Razer Blade 17 evaluation: This ultra-luxe video gaming laptop computer can change your desktop

At a glimpse

Expert’s Rating

Pros

• Excellent video gaming efficiency
• Great choice of ports consisting of 2 x Thunderbolt 4
• Sturdy robust style

Cons

• Poor battery life unplugged
• Keyboard does not have a numpad

Our Verdict

The Razer Blade 17 is a huge and robust laptop computer with a sensational 240 Hz QHD display screen and a terrific choice of ports. Its Intel 12 th generation i7 CPU and GeForce RTX 3080 Ti GPU make it an effective entertainer in video games.

Best Prices Today: Razer Blade 17 (2022)

The Razer Blade 17 looks similar to the Razer Blade 17 (2021), however take advantage of a wave of revitalized hardware functions, consisting of a much faster 12 th-gen Intel Core i7 processor and souped-up RTX 3080 Ti GPU that together provide remarkable power. The most recent variation likewise has a generous port choice that any player would enjoy to have.

What’s more, it masters the critical display screen department, providing huge ticks for video and image quality, consisting of color, contrast. and visual clearness. It does not have good battery life and is rather costly, general it’s an excellent laptop computer that provides a close-to-desktop video gaming experience that’s a cut above lots of rivals.

Razer Blade 17 specs

The 2022 Razer Blade 17 is readily available in a number of various setups. The greatest tier consists of the Intel Core i9-12900 H processor and GeForce RTX 3080 Ti GPU, with rates beginning at $2,69999 Our evaluation system’s requirements are as follows and costs $3,999:

• CPU: Intel Core i7-12800 H
• RAM: 32 GB DDR5/4800 MHz
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti
• Display: 17.3 QHD (2560 ×1440), non-touch, 240 Hz revitalize rate, G-Sync, DCI-P3 100%
• Storage: 1TB PCle Gen4 NVMe strong state drive
• Ports: 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (15 W power shipment), 2 x Thunderbolt 4 USB-C Ethernet port, HDMI 2.1, SD card reader, 3.5 mm Combo Jack
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6E 802.11 ax, Bluetooth 5.2
• Dimensions: 0.78 x 10.24 x 15.55 inches
• Weight: 6.06 pounds
• Color: Black
• Battery capability: 82 WHr
• Price: $3,99999 at Razer

Design and construct

When something has been fine-tuned to near excellence, why would you alter anything? That about summarize why we believe the Razer Blade 17’s style is mainly the like in 2015’s, bar a couple of little upgrades that contribute to the laptop computer’s appeal.

Those upgrades consist of larger keycaps for more comfy typing and laser-cut speaker grilles that change the more inset ones in the 2021 Razer Blade 17’s chassis. These integrate with more significant hardware upgrades– 12 th generation CPUs for all brand-new 2022 setups and, in our evaluation system, an updated RTX 3080 Ti GPU and 32 GB DDR5 RAM– so props to Razer for including helpful upgrades over simply visual ones.

We’re delighted to see the T6 CNC aluminum chassis return this year. We’re informed it’s crushed from a single block of aluminum for toughness and, as such, it feels incredibly stiff and strong with hardly any provide around the keyboard and trackpad. That’s not unanticipated in a laptop computer of this quality yet the strength encompasses its 16:9 4K screen which has essentially no flex. The hinges are likewise incredibly firm, permitting the leading to remain open a simple inch from the base.

IDG/ Adam Patrick Murray

Admittedly, all that metal makes the Razer Blade 17 rather heavy– it weighs a massive 6.06 pounds. The considerable 280 W GaN power brick, in spite of having a smaller sized footprint than the 2021 one, is large, weighing 1.54 pounds. You will not desire to be transporting this laptop computer around too frequently. If you need to, its 0.78 x 10.24 x 15.55 inches fits comfortably into a typical sized knapsack.

Although big in stature, the Razer Blade 17 isn’t fancy. Minimalist styling throughout guarantees that absolutely nothing will sidetrack you from video gaming. The most striking 2 functions are the fluorescent Razer logo design on the leading cover followed by the per-key lit Razer Chroma backlighting that remarkably illuminate the keyboard when you type and smartly changes itself off when you stop. A hardly noticeable black on black Razer logo design likewise rests on the lower bezel like an inscription.

