Razer Unleashes Blade 15 Gaming Laptop With Coffee Lake-H, GTX 1070 And New Razer Core X
The new Razer Blade has a standard 15.6-inch display with a Full HD (1920x1080) resolution with a 144Hz refresh rate and 100 percent sRGB color gamut coverage. The tiny display bezels measure just 4.9mm, giving the machine a screen-to-body ratio of 84 percent. For those that want to really crank up the resolution (at the expense of the 144Hz panel), you can also select a 4K (3840x2160) 60Hz touch option that also supports 100% of the Adobe RGB color gamut.
Even though the display now measures 15.6 inches diagonally, it’s thinner than its 14-inch counterpart at 0.66 inches. Razer has minimized the width and depth of the laptop, and it is now 3 percent smaller in volume than the 14-inch Razer Blade. In fact, the company says that it’s the world’s smallest 15.6-inch gaming laptop, with tidier dimensions than the Alienware 15 and ASUS Zephyrus M.
Powering the machine is an 8th generation Intel Core i7-8750H hexa-core processor, which is paired with 16GB of dual-channel DDR4-2667 memory (a maximum of 32GB is supported). Customers can choose from either an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 or GTX 1070, both of which feature Max-Q Design for optimal performance and cooling. Keeping temperatures in check with all of this high-powered hardware is a custom vapor chamber cooling system. Razer has implemented load balancing, thermal blockers, and dual custom low-noise fans that still generate a lot of airflow.
Other features include up to a 512GB PCIe SSD, and support for up to a total of 2TB of storage. An Intel Wireless-AC 9260 takes care of 802.11ac Wi-Fi connectivity and Bluetooth 5.0 is also supported. There’s a single Thunderbolt 3 port, and three USB 3.1 ports for peripheral expansion.
You’ll also find a single Mini DisplayPort 1.4 connection, HDMI 2.0b, stereo speakers, and an anti-ghosting keyboard with Razer Chroma RGB lighting support. The touchpad is now 50 percent larger than before and is Microsoft Precision certified. An 80 WHr lithium-ion polymer battery is integrated, and the system weighs in at 4.56 pounds (Full HD display) or 4.73 pounds (4K display).
Prices for the Razer Blade start at $1,899 for a system configured with a Full HD (60Hz) display, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, and GTX 1060 for $1,899. Upgrading to a 144Hz Full HD panel and a 512GB SSD bumps the price to $2,199. The top-of-the-line SKU with a 4K touch display, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD and GTX 1070 will set you back $2,899. We went hands-on with the machine at a recent New York event and have to say we came away very impressed. We're looking forward to putting the new Razer Blade 15 to the test in a full review. Systems are available to purchase today.
Razer also announced an upgrade to its Thunderbolt 3 external graphics solution. The new Razer Core X is supported on Windows 10 (Redstone 1 and newer) and macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 and newer. Support on the Mac is currently limited to AMD Radeon graphics cards, however.
On Windows systems, the Razer Core X supports the full range of AMD Radeon/Radeon Pro and NVIDIA GeForce/Quadro graphics cards in up to 3-slot configurations. The external enclosure even can serve as a cryptocurrency mining bridge with support for both Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Razer Core X is officially supported on the Blade Stealth, Blade 14, Blade 15 and Blade Pro 17, however, any notebook that is Thunderbolt 3 certified and supports eGFX can use the enclosure.
A 600W power supply is included, and 100W power delivery to your laptop is managed through the USB-C connection. Both the PSU and the fan are user replaceable (which is good news if you’re planning on keeping it for years to come) and the enclosure is made out of aluminum. The Razer Core X loses support for a USB hub and Ethernet (as found on the Razer Core V2), but we can’t argue with the price. Whereas the Razer Core V2 is priced at $499, the Razer Core X is priced at just $299 and is also available to purchase today.
