Custom PC - UK (2020-01)

R

azer’slatestBlade 15 doesn’tinitiallylookhugely

differentfromitsstunningpredecessor,butthere

aresignificantinternalchanges.The1080pIPS

displayhasundergonea hugeupgrade– it’snowavailable

witha 240Hzrefreshrate.Thatmakesit oneofthefastest

laptoppanelsintheworld,andit makestheBlade

a greatoptionforesports.

Whilea 240Hzscreenis impressive,though,

it’salsooverkillforlotsofplayers.Thisscreen

alsodoesn’thaveNvidiaG-Sync,soyoustillget

occasionaltearingartefacts.Theupgradedscreen

is partneredwitha newGPUtoothough.TheRTX

2070 Max-Qincludes2,304streamprocessors

and8GBofGDDR6memory– thesamehardware

asthefull-fatversion.However,it hasa boost

clockof1185MHz,comparedtothedesktop

GPU’s1440MHz.

There’sa newCPUtoo.TheCorei7-9750Huses

Intel’sCoffeeLakearchitecture,justlikelastyear’s

popularCorei7-8750H,andit stillhassixHyper-

Threadedcores– butitsbaseandboostclocks

havebeenincreasedfrom2.2GHzand4.1GHz

respectivelyto2.6GHzand4.5GHz.Elsewhere,

there’s16GBof2666MHzDDR4memory,a 512GB

SamsungNVMeSSDanddual-band802.11ax

wireless,makingtheRazerthefirstlaptopwe’ve

seenwithWi-Fi6.

Ontheoutside,theRazeris stillhewnfrom

anodisedaluminium,andit retainsthesleeklines

andsmart,unfussydesignthatmakesit standout

fromtheexcessivecompetition.There’salsoa

MercuryWhitefinishavailableforsomespecsof

theBlade15,whichlooksgreat.

REVIEWS / LAPTOP

SPEC
CPU
2.6GHz Intel Core i7-9750H
Memory
16GB 2666MHz DDR4
Graphics
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070
Max-Q 8GB

Screen
15.6in 1,920 x 1,080
IPS 240Hz
Storage
512GB Samsung
PM981 M.2 SSD
Weight
2.15kg
Networking
Dual-band 802.11ax Wi-Fi
Ports
3 x USB 3.2, 1 x Thunderbolt
3, 1 x mini-DisplayPort,
1 x HDMI 2, 1 x audio
jack, Bluetooth 5
Dimensions (mm)
355 x 235 x 18 (W x D x H)
Operating system
Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Warranty
One year parts and labour
return to base

The Blade weighs 2.15kg and measures 18mm thick,

making it a little heftier than last year’s model, but it’s still

impressively light for the spec. Build quality remains solid

too, with hardly any give in the panels. Around the edges,

you’ll find three USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports and a USB Type-C port

that supports Thunderbolt 3. There’s also an HDMI output, a

mini-DisplayPort connector and a sole audio jack, but sadly

no Gigabit Ethernet port.

Meanwhile, the chiclet keyboard remains unchanged.

It has per-key Chroma RGB lighting with loads of

customisation options, and the lighting can synchronise

with other Razer hardware. The buttons only have 1.2mm of

travel, providing a fast, light typing action that lacks the weight

or snap of more robust units. There’s also no numberpad.

Then there’s the glass touchpad, which is huge and smooth,

with a responsive surface. However, the in-built buttons are

a little too soft.

As ever, Razer’s specification can be customised. There’s

an option to upgrade further to a GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q,

and add an OLED 4K touch-screen. The RTX 2070 Max-Q

version is also sold with 4K and 144Hz display options, while

the cheapest options use the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti.

Performance

The RTX 2070 Max-Q is a great companion for a 1080p

screen. It played Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Total War:

Warhammer with minimums of 64fps and 58fps, and with

averages beyond 70fps. It also rattled through Battlefield V

at 73fps in DX11 mode, and never dropped below 43fps with

ray tracing set to High. It’s enough pace to handle demanding

single-player games, and it’s also enough speed to handle

esports games at high frame rates. The processor also

handled our benchmarks fine, with solid results in both

GAMING LAPTOP

RAZER BLADE 15

/£2,530 inc VAT

SUPPLIER razer.com

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