Gaming devices became a well-established niche in the smartphones world in just a year. The company which started the trend is Razer and today it has unveiled the successor of the first real gaming smartphone: Razer Phone 2. In order to understand its potentialities, we compared it with the most important gaming smartphones from other brands: Asus ROG Phone and Xiaomi Black Shark, both released this year with an outstanding hardware side.

Razer Phone 2 vs Xiaomi Black Shark vs Asus ROG Phone

Razer Phone 2 Xiaomi Black Shark Asus ROG Phone
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT 158.5 x 79 x 8.5 mm 161.6 x 75.4 x 9.3 mm, 190 grams  158.8 x 76.2 x 8.7 mm, 200 grams
DISPLAY 5.72 inches, 1440 x 2560p (Quad HD), 513 ppi, IGZO IPS LCD 5.99 inches, 1080 x 2160p (Full HD+), 403 ppi, 18:9 ratio, IPS LCD  6.0 inches, 1080 x 2160 pixels, 403 ppi, 18:9 ratio, AMOLED
PROCESSOR Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, octa-core 2.8 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, octa-core 2.8 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, octa-core 2.8 GHz
MEMORY  8 GB RAM, 64 GB – micro SD dedicated slot 6 GB RAM, 64 GB – 8 GB RAM, 128 GB  8 GB RAM, 128 GB – 8 GB RAM, 512 GB
SOFTWARE Android 8.1 Oreo Android 8.1 Oreo  Android 8.1 Oreo
CONNECTIVITY Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS  Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ad, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS
CAMERA Dual 12 + 12 MP f/1.8 and f/2.6
8 MP f/2.0 front camera		 Dual 12 + 20 MP f/1.8 and f/1.8
20 MP f/2.2 front camera		 Dual 12 + 8 MP f/1.8
8 MP f/2.0 front camera
BATTERY 4000 mAh, Fast Charging with Quick Charge 4+ 4000 mAh, Fast Charging with Quick Charge 3.0  4000 mAh, Fast Charging with Quick Charge 4.0
ADDITIONAL FEATURES IP67 certification, RGB illuminated logo Dual SIM slot  Pressure sensitive zones, water resistance

Design

Let your tastes decide, there is not a winner in terms of beauty as these are three gaming-centric phone with gaming-centric aesthetics. Razer Phone 2 is the soberest one with a clean design but also an RGB illuminated Razer Logo on the rear side. Asus ROG Phone has an aggressive design which I personally like more than Black Shark, and it also has three pressure sensitive areas on the back. Razer Phone 2 and Asus ROG Phone are water resistant, while Black Shark is not.

 

Display

Razer Phone 2 has the best display, even though it is an IPS panel. It has the IGZO and a high Quad HD resolution, as well as the 16:9 aspect ratio which the company defines more suitable for multimedia and games. Besides a high pixel density, it also has the highest brightness and the highest refresh rate (120 Hz). While Razer Phone 2 has the best display for detail and games, Asus ROG Phone should be better when it comes to color reproduction, thanks to its 108.6 percent DCI-P3 coverage, HDR technology, and the Super AMOLED panel.

 

Specs & Software

In its most expensive variant, Asus ROG Phone has a better hardware side than Razer Phone 2 and Xiaomi Black Shark. The Snapdragon 845 SoC which powers each of these handsets is overclocked on the Asus ROG Phone and this handset is the only one which comes with 512 GB of internal storage (not expandable, unlike Black Shark, but external SD cards have not the same performance as the internal storage).

 

Camera

Razer Phone 2 has the camera department which convinces us the most, but we will have to test it to confirm our thoughts. It comes with OIS, a wide-angle lens and a telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom. Both the rear and the front camera can record videos at 60 fps while keeping a 1080p resolution (the rear one can even record in 4K at 60 fps).

 

Battery

The battery capacity is the same for all of these devices: 4000 mAh. It is an above-average capacity and it is very important for gamers to have a long-lasting battery as games consume a lot. We still can not say for sure which one will last more, but the differences in battery life will be very marginal.

 

Price

Asus ROG Phone is definitely the winner of this comparison and it is the most complete phone of this trio, but it costs more than its opponents. You can get it for about $899/$776 in the U.S. while Razer Phone 2 will launch at $800/€850. Xiaomi Black Shark costs just €450/$520.

 

Razer Phone 2 vs Xiaomi Black Shark vs Asus ROG Phone: PROs and CONS

Razer Phone 2

PROs

  • Best display
  • Great hardware and cooling system
  • DAC dongle and stereo speakers
  • Big battery, fast charging, and wireless charging
  • Water resistant
  • Good cameras

CONS

  • Bezels

 

Xiaomi Black Shark

PROs

  • Flagship hardware and cooling system
  • Affordable price
  • Big battery
  • Stereo speakers
  • Dual SIM

CONS

  • No micro SD

 

Asus ROG Phone

PROs

  • Great hardware + cooling system
  • Affordable price
  • Stereo speakers
  • Outstanding display
  • Big battery and fast charging
  • Water resistant

CONS

  • Higher price
  • No micro SD

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