Nintendo, the legendary Japanese video game maker, is reportedly mulling over the potential of launching its very own gaming smartphone to compete with Razer and Xiaomi.
In an article by a Taiwanese tech news website, Nintendo is said to be considering developing a smartphone dedicated for playing video games.
A Nintendo Gaming Smartphone?
The DigiTimes said a source familiar with the matter revealed that Nintendo is "either strengthening their presence in the market or planning to enter it."
"There have been speculations about Nintendo planning to launch a gaming handset that can integrate with its Switch consoles, the Japan-based vendor has yet to respond to such speculations," the article noted.
If this is true, then Nintendo will be going head-to-head with tech companies such as Razer and Xiaomi, which both already have offerings available and are now preparing to launch sequels to their gaming smartphones.
Fans of Nintendo have long been urging the company to join in on the mobile gaming craze. While the game maker took its time before it dipped its toes in the market, it made considerable headway with the release of Pokémon Go for Android and iOS. The title was made in collaboration with mobile game maker Niantic.
Pokémon Go proved to be a smash hit for Nintendo, garnering 147 million active monthly users as of 2018.
Nintendo might take a page from Razer's playbook to learn a thing or two about the gaming handset market.
Razer 3 To Be Launched This Year
The DigiTimes article also discusses the possible launch of Razer 3 smartphone this year. Industry sources said the tech company is likely to release the third edition of its phone to boost its competitiveness in the gaming handset market.
The news comes as a big surprise to many observers, especially after Razer closed down its game store in February. The smartphone maker allegedly laid off 30 of its workers and reassigned others to different roles within the company.
The company primarily resold Steam and Uplay game keys to customers at its game store.
Potential Specs And Features
Razer has yet to release details about the upcoming release of the Razer 3. However, if the first two Razer gaming smartphones were to serve as comparisons, then the new unit would likely come with a 120Hz display and dual front-firing speakers. These features seem to be the norm for such mobile devices.
The Razer Phone 2 was also fitted with Razer's signature Chroma RGB lighting and vapor cooling to help the smartphone handle even the most demanding of mobile games. These might make a comeback with the Razer 3.
The new smartphone will likely carry Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 processor, which is said to be the next generation in mobile processing. The Razer 3 might also have a bigger 128GB base storage compared to the 64GB of earlier Razer phones.
While these features are a definite upgrade from those of the original Razer Phone and its successor the Razer Phone 2, many observers feel underwhelmed when compared to ROG's trigger-enabled smartphone and Xiaomi's controller-enabled Black Shark phone.
Some users also found the edges of the Razer Phone 2 uncomfortable to use, and its display did not offer a high enough refresh rate compared to the AMOLED screens of other smartphones.
