The Razer Phone 2 is official and takes everything that was good about the original and brings it up a notch. With its high-refresh rate display, loud speakers, and solid performance, this smartphone should be a real winner for those into gaming.

One of the additions this year is full IP67 water resistance. That's actually kind of impressive considering just how huge the speakers are. It's not easy to waterproof something like that. There's also a new glass back which supports wireless charging at up to 15 watts.

The Razer Phone's design is fairly subdued, unlike other gaming phones. Sure, it doesn't have the same sort of flash as the ROG phone but a lot of people, myself included, probably would prefer something that's just a little bit more subtle. The rest of the specs are good, but nothing all that crazy. You've got the Snapdragon 845 paired with 8 gigabytes of RAM, 64 gigs of storage expandable via MicroSD, as well as a big 4,000 milli-Ampere-hour battery.

The Razer Phone really did kick off the gaming phone trend something I don't think is going anywhere, anytime soon. But the real question, as it was last year, is do you actually need a gaming phone? Take a look at the PC space for example, there's a very clear need for gaming-focused hardware. Sure you can play some games on an Ultrabook but it's not going to be any where near the experience of playing something with proper CPU and especially proper dedicated graphics.

On the mobile side though, that need is there, but the actual hardware really hasn't caught up. When you consider that the $800 Razer Phone has the same spec as a $400 POCO phone, sure the Razer Phone might not throttle quite as much but the overall experience, not counting the screen, the speakers, the actual performance itself isn't going to be massively different.

All that being said, the Razer Phone 1 had a ton of potential but some major drawbacks. Whereas the Razer Phone 2 can be really summed up very simply, it is a refinement of that original design and it really is what the Razer Phone 1 should have been.

The only thing that's really remarkable is the vapor-chamber cooling. Unlike a lot of other water-cooled smartphones, which have a tiny little heat pipe, Razer instead opted to go for a nearly full-size vapor chamber which goes directly on top of the processor. How much of a difference this makes remains to be seen but it does make a big difference when it comes to gaming for long sessions when you don't wanna throttle down till half your normal clock speed like some other smartphones.

The Razer Phone did kick off the gaming phone trend and the real question is do you actually need a gaming phone? Is it really worth the extra money? Take a look at the PC space, there's a very clear need for gaming-focused hardware. Sure you can play some games on an Ultrabook but it's not going to be any where near the experience of playing something with proper CPU and especially proper dedicated graphics.

The Razer Phone 2 is a big step forward with that high-refresh rate display, the loud speakers, and the solid performance it should be a real winner if you're into gaming. But I'm really curious what do you guys think about the concept of the gaming phone? Is it really worth the extra money?

