Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Razer Phone - 1st Generation: 120 Hz Ultra Motion Display - 64GB Memory - 8GB RAM - Dual Camera - Dual Front-Facing Speakers - Gaming Phone

Great gaming, video, music.. One of a kind right here.

Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2017

Phenomenal phone. The screen and speakers give my 4,000$ desktop gaming rig a run for it's money.
Need better cases though. The Razer Rugged case is not rugged and will not survive drops..
The screen is amazing, though if you're staring at a white background turned up on high brightness, you will see shadows of the digitizer manifesting as gray lines up and down the screen. This goes away completely if you're actually using the phone and not staring at a white screen. :| Possible manufacturer defect, but for an industry-first screen, freaking amazing screen. Still a pure pleasure to use the phone vs others. (coming from an s8)
The speakers are greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeat. No more wondering why the cell phone maker put a little speaker on the back facing away from me. You will literally have to turn this thing down all the time because you turn it up to hear, and then realize 'holy crap that's too loud'.
Games are buttery smooth, screen has a lot to do with it, but the SD 835 helps. Battery life is awesome, I've hit 9.5 hours with power saving on all the time, my girlfriend has hit 7+ hours on her's and she only enabled power savings after it hit 10%. (she's constantly playing games/media/social stuff)
Otherwise colors are vibrant, not too over-saturated. Touch responses are great. Charging is fast, 0-50% is about 30-40 mins, 50-90% is another 30 minutes, but 90-100% is a good 40-50 minutes.
Cameras are great with the Pixel 2 XL camera app, but the builtin razer camera app needs work.
The feel of it is awesome. It's very solid, hefty- though not overly heavy, and thin. Feels like a slab of slate.
Again, I don't think I can seriously consider another phone after this one, it would probably result in a "meh" statement if anyone asked what I thought of another phone. I will definitely be buying their 2nd gen. I'm sure other manufacturer's are busy trying to copy Razer now. The screen in this is Razer's own fabrication, so they may sell them to other phone makers, but as it sits right now, comparing this phone to other phones is like comparing Razer's triple-screened laptop to other laptops. You just can't compare it, it's on a different level entirely.

10 people found this helpful

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Alex Attia

Amazing phone, great buy

Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2018

Verified Purchase

I don't usually purchase a phone outright but I took a leap on this one. I really enjoy consumer technology but I'm by no means a tech journalist, regardless here is my review and my opinions.

You can look up the specs on the Razer site: Snapdragon 835 w/ 8GB RAM, 64GB Internal memory with expansion slot, 120 Hz 5.7 inch 1440 x 2560 screen, dual 12MP camera, 4000 mAh battery, Android 7.1.1 (as of Mar 2018), Nova Launcher pre-installed. Pretty good specs on paper.

I consider myself a heavy user, I listen to podcasts or stream music all day at work as well as on my hour drive to and from work. I play games on the phone, like Hearthstone, Eternal and Arena of Valor, on breaks. I keep a charger with me but I have only had to use it once at work since I bought the phone a month ago. Even though I have added a 64GB micro SD card I'm just barely at the half way mark on the phones internal storage, though I don't take a lot of pictures regularly, mileage might vary on that. The dual speakers sound amazing, they're loud for phone speakers and they don't get crackly when the volume is all the way up. The equalizer is very intuitive and super customizable for all different types of listening preferences. I use Bluetooth at work for listening and when going from a Nexus 6P to this phone there is a noticeable difference in the sound quality. Not sure what tech Razer used but the sound, even through Bluetooth, is so much more clear and base hits harder. The screen is beautiful, super responsive and sharp as a tack. I've watched videos, played games and read comics on the phone and haven't run into anything that doesn't look amazing. One of my favorite parts about this phone, there is almost no pre-installed bloat wear.

There are a lot of software tweaks that can be adjusted based on personal preference. There's three power modes: Performance, Power Saver and Custom. The Performance mode seems to drain the battery a little quicker (hasn't been an issue yet) but you get the full power of the phone. The custom mode is basically Power Saver unless the phone detects that you're using specific apps that you have designated. Out of the box the screen is in 90Hz mode and you can choose between 30Hz, 90Hz or 120Hz depending on what you want to phone to do. I have had the screen on 120Hz since the day I started using it. There is a night mode which gives the screen a yellow tint during the hours of sunset to sunup based on location data.

I'm sure there are things about the phone I forgot to include in this review but my overall opinion is that this is a really good phone. It's flagship priced but it's also flagship performance. If I had to make the choice again, I would buy it all over again.

63 people found this helpful

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Flavian Boanca

Great upgrade!

Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2018

Verified Purchase

Brace yourselves, this is going to be a long review. Grab some popcorn and enjoy...

So I upgraded from a Samsung Galaxy S3 (yes, that's quite a jump) and not only a jump from Jelly Bean to Oreo, but a MASSIVE jump in screen quality and size. We're talking big. This Razer Phone is MASSIVE. Everyone here is saying good and bad about this phone, but let me share my pros and cons.

PROS:
- Huge battery
- 120Hz refresh rate and 1440p screen
- Comes clean installation, no bloatware; there's only 1 razer app installed on it, that might be considered bloatware, but that's it
- Fingerprint scanner is AMAZING. It's extremely small (lock button on the side), and it works dozens of times better than any mobile device I have tried fingerprint scanners on. I have not had ANY issues w/ it so far, and it unlocks my phone way faster than any apple device.

And here come the CONS:
- literally, doesn't come w/ its own media player or razer developed apps; it relies purely on Google Photos, Google Music, Google Movies, etc. which some ppl like, but I don't because GMP doesn't work well for me at all; there is not even lock screen widget option... I downloaded Black Player instead and it does everything I need it to do
- harder to set up initially; this may not necessarily be a con, but I had a hard time getting around the phone (maybe because I jumped from Jellybean to Oreo all of a sudden), but connecting the phone to the PC was challenging; tried debugging mode, didn't work... then I found out on some forums that you should choose file transfer option from the notification when you connect phone to PC
- connecting phone to PC; it might just be my cable that I bought because you need adapters (waiting for new cable to come in today) but my PC would NOT recognize the phone's internal storage at ALL when connected to USB 3.0 port, so I had to put it to USB 2.0
- cables and adapters; Razer.... W....T...F.... literally... what were they THINKING!? The phone comes with a USB Type C port (which isn't the end of the world, considering the fact many phones have that port now). However, the problem isn't the phone's port, it's the charging adapter's port. IT'S ALSO USB TYPE C! So Razer includes a USB Type C to USB Type C cable and the USB Type C charging adapter. This is absolutely idiotic if you ask me. They should have made the charger a regular USB port interface, NOT a Type C. I had to buy another cable just to be able to charge my phone in the car, and just to be able to connect my phone to the PC. This is why I can't give this phone a 5-star rating, unfortunately.

Other Thoughts:
The phone is nice, and it will just take some time to get used to it, that is all. For the price you pay, the phone is unbeatable imo. The camera looks fine to me (still don't know why ppl complained about the camera). I come from a Samsung Galaxy S3 with an 8MP camera, and this phone has a 12MP camera. It looks better and takes 4K pictures. I don't need more from a camera. If you have a picture taking hobby or job, then maybe this phone isn't for you, but I see nothing wrong w/ the camera. Again, Android over iOS all day every day. Until Apple gets rid of their stupid iTunes BS, Android will always be better in terms of file managing and accessing phone storage. A phone's file storage should be easily accessible like a USB flash drive. Plug in PC, drag and drop files, organize folders, copy pictures or MP3 files, unplug phone. That should be the case for every mobile device. I also have not played any games on the phone yet, or tried any developer tools on it or networking tools, but I plan on doing so soon. Also, easily transferable SIM card, had no issues w/ T-Mobile. Just swapped SIM from Galaxy S3 to Razer Phone and was done. Feels good to be able to use Google Maps and choose different routes in real-time as opposed to lagging to death on my S3.

4 people found this helpful

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The Traveling Merchant

High Expectations - Low Quality

Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2019

Verified Purchase

I was so excited to get this phone initially. I thought all my friends were suckers for shelling out over 1k for Iphones and Samsungs with seemingly inferior stats. Loved how slim the phone was. The screen was amazing in terms of resolution, color and size, but after a year of owning this phone, I'm sadly already replacing it.

The touchscreen no longer works on some areas of my phone. It does not matter how much I touch the dead zones, my phone does not recognize anything happening. Some apps are now completely unusable since I am unable to access certain parts of the screen. My phone has always been kept in a case and has never suffered damage from a fall or moisture. I contacted Razer support and even though my purchase would have been covered by their warranty, they just asked me to hard reset the phone, which is no surprise to anyone that that did not work. After some research, I found out this is a common issue with the Razer phone, so it's surprising customer service chose not to acknowledge such a common defect and chose not to help.

After the poor quality and lack of customer service surfaced, you can now see them offering their Razer 2 ( which is practically the same phone) for $400 off or more. It is clear they are not promoting their phone, but rather dumping their inventory. They have also announced they would not be making any new phones, so I can only imagine how much worse their support for this product will be.

