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Razer Blade Review

The Good: An amazing looking, ultraportable gaming laptop with great battery-life. Using the Intel Core i7 2.2 GHz CPU with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M, means it packs all the performance required.

The Bad: Ultra-portability knows its compromises. Even though the laptop is sleek, powerful and battery efficient, it also uses a small 14 inch screen and has a hard drive capacity of only 256 GB. Although the latter is is expandable to 512GB, this comes at an additional surcharge of 800 USD. 

The Verdict: The best looking and most mobile gaming laptop under 1500 dollars. Looking like a black MacBook Pro, it is by far the most beautiful creation in our comparison. Choose the Blade if you appreciate its ultraportable nature and don’t mind the smaller screen size.

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Why is the Razer one of the top gaming laptops under $1500?

The Blade is in a league of its own, especially on the looks department. Being the best gaming laptop under 1500 dollars when it comes to portability, this laptop has both the intimidating looks, the mobility and the performance (2.4 i7 & GeForce GTX). Even though the Razer is not the most powerful in our comparison, it carries a special place in our hearts. Like Angelina Jolie carries a special place in our hearts. What a deadly sexy machine…

 

Features

The Blade’s black aluminium chassis is only 13.6 x 9.3 x 0.7 inches, while weighing in at a minuscule 4.1 pounds. By comparison, a 13 inch MacBook Pro weighs 4.5 pounds. The perfectly black exterior touched with few fluorescent green details such as the snakes on the back and the USB ports on the side, make for a beautiful sight. These sleek and portable aspects of the Blade do not come without its cost though. Examples are the loss of the optical drive and the small hard drive of only 256GB. Where Steam gamers will not care for the loss of the optical drive, for some this might pose a problem. And while the hard drive is upgradable to a larger 512GB version, the 800 USD price tag will most refrain most gamers from choosing this option. 

The various functionality features on the Blade work like a charm. The keyword feels good, has a great key-travel for a laptop of this design and glows in the same fluorescent green as the snakes on the back. On top of this, the keyboard has the rate anti-ghosting feature, meaning several keys can be pressed at the same time without losing their function. The stereo speakers on either side of the keyboard work very well in comparison to the slim design and offer a notable bass. Finally, the touchpad is works like it should. The standard multi-touch is supported and surface of the trackpad is both responsive as well as smooth. The blade is put together with great care and great parts, and belongs in anyones top 10 gaming laptops under 1500. 

In contrast to its the predecessor, comes the new Blade will impressive setup. Being equipped with the Intel Core i7-4702MQ quad core processor clocked at 2.2 GHz (combined with 8GB of RAM) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M, the Blade is definitely not a lightweight. If anything, it can hold his own very impressively for such a small guy in such powerful company. Although the technological steps made since the previous Blade are commendable, the greatest improvement is made in battery-life. In the rundown test, the Blade latest 6 minutes short of 7 hours! Nearly 2,5 hours longer than its closest competitor. 

 

What games will you be able to play?

The below stated games are all playable on ‘ultra’ settings with a frame rate of at least 30 per second.

The Elder Scrolls Online, Titanfall, Batman: Arkham Origins, F1 2013, Fifa 14, Dota 2, Starcraft II: heart of the Swarm, Tomb Raider, Dead Space 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Dishonored and more.

 

To Conclude

Based on its amazing looks, portable and lightweight setup, excellent performance and ridiculous battery-life, this is clearly the best gaming laptop 2018 under 1500 in terms of mobility. Is portability no issue for you, then look towards a machine with more ooeehhmm. If you are looking however for the best looking and most portable option available and do not want to sacrifice on performance, the Razer Blade is the machine for you. 

 

The Key Facts:

  • Processor / CPU: 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7-4702MQ
  • Graphics Card / GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M
  • RAM: 8 GB DDR3
  • Hard Drive / HD: 256 GB
  • Screen Size: 14 Inches
  • Screen Resolution: 1600 x 900 pixels
  • Operating System: Windows 8.1
  • Weight: 4.1 Pounds
  • Number of USB 2.0 Ports: 0
  • Number of USD 3.0 Ports: 3
  • Battery Life: Lithium-Ion with up to 6 hours and 354 minutes
  • Dimensions: 9.30 x 13.60 x 0.70 inches

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