What Will A Gamer Phone Look Like?

Razer has been a household name when it comes to gaming with its logo almost omnipresent in every eSport event. Now, the San Diego-based company is planning to release its own smartphone following its acquisition of Nextbit earlier this year.

In an interview with CNBC last month, CEO Min-Liang Tan confirmed the news that they are in fact building a mobile device. And, like many of their products, these will be marketed specifically to gamers.

Min-Liang Tan seems eager to leak the device after he recently appeared in a photo with Mobile at Razer (formerly Nextbit) Senior Vice-president Tom Moss. Upon closer inspection of Tan’s pocket, a glimpse of what appears to be a smartphone sporting the company’s logo can be seen.

So what will this upcoming “gamer” smartphone look like? To find out, one must take a look at Nextbit’s Nextbit Robin smartphone as well as Razer products in general.

The Nextbit Robin, prior to being launched, was started on Kickstarter like many other promising tech projects. It was marketed as “Cloud-first” where it utilizes cloud storage to store data which are not used for a long period of time.

The device proved somewhat successful despite a few issues. However, sales were halted after Razer acquired Nextbit in January of 2017. It was during this time that rumors of a “gamer” smartphone began to spread.

The smartphone will likely follow the footsteps of the Razer Edge (tablet) and Razer Blade (laptop) in that it will be made with gaming as the main priority. This means high-end specs typically seen in flagship models, even on a number of first-party apps that improve mobile gaming.

The company might also retain the Nextbit Robin’s “Cloud-first” feature in its smartphone in some way. One possible use of the cloud is to store game data which can often be limited by the internal memory. It is also likely that the phone will utilize Google’s Android operating system rather than put in the resources to develop their own. Lastly, expect a black and green motif to be used given the company’s fondness for the color combination.

With mobile gaming slowly becoming a real industry, it’s not surprising for an industry leader like Razer to tap into this new wellspring. If the success of their gaming notebooks and tablets used as a guide, the future looks promising for the upcoming gaming smartphone.