Laptops for gaming don’t have to be big and heavy. Razer’s new Blade 15, which is the smallest laptop with Nvidia GTX 10-series, is proof of this. Also, as you’ll see in our full review, there’s a lot more.
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Razer is back with a new Blade and a big claim: the 2018 model is the “smallest 15.6-inch gaming laptop in the world,” according to the company. It has a better design, 8th-generation Intel and Nvidia Max-Q, and a frame rate of 114Hz. We’ve taken a close look in our Razer Blade 15 review.
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In short, Razer has taken the standard Blade design and added a bigger screen without making the laptop bigger, at least not by much. There’s more to it though, and it’s been improved and changed in many ways.
Razer Blade 15: Cost and where to buy
High-end gaming laptops aren’t cheap. The Razer Blade 15 starts at £1,699/$1,899, which is almost twice as much as the Blade Stealth from a few years ago but less than the premium Razer Blade Pro 17. Even though the laptop starts at less than £2,000, you can spend a lot more on the most expensive model, which costs £2,549.
This makes it directly compete with the new Gigabyte Aero 15X and Asus ROG Zephyrus GX501. Even though there are cheaper 15-inch gaming computers like the Alienware 15 R3 and Acer Aspire VX 15, they are much less slim and portable.
See Also : What’s the Difference Between a Blade 15 and a Blade Pro 17?
New Base Model
If you’ve been thinking about buying but haven’t yet because of the price, Razer now has choices for the Razer Blade 15 laptop that cost $300 less than they did before.
Razer said, “Base model configurations will be available to buy on October 10, 2018 from Razer.com and select stores in the US, Canada, and China. It will be available in several countries in Europe and Asia-Pacific in November 2018 from Razer.com and a few other stores.
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The laptop Razer calls the “Base Model” still has the same 8th-generation Core i7 processor and 16GB of RAM. But instead of a minimum 256GB SSD, you now get a smaller SSD and a big traditional hard drive.
In either case, you’ll get a GTX 1060 graphics card and a Full HD 60Hz screen.
128GB SSD + 1TB HDD – $1,599
256GB SSD + 2TB HDD – $1,799
A new limited edition of Mercury White
In addition to the new base model, Razer has also released a limited-edition color called Mercury White. The company said, “Limited quantities will be available to buy in Q4 2018 exclusively from Razer in the US and Canada and at certain retailers in China.”
Unlike the normal style, it has a matte white finish with black USB ports and a “tone-on-tone” Razer logo on the lid that is not lit up. You can choose between two models, both of which have a Core i7, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a Full HD 144Hz screen.
So you just have to decide between a GTX 1060 and a 1070:
GTX 1060 – $2,199
GTX 1070 – $2,599
Razer Blade 15: Design and build
As you can see, this isn’t a big change from Razer’s style, which has become an icon in the gaming market over the years. The Blade 15 has a sleek black and green look that many people like.
Razer’s style has always appealed to us, so it’s great to see the company making all the improvements it can.
The most interesting thing about the Blade 15’s design is that it fits a full-size 15.6-inch screen into a body that looks about the same size as the well-known 14-inch Razer Blade.
In fact, the new form is smaller in some ways.
So, the Blade 15 is 13.98in wide, which is a small increase from the 13.6in you might be used to. The fact that the screen goes from edge to edge and the borders are only 4.9mm helps a lot.
And the Blade 15 is smaller than its predecessor when it comes to thickness. Depending on the graphics card you choose, it’s either 17.3 or 16.8 mm thick, which is less than 17.99 mm. This makes it the smallest GTX laptop on the market.
As of now, the Asus ROG Zephyrus S is the smallest computer in the world.
This doesn’t change the fact that you still get full-size USB and HDMI ports. We’ll talk about the rest of them later.
Overall, the shape is more square, and the lines are similar to those of the Razer Phone. This has microphones on either side of the keyboard that face forward, just like a smartphone. The reader with good eyesight might have noticed that the power button is now on the right instead of in the middle. It looks like it might have a fingerprint scanner built in, but it doesn’t.
The idea is to be able to take the laptop with you, and at 2.07 to 2.15 kg, depending on which model you buy, it is very easy to do so. Even when it’s full of gear, the Blade 15 is still easy to carry.
