At Mobile World Congress, Verizon announced a partnership with Qualcomm and Razer. Now Razer plans on releasing a new handheld console specifically designed for cloud gaming and streaming.
The Razer Edge 5G is being built on the Snapdragon G3 Gen 1, which is meant to take advantage of Verizon’s 5G Ultrawideband. Though no specific hardware details were revealed at the show, we did get a brief first look at the handheld courtesy of Twitter user GLKCreative (opens in new tab).
The press release from Verizon says it’s an Android device that will “give you access to games you love, whether they are downloaded to play locally, streamed from your console or accessed directly from the cloud.” If that’s true, that’s something even the versatile Steam Deck (opens in new tab) can’t do.
Last week, Logitech launched its G Cloud gaming console (opens in new tab) specially targeted for cloud gaming through streaming apps such as GeForce Now, Steam Remote Play, and Xbox Cloud gaming over WiFi. The Edge 5G looks like it’ll do a little more than that, by letting you stream games over both WiFi and 5G.
BREAKING: @Verizon, @Razer and @Qualcomm are teaming up on the world’s first 5G mobile gaming handheld—Razer Edge 5G! It will allow you to play your favorite games regardless of whether you are gaming in the cloud, on an app or streaming from your console. https://t.co/TYPw5xFyeF pic.twitter.com/F9Vg3CfABlSeptember 28, 2022
More ways to play your games on the go is never a bad thing. But there’s still a lot we don’t know about the Edge 5G, such as price, storage capacity, and cost. More importantly, I’m curious if you’ll be able to have access to different gaming storefronts and libraries like Epic Games Store, Steam, or Xbox Game Pass.
The Logitech G Cloud, for example, only lets you download games from the Google Play store and doesn’t let you download your PC game libraries locally. If the Edge 5G lets you do that, that would make it a serious rival for not just the G Cloud but also the Steam Deck.
Razer will reveal more details about the Edge 5G at RazerCon (opens in new tab) on October 15.
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