T3 - UK (2022-06)

JUNE 2022 T3 73

Tested

Razer Blade 17

from £2, 999 .99

razer.com

he 2022editionof the Razer Blade 17

is a hugely impressiveand powerful

laptop,whichever way you wantto

look at it.It brings the powerof

12th-gen Intel chips and the performance of the

much vaunted RTX 3080 Ti GPU from Nvidia.

But with big specs comesa big price tag,a very

big price tag.

Our review configuration came in at an

eye-watering £4,300,but it is packed with

componentsthatthe casual everydayuser

simply won’t need. is laptop is strictly for

seriousgamers and video editors who have a

healthy bank balance.

So what do you get for the big payout? First

up you geta gorgeous-looking blackslab of

aluminium metal and plasticthatis solidly put

together, and feels likeit’s going to last.

But, with a screen measuring17 inches from

corner to corner, you’realways going to have to

put up with a certain amount of bulk. But this

isn’t alaptop that feelsoverly large or

cumbersome to carry, measuring 395mmx

260mm x19.9mm and weighing in at 2.75kg.

ere is a choice of screen specs;ourreview

unitcame witha resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels

and a max refresh rate of 240Hz – all very

impressive. e panel is sharp,bright and fluid,

and the best gameslook stunning on it. e

bezels aren’t the thinnest, but they’reby no

means chunky –and there isroom for a 1080p

webcamwithWindows Hellosupport, enabling

easy logging in through face recognition.

T

This laptop has all the power and performance you need to

handle the most demanding modern games and then some

Razer Blade 17

POWER & POISE

WE’RE IMPRESSED Astounding

performance; superb style and

build quality; bright, crisp 17-

inch display.

WE’D IMPROVE Battery life

isn’t great;quickly attracts

fingerprints; it costs an awful lot.

THE LAST WORD The Razer

Blade goes all in on the internal

specs, especially when it comes

to the graphics power – it’s

simply oneof the best performing

gaming laptops around.

VERDICT

Find great deals on theRazer

Blade 17at: bit.ly/t3razbl 22

ere’s plenty ofports: you get a 3.5mm

combinationaudiojack, twounderbolt 4

ports,one USB-C port and three USB-Aports.

An impressiveselection no matter what your

needs are intermsof hubs and peripherals.

e internals are impressive, but the

undoubted highlightof ourreview model was

the Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti GPU,currently one of the

most powerful graphics cards on the planet. at

was accompaniedby a 1.8GHz14-core Intel

i7-12800H processor,32GB of RAM,and 1TB of

SSD storage, specs thatare going to make even

the most seasoned gamers drool.

A top-tier CPU and top-tierGPU equates to

top-tier performance.Even at the top resolution

and the most advanced graphics settings you

can find, the top games are still going to run

super smoothly. Noise was never a problem with

the Razer, although the sound of the cooling

system is definitely noticeable once it gets going.

Gaming aside, the trackpad issensitive and

responsive,and the keyboard was a far more

comfortable experience than our regular

computer. Sound is provided byeight separate

speakers creating astereo array with supportfor

THX SpatialAudio. It’s difficult to fault them –

even at louder volumes, details are crisp,clear

and sharp,though they can lack bass punch.

Where you shouldn’t expect toomuch is

batterylife. When gaming,we were seeing

drops of around 30%everyquarter of an hour.

In other words, you’regoing to have to keep

yourcharging cable close by.