Razer Phone 2 Doesn't Work With Verizon, Fix Promised
For all accounts and purposes, the Razer Phone 2 is as normal as it gets. Aside from its 120 Hz screen and Chroma RGB lights, the smartphone would pass as a "regular" smartphone, albeit with a dated blocky design. And if not for this unexpected problem, it's launch would have been uneventful in a positive way. But now the Razer Phone 2 is earning some harsh words because of how it apparently doesn't support Verizon, despite company's claim at launch.
It's not that Razer is singling out Big Red. Or actually it is somewhat. Razer was pretty darn proud that it supported Verizon's network. Not because it was exceptional (depends on who you ask). It's because, along with Sprint, it uses CDMA networks which is different and incompatible with the more common GSM networks. That's sometimes a pain point for Verizon subscribers who have to always double check that their smartphone of choice supports the network explicitly.
That difficulty surfaced in a painful way for some new Razer Phone 2 owners who discovered, much to their dismay, that the gaming smartphone would not work on Verizon's network as advertised. Naturally, there was no small uproar over this "lie", though Razer tries to assure its new customers that it wasn't a lie.
We're aware that Verizon is not enabled on the #RazerPhone 2 right now and are working to enable it ASAP—hang in there!
Razer Phone 2 is compatible with a variety of GSM, HSPA+ and LTE carriers. Find out more about the frequency bands supported: https://t.co/O5xIeVaxjB pic.twitter.com/brObzrwKgb
— R Λ Z Ξ R (@Razer) October 23, 2018
Of course, the problem is that Razer made all those claims and even put Verizon compatibility on its product page before it actually checked that it was indeed the case. It's definitely unknown how long the certification process would be but that should have taken place before the phone even started shipping. Unfortunately, Verizon subscribers with new Razer Phone 2 phones are stuck with a practically unusable phone until that is resolved, marring what would have been an otherwise flawless launch.