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Review: Razer Blade (2017)

by Parm Mann on 20 March 2017, 16:30

Tags: Razer, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)

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Conclusion

...this unmistakable 14in machine has the rare ability to double as an everyday workhorse and a potent full-HD gaming platform.

The 2017 Blade is without a doubt Razer's best revision to date. Now armed with an Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 graphics, this unmistakable 14in machine has the rare ability to double as an everyday workhorse and a potent full-HD gaming platform.

Sleek presentation and best-in-class battery life allows the Blade to stand out from the crowd and go some way toward justifying the premium £1,800 entry fee. Yet, while progress has been made, there are still chinks in the system's armour. The standard HD display is good but not great, the entry-level 256GB SSD feels cramped and fan noise continues to frustrate.

Balancing both work and play ultimately makes the Blade a somewhat unique proposition. The system's appeal to enthusiast gamers will perhaps be stifled by the knowledge that rival machines can offer more firepower for similar money. On the other hand, if you're on the verge of buying an Ultrabook and you'd like to add true gaming capabilities to the mix, the Razer Blade helps bring together the best of both worlds.

The Good
  
The Bad
Core i7-7700HQ and GeForce GTX 1060
Comfortable and well-lit keyboard
Decent selection of I/O ports
Compact power supply
All-day battery life
Zero bloatware
  
Pricey at £1,800
Fans get noisy quick
1080p display is good but not great



Razer Blade

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The Razer Blade gaming laptop is available to purchase from the Razer Store.

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At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.


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HEXUS Forums :: 3 Comments

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Posted by chj - Mon 20 Mar 2017 19:36
I was surprised the gigabyte aero's battery life was so good so it's nice to see it here too. Frustrating this doesn't have an ethernet port but perhaps it wouldn't fit with the slim form factor.
Posted by bledd - Tue 21 Mar 2017 17:22
Can easily buy a USB3 gigabit adapter if you need one.

I really fancy one of these, it looks so sleek! Torn between this and a Surface Book 2.
Posted by whatif - Mon 27 Mar 2017 19:45
Razer Australia has a lot of upset and frustrated customers (including a friend of mine who swears he will never buy anything from this company again) who received discount vouchers for the Core, but still cannot use them.

What a con!!!

I know that these eGPU units have their dissenters, but they are out there and Razer has included discount vouchers ($150 in Australia) for the core with their ultrabook.

Well Razer still has not got the Core on it's Australian website.
A search on the Australian site initially brings up the US store, then click on the Core and the website has a epileptic fit, going back and forward between the US site and the Australian site and ends up on the Australian Razer store “WELCOME TO RAZERSTORE” page with no result.
The only place it can be seen, is advertised on the Blade Stealth page as an optional accessory, but it appears nowhere else.

It is not being sold in Australia and they cannot use the voucher outside Australia.
When asked, Razer just keep leading their customers up the garden path with “Don't worry, it will be released soon”, but this has been going on since last year, when they first started selling these laptops which included the vouchers and started selling the Core overseas.

Extremely poor customer service from a company that cannot help but to lie to it's customers!!