For those who have always argued that tablets will never be legitimate gaming
platforms (me), the Razer Edge seeks to quiet all the naysayers. And Razer
might be able to do just that, because the Edge is a great idea in that it
solves the biggest issue of gaming on a tablet: the lack of physical controls.
But while we were definitely impressed after spending some time with it here at
CES, we think that it needs just a little more work in terms of execution.
The Edge is actually just a regular Windows 8 tablet on its own, but it can
be docked into and purchased with a set of controls (which Razer refers to as
"mobile console mode") that gives players a familiar control scheme,
at least for the most part. The controls are mounted on two grips that jut out
from the side of the docking frame for the tablet, and they include dual
thumbsticks, left and right triggers/bumpers, four face buttons on the right
side, a d-pad on the left side, and start and back buttons.
The tablet itself was designed well enough, with basic controls like a
volume rocker, headphone jack, rotation lock, and power switch on the top edge,
along with less conventional features like a USB 3.0 port and a button that
pulls up the on-screen virtual keyboard. There was also a Windows Start screen
key in the middle of bezel below the display.
If you're looking more ports, the two other docks that will be available for
the Edge -- the keyboard dock and the docking station -- will offer more
options. The docking station, for instance, is designed to make the Edge into a
home console, so it sports an HDMI port that allows users to hook it up to the
TV, and three USB 2.0 ports for other players to plug in controllers for some
multiplayer action, all done through the tablet.
But there are subtle differences from what users of regular gamepads
(specifically, Xbox 360 controllers) have gotten comfortable with, so it's
probably going to take most people a little while to get used to the Edge
mobile console control scheme. For instance, I'm used to having the d-pad down
and to the right of the left thumbstick, whereas the Edge puts it directly
below; not only did I keep missing when I went to reach for it, I found that it
was a generally awkward placement because I basically had to shift my hand down
to be able to use it comfortably. Meanwhile, the start and back buttons are so
low on the grips that they can only barely be reached with the thumbs.
There's also the fact that Razer decided to tack on a second pair of bumpers
up on the shoulders of the grips. They can be programmed to perform whatever
function you like, which is handy, but because they're placed in the row
closest to the user (in other words, the first bumpers your fingers touch when
reaching behind the sticks), I constantly found myself accidentally hitting
them instead of the regular bumpers. In fact, I initially thought that the
regular bumpers were broken, only to find out upon closer inspection that I had
been tapping the programmable ones the whole time, which were obviously doing
nothing since they weren't mapped.
When I asked a rep about the extra pair of bumpers, he said that it was done
in an attempt to follow suit behind Razer's recently updated Xbox 360
controller, the Sabertooth, which sports a similar set up. He made it sound as
if they were trying to create some sort of standard for their
controllers/control schemes, which struck me as a little odd. I can understand
having the extra buttons on the Sabertooth, since the target audience is
competitive gamers who may want/need the macros, but I wasn't under the
impression that the Edge was targeted at that same kind of audience.
But beyond those issues, I was impressed with how the controls on the Edge
felt. The buttons were tight and responsive, the sticks didn't feel loose, the
force feedback felt good, and the rounded grips felt comfortable in my hands. I
also enjoyed the clever design choice of having two angled slots along bottom
edge of the dock so the sound that comes out of the Edge's speakers (which are
on the bottom of the tablet) is pointed toward the user.
While I could appreciate the quality of the dock's build, it was perhaps a
little too solid, because the Edge paired with its controls is quite heavy. A lot
of that is the tablet itself, which was hefty on its own, but when in mobile
console mode, I could barely hold the thing up with one hand.
Also affecting the portability of the Edge is its battery life. While it can
get up to 6 hours on a single charge when using standard apps, gaming on the
Edge knocks its longevity down to a mere one to two hours, according to Razer
(which probably means closer to one, given how these estimates are usually a
bit generous).
That's the thing: the one edge (get it?) this device has over other products
is portability. That's the number one selling point. But when the device is so
heavy and has such a poor battery life that you will likely spend most of your
time tethered to an outlet, why bother? At that point you might as well play on
a real computer, be it a notebook or desktop.
So How Did it Perform?
Regardless of my issues with the Edge's portability
-- or lack thereof -- this was, hands down, the most impressive gaming session
I've ever had on a tablet. The 10.1-inch display looked great, though the 1366
x 768 resolution seemed like an odd choice to me. And the fact that I was
playing Dishonored on a tablet was a surreal experience, not just because it
was a real game and not some simplistic Android tap-and-drag nonsense, but
because it was running so smoothly. I couldn't find out the exact frames per
second at which the game was running, but Razer has claimed specifically that
the Edge can run Dishonored at 59 frames per second.
After seeing it with my own eyes, I can absolutely
buy that claim. In an effort to push the Edge to...the edge (okay, I'll stop
now), I completely threw caution to the wind and began alerting as many guards
as I could to up the amount of on-screen activity. Even with all the action and
as many angry guards as I could round up onto the screen at once, I never
experienced any stutter or slowdown.
In fact, I'd say that the performance was better
than when I played Dishonored on my Xbox 360. Granted, the model I was using
was the high-end version, the Razer Edge Pro, with an Intel Core i7 chip,
NVIDIA GT 640M LE graphics, and 8 GB of RAM (with the lower-end model sporting
a Core i5 processor and 4 GB of RAM), but it was impressive nonetheless.
The reason it's necessary to qualify that statement
by pointing out that I had been using the high-end model is because for many
people, that just won't be an option. The other major drawback of the Razer
Edge is that it's insanely expensive. The base model, which will be available
later in Q1, starts at $1000. The Edge Pro, meanwhile, starts at $1300 with 128
GB of storage (there is also a 256 GB model). And all of these prices are just
for the tablet. If you wantto get the Edge Pro with the mobile console controls in a bundle that's scheduled to arrive in Q3, that will run you a whopping $1650.
It may be innovative, but this is not a cheap
device, folks. And that's just one more knock on the Razer Edge's practicality.
