Razer Blade 14 (2023) review: A portable, powerful gaming laptop

Price When Reviewed

2799.99

Best Prices Today: Razer Blade 14 (2023)

$2,799.99

$2799.99

As if a portent of its price, the 2023 Razer Blade 14 is available in a brand-new Mercury “silver” coloration as a brand new addition to the ever-present Black most players are conversant in. But whereas a contemporary new lick of paint could be thought-about a gimmick in any rival, in Razer’s latest Blade 14, valuable silver appears fully applicable.

Once once more Razer has produced a extremely moveable and highly effective 14-inch gaming laptop computer. With its distinctive construct high quality, beautiful QHD+ 240Hz show, lengthy battery life and all of the premium mod cons you possibly can probably need it’s a category act in each respect. You’ll simply want a cool $2,799.99 to purchase the most effective configuration. Read on to seek out out extra.

Looking for extra choices? Be positive to take a look at PCWorld’s roundup of the best gaming laptops obtainable proper now.

Razer Blade 14: Specifications

The 2023 Razer Blade 14 packs an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS CPU and comes with a QHD+ 240Hz show with Windows Home 11 as customary. For $2,399.99 a base mannequin ships with an RTX 4060 GPU, 1TB SSD and 16GB RAM in a again coloured chassis. Alternatively, maxing out the {hardware} choice classes on Razer’s web site will land you a Razer Blade 14 with RTX 4070 GPU, 1TB SSD and 32GB RAM in a brand new Mercury coloration, for $2,799.99. The actual specs of this assessment unit are as follows:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS
• RAM: 32GB DDR5 / 5600 MHz
• GPU: GeForce RTX 4070
• Display: 14-inch QHD+ (2560 x 1600), 240Hz refresh charge, non-touch, 100 % DCI-P3 coloration gamut, anti-glare end, 16:10 side ratio, AMD FreeSync Premium
• Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD
• Ports: 2 x USB-A 3.2, 2 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (DisplayPort 1.4 and Power Delivery)
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3
• Weight: 4.05lbs (1.84Kg)
• Dimensions: 0.70 x 8.97 x 12.23 inches
• Battery: 68WHr
• Price: $2,799.99 from Razer

Looking at 14-inch gaming laptops from different manufacturers, and two principal rivals to the 2023 Razer Blade 14 come within the type of the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 and Alienware x14 R2.

A detailed configuration to our Razer Blade 14 within the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 prices $2,499.99, nevertheless this laptop computer comes with an RTX 4080 GPU with a decrease 125-watt TGP. Alternatively, you possibly can at present buy an Alienware x14 R2, with an Intel Core i7-13620 CPU and RTX 4060 GPU for $1,699.

Razer Blade 14: Design and construct

You don’t need to be a heavy steel fan to understand the Blade 14’s new silver end which could be very near that of the valuable steel. It appears to be like contemporary and unique, morphing the Blade 14 from its snug basic look into one thing braver – the type of laptop computer you’d need to sport all day on after which keep up late and watch the moonlight gleam off its pale floor. The new silver mannequin additionally options an anodized anti-fingerprint coating, which is extraordinarily good at protecting paw prints at bay.

Of course, a slick black Blade 14 possibility can be obtainable in 2023. It’s the one you’ll need in case you completely want a light-up Razer emblem on the lid. The silver unit has an equally enticing, however barely much less pretentious, emblem plastered on prime that doesn’t gentle up. Consequently, it’s going to draw loads much less consideration in work conferences. Strangely, although, the silver prices $400 greater than black on the checkout.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Color apart, the Razer Blade 14 stays a extremely moveable 14-inch gaming laptop computer in 2023, its dimensions and weight being solely very barely completely different from the 2022 mannequin. Notably the laptop computer’s thickness has been bumped up from 0.66 inches to 0.77 inches, whereas a tiny bounce of two.4 ounces to a complete weight of 4.05 kilos is an imperceptible weight change that received’t rattle any cages. Personally, I used to be more than pleased with the laptop computer’s portability, contemplating the formidable graphics revamp – the Blade 14 now has an RTX 40 GPU with a whopping 140-watt most graphics energy, which is not any imply feat in a laptop computer of this measurement.

