Razer Blade 14-Inch Gaming Notebook Review
by Dustin Sklavos on July 2, 2013 1:00 PM ESTConclusion: So Close, Yet So Far
I went into reviewing the Razer Blade 14-inch skeptical, and I came out of it largely a believer. Razer has done a million things right with this notebook design, and I actually have a very hard time understanding why a user would spend up for the 17-inch Razer Blade Pro. This 14-inch unit has almost everything you want and very little you don't, and it is the definitive gaming ultrabook. There simply isn't anything else out there like it that can compete, and impressively, Razer did a heck of a job with it right out of the gate.
Performance-wise, the Blade is hanging out in a very comfortable space. 8GB of DDR3L is the sweet spot for Windows and gaming, and the quad-core processor and GeForce GTX 765M are able to produce a well-rounded performance profile. The Blade will play any and all modern games at high settings at the notebook's native resolution. While heat is a constant compromise, Razer has handled it with aplomb. I appreciate the attention to acoustics, and I think they actually have a bit of wiggle room in bumping the CPU fan speed without significantly destroying the otherwise solid noise profile.
As much as I enjoy ribbing Vivek for waxing philosophical about industrial design, with the Razer Blade 14-inch, I absolutely get where he's coming from. This is a gorgeous notebook, top to bottom. The fit and finish is stunning, and the only real downside to it is that the black aluminum picks up fingerprints like no other. After reviewing this notebook, it's damn hard for me not to want one of my very own.
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But it's not perfect. I'm actually not going to grill Razer too hard on the price tag; the $1,799 model isn't, I think, really an option for most users as the 128GB SSD is pretty inadequate. If you want to try your luck with a torx screwdriver and an aftermarket mSATA SSD, be my guest. At $1,999, the review system isn't cheap, but it's mostly competitive. Razer has to fight the Alienware 14 here; Alienware's offering is much larger, but for $1,799 you can get a slightly faster CPU, the same video card, a 1080p IPS display, a slot-loading DVD writer, 802.11ac wireless, and a 750GB HDD to go along with the 256GB mSATA SSD. But you pay in portability: the Alienware 14 is also two pounds heavier, and frankly, it's just not as aesthetically pleasing.
Where Razer threw the game is the display. Almost everything else about the Razer Blade 14-inch goes so, so right, and then there's the dismal 1600x900 panel. The resolution isn't the issue; 1600x900 is actually just right for the GTX 765M. It's the panel quality that kills. After loving up on the fit and finish of the Blade at every other step, paying attention to every detail, they turned around and seriously crippled the notebook with a lousy screen that threatens to undermine the whole operation. I can't fathom what the thought process was behind this decision, but it wasn't worth it. We're at a price point where an extra $100 for a display that doesn't suck wouldn't be a big deal.
I really like the Razer Blade 14, and I'd be sorely tempted to try and hold on to the review unit as long as humanly possible. On any other notebook, a mediocre display would just be par for the course, but on a system that's otherwise so well-designed, it's an offense that borders on blasphemy. Razer's designers made the Mona Lisa of gaming notebooks, and then drew a moustache, goatee, and monocle on her. The price tag means it's a luxury item and I honestly don't have much of an issue with it, but if you're going to make a luxury item, why the hell would you make this cut? As it stands, the 14-inch Blade still has a lot going for it and if you want the thinnest, sleekest gaming notebook out there, this is your one stop shop. I just can't understand how a company would get this close to nailing a design, only to blow it to save a few bucks.
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robco - Tuesday, July 2, 2013 - link
If they're going to crib from Apple, they need to go all the way. I don't want to hear any criticism about how Apple lacks ports or requires adapters. Not even ac wireless? With a rMBP, I could use a gig-E network adapter. My other primary concern is the intake vents on the bottom, since I do often use my laptop in my lap.I agree that this laptop has a lot going for it. But the display is very important. I don't see why they went cheap. Granted, Razer may not have Apple's R&D resources, but they don't have to write their own OS either.
Check101 - Tuesday, July 2, 2013 - link
Ah, thank you for the clarification. This confirms my thoughts... The notebook manages heat by pushing the heat away from the user, and it is slim, powerful, sturdy, and has a large battery. Now, some hard numbers show that this screen is terrible for this price-point. I was very curious about an upcoming review ever since Razer CEO posted a review of the 14 inch Blade on his Facebook page arguing that the screen was just fine, but that was a very quick review that glossed over important details. Now we know... Razer needs another iteration of this notebook...arthur449 - Tuesday, July 2, 2013 - link
Great review, Dustin. I enjoyed your attention to detail about the notebook's hot spots and remarks about the usability of the keyboard. You're also spot-on about Razer hitting the sweet spot in terms of notebook gaming hardware.While the screen is hilariously bad, how're its response times? It seems completely odd to me that they would've neglected this aspect of the overall package so badly. Maybe they sacrificed viewing angles, contrast, and color quality in favor of a bright twitchy TN panel gamers on-the-go would appreciate in poorly lit areas? I'm assuming it's not a 120Hz panel, but does it have any notable ghosting?
dwade123 - Tuesday, July 2, 2013 - link
It already struggles with the latest console ports. Next-gen ones are gonna make this an obsolete device.Silma - Tuesday, July 2, 2013 - link
It looks nice enough but unfortunately it follows the tradition of too many notebook makers of marrying a decent/good cpu/gpu pair with as many crappy parts as possible. Yet again, as for the Carbon X1, an indecent super baSilma - Tuesday, July 2, 2013 - link
super bad super low res screen.This, combined with no Ethernet network, and the wariness with Razer's lack of quality control that came with the purchases of too many premium mouses that won't work more than a few months at the most, will make it easy for to admire the notebook's aesthetics
from afar and buy something else, probably the Asus Infinity or the Samsung 9+ if they ever step out of vaporware.
SpartanJet - Tuesday, July 2, 2013 - link
Will you be reviewing the Razer Blade Pro this time around?wdfmph - Tuesday, July 2, 2013 - link
Last time I said gaming laptop does not make sense and lots of people shoot me. See it yourself. It just has to drop the ball here or there no matter how expensive they could be. Last time is the stupid single fan design in the MSI laptop, this time is the miserable screen.In addition, I think reliability of RAZER products questionable.
Winterblade - Tuesday, July 2, 2013 - link
Great review... hopefully the next version will correct the display quality, I'm perfectly fine with the resolution but if indeed windows 8.1 can fix the way windows manages high-density displays then I would definetly want a more dense display.Also, please Razer add a gigabit ethernet port or at least bundle the next generation blade with an adapter, this is a gaming machine, not a god-damn tablet.
I'm all in for a truly portable gaming machine, and at this very moment I consider this the very best option in that regard (NO, I will not carry more than 2Kg half-way trough the world, nobody should :P), that being said, with 2 horrible faults (display & ethernet) I just can't justify my self buying the blade, fix at least one of these and count me onboard for Gen2 Blade 14.
Roland00Address - Tuesday, July 2, 2013 - link
Dustin before you send back the Razer or resell it can you by chance test the integrated graphics for the intel hd4600. We got benchmarks for the desktop 4600 (but that has a much higher tdp so it can always hit those boost clocks), and we saw how thermally limited the intel 5000 was compared to the intel 4400 with the macbook air and acer s7.It would be nice to know how the non ulv intel hd graphics will perform in mainstream notebooks, and how this will compare to trinity/richland.