Gaming handhelds have been all the rage in 2024 and especially around the Black Friday season, but most of the focus has been on the big, powerful, and feature-packed PC gaming handhelds like the ASUS ROG Ally. Those handhelds are great (I love mine), but they're also expensive; there's a more affordable alternative that many people likely haven't thought of.
The Razer Edge is a powerful, Android-powered gaming handheld with a smooth AMOLED display, detachable controls, and access to an impressive library of games — and over a year after its release you can add one to your setup for nearly half of its original price. You read that right, the Razer Edge is available for only $212.48 at Amazon, an odd (but compelling) number for an odd (but compelling) device.
🔥The hottest Black Friday deals🔥
- 🎮ASUS ROG Ally (Ryzen Z1) | $349.99 at Best Buy (Save $150!)
- 💽MSI GeForce RTX 4070 + free game | $489.99 at Newegg (Save $87!)
- 💻Surface Pro 11 (X Plus) | $899.99 at Best Buy (Save $300!)
- 💽AMD Ryzen 5 7600X + free SSD (1TB) | $194.99 at Newegg (Save $74!)
- 📺HP Curved Ultrawide (34-inches) | $299.99 at Best Buy (Save $180!)
- 💾WD_Black Xbox Series X|S Card (1TB) | $99.99 at Best Buy (Save $50!)
🍁More great Black Friday deals🦃
- Best Buy: Big savings on video games, accessories, and more
- Walmart: Early savings on practically everything
- Target: Live deals on a huge range of products
- Dell: Top deals on laptops, gaming PCs, accessories, and more
- HP: Save big on laptops, desktops, accessories, and more
- Lenovo: Doorbuster deals on all Lenovo PCs, monitors, accessories, and more
- Newegg: Save on PC gaming accessories, components, and more
- Razer: Take advantage of free shipping for a limited time
- Samsung: Holiday deals on laptops, TVs, phones, and more are live
- Amazon: Constantly rotating sales on everything you can imagine
A misunderstood gaming handheld that deserves some love
We here at Windows Central believe in being honest about how we feel, so I'm not going to sit here and lie that I'd happily trade my ASUS ROG Ally X for the Razer Edge... Because I wouldn't. The ROG Ally X is the best gaming handheld I've ever used, and it's far more powerful and capable than the Razer Edge. The ROG Ally X also costs over three times as much as the Razer Edge does, even with its own Black Friday discounts, so that's to be expected.
What I can tell you is that, when I reviewed the Razer Edge, I praised it for its performance, AMOLED display, and the versatility of the Android ecosystem. That was when it cost a whopping $400, but now you can get your own Razer Edge for nearly half that amount. That being said... Why should you?
Well, as I already mentioned, the Razer Edge isn't like other gaming handhelds on the market. The ASUS ROG Ally may be a full-blown Windows PC (and with its current deals, a better value than the Xbox Series S in my opinion), but it's big, heavy, and — again — a lot more expensive. By comparison, the Razer Edge feels more like a beefy smartphone or compact tablet that's designed from the ground up for gaming.
The core of that experience is Android. The Edge is powered by the same operating system that runs over a billion smartphones, and that gives it access to three massive libraries of games: the huge and growing catalog of mobile games in the Google Play Store (which increasingly includes actual console and PC-level games with controller support), a thriving community of classic game emulation platforms, and ways to stream almost any Xbox and PC game you want through services like Xbox Cloud Gaming.
To make all of that feel as great as possible on its gaming handheld, Razer stuffed Qualcomm's most powerful, gaming-focused ARM chipset of the time inside, added a buttery smooth 144Hz OLED display, and included its Razer Kishi V2 Pro mobile controller in the box. That means you get great performance all around, and the Razer Edge boasts unique features like virtual control emulation (so you can still use the physical controls in almost any mobile game, even those that only support touch) and audio-to-haptics, which converts game audio to haptic feedback in real time.
I wish the Razer Edge was shaped more like a traditional handheld console and that Razer was more aggressive with its software additions — like the Logitech G Cloud Android handheld, actually — but for those that want a casual, compact, less costly way to game on the go, the Razer Edge is a fine choice. When the Razer Edge only costs $212.48 at Amazon, it's a great choice. Of course, those with small tablets or powerful smartphones can turn their own device into a capable Android-powered gaming handheld with the Razer Kishi Ultra mobile controller, which is also on sale for $129.99 at Amazon.
When is Black Friday?
Black Friday is technically on Nov. 29, 2024, but this sales event seems to start a little earlier each year. Retailers increasingly get more aggressive in terms of when discounts start in order to entice consumers ahead of the main event, so you can see early Black Friday deals as soon as October. Black Friday itself can feel overwhelming and be limited by stock shortages, so it's often a great idea to take advantage of those early sales ahead of time.
When is Cyber Monday?
This year, Cyber Monday falls on Dec. 2, 2024. This continuation of the Black Friday weekend was once the online-version of the aforementioned sales event, but as more retailers go online it's not uncommon to see Black Friday and Cyber Monday blend into one another. If you miss out on sales on Black Friday, you may have another chance on Cyber Monday. Better yet, though, is staying ahead of the curve and getting your holiday shopping done weeks in advance.