IDG/ Adam Patrick Murray

Unlike some previous Razer Blade 17 versions, this year’s design is completed in a finger print resistant finish. While it does not totally avoid prints, it does minimize them to simply dull spots, releasing you from continuously needing to clean your laptop computer down.

Keyboard and trackpad

The Razer Blade 17’s keyboard, which is hemmed in by the speakers either side, does not actually make complete usage of the sufficient chassis area readily available. Appropriately, it does not have the essential choice you’ll discover in some 17- inch video gaming laptop computers whose keyboards more carefully resemble their full-sized desktop equivalents. There’s no right-side numpad. Those expecting full-sized arrow secrets will need to use half-sized ones too.

IDG/ Dominic Bayley

That will not be to everybody’s taste yet it can have the result of streamlining your gameplay. There’s likewise sufficient variation to keep you competitive in video games; you still get left and best shift, ctrl and fn secrets, in addition to F1 to F10 and number secrets along the top. Plus, what the Blade 17 does not have in crucial choice it offsets with kindly sized keycaps that offer a lot of width for your fingers. The secrets are clicky and responsive, too.

The centrally situated accuracy trackpad ratings points for being among the fastest I’ve utilized. It reacted effectively in video games, permitting my fingers to move rapidly and easily throughout its surface area. It likewise looks completely proportioned.

Display

Although Razer’s line-up consists of a setup with a greater resolution UHD screen and slower 144 Hz revitalize rate, our system’s 240 Hz QHD panel seemed like the one you ‘d desire for spectacular visuals at good framerates. The display screen, which covers 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color range, constantly looked incredible with dynamic abundant colors, exceptional contrast, and sharp information, despite whether I was viewing videos or video gaming.

IDG/ Dominic Bayley

Had it been a 144 Hz revitalize rate, I think it might have struggled to maintain at this resolution. 240 Hz was fast adequate to provide video efficiently, even when things sped up on screen. Smoothness in video games is assisted along by Nvidia G-Sync, which matches the screen’s framerate to the GPU’s.

The one weak point of an otherwise outstanding display screen is its absence of brightness, which determined just 300 nits by my Lux meter. Still, if you keep it set to 92 percent brightness in Windows, it never ever looks too dark. The screen likewise deals with direct sunshine effectively thanks to an anti-glare finishing.

Webcam and audio

The Razer Blade 17 includes a 1080 p Windows Hello web cam instead of a 720 p one. That’s rather a rarity for video gaming laptop computers. I discovered it produced images with good whites and colors, although images will still appear a little rough in dark spaces.

Launching a couple of video games enabled me to evaluate the Razer Blade 17’s audio, which was crisp and clear. The volume levels are likewise quite good and can fill the space. This laptop computer crams in 8 speakers all up, consisting of 4 tweeters and 4 subwoofers. This remarkable contingent likewise produces visible bass that you ‘d be tough pushed to hear in other laptop computers.

Connectivity

The generous choice of ports flanking the Blade 17, that includes 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports and 2 x Thunderbolt 4 ports, enable you to plug in practically all your gadgets at one time. Obviously, the charm of that is with the best input gadgets, you can setup your Blade 17 like a desktop with a wired mouse and keyboard for low latency video gaming.

IDG/ Adam Patrick Murray

The Razer Blade’s Thunderbolt 4 ports need to show helpful for both players and creatives alike considering that they enable you to link up numerous 4K or 8K external screens. They offer faster information transfer rates (as much as 40 Gbps), which works for rapidly packing up big files. At the end of the day, that implies less tiresome waiting time.

IDG/ Adam Patrick Murray

The Razer Blade 17’s Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 likewise positions it amongst the fastest laptop computers for 2022 for cordless connection.

Performance

As we evaluate more laptop computers with 12 th generation Intel CPUs, the real power of these processors comes progressively into focus. Our evaluation system, with its Intel Core i7-12800 H processor, plainly shows this. It showed too effective for the majority of our older contrast laptop computers’ CPUs. We state most due to the fact that 3 of our contrasts had comparably effective next gen hardware.

Our selected line-up included primarily laptop computers with CPUs efficient in offering the type of processing power you ‘d anticipate in high-end video gaming laptop computers. These consisted of 2022 releases such as the MSI GF76 Raider with its magnificent Core i9-12900 HK CPU and the Gigabyte Aorus with a Core i7-12700 H CPU.

