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As the best gaming laptops begin to outpace the latest consoles in terms of power, the companies that make them have doubled down on thinness and lightness without compromising on graphical capabilities. Razer is no exception. The gaming hardware maker’s trademark – a triple-headed green snake logo – is now synonymous with elegantly designed primo products that marry a chic sense of style with the performance and customization that gamers crave.
After launching a revamp of the 15-inch Razer Blade earlier this year, complete with thinner bezels and an all-around smaller profile, it only makes sense Razer would do the same with its ultraportable Blade Stealth laptop. Unlike the Razer Blade refresh, however, the forthcoming Razer Blade Stealth is slightly thicker than its predecessor. But, for the first time in the laptop’s history, the new Blade Stealth sports the option of a discrete graphics chip from Nvidia, and yet Razer still promises a battery life of up to 13 hours.
Starting at $1,399, the Razer Blade Stealth is cheaper than it was last year, but only by around $50. For that price, you can expect a full HD (1080p), non-touch screen, 256GB of SSD storage space and 8GB of dual-channel RAM as well as a quad-core, 1.8GHz Intel Core i7-8565U processor and UHD 620 graphics that are tied to the CPU. At that same price, the 2018 MacBook Air has a lower clocked, dual-core 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 processor. Seeing as you can buy a 14-inch Asus VivoBook S with 2GB of discrete graphics, a good chunk of change is clearly being charged as part of the illusive Razer tax – and for its stately design.
For $200 more than the base model, Razer sells an upgraded Blade Stealth unit wielding double the RAM and Nvidia GeForce MX150 graphics bearing 4GB of GDDR5 memory, though its weight is bumped up to 2.82 pounds. A third version of the Razer Blade Stealth costs a whopping $1,899. Equipped with a 4K touchscreen and 512GB of SSD space while retaining the same 16GB of RAM and MX150 graphics, its premium price tag seems justified.
Onto its design, the new Razer Blade Stealth is outfitted with a high-grade aluminum finish carved from a single block of metal, lending itself to an unprecedented level of sturdiness. Razer says that its matte black coating its applied at a “sub-molecular level,” anodized deep into the aluminum “for maximum durability.” As was the case with the 2018 Razer Blade Stealth before it, the a black ‘tone-on-tone’ Razer logo is stamped on the lid. Surrounding the display, the sleek 4.9mm ‘Micro Edge’ bezels measure 60% narrower than those of the last Razer Blade Stealth.
Connections on the Razer Blade Stealth now include Thunderbolt 3, USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 (for charging), two USB Type-A ports and a 3.5mm headphone/mic combo jack. Similar to the Razer Blade Stealth models that came before it, an external GPU enclosure such as the $299.99 Razer Core X can be connected to the Thunderbolt 3 port if you want to ramp up the graphics beyond the threshold of the Intel UHD 620. Frankly, even the Nvidia MX150 found in the more expensive Razer Blade Stealth configs is limited to sub-60fps gaming in recent triple-A games like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Forza Horizon 4 at Medium to High settings.
Because it features not two, but four upward-firing speakers, sound on the new Razer Blade Stealth should pack quite a punch. What’s more, the speaker system dons a ‘Smart Amp’ to ensure that audio isn’t muddled when dialing up the volume. Dolby Atmos has been integrated into the new Razer Blade Stealth as well, introducing spatialized surround sound to the Ultrabook for the very first time.
Adjustable in the all-encompassing and intuitive Razer Synapse 3 software, the keyboard on the new Razer Blade Stealth employs merely one zone of lighting, to which you can assign your pick of 16.8 million colors. Razer claims the anti-ghosting keyboard is “punchier” and “more responsive” than what we’ve seen in past Blade Stealth iterations. Now made entirely of glass, the touchpad is larger, too, and it notably supports Microsoft Precision for improved accuracy. If it’s anything like the touchpad on the 15-inch Razer Blade, that alone is worth getting excited over.
The 2019 Razer Blade Stealth is available for purchase in the United States starting today. It’s “coming soon” to other territories, according to Razer, with subsequent launches planned in the UK, France, Germany, Nordics, China, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan.
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