Skip to main content

Razer Project Linda Preview

Project Linda will turn your Razer Phone into a laptop, if it ever becomes real

razer project linda feature
Image used with permission by copyright holder

“Why you can trust Digital Trends – We have a 20-year history of testing, reviewing, and rating products, services and apps to help you make a sound buying decision. Find out more about how we test and score products.“

Project Linda wants to turn your Razer Phone into a laptop, but it’s very much a prototype.

Razer surprised smartphone fans by releasing its own gaming-focused phone this year. It focused on powerful hardware and debuted a 120Hz display, making it a unique option for Android fans. Out of nowhere, Razer has become a player in the smartphone space.

Recommended Videos

The phone’s successor hasn’t even been hinted at, but Razer has found a way to take its phone and spin it into a weird, exciting new idea with a prototype project its calling ‘Project Linda.’ What is it? Put simply, the company wants its Razer Phone to also be your laptop.

That’s not a new concept. Asus debuted its similar PadFone three years ago, and there’s a variety of third-party docks on the market. What sets Project Linda apart from these is how the Razer Phone is used. It becomes the laptop’s touchpad. If you’re thinking that means the touchpad is also a 5.7-inch, 2,560 x 1,440, 120Hz display – you’re right. And Razer intends it to be used exactly as that.

A touchpad that’s also a touchscreen sounds intriguing, but what would you actually use it for?

If you’re finding this hard to imagine, we don’t blame you. A touchpad that’s also a touchscreen sounds intriguing – it’s a similar idea to the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar, only bigger – but what would you use it for?

That’s a good question, and one Razer had some trouble answering. We used the Project Linda prototype to play a game of Vainglory, edit a photo, and navigate Android’s interface. It worked as a touchpad in all cases, but none of the demos made good use of the Razer Phone’s screen. It remained dim throughout, usable as a touchpad, but it didn’t display useful information. Razer did have one demo machine playing a video of what it hopes the feature would look like when complete, and we liked what we saw – but could that become reality? No one can say, including Razer.

We can understand why. Project Linda requires developer support to function, yet it’s a prototype, built deep in Razer’s R&D labs. Still, we hoped to see at least one knockout, interactive demo that proved its use – and we didn’t.

What about the rest of it?

Project Linda’s unusual use of a phone’s touchscreen is the headline feature, but the dock it attaches to is worth discussion. You can dock or detach the phone with the press of a button, which causes a USB-C port to appear and connect to the Razer Phone. It’s a neat piece of engineering that comes complete with a cool mechanical whir.

Razer Project Linda photo gallery
Matt Smith/Digital Trends
Matt Smith/Digital Trends

The laptop dock looks great. It’s basically a Razer Blade with the internals stripped out, except for a small battery. It offers a slick black look, thin design, pleasant keyboard, and Chroma backlighting. In these respects, at least, it’s the best Android laptop dock we’ve seen.

We left our time with Razer’s Project Linda feeling equal parts interest and bewilderment. It’s an eye-catching demo, no doubt, and the idea seems fun. Yet we have a hard time imaging how we’d use it. This is an idea that’s never been tried, so there’s no prior examples of it working in the real world.

Whatever you think of the idea, you shouldn’t expect to see it for sale soon. Razer has a long history of introducing concepts, like last year’s Project Valerie and 2014’s Project Christine. These rarely translate literally to a product you can buy, but they do become features on future Razer devices.

If we had to bet – and CES is held in Vegas, so we do – we’d say this will lead to a new touchpad/screen for the Razer Blade. The company in fact had a Blade model that used a touchscreen as a touchpad, but it was small, and quickly dropped from future models. Perhaps the lessons learned from Project Linda can help Razer perfect a bigger, better version of that concept.

Matthew S. Smith
Matthew S. Smith is the former Lead Editor, Reviews at Digital Trends. He previously guided the Products Team, which dives…
Project Ava is Razer’s stab at an all-knowing AI gaming copilot
Razer last minute releases featuring Kraken V4 Pro (Lifestyle)

Razer unveiled a new conceptual tech project at CES 2025 that it has dubbed Project Ava. The hardware company calls it "the ultimate AI gaming copilot," as it would theoretically help players get through tough spots in games and act as a personal esports coach.

Every year, Razer reveals a few conceptual products at CES. These are more aspirational experiments rather than actual products, but they sometimes become a reality after the show. For instance, Razer revealed an RGB face mask during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. That later became the Zephyr, a smart mask that landed Razer in legal trouble after users claimed the company misrepresented its N95 certification. This year's concept is likely to stir up some controversy of its own.

Read more
Asus’ new Zephyrus G14 is getting an RTX 5080 upgrade
Asus Zephyrus G14 and G16 laptops sitting next to each other.

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is already one of the best gaming laptops you can buy. I called it "damn near perfect" in my ROG Zephyrus G14 review. But Asus is giving its thin and light gaming laptops a big boost at CES 2025, adding just a bit of extra size so it can pack up to an RTX 5080 laptop graphics card.

Clocking in at just 0.63 inches thin and 3.46 pounds light, Asus says you can pack in up to an RTX 5080 and AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 into its 14-inch laptop. With last year's Zephyrus G14, Asus topped out the range with an RTX 4070 in order to achieve a form factor that's even thinner and lighter than a MacBook Pro. This year, Asus says it's able to extend up to an RTX 5080 by adding 2mm in size to the laptop -- that's really not much.

Read more
Asus is finally making its external graphics card useful
The 2025 XG Mobile.

A few years back, Asus had an idea -- what if you could carry around an extremely portable device like the ROG Flow Z13 on the go, but give it a big boost of power with external graphics when you sat down at a desk? The solution was the XG Mobile, which was an all-in-one device that gave you an external GPU and full desktop connectivity over a single cable. The problem was that Asus used its own proprietary cable design and connection, limiting the flexibility of its external graphics.

At CES 2025, Asus is finally addressing that problem.

Read more