The Razer Edge Review
by Vivek Gowri on March 28, 2013 11:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- Mobile
- Razer
- Razer Edge
Display
The display was always a key part of the gaming tablet idea, and I was glad to see Razer spec a 1366x768 IPS panel, sourced from LG Display. The lack of 1080p is initially a disappointment given the price point, but I’ve discussed the reasons for a 1080p panel being unnecessary. The emphasis on display panel quality in the tablet market has been great to see, since it’s led to the widespread adoption of various wide-angle panel types. When Razer first talked to me about the Edge, I was told it had a TN panel. I basically threw a fit about the display choice, but when the preproduction units were shown at CES, they were clearly using IPS panels. Whether I was initially misinformed by Razer by accident or if the panel actually changed between early December and CES, I am not sure, but either way, it worked out.
Performance is pretty good – the contrast ratio is solid at 708:1, while the maximum brightness of 358 nits is also competitive. The uncalibrated colour temperature is a pretty neutral 6600K. I’d like to see lower black levels, but that’s the next step. The IPS panel offers the standard 178 degree viewing angles, which are very useful when gaming on the go. It also means people can crowd around you and see what you’re doing, so any embarrassing deaths or crashes will be for public consumption, as I found out when playing Half-Life 2 on the Edge with a group of my friends.
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HisDivineOrder - Thursday, March 28, 2013 - link
If you were told that the spec is TN panels and you were given an IPS, then that means you were given a cherry picked unit and many of the launch units will include a TN panel and still be "up to spec."Whoops.
Also, I think it's pretty short sighted to say, "Well, 1366x768 is fine because gaming is going to be bad on a 1080p panel with that GPU." First, not every game is Crysis 3. Second, not everyone is going to want a decent PC-based tablet just to game. Some of them are in fact going to watch movies and/or web browse from time to time and having a high resolution panel would benefit them.
Perhaps Razer should have spec'ed a 2560x1440 panel to give the best of both worlds. Excellent with all content except games and a great way to down-rez to 1280x720 for high end gaming.
Considering the high cost of this thing (including one of those peripherals in your purchase price is a necessity), I think a high res panel is the least they could have done.
Anyway, good review except for you're constant apologies for Razer's mistakes. Also, I can't help feeling like this device REALLY reminds me of the first Razer Blade. The one that came out just before Ivy Bridge and sucked, only to be replaced in a few months time by a version that included IB, better power per watt, better everything, and a slightly lower price.
With Haswell incoming, buying one of these based on IB is downright wasteful since anyone who would want this will want that, too. Might as well wait.
Especially when the keyboard add-on isn't even ready for primetime.
VivekGowri - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
Pre-launch, I was told TN, but that was apparently a mistake - all specsheets and units (preproduction as well as final production) I have encountered have been IPS. The production version has always been IPS, there's been nothing to indicate that mine was a cherry picked unit.royalcrown - Thursday, March 28, 2013 - link
Everyone is free to like what they will, here is my 2 cents on this thing:1. Ugly as hell
2. Pretty fat and bulky
3. Waay overpriced
Really, for what this thing costs base price, you can go buy a laptop that has all the same features or more, is just about the same thickness, already has all the "optional" ports, charger and other crap, more storage. That's before the overprived accessories.
For all the people that think, "But I can haz buttunz own itz." just add a ps3 controller to a laptop or use motionjoys PS3 controller driver and you have the same or better.
coolhardware - Thursday, March 28, 2013 - link
I'm not quite sure why so many people are hating on the Razer Edge and Vivek's review.He liked the machine and had a lot of fun playing games on it, he addresses the weaknesses and the strengths. He came to a conclusion and it is not an absurd one.
The tech industry needs visionaries and companies that release bleeding edge products. Not every original release can be as polished as we would like, I would argue that the opposite is true... most initial genre creating products have some pretty rough edges!
Kudos to Razer for having the balls to produce something like this: a tablet that can play PC games (without having to stream them from somewhere else).
Kudos to Vivek for taking the time to review and benchmark it so we can read about if for free and come to our own conclusion about purchasing it or not.
Now, what I would like to know a bit more about:
+can it easily be taken apart? (b/c I would like to know about upgrading the SSD)
+what is the warranty?
+what interface does the dock use (like what bandwidth does it have and what does the connector look like) [they mention that they didn't put USB3 on the dock there b/c not enough bandwidth, and that surprised me...]
Anyhoo, thanks for the review Vivek, I appreciate it!!!
bountygiver - Thursday, March 28, 2013 - link
it's a tablet, upgrading yourself is obviously not going to be easy, the question is only how hard?coolhardware - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
Exactly.re we talking Surface Pro hard (i.e. sure it uses mSATA but you'll likely break it to upgrade it), or Dell XPS 10 (relatively easy). More info about tablet serviceability here: http://www.jdhodges.com/2013/03/tablet-teardowns/
althaz - Thursday, March 28, 2013 - link
I like this (A LOT), but the price point is too high. The $1499 bundle probably needs to be under $1000. The weight and thickness honestly don't bother me overly.Wolfpup - Thursday, March 28, 2013 - link
Cool that they actually pretty much pulled this off. I'd loooooove to have one, but realistically the money is better spent towards a normal, more powerful notebook (just got an M17x-R4 with a GTX 680).I wish that you got the features of the HDMI dock (either through the dock or built in) plus the second battery, plus the controller dock all included at any of the price points...I'd feel better about that price-wise. Interesting how it might handle games that really need a mouse and keyboard too...and yeah, it ought to have first party controller-as-mouse support, considering.
Darbyothrill - Thursday, March 28, 2013 - link
You would think that they would have wanted to wait for Haswell, considering Intel's claims that the GPU competes with the 650m.Jumangi - Thursday, March 28, 2013 - link
The Vita can't sell at $250 but a heavy $1000+ tablet based around gaming will? How does this stuff get past being laughed at during the boardroom meeting and get actually made?