2019-09-01_Computer_Shopper

88 SEPTEMBER 2019 |COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE 379

ULTRAPORTABLES

THEORIGINALRAZERBlade Stealth

(Shopper349) was agreat ultraportable,but

its use of integrated graphicswas incongruo

with Razer’s identityas agaming-focused

hardwarefirm. The 2019 edition fixes that:

in additionto amyriad of improvements

elsewhere,the new Blade Stealth has amode

yet still dedicated Nvidia GeForce MX150chi

That’s withoutlosing the original’ssleek

design, too. The matt black aluminiumchass

looks and feels impeccable,itweighs just

1.3kg, and at 305x210x15mmit’s beautifully

compact.It’s narrowerthan the old model,

thanks to the screen bezels slimmingdown,

althoughit’s alittle taller when opened.

SLITHER LINING

Razer’s entwined-serpentssymbolis embossed

on the back of the lid. The firm has one of the

more interestinglogos around,but normallyit

tends to be overstated with aglowing green

backlight.The Blade Stealth’s logo has been

appliedwith asmidgeonmore subtlety,and

wouldn’t look out of place in an office.

Connectionoptionsare standardforaslim

laptop,which is to saythey’re acceptablebut

not impressive.Onthe right edge is aUSB3

port along with aUSB Type-C socket with

Thunderbolt3, which also serves as apower

input. The leftedge housesanotherUSB

Type-C-cum-powerport, anotherUSB3 port

and a3.5mm audio jack, so there’s only room

forafew peripheralsat once,and no display

outputsbesidesThunderbolt3.

The speakergrilles sandwichthe keyboard

on either side,althoughwe found the volume

and clarity of audio output to be lacking.

Audio is generallytinny and there’s adistinct

lack of bass, so you’ll certainlywant adecent

set of headphonesto use with this laptop.

Forall the benefits of owningaportable

machine,there have to be some

compromises,and the keyboardis a

prime example.The keys are practically

flush to the laptop chassisand, therefore,

have minimaltravel, which steals awaysome

of the satisfaction of the typing process.

What’smore,the keylayout is packedin as

tightly as possible,with shrunkenEnter and

Backspacekeys, which causes typos to occur

more frequentlythan usual.

The upside is that we still found the

keyboardcomfortableto type on, because

the generousspaces either side of the

touchpadmake forperfect wrist rests. The

RGB lightingbeneaththe keys is easy on the

eye, helpingto illuminatethe keyboardin

RAZERBladeStealt

(2019)

★★★★★

£1,409•From http://www.box.co.u

VERDICT

Thisluxurylaptophasbothimpressive

gamingcredentialsandanear-perfectdesig

darker conditions,while brightnesscan easily

be adjusted using the F10 and F11 keys.

The touchpadis also very good: it’s bigger

than on the old Blade Stealth, while being just

as smooth,responsiveand effective at palm

rejection.The left- and right-click buttons are

integrated, too, foracleaner look.

LIGHTWORK

The crowning gloryisthe display, a13.3in, Full

HD IPS panel. In additionto its practicalmatt

finish, adazzling maximumbrightnessof

432cd/m2means you can use this laptop in

any light conditions,and our measurements

confirmedavibrant sRGB gamut coverage of

92.6%. Delta-Ecolour accuracyand contrast

are also topnotch, at 1.15 and 1,305:1

respectively.Gaming, video streamingand

media editing all look great on this display, a

significantupgradeon the old Blade Stealth.

Speakingof which, the new Blade Stealth’s

overall score of 115 in our benchmarksis over

double that of the previous model, so

performancehas receivedasuitably sizable

upgrade,too.Iteven outpacesthe XPS 13, one

of the best ultraportablesout there,and is

only significantlyoutperformed by the more

expensive(and less portable)XPS 15. Notably,

it has the same quad-coreIntel Core i7-8565U

as the XPS 13, Asus ZenBook 14 UX433FAand

Vaio SX14, but clearly outperforms them all.

We think this is becausethe Blade Stealth has

the most effective coolingand/or the less

constrictivechassis;the others are likely being

throttledto varying degrees,due to heat.

While the GeForce MX150graphicschip

won’t blast throughevery AAA game at

maximumsettings,it does grant the Blade

Stealth some considerablegamingcredentials

forsomethingso thin and light. Runningat

1,920x1,080with highestsettingsenabled,we

got asmooth 72fps out of Dirt Showdownand

aplayable 39fps from Metro: Last Light

Redux. The XPS 15 is faster,thanks to its GTX

1050 Ti Max-Q,but that’s alow-end graphics

chip foralaptop costingnearly £2,000.

EARLYTOBED

This performance comesatacost,however.

In our battery test, the Blade Stealth went

from full charge to empty in amere 4h 38m,

abig drop from the originalBlade Stealth’s

6h 29m. Foranultraportabledesignedto be

unpackedand used anywhere,that’s pretty

bad news, and when subjected to apower-

hungryactivitysuch as gaming,the battery

will drain even faster.One potentiallysilver

lining is that the power brick is absolutely tiny,

and thus carryingthe chargingcable

shouldn’t be toomuch of ahassle,but

it’s still not ideal if you’re not always

going to be near apower socket.

Otherwise,the new Blade Stealth is a

laptop that just about does it all. It has

class-leadingCPU and gamingperformance

(at least where 13in ultraportablesare

concerned),astunningdisplayand exquisite

design. There are cheaperand more expensive

specs, includingone with a4Kdisplayand a

base model with mere integrated graphics,but

as faraswecan tell this ‘GraphicsModel’

representsthe best balancebetweenvalue

and performance.Besides, higher resolutions

will only hurt the battery lifefurther.

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darkerconditions,whilebrightnesscaneasily astheXPS13,AsusZenBook 14 UX 433 FAand