Razer confirms fingerprint, screen, and camera issues with its phone, promises factory images

Razer made official its first smartphone – dubbed Razer Phone – just a couple of months back. And now, it has come to light that the company has already confirmed multiple issues with the device. The problems in question are related to fingerprint security, screen, as well as camera. Let’s discuss these issues one by one.

Fingerprint sensor not working

Yes, that’s the biggest issue users are reporting with the gaming-focused device. Specifically, those affected say their fingerprint scanner suddenly stopped working and when they checked in the Settings menu, even the ‘fingerprint’ security option was also gone.

The following user-shared screenshot clearly shows the ‘fingerprint’ option is missing.

For those who aren’t aware, ideally, the option should show up like this:

Workarounds like multiple factory resets and cleaning the fingerprint sensor area worked for some but not all. Recently, a Razer staff member, who is also the administrator at the company’s official forums, confirmed that they’ll pass on this information to their engineering team, effectively acknowledging the issue in process.

Camera automatically inserting filters in images

Yes, that’s actually happening. Users say they haven’t enabled any filters, but that isn’t stopping the camera (the camera app, presumably) from inserting filters in captured images.

Here’s an image shared by one of the complainants:

Basic troubleshooting like factory resets and all are of no use. Some users say a recent update introduced the problem for them, and some even got their unit replaced over this issue.

As the number of complaints started to pile up, the same forum admin we referred to in the last section confirmed recently that they are already aware of the issue, and will check with the engineering team to see if a fix for the problem is coming.

Screen dims down after few minutes of gaming

Issues while gaming is the last thing Razer would want to hear, right? Sadly, they have no choice as people are reporting problems while playing games, and the company has acknowledged as well.

The problem in question causes the device’s screen to dim down after some time (30 minutes, some say). Razer forum admin Khanger quickly addressed the complainant late last week, saying it’d be helpful if complainants can share the name of games during which the issue is observed, as well as provide log files for debugging purposes.

Screen flickering and volume-related issues

Razer Phone has got two updates so far – one in November and the other in December. The latest update – also referred to as MR2 – reportedly weighs in at around 90MB for those who didn’t get the first one for whatever reason, and around 40MB for those who did.

Now, after the first update, there were a large number of reports that the max volume of the device has been reduced. Razer support even confirmed in November that they are working to fix it.

Then came the second update in December, which fixed the volume issue. But recent reports from users indicate that the latest update introduced a new, screen flickering issue.

It’s worth mentioning that Razer hasn’t said anything on this problem yet, but given that multiple users are complaining, it could well be a real issue.

Razer promises factory images

No, this isn’t an issue – it’s a news instead. Razer has confirmed that it’ll soon be releasing factory images of builds/updates for manual installation and other related purposes. Razer admin recently confirmed this:

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