Announced today using the same Fallout 4 screenshot they used while announcing the Razer Blade Stealth ultrabook earlier this year, the new 14-inch Razer Blade ultra-skinny gaming notebook is packing a lot more power than its predecessor at a slightly better price.
Before we get to the less important aspects of the new 14-inch Blade, up for preorder in the US tomorrow on Razerzone.com and shipping in April, let’s address the most important feature. Yes, each keyboard key is individually backlit and fully customisable. Game developers are free to develop profiles for their games that utilise these lights for special effects, like flashing red and blue when the police are after you in Grand Theft Auto V.
Pretty lights. Also pretty light.
The system also houses several components that help make it more of a computer than a numbered and lettered light show. They have got a 6th generation Intel Core i7 in there, a Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M chip with 6GB of VRAM (pronounced vraaaaam) and 16 gigs of system memory, which is more than we’ll ever need until we need more. There’s a 3200 x 1800 multi-touch display for folks who like their Windows icons nice and tiny, and a whole list of other nice bits that I’ve included down below. That entire list weighs only 2kg when inserted in an aluminium chassis.
Eventually these pictures will just be black single pixel lines.
What’s most impressive about the new Blade (aside from the keyboard) is the price. The previous, less-powerful version of the system started at $US2399 ($3218). This one starts at $US1999 ($2681). That’s still a hell of a lot of money, but compared to other super-skinny laptops with these sorts of innards it’s pretty competitive. Guessing that Lenovo partnership helped smooth out the supply line.
As a special added bonus, the light and powerful system can be made even more powerful by adding Razer’s Core box, which adds plug-and-play external graphics card support through the system’s Thunderbolt port.
New Razer Blade Specs:
- Intel Core i7-6700HQ Quad-Core Processor (2.6 GHz / 3.5 GHz)
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M (6 GB GDDR5 VRAM)
- 16 GB Systems Memory (DDR4, 2133 MHz)
- Windows 10 64-bit
- 256 GB / 512 GB SSD (PCIe M.2) options
- 14.0-in. IGZO QHD+ 16:9 Ratio, 3200×1800, with LED backlight, capacitive multi-touch
- Anti-ghosting keyboard with per-key lighting Powered by Chroma
- Killer Wireless-AC 1535 (802.11a/b/g/n/ac + Bluetooth 4.1)
- Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C)
- USB 3.0 port x3 (SuperSpeed)
- HDMI 1.4b video and audio output
- 3.5mm headphone/microphone combo port
- Built-in webcam (2.0 MP)
- Built-in stereo speakers
- Array microphone
- Dolby Digital Plus Home Theatre Edition
- 7.1 Codec support (via HDMI)
- Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0) security chip embedded
- Razer Synapse enabled with programmable keyboard, trackpad, backlighting and fan control
- Kensington security slot
- Compact 165 W power adaptor
- Built-in 70 Wh rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery
- Approx. Size: 0.70 in. / 17.9 mm (Height) x 13.6 in. / 345 mm (Width) x 9.3 in. / 235mm (Depth)
- Approx. Weight: 4.25 lbs. / 1.93 kg
- Price: U.S. $US1,999 ($2,681) — 256 GB PCIe SSD, U.S. $US2,199 ($2,949) — 512 GB PCIe SSD
That’s a lovely list right there. The new Razer Blade will be up for preorder in the US tomorrow, but unfortunately there’s been confirmation yet regarding availability and pricing in the Australian store.
Comments
7 responses to “Razer’s Latest Blade Laptop Is Lighter, Faster, Cheaper, Stronger ”
I want this as my new machine now. I wonder how much more that $2681 it will really be when it’s available here?
I wonder how hot the aluminium case gets when gaming. I’ve got a 2012 mac book pro and the thing is like an oven after 30 minutes of light gaming!
You’re using it wrong. When you start the game you close the lid, turn it over, and invite your friends to a BBQ.
Jokes aside, it doesn’t even have to be gaming. It looks like I have the same vintage of model and some workloads can cause it to over heat.
Sorry if you know this already but it is to due with the fact the design of its cooling isn’t always effective and over time it can cause the GPU to be unstable (it’s happened to me within Apple Care).
Any extended gaming or intensive usage you should really get a powered-fan-driven laptop mount. Even one that is raised slightly as these can get pretty warm to touch.
amerifat: “wah, wah, wah..$2000 is too expensive for a high-end gaming laptop!”
“just like $40-50 ps4 games! People who think we get products for cheap, they live in a backwards country!”
Bit of a shame about that screen resolution. There’s no way a 970M is going to play any graphically intensive games at 60FPS at that screen resolution, and LCD’s always look better if the source is native resolution. They could have gone with 1920×1200 or even 1440p or something and it would have been acceptable at medium-high settings.
I would hazard a guess and say you’d be outputting the video to a desktop screen if you were gaming on this thing, plopped on a laptop cooler (I used to do this with my old MSi GE60, but of course that had a 15″ 1080p screen). I agree though, why are companies packing such huge resolutions into a laptop? Just spent the money on a nice 1080p panel (or even G-Sync).