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Hey guys, this is Austin.The Razer Phone 2 is officialand it takes everythingthat was good about the originaland brings it up a notch.With the added benefitof not having a notch.(funky music)The original Razer Phonewas a polarizing device.What it did well, it did really well.What didn't work though, wasbasically a deal breaker.The highlight last year was the5.7 inch 1440p IGZO display.What made this so goodfor gaming wasn't just thepure size of the display or thequality, but the frame rate.As opposed to basically everyother smartphone out therewhich is capped at 60 frames per second,the Razer Phone can goall the way up to 120 fpsand that continues with the Razer Phone 2.The 120 hertz panelcarries over this year,but with some key improvements,most notably brightness.The last year's panelactually was a good, solid,accurate display but it justdidn't get all that bright.Thankfully that is somethingthat has been improvedwith the Razer Phone 2, withup to 50% more brightness.Now mind you, when we wereable to try it on our briefhands-on the difference wasn'tmassive, but it is definitelygoing to be at leastsomewhat brighter than year.The fluidity is just asimpressive as it was last yearwith a full 120 hertz refresh rateeverything is buttery-smooth,not just games.The UON itself is one ofthe most noticeable thingswhen you're doing somethingsimple like scrollingthrough a webpage or some email.The closest competitoris actually the iPad Proswith ProMotion, it'sa very similar feelingwith that 120 hertz refresh rate.It's really something that youkind of have to see to really understand.What's kind of interestingis that the game supportactually is a littlebit more hit and miss.On the Android side, a lotof titles only hit around30 frames per second,much less 60 or even 120.But a fair amount of games arebecoming optimized for thathigher refresh rate, eitherwith running with unlockedframe rates or with runningwith some kind of higher modethat will at least targetsomething like 90 fps.When it does support it,it makes a big difference.But the issue is that a lot ofgames don't even come close,but I guess the harbor is there?My actual favorite featurethough, are the speakers.Note the Razer Phone 1,which you got were twoincredibly loud, incredibly detailedspeakers and that carries overto the Razer Phone 2 butwith some key upgrades.Unlike most of the phoneswith dual speakers,such as the iPhone which takesadvantage of the earpieceas well as the bottom-firing speaker.Don't get me wrong that does sound good,but with having two hugeproper speakers aimed directlyat your face, it makes a big difference.It's really straightforward, the Razer Phonehas the best speakers onany smartphone, period.Not only are they rich and detailed,but a big part of it isthe stereo separation.It is further helped bythe fact that it does haveDolby 5.1 Surround Supportwhich is weird because thereare two speakers, but if youmove past that what you'regetting is something that doesgive you some real presence.Music and videos sound good but it'sespecially noticeable in games.So specifically withPUBG you can really tellwhere people are around you purely usingthe speakers which is really impressive.The only downside to the whole audio setupis that we still don'thave a headphone jack,which would be nice onthe ultimate gaming phone.At least there's a good dongle in the box?The screen speakers werereally the strong suit of theoriginal Razer Phone andit's nice to see that they'vebeen at least somewhatenhanced for this new versionand that's going to definitely be a trend.It is a very similar phoneof the original Razer Phone,just improved in some not so subtle ways.The problem with the OG wasthat while it was a goodgaming phone it really wasn'tgood for much beyond that.There's no water resistance,no wireless charging,the screen was a littlebit dim in daylight,and the biggest issue was thatthe camera was straight up abysmal.Now credit where credit's due,they have improved the cameraquite a bit with firmwareupdates but there's onlyso much you can do with thehardware that's included,which is where the Razer Phone 2 comes in.Thankfully they've steppedup the game with newSony sensors, improvedoptics for both the standardas well as telephoto cameras,and a fully rewrittensoftware stacked from theground up to better takeadvantage of photos that arenot crunchy and terrible.The phone I tried wasn'trunning final software,so I'm not able to sharethe images that I took on itbut it was a big improvementover the original Razer Phone.Now note it probablywon't compete the iPhonesand the Pixels and theGalaxys of the world,but at the very least itshould be a usable camerawhich is very nice in yourexpensive flagship gaming phone.That is a big deal whenyou're spending this kindof money you should expect no compromises.So one of the additions this yearis full IP67 water resistance.Now that's actually kindof impressive consideringjust how huge the speakers are.It's not easy to waterproofsomething like that.There's also a new glassback which supports wirelesscharging at up to 15 watts.Speaking of the glass backwhile the overall dimensionsof the Razer Phone are very similar,there is a revolutionary new featurethis year, an RGB Chroma Razer logo.Yes, it actually isn'tas bad as it might seem.So you can, of course turn itfully off and the colors are,not only going to be fullRGB, but fairly subtle.It kind of looks more like a colored logothan a bright, flashy gamerlogo, gamer logo, gamer logo.Unlike other gaming phones theRazer Phone's design is fairly subdued.Now sure, it doesn't have the same sortof flash as the RG phonebut a lot of people,myself included, probablywould prefer somethingthat's just a little bit more subtle.The rest of the specs are good,but nothing all that crazy.You've got the Snapdragon845 paired with 8 gigabytesof RAM, 64 gigs of storageexpandable via MicroSD,as well as a big 4,000milli-Ampere-hour battery.The only thing that's really remarkableis the vapor-chamber cooling.Unlike a lot of otherwater-cooled smartphones,which have a tiny little heatpipe, Razer instead optedto go for a nearly full-size vapor chamberwhich goes directly ontop of the processor.How much of a differencethis make remains to be seen,but it does make a bigdifference when it comesto gaming for long sessions when youdon't wanna throttle down til half yournormal clock speed likesome other smart phones.The Razer Phone really didkick off the gaming phone trendsomething I don't think isgoing anywhere, anytime soon.But the real question,as it was last year,is do you actually need a gaming phone?Take a look at the PC space for example,there's a very clear needfor gaming-focused hardware.Sure you can play somegames on an Ultrabookbut it's not going to beanywhere near the experienceof playing something with proper CPUand especially proper dedicated graphics.On the mobile sidethough, that need is therebut the actual hardwarereally hasn't caught up.When you consider that the$800 Razer Phone has thesame spec as a $400 POCO phone,sure the Razer Phone mightnot throttle quite as muchbut the overall experience,not counting the screen,the speakers, the actualperformance itself isn't goingto be massively different.All that being said, theRazor Phone 1 had a tonof potential but some majordrawbacks, whereas theRazor Phone 2 can be reallysummed up very simply,it is a refinement of that original designand it really is what theRazor Phone 1 should have been.That $800 price though,means that this is squarelyup against the high-endflagships of the world.The main question for meis going to be the camera,I really don't think it'sgoing to match up to thevery, very high-end stuff likethe Pixels and the Galaxys.But as long as it is decentenough, I think that'll begood enough for most people,but the difference betweengood enough and great is a hugeone in this space right now.The real elephant in the roomright now is the ROG Phone.On paper it does have somesuperior specs in some ways,it does have the headphone jack,some additional accessories,and that 90 Hertz OLED display.I would like to think that the Razer Phoneand ROG would be a goodhead-to-head comparison,but until the ROG Phone comes outit's really hard to nail that down.There's no doubt that the Razor Phone 2is a big step forward withthat high-refresh rate display,the loud speakers, andthe solid performanceit should be a real winnerif you're into gaming.But I'm really curious,what do you guys thinkabout the concept of the gaming phone?Is it really worth the extra money?(funky music)