Do yourself a favor, don't make the same mistake I did and avoid buying this phone.

One person found this helpful

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Justin A.

Most powerful phone on the market right now.

Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2018

Verified Purchase

This phone is incredible.

The 120hz display at 1440p looks amazing. Some will complain it's not AMOLED but to me that's extremely petty.

The stereo speakers sound great. With Dolby Atmos activated and a good pair of headphones everything sounds spectacular.

Huge battery, 4000mAh. Even my last phone with a fresh charge and fresh battery didn't compare to this.

Snapdragon 835 and 8GB of RAM. I ran benchmarks on this phone and it outperforms the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and LG V30. That makes me feel good because I care not for either of those companies.

People will complain about it not having a 3.5mm audio jack for headphones. Razer opted out on it to add 500 more mAh to the battery. It comes with a USB Type-C adapter with a 3.5mm audio jack that essentially only adds 4 inches of length to your headphone cable. This is a non-problem that babies will still complain about.

No bloatware. Hate it when major companies decide what I should have on my phone so this was a nice change of pace for once.

Camera software could use some work, but again this is a non-problem. I bought a camera app for $4 that improves it A LOT. If $4 is too much to spend after blowing $700+ on a phone then I don't know what to tell you. Some will say for $700 it should come with good camera software. I agree, but an extra $4 is really nitpicky.

Fingerprint reader is snappy and accurate. Instead of some lame circle on the back of the phone it's conveniently placed on the right side of the phone.

I've seen complaints that the volume buttons are too low, but don't understand why. Considering the size of this phone and the average size of human hands the buttons are placed just fine.

I can't think of anything bad to say about this phone. It's really a great piece of tech for a reasonable price.

28 people found this helpful

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BigHairyTXman

Cool phone. However, camera is inadequate and screen is a bit dim.

Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2018

Verified Purchase

I have been using the Razer phone for about two months now. Overall, I like the phone:

Pros:
1. Exterior: The look and feel of the phone are great - metal all around, which is rad. Large screen with Gorilla Glass. It’s easy to hold with flat sides and sharp corners – my iPhone is a slippery orb, which requires a case just to hold it.
2. Processor: Very quick.
3. Speakers: The speakers are loud and undistorted until the max volume. The phone works well for watching videos or jamming your favorite George Michael songs.
4. Double tap 2 wake: Not all phones have this feature. It only seems to work if you are not holding the phone though. I have not set up the finger print thing yet, but the side placement seems like a good design.
5. No bloatware; Still have not received Android Oreo upgrade though.

Cons:
1. Camera: The camera is inadequate. 12MP of unfocused, 1-second later blurs (w/ software update). Full light is needed to take a good pic. I never realized how much I use the camera until this phone. Anyone considering this phone, should evaluate whether you need a camera or not. This is probably why iPhone and Samsung have put a lot of effort into their camera quality. For a little more money, you can get a phone with a much better camera.
2. Display: This screen is dim because it is LCD, not LED. Adjusting the settings to the max brightness just doesn't quite get there. Most reviews put the screen as a positive attribute because of its fast refresh rate. I am not a gamer, so the quick refresh rate is only useful for vigorously moving the app drawer up and down without much blurring, aka “buttery smooth”.
3. Bezels: The bezels do not bother me - seems like a standard bezel size. A reviewer said the bezels were intentionally large for gaming. Whether the bezels are intentional or not, it seems like if you need a bezel to play a game, it can be created via software. Imjustsayin
4. Not Waterproof: I’m not complaining, but some phones have it and some do not.
5. Price: I bought this phone because it offers top of the line hardware. However, I think it should trade at more of a discount to the Samsung Note 8 mainly due to the camera deficiency and the dimmer screen.

3 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Excellent phone with minor cons, but customers service (?)

Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2018

Verified Purchase

Even though Razer did a great job with their first new phone and I enjoyed it so much at first, I discovered the phone had some issues with the volume buttons. If I have to review the phone, I'm just going to tell you about the 120 Hertz display, its fluidity, amazing audio output, 8 gb RAM, outstanding life battery, without forgetting to mention the fact that even if this phone has a really huge battery, the 4.0+ QuickCharge manage to charge your phone insanely fast. Within 1 hour of charge you can charge your battery for at least a 50% of its life which means at least 5-6 hours of utilization. Although there are some cons if you consider the camera, maybe the fact that it's not really comfortable when you hold it one-handed because of its size, I think this phone stands out above all the top tier smartphones of the end of 2017. Unfortunately, mine had an issue with the volume buttons. Their design is a bit weird but that's not the problem. After only a week my volume buttons started to get stuck often whenever I pressed them, that means that if I'm trying to upper the volume and the button gets stucked my volume jumped to the maximum... now I think of this when wearing a pair of earbuds, listening to music.
I also want to mention some minor problems you might encounter involving the screen which can start to glitch for a few seconds, like when you have a disturbed channel on TV. The power button, which is also the fingerprint sensor, glitched sometimes resulting in failing at read fingerprints and also stopping to work at all.
Other minor cons: really weird vibration (it's so noisy and strange that I started keeping the phone on silent mode), average microphone, not waterproof at all, no headphone jack (not a big deal imo), and the camera which is rather average (but still I don't care too much about it so it can be a huge factor or not at all), auto-brightness is a bit off.
Luckily most of the cons are software so they are fixable, so in the end you should consider quality/performances over price in order to compare it to other smartphones.

