Tech

Razer Blade 15 review: A real treat if you have the cash


Luxury is probably not the first word that comes to mind when you think of a gaming laptop, especially with some looks, we’ll add, with and embedded in their cap. But with great performance, great build quality, refined design and very luxury price, really feels like it’s pushed the boundaries of mobile gaming luxury.

Design

Now, the fact that the Blade 15 2022 looks almost identical to previous models makes some feel like it needs an upgrade. But even after all these years, I still love the Blade 15’s clean lines and sturdy aluminum frame. That said, I really wish Razer would add full RGB support to the backlit logos. on the lid. I know neon green is Razer’s thing, but on a high-end machine like this, it seems odd that you can’t set it to whatever color you want.

Razer Blade 15 (2022)

Advantage

  • Great build quality
  • Lots of configuration options/screens
  • Powerful performance
  • New 1080p Webcam
  • Select port Preat

Defect

  • Expensive
  • Moderate battery life
  • Proprietary power plug

The Razer logo on the Blade 15's lid lights up, but you only get one color option: neon green.

Sam Rutherford / Engadget

Inside, the Blade has a large glass trackpad, one of the best you can get on a Windows laptop. New for 2022 are larger keycaps along with Razer’s signature Chroma per-key lighting system. Another subtle design tweak is that instead of having a distinct cutout for the laptop’s light-emitting diodes, this year Razer used a laser to carve the grille directly into the deck for improved rigidity. while maintaining that minimalist aesthetic. There’s also a new 1080p webcam for 2022, which is a welcome upgrade from the 720p cam on older systems. And you’ll finally get plenty of connectivity, including two USB-C ports (including one with Thunderbolt 4), three USB-A ports, HDMI, a headphone jack, and even a full-size SD card reader. full size.

Display

The 2022 Blade 15 is available with a range of display options, including LCD and OLED with refresh rates up to 360Hz.

Sam Rutherford / Engadget

Above ours , has a 15.6-inch 240Hz QHD display, which offers a great balance of size and resolution. I just wish it was a little brighter. Razer says all of the Blade’s LCDs are said to have around 300 nits of brightness. But by using the lamp, I measured closer to 275 nits. That’s fine for most cases, although if you’re in a sunny room, colors can fade a bit. Additionally, Razer offers 144Hz and 360Hz panels on other models. And just this week, Razer announced so there are countless screens for you to choose from.

Performance and gaming

Moving on to performance, Razer offers the latest 12th Gen Intel H-series CPUs and Nvidia RTX 30-series GPUs. The downside is that these components are not cheap, with the 2022 Blade 15 begin in $2,500 for the i7-12800H, 16GB of RAM, and an RTX 3060 Ti, before topping out a $4,000 lower price for the fully loaded model with an i9 chip, 32GB of RAM, and a 3080 Ti.

New for 2022 on the Blade 15 is a 1080p webcam, up from 720p on previous models.

Sam Rutherford / Engadget

Now, I should point out that the configuration only hits 1TB of storage. But for those who want more space, the Blade 15 has two M.2 slots, only one of which comes out of the box. So if you’re willing to remove the laptop’s bottom panel and SSD cover, switching to a different drive should be fairly straightforward. Just remember to use single-sided modules, as double-sided M.2 clubs will not fit.

However, you get what you pay for because the Blade 15 can play with the best of them. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider on the highest graphics settings at 1920 x 1080, our Core i7, RTX 3080 Ti unit hit 124 fps, which is slightly below and that’s with its optional $1,400 portable graphics stand. (That’s a total of $3,200 for count holders.) Results were similar in other titles, with the Blade 15 hitting 86 fps in Metro Exodus at high settings and 81 fps at Forza Horizon 5 on Ultra.

Battery life

Due to the powerful components, Razer uses a proprietary power jack for the Blade 15 charger.

Sam Rutherford / Engadget

Really, the Blade 15’s biggest weakness (aside from its price) is battery life. In our local video summary test, it lasted just 5 hours 42 minutes. That’s similar to what we got from the Asus Flow Z13 (5:38), which if you recall is a PC gaming tablet. But compared to more traditional competitors, the Blade 15 lasts three hours less than (7:57) and four hours shorter than And in the real world, it’s not much better. Blade 15 struggled to get through two games Total Combat Tactics continuous, lasting about an hour and 15 minutes of light gaming. I should also note that when you’re running low on battery, Blade performance suffers as well, with frame rates in Shadow of the Tomb Raider drops to about 45 fps.

More annoying is the Razer charger. While the proprietary connector could be forgiven with a 230-watt power adapter, its right-angled design means that if you plug it in the wrong way, you’ll block one or possibly two of the USB-A ports. of the laptop. Honestly, high-powered power delivery over USB-C isn’t coming anytime soon.

Pack (again)

As you'd expect from Razer, the latest Blade 15's keyboard supports per-key RGB lighting.

Sam Rutherford / Engadget

While the Blade 15 isn’t quite as sleek or portable as the latest line of 14-inch consoles, there’s still something to be said for having a large and classy alternative. Sure, it’s really pricey, and the 15.6-inch screen and 4.4-pound body mean you might not be able to fit it in your typical messaging bag. But it has top-of-the-line components, a sturdy frame that shows off essentially no flex, and impressive performance in a slick and (relatively) design. Well, aside from that big glowing logo.

In a way, the Blade 15 is a great alternative to modern desktop replacements, especially for people like me who don’t want to carry around a huge 17-inch machine. Unlike ROG Flow Z13, you don’t have to worry about a separate graphics base to get the highest frame rates. And thanks to the many ports, you can leave all your protection devices and adapters at home. So while the Blade 15 doesn’t make sense for anyone on a budget, if you can afford it, this is a real deal.

All products recommended by Engadget are handpicked by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.



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