Last but not least, I should add that the Blade 15 has a new cooling system with two fans and a big vapour chamber. It looks good from the bottom, but we’ll talk about how hot the laptop gets in the part below about how it works.
The keyboard and screen of the Razer Blade 15
You get the same Chroma-enabled keyboard, so you can use the Synapse software to play around with lighting as much as you want. Still, there’s more to say.
With microphones on both sides, there is no numpad and no macro buttons, which many gamers will miss. The rest of the keys, on the other hand, work well and make a pleasant soft click every time you press one.
There’s also a game mode so you don’t accidentally press a Windows button and stop your game. We didn’t have any problems with it, but some people might think it’s more like an Ultrabook keyboard than a gaming keyboard.
The glass keyboard is brand new and really big. If you want to play games seriously, you’ll need to connect a mouse, but the trackpad is great for everyday use.
It’s easy to use and has buttons you can click on. Razer now works with Microsoft Precision.
Razer Blade 15: Screen
As we’ve already said, the new Razer Blade 15 for 2018 has a 15.6-inch screen, and we love the new small bezels that run around the edge. They make the laptop look great and keep the size of the frame down.
See Also : Razer Blade 15in Laptop review 2023
The screen does come in different styles, though, so you’ll have to make a smart choice.
At the low end, the Blade 15 has a Full HD screen that refreshes at 60Hz. Keep in mind that this model only has the GTX 1060 and 256GB of storage. The most expensive type has a 4K screen that runs at 60 Hz. It is also the only one with a touchscreen. This has a 1070 and 512GB, which will be too much for many people.
We tried the Full HD model that has a refresh rate of 144Hz and lets you choose your own graphics card and hard drive.
Razer Blade 15 screen
If your money is big enough, this will be the best choice for most people. The extra smoothness that comes from the faster frame rate will make it worth it. We like that the Full HD options have a matte finish, but at 275cm/m2, the screen isn’t the brightest, so we almost always had it at full brightness.
In our test, the screen showed 99 percent of sRBG, which is a wide range of colors. However, it only showed 76 percent of Adobe RGB, which isn’t as good. This is a gaming laptop, though, so this is only a problem if you want one that you can use for both work and play. If that’s the case, the Gigabyte Aero 15X is a better choice.
We can’t say for sure, but the 4K model might be a lot better for this.
Razer Blade 15: Key details and how well it works
No matter which type you choose, you’ll get an Intel processor from the 8th generation. As you might expect from a high-end gaming laptop, it has a Core i7-8750H chip, which has 6 cores, 12 threads, 9MB of cache, a base speed of 2.2GHz, and a Max Turbo speed of 4.1GHz. The Asus ROG Zephyrus GX501 is the same as that.
There are 16GB of DDR4 2667MHz RAM in every Blade 15, but you can add up to 32GB more. Windows 10 is, of course, already set up. In the form of an M.2 SSD, you can store up to 512GB, but it depends on what you want to do.
Razer Blade 15 specs
In terms of graphics, you can get an Nvidia GTX 1060 or 1070 in Max Q form. These are basically laptop versions of desktop graphics cards. If that isn’t enough graphics power, Razer has also released a new Core X eGPU that can hold a PC card. Now, it’s only £269.
Here is a list of the SKUs you can choose from:
Full HD (60Hz), GTX 1060, 256GB Full HD (144Hz), GTX 1060, 512GB Full HD (144Hz), GTX 1070, 256GB Full HD (144Hz), GTX 1070, 512GB 4K (Touch), GTX 1070, 512GB
And the new choices for the Base Model:
Full HD (60Hz), GTX 1060, 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD
Full HD (60Hz), GTX 1060, 256GB SSD + 2TB HDD
We put the medium model through its paces with a GTX 1070 and 265GB of storage, and the results are very good.
The Blade 15 got a score of 17,956 on Geekbench 4 multi-core, and it got a score of 4,962 on PCMark 10. That is better than the Areo 15X but not as good as the ROG Zephyrus, which has a GTX 1080.
When we tested the Blade 15 for gaming, it did very well. When Total Warhammer was played at Full HD resolution, the laptop got 101.5fps on medium settings and 64.3fps on high settings. On medium and 44.6fps in Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, it got 79.8fps.
