Gaming company Razer introduced its first Android-powered video game console at CES in January. Now the Razer Forge TV is available for pre-order from Amazon for $150.
It should ship in May.
Update: Amazon now says the Razer Forge TV is not currently available, but a handful of other stores are still taking orders, including MacMall and CompSource. The game console will likely be more widely available within a few weeks.
Update 2: It’s now available for pre-order from Razer for $100 and up.
That price gets you a set-top-box with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, Google’s Android TV software, but no wireless controller (you can install an app to use your smartphone as a remote). In addition to playing Android games, you can watch videos, run third-party apps, and stream PC games from a computer on your home network.
Razer is also expected to offer a cheaper $100 package that includes the set-top-box and a remote control, but no gamepad.
The box features 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, 802.11ac WiFi, Buetooth 4.0, Gigabit Ethernet, and USB 3.0.
Razer isn’t the only company planning to launch a game console running Android TV software in the coming months. The NVIDIA Shield console is also expected to launch in May. That $199 device features an NVIDIA Tegra X1 processor, 3GB of RAM, and support for streaming PC games either over a home network from a computer with a supported NVIDIA graphics card, over the internet using NVIDIA’s GRID cloud gaming subscription service.
via /r/AndroidTV
I didn’t know that Razer Forge TV will also have a Remote Control.
The didn’t mention that anyware at presentation presentation (or on the Website).
I wonder if they “really” have a Remote for the Forge TV,
(Wich would make me considering to buy this, or not)
My mistake. There’s a Razer Forge TV remote app that lets you use a phone as a remote control. But there’s no hardware remote included.
Why, why, why! is there no microphone on the game controller for voice navigation like Nvidia has..?
Just given Razer’s mixed quality, I’ll wait to see Nvidia’s stuff before I make any move.
Nvidia’s last non-GPU retail product I tried were their 3D Glasses. Those were high quality in both function and materials.
From Razer, I have the 2014 Razer Blade, which is a really good laptop, but the keyboard is painted and the paint is coming off just from typing – a shocking first for any keyboard I’ve ever used. The back-light also just quit, turning it into a more unreadable keyboard than even the cheapest jobs I’ve ever used.
I also have 3 Razer Orochi Gaming mice – on all 3 of them, the teflon pads came loose at the sharp corners, and two of them developed a bad internal switch under the left button in less than 6 months.
So I’ll be very careful before buying anything else from them. The Razer 7.1 Headphones I have are really good and have not developed any problem yet…
Every Razer product I have is really good in certain ways, but also sports some annoying design fail that *should* have been very obvious to the designers.
Amazon link says no longer avail now – interesting
Hmmm. I prefer Qualcomm over Tegra chips but this would technically be one generation behind the Tegra option so I’ll have to wait and see performance/reviews and compatibility (who cares if one is more technically better/worse if it doesn’t support the apps/games/services you want and the other does).
This + Computestick + Shield + X7S = Exepensive month
A little to late don’t you think Razer? You missed your chance. It makes more sense to wait for the more capable Nvidia Shield Console instead.
Nailed it!
Looks good, but are we that far from Xbox One being able to play android games?
Really divided between this and the new Nvidia Shield.