CES 2013

Las Vegas, NV | January 8 - 11, 2013

The Razer Edge Gaming Tablet Is The Only Windows 8 Tablet You Should Buy

Matt Burns

Matt is a Senior Editor at TechCrunch. Matt Burns is a family man first and attempts to be a writer second. Born and raised in the heart of the automotive world, only cars eclipse his love of gadgets. He previously wrote for Engadget and EngadgetHD before moving into the party house that is TechCrunch. He learned the retail side of... → Learn More

Thursday, January 10th, 2013

Meet the best product at CES 2013: Razer Edge.

Simply put, the Razer Edge is a pure gaming tablet. But it’s not that simple. With the right accessories, the Edge transforms from a tablet to a gaming machine to a desktop. Picture the Microsoft Surface Pro but instead of being designed for productivity, it’s a portable gaming rig.

Razer introduced its gaming tablet concept at CES 2012. Called Project Fiona then, the company turned to its millions of fans on social networks and used the last year to essentially crowd-design the final project. It’s not a stretch to say the Razer Edge was built by gamers for gamers.

As we talked about in the video above, the Edge is a legit gaming machine with a legit gaming machine’s price. The Edge starts at $999 but the magical extras like the Gamepad Control and Docking Station cost extra. Depending on the price, the Edge is powered by a Core i5 or Core i7 with a dedicated Nvidia GPU. I spent a few minutes with the Edge and it played Dirt 3 seemingly just as well as my Core i7 gaming monster.

But it’s the Edge’s versatility that makes it stand apart. The company listened to its fans and made the gaming controls a dockable accessory. Not playing Borderlands 2? Pop the tablet out and play some Angry Birds on Windows 8 or watch a video. Need to do some work or simply play a game with a mouse and keyboard? Drop the Edge into the optional tabletop dock and it transforms into a desktop computer capable of running a monitor (just like the Surface Pro).

Best of all, the Edge isn’t a concept. This is a product headed to launch. Razer thankfully took its time learning what its fans wanted and built a fantastic product.

Tags: ,