Just one week after Logitech confirmed its Android-based, streaming-focused G CLOUD Gaming Handheld, fellow peripheral maker Razer is getting in on the act. The Razer Edge 5G, introduced along with Verizon at Mobile World Congress immediately, will play video games “downloaded to play regionally, streamed out of your console or accessed immediately from the cloud.”

BREAKING: @Verizon, @Razer and @Qualcomm are teaming up on the world’s first 5G cellular gaming handheld—Razer Edge 5G! It will will let you play your favourite video games no matter whether or not you’re gaming within the cloud, on an app or streaming out of your console. https://t.co/TYPw5xFyeF pic.twitter.com/F9Vg3CfABl

— George Koroneos 🗿🍹 (@GLKCreative) September 28, 2022

As the title implies, Verizon and Razer are leaning closely into their console as “the world’s first 5G cellular gaming handheld,” full with the flexibility to stream or obtain video games “over 5G Ultra Wideband.” That ought to be an improve from 10 years in the past, when Sony built-in a 3G cellular antenna in some variations of the PlayStation Vita, letting the machine function a extremely questionable cellphone alternative. That model of the system noticed a extreme value drop simply months after launch earlier than it was discontinued later that yr, suggesting a scarcity of pleasure for cellular information choices in a sport console on the time.

Not only a dev equipment anymore

The Edge 5G will probably be primarily based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 Gaming Platform, which the chipmaker revealed as a reference design final November. That announcement got here alongside a Razer-designed dev equipment for the platform, which featured a 6.65-inch OLED, 120 Hz display, built-in 1080p webcam, and “Snapdragon Sound” four-way audio system (in addition to theoretical assist for 4K, 144 fps, 10-bit HDR colour output through a DisplayPort USB-C connection to an exterior monitor).

At first blush (through a quick teaser trailer that features lengthy lingering photographs of the L2 set off, for some motive), the Razer Edge 5G appears to be a consumer-facing model of that earlier Android-based dev equipment. The extra streamlined design in that teaser brings to thoughts Razer’s Kishi V2 smartphone controller, solely now built-in into its personal self-contained {hardware} reasonably than bought as a clamp-on telephone attachment.

The cellular gaming panorama has modified fairly a bit between the G3x reference platform announcement and immediately’s Razer Edge 5G announcement, due to the delayed launch of the Steam Deck earlier this yr. Valve’s moveable machine—with its native assist for hundreds of Steam video games—might eat into the demand for these much less highly effective (and fewer practical) streaming-focused moveable gaming choices. For these unhappy by the Steam Deck, although, there will probably be not less than two Android-based choices to select from comparatively quickly.

Razer has promised extra particulars in regards to the Edge 5G will probably be revealed at its RazerCon promotional occasion on October. 15. Personally, we are able to wait.