Yet another challenger attempting to dethrone Nintendo’s Switch and the Steam Deck has arrived. This time around, it’s Razer trying to cash in on the action, with the announcement of the Razer Edge; an Android gaming handheld system. Thankfully, it looks far better than the leaked version we saw in 2021.
The Edge is the first of these consoles to introduce 5G in the portable gaming space. This means South Africans (probably) won’t be able to lay their hands on it. The device makes use of Verizon’s network capacity to supply 5G, which we don’t have. Never fear, however. A non-5G-ready version of the Edge is coming too. Still, don’t hold your breath. South Africa will struggle to get a look in for cloud support on this one. Blame the government – it’s usually their fault.
Edging out the Logitech G Cloud
The Razer Edge is a cloud-based handheld meant to make use of services such as Xbox Cloud Gaming or GeForce Now. It’s running on Qualcomm’s G3X Gen 1 chipset and manages to hit 144fps when streaming Steam games through Steam Link. The screen itself is a 6.8in AMOLED FHD+ display with a 2400×1080 resolution. There’s 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM shoved in, with a base storage of 128GB. A MicroSD slot is available to expand storage up to 2TB if need be.
The device itself, previously an all-in-one device, is now able to detach from the included enclosure, which in this case is a Kishi V2 Pro. It adds haptic feedback and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Powering everything is a 5,000mAh battery to keep you occupied, with a USB-C port for charging to go along with it.
Compared to the recently announced Logitech G Cloud, the Razer Edge stands out, despite costing $50 more at $400 (R7,300) for the base device. Pricing is still unavailable for the 5G version which is set to release sometime after the non-5G version launches in January next year. Whether South Africa is on the list of supported countries remains to be seen. We doubt it, mainly because the Edge’s primary focus is cloud gaming which South Africa is… barely equipped to handle. Unless you’re jumping the geofence with a VPN.