This summary of the video was created by an AI. It might contain some inaccuracies.
00:00:00 – 00:10:31
Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) reviews the Razer Phone, a device developed following Razer's acquisition of Nextbit. He praises its solid build, distinctive boxy design with a matte black finish, and the standout feature: a 5.7-inch Quad HD 120Hz IPS display. This high refresh rate provides a smooth user experience, beneficial for both gaming and daily use. The phone runs close to stock Android 7.1.1 with the Snapdragon 835 processor and 8GB of RAM, ensuring excellent performance and smooth multitasking. Custom features include a "Do Not Disturb" mode tailored for gaming and Nova Launcher Prime for extensive customization. Its speakers are notably loud and clear.
However, MKBHD points out downsides, such as small, mushy buttons impacting usability and an inconsistent camera system that suffers from poor white balance, dynamic range, and focus issues. The phone's impressive battery life can last through heavy use even at its high refresh rate. Despite these strengths, the poor camera quality and absence of a headphone jack are significant drawbacks, leading MKBHD to prefer the Pixel 2 for daily use. He concludes by expressing hope for future Razer Phone iterations that might address these issues while keeping the innovative 120Hz display.
00:00:00
In this part of the video, MKBHD reviews the Razer Phone, which emerged unexpectedly from Razer’s acquisition of Nextbit. He shares that the phone has impressed him a lot, particularly in terms of build quality, industrial design, and uniqueness. The Razer Phone, designed for gaming, has a distinctive boxy design, contrasting with the sleek curves of modern phones like the iPhone 10. It features a matte black finish that resists fingerprints well but has a logo in a cutout that feels cheap. Despite its solid build, the phone’s buttons are criticized for being small and mushy, which impacts usability. However, the highlight is the 5.7-inch Quad HD 120 Hz IPS display, praised for its high refresh rate, offering a smooth and enhanced user experience.
00:03:00
In this part of the video, the speaker discusses the significant difference made by the Razer Phone’s 120Hz display, emphasizing its smoothness in both gaming and daily usage like scrolling and multitasking, making the experience enjoyable. Despite not being OLED, the display has good color and contrast, and while some think it isn’t bright enough, the speaker disagrees. Minor issues like inconsistent auto-brightness can be fixed via software. The phone is close to stock Android, currently running version 7.1.1 with hopes of an upgrade to Android 8.0 Oreo soon. It features a Snapdragon 835 processor and 8GB of RAM, which ensures excellent performance. Customizations include a useful “Do Not Disturb” mode for gaming and the use of Nova Launcher Prime as the default launcher, allowing for extensive customization. Additionally, the Razer Phone boasts the best speakers the speaker has encountered in a phone, being so loud and clear that they prefer using the phone over a Google Home for listening to music. A tip is shared about the alarm clock volume being maxed out by default, which can be startling.
00:06:00
In this segment of the video, the speaker reviews the battery life and camera performance of a particular smartphone. They highlight the impressive battery life, noting that even at the 120Hz refresh rate, the phone delivers substantial screen-on time of up to six hours with extra battery life remaining at the end of the day. The speaker had anticipated needing to use lower frame rate settings to conserve battery, but found it unnecessary due to the excellent battery performance.
However, the speaker criticizes the camera quality, stating it performs poorly with inconsistent white balance, weak dynamic range, slow focusing, and overall soft images and videos. They explain that the camera is not a focus for this gaming-oriented phone and does not meet their expectations for use as a daily driver. Additionally, the phone lacks a headphone jack, which the speaker sees as a missed opportunity for appealing to enthusiasts. They also note the poor performance of the phone’s vibration motor.
00:09:00
In this part of the video, the speaker discusses their experience with the Razer phone. They highlight the phone’s strong performance as an all-around gaming handheld device, noting its metal design and the inclusion of a SIM card that makes it a smartphone. However, the speaker identifies the poor camera quality as a significant drawback, describing it as a deal breaker compared to the Pixel 2’s superior camera. Despite appreciating the phone’s 120Hz display, the speaker decides to switch back to the Pixel due to the camera issue. They express optimism for future iterations of the Razer phone and other devices with 120Hz displays, closing by thanking viewers and signing off.