The field likewise consisted of a few of in 2015’s finest, consisting of the 17- inch Asus ROG Zephyrus S17, which loads an 11 th gen Intel Core i9-11900 H CPU and the Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition, powered by an AMD Ryzen 9 5900 HX processor.

IDG/ Dominic Bayley

First up, we ran Maxon’s Cinebench R20 criteria, which step CPU efficiency. In the Cinebench multi-threaded criteria, a test of all the cores of our laptop computer’s processor, the Razer Blade 17 ranked 3rd in our contrast line-up revealing it has sufficient CPU power for high-end video gaming and CPU requiring jobs like video modifying or encoding.

IDG/ Dominic Bayley

The Razer Blade 17 scored an excellent 691 in the Cinebench single-threaded criteria, which evaluates simply one core of our laptop computer’s CPU. This outcome places the Blade as one of the most capable amongst our contrasts for running daily programs and apps.

IDG/ Dominic Bayley

Our Razer Blade 17 showed likewise capable in our next criteria that utilizes the complimentary HandBrake 0.9.9 energy. This test includes encoding a 30 GB 1080 p MKV file to MP4 and assesses our evaluation laptop computer’s capability to cool off prior to it requires to throttle efficiency. The Blade put behind 2 other laptop computers with 12 th generation processors– the MSI GE76 Raider and Gigabyte Aorus– however ended up the test ahead of the Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition and Asus ROG Zephyrus S17

Overall, the Blade has the muscle to power through almost any job you ‘d require it for. If you’re not sure about updating to a laptop computer like this one with 12 th gen Intel processor, these outcomes might assist you choose. They reveal the Blade’s i7-12800 H CPU does have an edge over laptop computers with older processors– even those with stylish i9s or AMD Ryzen 5000 series CPUs, showing the effectiveness of the brand-new generation of faster Intel processors.

It’s worth keeping in mind that a few of the laptop computers that fell by the wayside held prime position at the top of our efficiency spreadsheets in2021 Laptop computers like the Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition now sit much lower down the list.

Gaming efficiency

Our Razer Blade 17 sports a GeForce RTX 3080 Ti GPU set to 165 Total Graphics Power (TPG). This is an upgrade from the GeForce RTX 3080 set at 130 TGP because exact same setup in 2015, and it puts an additional 1280 Nvidia CUDA Cores, 40 Tensor Cores, and 10 Ray Tracing Cores at the Blade’s disposal. Our video gaming criteria results listed below program it was an exceptional entertainer, assisting our system accomplish a location amongst the lead of video gaming laptop computers in Q2 2022.

IDG/ Dominic Bayley

In the Metro Exodus standard, the Razer Blade 17 handled an outstanding 53 typical frames-per-second (fps). This rating was just 3 fps slower than the MSI GE76 Raider and the 17- inch Asus ROG Zephyrus S17, both of which function fast Intel Core i9 CPUs.

IDG/ Dominic Bayley

Looking now at the chart for the Rise of the Tomb Raider standard, the Razer Blade 17 clocked an excellent 158 fps– the 2nd greatest rating. That’s 56 percent more than the Asus ROG Strix Advantage Edition, which, up till just recently, was among our greatest scorers in this criteria.

Battery life

Rather than fixing that age old quandary of how to get a long battery life out of a video gaming laptop computer of this size, the Razer Blade 17’s battery life is sorely doing not have. In our battery test, which runs the laptop computer below 100 percent to standby by playing a 4K video on repeat, the Blade’s 82 WHr battery lasted simply shy of 5 hours. That’s even with Nvidia’s Advanced Optimus innovation being turned on– a function understood to extend a laptop computer’s battery life.

IDG/ Dominic Bayley

Unfortunately, that implies you ‘d be fortunate to get more than 2 and a half hours video gaming time when you’re not linked to a power outlet– which is a little frustrating.

Conclusion

The Razer Blade 17 is perfectly developed and strong. Its effective 12 th generation processor and GeForce RTX 3080 Ti GPU carry out remarkably in video games. Battery life is tardy and the laptop computer is rather pricey, a string of other superior characteristics like its sensational 240 Hz QHD show location it amongst the finest 17- inch video gaming laptop computers cash can purchase.