From a method viewpoint, the Blade 14 nonetheless exudes an efficient-looking form and visage that almost all players will acknowledge at a second’s look. It sports activities spherical edges on the entrance, razer reduce sides and ultra-thin left and proper bezels flanking the show. Down under the show you’ll discover a trendy, however virtually imperceptible, black-on-back emblem emblazed into the decrease bezel.

The construct high quality too is of the identical distinctive customary that Razer laptops put on virtually like a trademark lately. Its CNC-milled aluminum chassis feels monolithic in its solidness and the lid is impressively sturdy. The entire laptop computer demonstrates a flex-less rigidity that actually deserves commendation.

Razer Blade 14: Keyboard, trackpad and audio

Getting keyboard dimensions good is usually a complicated balancing act for producers that place speaker grilles alongside the keyboard. Indeed, some choose out of doing so altogether to maximise house, as an alternative selecting to find the audio system on the underside.

Going with the previous possibility, Razer’s gamble has actually paid off, the keyboard nonetheless feels good and roomy, whereas the upward dealing with audio system produce an alarmingly clear sound for a 14-inch laptop computer.

Although, you’d be forgiven for mistaking readability for an distinctive tonal vary; like lots of 14-inch laptops, the Blade 14’s vary is simply satisfactory, not spectacular. It tends to favor the decrease mid tones over the highs or low tones, so it may typically sound just a little flat.

The laptop computer’s spatial audio assist, alternatively, is great. It comes courtesy of THX Spatial Audio, which advantages from Razer’s in-depth Synapse app, which even allows you to alter the directionality of your sound.

Analyzing the keyboard, and the Blade 14’s key structure is the usual form you’d discover in a laptop computer this measurement, in that it contains Function keys, however omits a numpad. The keys have a low journey and might typically really feel just a little mushy, however the upside to that’s they’re astoundingly quick for typing.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

But the true deal with right here is the RGB lighting. The individually lit Razer Chroma RGB keys are extremely sharp and but at their highest brightness setting there’s no discernable gentle bleed. You additionally get a palate of 16.8 million RGB colours to play with which opens up a treasure trove of prospects for personalizing your favourite macros and instructions.

The Blade 14’s trackpad can be a category act. It’s fairly giant, measuring a complete 6 inches (15 cm) – the sort you’re extra prone to see in 15-inch laptops. I’m but to expertise a faster, smoother floor in any rivals Razer’s precision glass being the closest factor to a quick however controllable trackpad I’ve used.

Razer Blade 14: Display and webcam

Just hypothetically, if the 2023 Blade 14 was misplaced to the sands of time and dug up by a technologically superior civilization, they’d virtually actually be effectively impressed by the standard of its show. It has a wealthy and various coloration profile and an distinctive degree of brightness and distinction.

Indeed, the beautiful panel in entrance of me was proof within the pudding; the panel’s tall 16:10 side ratio ensured that I had a big viewing space to take pleasure in my video games and movies, whereas the show’s 2,560 by 1,600 pixel decision meant they all the time regarded extremely sharp – with a element that might make the builders and cinematographers proud to indicate off their work.

That’s commonplace in a 2023 gaming laptop computer with a QHD+ panel. But what’s, is the smoothness of the movement on present. To that finish, the Razer’s panel advantages from three applied sciences: a 240Hz refresh charge, 3 ms response time and AMD FreeSync Premium, which collectively act to maintain movement stutter free and with out display screen tear.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Another spotlight price mentioning is the panel’s anti-glare coating, which I discovered did an ideal job lowering gentle reflections even in direct daylight. It’s one more characteristic that provides to the Blade 14’s portability attraction.

