For the past few years, it’s been near impossible to find a Windows laptop that packs as much firepower into a body as slim and chiseled as the Razer Blade. We’re talking about a machine that’s about the same size and build quality as a MacBook Pro, but is probably “too much laptop” for anyone who isn’t a gamer or a video editor.
If you need a crazy amount of horsepower without lugging around an anvil, it’s damn near the ultimate portable. It’s only getting better, too. The 2014 Blade isn’t even a year old yet, but Razer has just released an even more capable and brawny 2015 model in the same, sleek package.
You won’t see much difference from the outside. The new 14-inch Razer Blade sticks with a tack-sharp 3200×1800 IGZO touchscreen display (262ppi), three USB 3.0 ports, very good stereo speakers, Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 with HDMI 1.4 out, and the familiar CNC-machined black aluminum body finished with ectoplasm-green accents. The size and weight haven’t changed, either: It measures 0.7 inches thick when closed and weighs a shade under 4.5 pounds, just like its predecessor.
The new configurations are available immediately, starting at $2,200 for the 128GB model.
But under the hood, the GPU and CPU get a boost. The new Blade packs the Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M graphics chip, which is based on Nvidia’s new Maxwell architecture. (The 2014 Blade used a Kepler-architecture 870M for graphics.) It’s backed with 3GB of VRAM, and Razer says the newly designed GPU helps squeeze more battery life out of the Blade’s 70Wh battery, which is another holdover from the last model.
The updated Blade doesn’t get Intel’s new Broadwell chips, but the CPU does get an upgrade. The new chip is a quad-core 2.6GHz Intel Core i7-4720HQ, which can ramp up to 3.6GHz thanks to a “Turbo Boost” auto-overclocking feature. It’s a slight step up from the last version’s 2.2GHz/3.2GHz quad-core chip, but the bigger deal is that the newer laptop comes loaded with 16GB RAM—twice as much as the previous model.
It still runs Windows 8.1 out of the box, but of course, you’ll be able to upgrade that to Windows 10 at no charge for the first year. Storage configurations are all SSD, with 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB options available.
Despite the doubled-up RAM and upgraded guts, the new Blade costs the same as the previous version. That’s a bargain in context, but you’ll still pay a premium for such high-octane innards in a svelte package. The new configurations are available immediately through the Razerzone website and Microsoft’s online store, starting at $2,200 for the 128GB model.
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