The Edge has the limits of a handheld-only design with few perks. But the Steam Deck's controls feel more refined. The handheld design is OK, and after all, the Steam Deck does the same (though the Steam Deck has an optional dock like the Switch). I would love a more modular design - for instance, if I wanted to prop it up on a table with a kickstand or dock. And its controller, which stretches and plugs into the tablet, doesn't work wirelessly. The Edge, meanwhile, is designed to be purely a handheld. It also has detachable wireless controllers and a kickstand. The Switch can easily dock with a TV to become a regular sofa console, or it can be a handheld. The Edge also lacks a few things that I've taken for granted on the 6-year-old Nintendo Switch. The Razer Edge's Kishi controller detaches, but you need it to be connected via USB-C directly to the Edge to play games, unlike the Switch Joy-Cons. It turns what seems like a big screen into one that's not quite so big - and for console games designed for big screens, it makes text and menus super small and hard to read. PC and console games end up pillar-boxed, shrinking the playable space and leaving extra-large bezels on the sides. The Edge's display, while beautifully vivid, is long like a phone. Also, although Razer supports haptics on these controllers, I have yet to play a game that can use them (and haptics are a big deal for me). The triggers and buttons are fine, but shallower and more hollow-feeling. The controller seems a step below normal game console controls. While the Edge can decently run the streaming games I've played on the Xbox so far, it doesn't feel as impressive as I'd hoped for. But the controls feel no different than the clip-on Kishi controllers for phones, and a step below dedicated Xbox game controllers. The Razer Edge has a D-pad, dual analog sticks, triggers and bumpers. Verizon anticipates you'll use the Edge to stream games on the go, via 5G. There's Steam Link local-game streaming (if you have a gaming PC) and Nvidia GeForce Now cloud-streaming game support, too. I locally streamed Xbox games and played Xbox Game Pass games streaming from the cloud. You can run streaming games on the Edge, similar to your phone or tablet. You could use the Edge mini tablet to access other Android apps, like Gmail, Marvel Snap or Chrome. You'll have a standard selection of Android games that you'd also get on your phone, many of which work with the Edge controller scheme. The Edge is pure Android and runs apps off the Google Play store. If you think you're getting a Steam Deck-alike here, well. Note the large bezels because the aspect ratio is different from the Edge's longer display. Playing Elden Ring via local streaming to the Razer Edge. I briefly tried the Razer Edge in Las Vegas earlier this year, but these are my thoughts after playing at home for longer. I wouldn't recommend anyone getting the 5G version for this reason alone, but I was curious to see how the whole package felt. It's $600, or $360 if you sign up for a wireless 5G plan that costs between $20 and $30 a month. I'm reviewing a Verizon version with 5G that costs more. You could think of this as paying $300 more for a 6.8-inch AMOLED-dedicated mini tablet, which is equipped with a brand-new Qualcomm Snapdragon G3X gaming-focused chipset. At $400 for the Wi-Fi version, the price isn't awful. The Edge is basically that same type of controller, bundled with its own mini tablet. Razer already has Kishi game controllers for phones, which are similar to the Backbone One and can turn phones into little gaming handhelds for around $100. The Razer Edge is an Android handheld, a 6.8-inch phone-type mini tablet that comes with a clip-on USB-C controller. He felt it was a big step back from playing on an Xbox controller, and he isn't wrong. He told me he wouldn't go back to the Razer Edge to play for several reasons. He's already beaten Elden Ring and keeps playing it on the Xbox Series X. I watched my 14-year-old son play Elden Ring on the Razer Edge one morning, and I asked him how it felt. I wish I could say the Razer Edge was as good as most serious gamers might hope it would be, but this first effort seems meager after we've been spoiled by the Nintendo Switch and Valve's Steam Deck. Handheld gaming hardware has come a long way since then, and so has Razer, a company known for stellar laptops and gaming peripherals. That honor goes to the original Razer Edge, a large experimental gaming PC tablet that I reviewed a decade ago. The Razer Edge isn't Razer's first gaming handheld.
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