The Blade 14 additionally sports activities an unobtrusive 1080p webcam within the prime bezel. It’s uncommon to see a FHD webcam in a gaming laptop computer, which makes it just a little extra work pleasant. The digital camera produces crisp and pure–trying photographs with a definite lack of graininess, or the distorted type of synthetic neon coloration you typically see in cheaper ones. That stated, it’s simply best for videoconferencing.

Razer has additionally intelligently included a privateness shutter and Windows Hello assist for the webcam, so you possibly can securely use it for essential work conferences in case you don’t really feel like flipping the lid in your work-issued laptop computer.

Razer Blade 14: Connectivity and upgradability

With a mixture of USB-A and USB-C ports in addition to a HDMI 2.1 port, the Blade 14 is effectively outfitted to host a group of your gaming peripherals; to stream movies externally, and even livestream on the fly. Multi monitor setups are made potential by the 2 USB-C Type 4 ports which assist the show 1.4 protocol.

As you’ll see within the efficiency part, this specific configuration proved effectively suited to working heavy packages, however do you have to need to push the laptop computer’s higher limits, the Blade 14 is upgradable to a most of 64 GB DDR 5 RAM working at a clock velocity of 5600 MHz – that’s one of many quickest RAMs you may get. Additionally, storage might be upgraded to a most 4TB dual-sided SSD, if carrying an exterior SSD is just not one thing you need to do.

Razer Blade 14: CPU efficiency

Breaking down the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS CPU’s specs, and this processor has 8 cores and 16 Threads. It additionally makes use of a complete of 16GB of L3 cache. The processor’s efficiency has been in comparison with Intel’s Core i7-13700H CPU, though because the Ryzen CPU has a barely greater most increase velocity (5.2GHz versus 5.0GHz), theoretically it ought to have the sting over Intel’s closest silicon.

Running our standard PCWorld benchmarks towards a handpicked collection of high-performance gaming laptops and the Blade 14 confirmed promising CPU efficiency for each gaming and productiveness duties. Those assessments included Maxon’s Cinebench R20 Multi-Threaded benchmark and a bespoke take a look at we made particularly for the HandBrake utility app.

Maxon’s Cinebench R20 benchmark makes use of the 4DCinema engine to render a take a look at picture on the laptop computer’s show, with the end result indicative of how effectively the laptop computer runs secure on a high-CPU load. The HandBrake take a look at alternatively, places our assessment laptop computer to work encoding a 30GB MKV file to MP4 utilizing the Android pill preset. A shorter period is taken into account a greater end result.

Comparison laptops had been chosen from a vanguard of gaming laptop computer opinions. They had been all laptops with CPUs which have confirmed efficiency chops for high-end gaming, together with the 2023 Razer Blade 16 which contains a Core i9-13950HX CPU, and the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 with an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX processor.

In the Cinebench R20 Multi-Threaded benchmark the Razer Blade 14 achieved a rating of 6,085. Its zippy Ryzen 9 7940HS proved too fast for the Dell XPS 15’s Core i7-13700H CPU in addition to the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16’s Ryzen 9 6900HX.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Ultimately this end result exhibits that regardless of its small stature, the Razer Blade 14 will carry out admirably in a spread of demanding CPU duties that require all or a number of cores of its CPU, together with however not completely AAA video games.

Moving to the outcomes of the HandBrake take a look at and as you possibly can see within the graph under the Razer Blade 14 virtually topped the chart, beating out a powerful area of 4 different laptops. Amazingly, the Blade 14 even completed the duty in the identical time as its bigger Razer stablemate the Razer Blade 16.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

From this final end result we will extrapolate that the Blade 14 has lasting processing energy; when confronted with a CPU-intensive process and the laptop computer begins to warmth up, it may carry on computing with out having to throttle efficiency. On the opposite, it finishes duties rapidly and effectively.

While the Razer Blade 14’s time of 939 is a far cry from the very prime scoring laptop computer in our archives, the Asus ROG Strix 18, contemplating it lacks the thermal headroom that thicker and bigger laptops have, this is a wonderful end result that after once more solidifies the Razer as a pint-sized powerhouse. It demonstrates the type of efficiency that may undoubtedly impress homeowners of bigger and extra highly effective laptop computer configurations in 2023.

