamed for the day.

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