So, upon recieving a defective product, I couldn't get a replacement and was promised to have a partial refund after I directly contacted them - I chatted with an operator for 2 hours - but when I contacted them again to claim it they stepped back. All these things happened without clearing the reasons whenever I asked them.
I had to contact Razer's directly in order to have a replacement because Amazon couldn't make it for me, and I could handle this situation only after a month resulting in getting the replacement from Razer. This happened because I moved to Italy in the meanwhile but even if this is the case, I still don't know which issue there was about shipping the phone there.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Solid phone, camera is lacking.

Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2017

Verified Purchase

Ordered from Amazon to NZ before they changed it so that it wouldn't ship there. Phone received in good order - packaging is superb. Configured to work on Vodafone network in New Zealand without any hassles what so ever.

The phone itself is a joy to use. The design is quite industrial - which I like, but it may be a little off-putting to some.

Good Things

- The phone screen is buttery smooth in action. I honestly didn't think that 120HZ would make this much of a difference before trying the phone myself, but even on something as simple as Google Maps it makes a huge difference. People have complained about the screen brightness not being high enough but it's not something I've noticed myself - plenty bright enough for me.
- The fingerprint scanner on the power button is amazingly useful. It's a single action to turn the phone on and authenticate your thumb / finger against it, and the scanner itself works flawlessly. Very impressed with it.
- SD expansion slot. I simply won't buy a phone without expandable memory these days.
- Quick charging. Despite the utter lack of 3rd party Qualcomm 4+ chargers available, going from a empty phone to full power in 40 minutes is great. Can't wait for Razor to start selling AUS plug pattern chargers so I can have quick charging available at work and home.
- The OS implementation is superb. No bloatware, just an almost stock Android experience with minor cosmetic tweaks and Nova Launcher. Everything Just Works™.
- The speakers are great - lack a little bass for my liking but I haven't tried tweaking the equaliser yet to see what I can get out of them. Regardless, they're great for gaming & for watching media.
- Battery life is solid. I've yet to run out of power in normal use.
- Audio as a whole is very good to my ears.
- Price is very good for a phone with these specs. That being said, I find it really hard to justify buying a current flagship phone when if you wait for 1-2 years you can pick them up for a lot cheaper - my phone before this, a HTC One M9+, cost me a bit over $400 landed.

The Bad

- Accessories are -very- hard to get right now. I imagine that the supply situation will get better soon, but I've ended up ordering 3rd party screen protectors & a case because the Razer options aren't available.
- Lack of a 3.5mm jack. Not a problem for me given that I've moved almost exclusively to wireless headphones, and I find the supplied DAC + 3.5mm dongle easy to use in situations where it's required
- Lack of wireless charging. Necessitated by the aluminium body and a trade-off I'm happy to make especially with the fast charge specification, but it's still an issue
- Lack of waterproofing. Necessitated by the open speaker grilles, but still would be nice to see.
- Notification buzzer is somewhat loud and buzzy. I'd be interested to see if it can be turned down through software: if it can, that'd be great. However it's not really a problem for me, I like the buzzer being audible - means I'm less likely to miss it.

The Ugly

- The camera is very basic. Both the software (which calling "sparse" would be generous - you basically have a choice of HDR on / off, and zoom via pinching the screen and that's IT for meaningful controls), and the camera modules themselves (no image stabilisation from what I've seen in teardowns). If the camera is important to you then this is not the phone you want. It might get better with software updates, but the lack of image stabilisation is a big issue for photo quality and points to cheaper components being used here.

All in all - it's not perfect, but it is the current flagship phone that hits the most of my "must haves" at the moment. Memory expansion, good external speakers, huge battery, great screen. No buyers remorse at all for me.

