Razer has announced a refresh of its Blade Pro laptop which now includes THX Mobile Certification for the quality of its display and audio output. The 17.3-inch Razer Blade Pro v2 includes key components such as a 17.3-inch 4K IGZO screen with G-Sync, an overclocked 7th generation Intel Core i7 quad core processor, fast DDR4 RAM, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 GPU, up to 2TB SSD RAID 0 (2x 1TB PCIe M.2), a mechanical keyboard, aluminium chassis, and Chroma RGB lighting.
In October last year Razer acquired THX, a cinematic audio company founded by George Lucas back in 1983. THX had already expanded its certification to visuals - as well as audio, and at the time of the acquisition was pursuing certification program creation for HDR, AR and VR systems. It's interesting to see Razer utilise the THX certification so quickly on a rather new product - the original Razer Blade Pro 'desktop in a laptop' only launched 5 months ago.
For the THX certification process of the Blade Pro laptop the following processes were executed:
- The screen was calibrated and tested for resolution, colour accuracy and video playback performance.
- The audio jack on the new Razer Blade Pro was assessed to meet THX requirements for voltage output, frequency response, distortion, signal-to-noise ratio, and crosstalk that guarantees clear sound through headphones.
In conclusion Ty Ahmad-Taylor, CEO of THX, said that the new Razer Blade Pro provides an excellent THX viewing mode and audio experience and "can easily handle extreme gaming and content creation with exceptional mobile audio and visual performance".
The Razer Blade Pro v2 has a starting price of US$3,999.99 / C$5799.99 / £3,799.99 / €4,499.99 and is available immediately in the USA, Canada, UK, Germany and France via Razerzone.com and select retailers. It will be available worldwide from next month.
I've reproduced the full spec list below. Other than the new THX certification, the v2 machine has a newer Intel processor and faster RAM compared to its predecessor. Its pricing has also inched up a notch from the original, which was launched at US$3,699 / €4,199 / £3,499 only last November.
- THX Certified Mobile Device
- Intel Core i7-7820HK Quad-Core Processor (2.9 GHz / 3.9 GHz)
- Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 (8GB GDDR5X VRAM)
- 17.3-in. IGZO UHD G-SYNC, 16:9 ratio, 3840 x 2160, with LED backlight, with capacitive multi-touch
- Windows 10 64-bit
- 512GB SSD RAID 0 (2x 256GB PCIe M.2) / 1TB SSD RAID 0 (2x 512GB PCIe M.2) / 2TB SSD RAID 0 (2x 1 TB PCIe M.2) options
- 32GB Dual-Channel System Memory (DDR4, 2667MHz)
- Anti-ghosting individually backlit ultra-low-profile mechanical keyboard powered by Razer Chroma
- Killer DoubleShot Pro:
- Killer Wireless-AC 1535 (IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac + Bluetooth 4.1)
- Killer E2500 (Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000)
- Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C)
- USB 3.0 port x3 (SuperSpeed)
- HDMI 2.0 video and audio output
- SDXC card reader
- Built-in stereo speakers
- Dolby Digital Plus Home Theatre Edition
- 7.1 Codec support (via HDMI)
- 3.5mm headphone/microphone combo audio port
- Built-in webcam (2.0MP)
- Array microphone
- Razer Synapse enabled with programmable keyboard, trackpad, backlighting, and fan control
- Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0) security chip embedded
- Kensington security slot
- Compact 250W power adapter
- Built-in 99Wh rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery
- Approx. Size: 0.88 in. / 22.5mm (Height) x 16.7 in. / 424mm (Width) x 11 in. / 281mm (Depth)
- Approx. Weight: 7.69lbs. / 3.49kg
