If you have a Razer Phone in your hand, then it is likely there because you enjoy mobile games, and you chose to have one of the best-performing smartphones available today. Razer has installed an app called Game Booster, which promises to supercharge your favorite mobile games, and tweak them to take full advantage of the Razer Phone’s special features. Plus, when you need more battery life but don’t want to stop the games, the app can even make that happen.
How do you use Game Booster? We put together a guide on exactly what it does and how to get the most from it. If you already mastered Game Booster, go here for other Razer Phone tips and tricks. Or if you are wondering if it’s the right device to buy, read our Razer Phone review. Let’s get started, so grab your Razer Phone, prepare your favorite game, and fire up Game Booster now!
What is Game Booster?
Game Booster is one of the pre-installed apps on the Razer Phone. It helps mobile gamers get the most from their favorite games by allowing individual aspects of the device and game to be altered, including processor speed and screen frame rate. The Game Booster app is a spin-off of the Razer Cortex performance booster for PCs. Razer Cortex is designed to concentrate your computer’s resources on the game, ensuring a higher frame rate, smoother performance, and a more enjoyable gaming experience. It’s also reminiscent of other Android mobile apps that promise to boost device performance by shifting resources around to optimize the operating system, such as Cheetah Mobile’s Clean Master.
How do you use Game Booster?
The Game Booster app is easy to find. It has a bright green icon, just like Razer’s other pre-installed apps, and the icon design looks like a car rev-counter. Tap it to open. The main screen shows how your phone is currently set up, based on battery percentage remaining, and how you’re using the device itself. It provides an estimated use time based on this data.
- Under this are three distinct modes: Custom, Power Save, and Performance. Select “Power Save” or “Performance” to apply changes to all your games using parameters tailored to prolong standby time or increase game performance, respectively. However, we recommend delving into “Custom settings” to really tailor the device and apps to your preferences. After all, simple games don’t really need to use all of the Snapdragon 835 processor’s ability to play well.
- Tap “Custom” and a list of games installed on the phone will appear below. If your favorite game or a recently installed app doesn’t show up you can manually add it by pressing the “Add/Remove Games” option at the top of the list. Use the slider alongside each relevant app title to add it to the Game Booster list. It’s not just games that can be added either, you can tweak any app with Game Booster, although it is designed primarily for games. When you’re done, press the back key to return to the main screen.
- Find your favorite game and tap to open the options available. At first, the thought of playing around with the game’s internal workings may put you off; but don’t worry it’s very easy to do and completely reversible. The easiest way to change the way the app works, and get the best from both it and the phone, is to use the horizontal sliding scale in the center of the page. It starts at “More Battery” and goes through three more stages before reaching “Higher Performance.” Razer will suggest which setting is the best balance between power saving and performance.
- Simply tap the point on the scale you want — let’s try “Higher Performance,” for example — and you will see Razer allows the game to use the Snapdragon 835 processor’s full ability, the screen’s full resolution, and crucially, a 120 frames-per-second (FPS) frame rate to maximize use of the Razer’s 120Hz screen refresh rate. If you’d rather change one of these settings individually, just tap on the setting in the list and alter it there. For example, to change the frame rate to 60fps from 120fps, tap “Frame Rate“ and choose between 40fps, 50fps, 60fps, 90fps, and 120fps.
When you’re satisfied with the settings, make sure to tap the green tick icon in the bottom right to save. Every time you play a game tweaked with Game Booster, it applies these settings.
What other settings are there?
Outside of the game setting changes, there are two other functions you need to know. The first two are for returning the Games Booster settings to standard, helpful if you’re running into problems and aren’t sure if a maxed out app is causing them.
- If you want to reset all the changes made to the games and return them to standard, there is a single button that looks like a refresh icon in the top right corner. Tap this to return games to standard.
- Alternatively, you can follow the same method described above, only this time instead of selecting “Higher Performance” on the sliding scale, tap either Razer’s “Optimal” setting or a notch below.
- There are two slider switches. The first is a setting is to block notifications from interrupting gameplay. It’s a slider switch in the center of the layout.
- The second slider switch is found when you adjust a game’s settings individually. It’s to switch on anti-aliasing, which will smooth out any jagged lines and edges visible during gameplay. Razer doesn’t go into detail about how its anti-aliasing works, or the degree with which any changes will affect game performance, if at all. Our recommendation: Turn it on, try the game out, and see how it performs. If you don’t like the result and it negatively impacts speed, turn it off in Game Booster. That is the great thing here, you’re free to play about with the tweaks to find what works best for each game.
Can all games be modified?
All the games we tried could be given an overhaul using Game Booster; but you may find some titles won’t work, due to restrictions placed by the developer. However, whether you notice any difference in the way they play will depend on the game itself — higher frame rates may only be noticeable in action or other fast-paced games, for example — and the device on which you played them before. Regardless, you can feel safe in the knowledge that by using Game Booster, you’re getting the absolute most from the game and Razer Phone.
Will it damage the phone?
Razer says it won’t. The alterations made push the game and device to its limits, which may lead to fears of the phone overheating. We haven’t experienced any problems like this in our tests, and Razer says it has built the phone using, “best-in-class thermal design” to make sure it doesn’t happen, and to allow the Game Booster app to work its magic.
The only other thing to consider is that some games may play best on Razer’s optimal settings. Don’t just slam everything up to maximum and assume it will do the best job. That may end up wasting battery life for no reason. Experiment and find out what works best for all your favorite games.
Should you use Game Booster?
Yes! The Razer Phone is a fantastic mobile gaming smartphone, and the Game Booster app means you are exploiting all of its ability in your favorite game. Not using it is like buying a Ferrari and never flooring the throttle. Go ahead, max out your game of choice, and enjoy the awesome Razer Phone at its best.