Razer Blade 14: Gaming efficiency

The Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4070 discrete cell GPU in my assessment unit has already confirmed to be no slouch in 2023 PCWorld benchmarks. Razer says this GPU, tuned to a formidable 140-watts Total Graphics Power (TGP), achieves a 33 % increase in graphics energy within the 2023 Blade 14 over earlier era Razer Blade 14 fashions.

With that in thoughts PCWorld’s archival benchmark outcomes for the 2021 Razer Blade 14 mannequin proved a helpful comparability to weigh up graphics efficiency enhancements, with my expectation being that I’d see a lot greater common framerates in our gaming benchmarks and better 3DMark efficiency rating within the newer mannequin as soon as the graphs had been accomplished.

Running the 3DMark Time Spy benchmark positioned the Razer Blade 14 in entrance of a lot of the comparability laptops, together with three sporting step-down RTX 4060 GPUs – a placement that appears to be becoming.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

On to our gaming benchmarks, and within the Rise of the Tomb Raider benchmark the Razer Blade 14 averaged a good 127 frames per second. That’s an excellent deal faster than the 2021 Razer Blade 14. The 2023 Blade 14 additionally outpaced a few of our different current standout performers on this benchmark, just like the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

The outcomes of the Shadow of the Tomb Raider gaming benchmark inform the same story. Again, the Blade 14 thumped its 2021 predecessor for common frames per second. Note that almost all of laptops with RTX 4060 GPUs additionally couldn’t fairly attain the Blade 14’s greater common framerate rating.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

These outcomes show Razer’s claims to be correct, that the 2023 Razer Blade 14 enjoys a marked graphics efficiency benefit over predecessor fashions – at the least for the 2021 Blade 14 we reviewed. That’s even regardless of the older mannequin sporting considered one of final yr’s wager video playing cards – a premium RTX 3080 GPU. More importantly additionally they present the RTX 4070 to be a wonderful selection on this laptop computer, which does an ideal job in harnessing the GPU’s spectacular energy.

Razer Blade 14: Battery efficiency

To take a look at battery life, I charged the laptop computer’s 68WHr battery and unplugged the facility twine when it reached full capability. The keyboard backlighting was switched off, and an affordable pair of headphones plugged in to maintain sound to a minimal. I additionally switched the Wi-Fi to Airplane Mode. Last however not least, I set a 4K Hollywood film on repeat and started timing how lengthy it took for the Blade 14’s battery to expire of juice.

The Razer Blade 14 lasted for 9 hours and 28 minutes earlier than switching itself to Standby Mode. This is a significantly very long time for a gaming laptop computer; most solely final 4 to 5 hours on the identical process – if that.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Mind you, our PCWorld take a look at is kind of light-on relating to energy drain. In a gaming situation, you possibly can count on the laptop computer to final roughly 6 hours, which continues to be virtually double what most laptops can obtain.

This distinctive battery life scores the Blade 14 one other large tick from me. Not solely does it have sufficient energy to play essentially the most demanding titles in my Steam library with respectable framerates, however I can play them for longer unplugged from an AC outlet. It’s simply another excuse this laptop computer is a extremely moveable and versatile system.

Razer Blade 14: Should you purchase it?

The 2023 Razer Blade 14 is proof you don’t want an enormous beast of a laptop computer with a brick the scale of a suitcase for an distinctive gaming expertise. In only a 14-inch chassis, you could have a laptop computer that has a gorgeous-looking and huge QHD+ 240Hz 16:10 show, and respectable CPU and GPU efficiency, and but it’s small and light-weight sufficient to go wherever you go. It additionally has a incredible battery life so you possibly can play longer with out interruption.

Admittedly, it’s not low cost, however in comparison with what you’d pay for some bigger premium 16-inch laptops, roughly $4,000, $2,799.99 doesn’t appear that dangerous. For that purpose and its glorious portability and flexibility, the 2023 Razer Blade 14 is a category act that I for one can be very comfortable to personal.