6 people found this helpful

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Quentin Mendoza

Elements of "Great" in a solidly "Good" package

Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2018

Verified Purchase

My previous phone was a Samsung Note 5, which for the most part I liked except the battery life was atrocious. Part of what attracted me to the Razer Phone was the massive 4,000 mAh battery. That being said, since I do game heavily at the full 120 MHz refresh rate, so the battery still gets chewed up pretty quickly. It's better than my old Samsung, but don't expect to go for more than 4-6 hours before you hit the red line. I have yet to do a lengthy standby test to see how long the battery works with average use. Fortunately, charging is very fast even with the big battery.

As for the video quality, it is indeed phenomenal, as is the sound quality. These were the second and third qualities that attracted me to the Razer. I could not believe the difference when I fired it up, and that was with the default settings of 90 MHz. I even got a little dizzy right at first because of the image clarity. The sound is also quite good, but don't expect it to be your go-to, standalone sound system at parties. It's still just a phone, and the sound quality is best experienced with minimal background noise and the speakers facing you directly; but the clarity is outstanding in this configuration. Connected to a Bluetooth or other speaker, the sound quality is still there. It adds considerable depth and breadth to the sound of my car's crappy OEM head unit and speakers.

As others have stated, the camera app does indeed suck. I haven't tried the Google camera app yet, but based on the recommendation of other reviewers I will give it a go. Hopefully, Razer will release the promised update with the move to Oreo because the hardware capabilities are there to shoot some respectable photos.

Another complaint I have about the phone are the pointy corners. I assume they had to maximize space in order to fit the battery, but for a device designed to be held in landscape mode for lengthy stretches of time, it gets to be quite uncomfortable pretty quickly. The case I purchased, which is hard rubber makes this a little better, but it can still get uncomfortable. And make no mistake about it; it's a massive phone. Even with a screen that's a little bit smaller than the Note 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, it's still quite a bit heavier. I'm sure this is also related to the battery, and time will tell whether the trade off is worth it. One benefit is that if you can chunk the Razer at would-be attackers and do some serious damage.

Finally, the software does seem a little buggy. The screen blanks occasionally, and random apps seem to launch on their own. And while it's the trend of industry, the departure from hard to soft buttons is taking some getting used to. I do like the placement of the power button on the side, and the finger print reader works pretty well, though sometimes I just want to look at my lock screen notifications, but I end up unlocking the device instead. Despite all this, it's still an improvement over my Note 5, which after numerous software updates had numerous gremlins.

Overall, I'm happy with my purchase. It offers most of what I need and with a couple of key software updates, has the potential to over everything. However, if camera quality or lightweight design are key features for you, I'd look elsewhere.

39 people found this helpful

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Andrew C Davis

I like the phone for what it offers but it does ...

Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2018

Verified Purchase

I like the phone for what it offers but it does have some downfalls.

I've had the phone for awhile now, and it does everything I need it to do. It however it quite clunky and big. That was my mistake. It's my first plus size phone and I don't think I'll ever go back to one whenever I choose to replace this phone.

Things I like:
Screen. It is big, crisp, and smooth. This thing is a mobile entertainment system and can pretty much operate as a media consumption device and do light workstation tasks like email, banking, and viewing documents.
Speakers. They are the best sounding speakers on a smart phone on the market.
Thumb print. I like being able to unlock my phone with my thumb print. I moved away from apple due to their design of removing the function and going to face recognition.
Battery life. This phone will last a long while even under heavy demand. I have played games for hours on this phone and it will last you all day.
GUI. I like android and its customization. Razer gives you a very vanilla experience allowing you to change it however you want.

What I dislike:
No headphone jack. I came from an iphone 7 so I've been missing it since my iphone 6. I dislike the moving away from this and the dongle is easy to lose. I wish it would be brought back. Wireless headphones suck, but that could be because of the kind I bought sucked.
Size. Plus size phones are just not for me. If you like to be mobile and run with your phone this thing will make you worry. I dropped this phone once and if it weren't for the screen protector I probably would have cracked the display. The good news is the thing can survive a 4 foot drop and not crack the screen... as long as you have it protected.
Accessories. Razer overcharges for things like cases. The one I have cost me 40 bucks for a piece of plastic essentially. Maybe that case has gone down in price but this one hasn't. I tried out a wallet case but with this phone already being too big it felt like I was carrying around a brick.
Security Updates. I work in the field of cyber security and it appears that Razer updates the phone ever few months. That is a bit disconcerning due to the ever evolving nature of the cyber threats.

Overall though I do like the phone. It got me out of the apple landscape. That being said unless Razer were to create a smaller phone I am probably going to go with a Google Pixel next time around. If I were to go back in time I probably would have gone with the Pixel over this phone as well. Just not the Pixel XL.

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