Razer Phone Netflix, camera updates land, special edition teased

By JC Torres/Jan. 30, 2018 6:19 am EST

Razer made an impressive first attempt, and Nextbit's second, at making a smartphone but, like the Essential PH-1, it didn't spring forth complete, feature-laden, and mostly bug-free. As the trend with smaller OEMs goes, they release early and just update often. How long those regular updates will last is still something to see, but, at least for the Razer, the update train continues. For this round, the promised Netflix features arrive with camera and security updates. Beyond that, CEO Min-Liang Tan is also teasing something for the future as far as hardware goes.

Coinciding with CES earlier this month, Razer announced that the Razer Phone would be getting some special treatment from Netflix. For one, it will be getting HDR support for Netflix HDR content, joining the growing number of high-end smartphones with that feature. But ahead of everyone else, the Razer Phone will also be supporting Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 audio, something usually only found on PCs.

Those features now arrive in the latest firmware update, but they aren't arriving alone. There are also some camera improvements in the package, particularly one that fixes the problem where some images would have a yellow hue. And on par for the course, the camera software is also getting some fine-tuning, improvements, and bug fixes.

The biggest bug fix in this update is for Meltdown and Spectre. While primarily associated with Intel processors, some ARM processors, especially those using Cortex-A cores, aren't completely immune. The update also bring the Razer Phone up to date with the current Android security patches.

It's @Razer Phone Update time! pic.twitter.com/9ElyUNDS0Z

— Danny Winget (@superscientific) January 29, 2018

While these might be well and good for those who already own a Razer Phone, the company's chief exec might have something for those still planning on buying one. Or even another one. A special edition Razer Phone is in the works and it might have a gold Razer logo on its back rather than a plain white one. Unfortunately, no sign of the company's iconic green motif.