Razer Blade 15 (2019) Review

By Author: Shreyadas
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Here's what I like about Razer: As I keep getting older, they keep getting prettier, and stronger and faster. The company's latest offering, the Blade 15, is available in a stunning white chassis that's sure to draw every eye in the room. But as pretty as the exterior is, you'd be remiss to ignore the interior. Powered by an Intel Core i7 processor and one of Nvidia's new RTX GPUs, the Blade 15 is power personified. It even earned its spot on our Best VR-Ready Laptops page. However, a rather dim display keeps the Blade 15 from rising higher in the ranks.

See Also: Razor blade 15in laptop

Design

Razer's laptops have always looked great. Those ink-black aluminium chassis never ceased to incite a thrill in me. But now that Razer's started playing with colour, I have only one question, What took you so long? The Mercury White version of the Blade is a vision in silvery alabaster. And usually I'd complain about the lack of logo backlighting, but I'm loving the way the gleaming embossed emblem reflected every colour in its vicinity, particularly the bubblegum pink Razer Krakens perched on my desk.

Razer ...
... 15 price and configurations

I had an inordinately good time reviewing the $2,649 Advanced Model of the Mercury White Razer Blade 15. It comes with a 2.2-GHz Intel Core i7-8750H processor, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB NVMe PCIe SSD, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q GPU with 8GB of VRAM with an Intel UHD Graphic 630 GPU and a 1920 x 1080 panel with a 144Hz refresh rate. For $2,899, you can upgrade the screen to 4K at 60Hz.

Check out the $2,999 model with its black metal chassis and GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q GPU with 8GB of VRAM.

Ports

For a notebook with dimensions as slim as the Blade 15, it manages to fit a surprising number of ports.

For example, you have a USB 3.1 port, a Thunderbolt 3 port, an HDMI 2.0. a mini DisplayPort and a Kensington Lock slot on the right side. And on the left are another two USB 3.1 ports, a headset jack and the proprietary power port.

Display

The colour on the Blade 15's matte, 15.6-inch display is just as striking as its chassis. However, I wish the 1920 x 1080 panel was a tad brighter. When I watched the trailer for the upcoming Shaft movie, I was captivated by the trio of maroon dusters blowing heroically in the wind as three generations of the titular character walked across a plaza. Details were so crisp that I could clearly read see the word Shaft stamped across a speeding 9mm bullet, as well as the stippling from the gun of the battle.

Audio

The Blade's top-firing speakers are clear, but not as loud as I would like. Even at top volume with the Dolby Atmos software enabled, the laptop barely filled our lab space. I could even hear the newscast our product tester was listening to.

Keyboard and touchpad

Razer's ultra-low profile island-style keys are a bit of a mystery to me. With a 1.2 millimeter key travel (1.5mm is our minimum) and 68 grams of actuation force (60 g minimum), the keys aren't clicky, but they're not mushy, either. They definitely feel better than the keys on my work-issued MacBook Pro. And with that per-key RGB lighting, they look better, too.

Synapse 3.0

I'm reviewing what Razer calls the Advanced Model, which, in addition to more powerful specs, also lets you customize each key with its own individual lighting effect. The magic happens in the company's Synapse 3.0 software. A cloud-based software, Synapse allows you to create customize lighting effects for the keyboard as well as create macros. You can also make profiles that launch with specified games or apps.

Gaming, graphics an

The next generation in graphics cards is here, and it comes bearing gifts of ray tracing and artificial intelligence. Nvidia's new RTX chips are faster and more powerful than previous generations and have the added benefit of ray tracing, which makes games look photorealistic, and DLSS (Deep Learning Super-Sampling), which renders high-quality graphics using a variety of shortcuts that translate into graphics and performance improvements.

Performance

The Blade 15 isn't all play. Thanks to its 2.2-GHz Intel Core i7-8750H processor with 16GB of RAM, the laptop cut through all my multitasking like so much tissue paper. I watched an episode of The Dragon Prince on Netflix while running 22 additional Google Chrome tabs, some of which were streaming Twitch or YouTube or scrolling through my Tweetdeck. Despite the load, there wasn't a bit of lag to be found.

The Blade 15 continued performing, producing 22,379 on our overall performance test, Geekbench 4.1. It was just enough to beat the 22,276 premium gaming laptop average and the 18,046 put up by the MSI Stealth (Core i7-8750H CPU). The m15 and its Core i7-8750H CPU performed slightly better at 22,873.

Battery Life

More power, less endurance. Thanks to its RTX Graphics, the latest version of the Blade 15 is more powerful than its predecessor, but at the cost of battery life. The 2019 Blade 15 lasted only 5 hours and 2 seconds. That's more than an hour less than its predecessor (6:09). But that time is still better than the 3:22 premium gaming laptop average. The Stealth and m15 were faster at 5:40 and 6:28, respectively.

Webcam

The Blade 15's 720p IR webcam gives you just enough detail, but it's not great. In my test shots, you could make out the individual strands of my locks, as well as the shift from orange to purple to dark purple.

However, there was a fuzziness that blurred the finer details of my face. It's passable for video chats and streaming in a pinch. It can also be used to unlock the system using Windows Hello.

Software and warranty

Razer knows that gamers want as clean a slate as possible when it comes to storage. Which is why outside of the typical Windows 10 bloatware you won't find too much clutter. There are some third-party editions, such as links for Netflix, Plex and Hulu. There's also PicsArt and a photo editor/collage app.

Bottom Line

Razer continues to raise the bar with its gaming laptops. For $2,649, you get the Advanced Version of the Razer Blade 15, which comes in a stunning white aluminum chassis. And measuring 14 x 9.3 x 0.7 inches, it's officially the smallest 15-inch gaming system on the block. But this is a svelte beast, as it packs l a Core i7 CPU and Nvidia's impressive new RTX GPUs. The notebook is ready to game, video edit, crunch numbers and more at the drop of a hat.

If you're looking to save a few dollars and get a better display and longer battery life, check out the $2,099 version of the Alienware m15. Just keep in mind that you'll be missing out on Nvidia's RTX graphics (for now).

But if you're looking for a system that's supremely portable and powerful, the Razer Blade 15 is for you.

Razer Blade 15 (2019) Specs

Bluetooth :Bluetooth 5.0

Brand :Razer

CPU :2.2-GHz Intel Core i7-8750H processor

Company Website :www.razer.com

Display Size:15.6

Graphics Card:Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q GPU/Intel UHD Graphics 630 GPU

Hard Drive Size:512GB

Hard Drive Speed:n/a

Hard Drive Type:NVMe PCIe SSD

Highest Available Resolution:3840 x 2160

Native Resolution:1920x1080

Operating System:Windows 10 Home

Optical Drive:None

Optical Drive Speed:n/a

Ports (excluding USB):Thunderbolt 3, Noble Lock, Mini DisplayPort, Headset, HDMI 2.0, USB 3.1

RAM:16GB

RAM Upgradable to:32GB

Size:14 x 9.3 x 0.7 inhces

Touchpad Size:5 x 3 inches

USB Ports:4

Video Memory:8GB

Warranty/Support:1 year limited warranty

Weight:4.7 pounds

Wi-Fi:802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Wi-Fi Model:Intel (R) Wireless-AC 9560

See Also : Razer blade 15 2018 h2

Pros

+Beautiful, head-turning design
+Powerful graphics and overall performance
+Solid battery life
+Fast transfer speeds

Cons

-Dim display
-Weak audio
-Runs hot when gaming