Razer Blade Professional 17 (2019) hands-on evaluate
The Razer Blade 15 is on a tear. The most recent fashions have superior options like a 240Hz refresh charge and even an OLED show.
However 15-inch screens aren’t a one-size suits all. Some folks need that additional display screen actual property whereas gaming. Razer has at all times had a solution to that, although you’ll have forgotten it exists. Razer’s Blade Professional, the corporate’s bigger 17-inch mannequin, hasn’t been up to date in virtually two years.
Razer has lastly come round to unfold the love. We had hands-on time with the laptop computer upfront to see if the 2019 Razer Blade Professional remains to be worthy of the “Professional” label.
Much less attention-grabbing however extra sensible
Razer is decided to streamline its design language throughout its lineup of laptops. It began with the Razer Blade Stealth earlier this yr, which appears to be like like a miniature model of its 15-inch sibling. In the identical manner, the Razer Blade Professional has stretched that design out to a 17-inch display screen.
Not like the Stealth, it’s a drastic change from what got here earlier than. The form of the 2017 Razer Blade Professional was rounded, which been traded out for a boxier, look. It additionally now is available in a matte black end, as vulnerable to choosing up fingerprints as ever. The inexperienced Snakehead emblem on the lid didn’t mild up inexperienced when held it, however Razer ensured us full manufacturing fashions would.
The brand new Blade Professional 17 trims some fats out too. It’s reduce down from zero.88 inches to zero.78 inches, which now matches the bottom mannequin 15-inch Razer Blade. It’s, nevertheless, a bit heavier. The distinction of 6.1 kilos to the Razer Blade’s four.5 kilos is noticeable, and even the MSI GS75 Stealth beats it coming in at 5 kilos.
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However the bigger modifications come on the keyboard deck. The 2017 mannequin featured a touchpad that was positioned to the appropriate of the keyboard, and even had a programmable scroll wheel. The brand new model is much extra typical. That may really feel like a step backward, however we predict it’s for the perfect. In the event you miss the novelty of the outdated enter setup, you’ll discover a acquainted design on the Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701.
The outdated design was meant to duplicate the sensation of utilizing a keyboard and mouse on a desktop. However as Razer identified to us, most avid gamers used a mouse anyhow. The big Home windows Precision touchpad and per-key Chroma-lit keyboard are instantly pulled from the Razer Blade 15. That’s an excellent factor, as these are among the greatest inputs yow will discover on a laptop computer.
The Razer Blade Professional 17 is likely to be much less visually attention-grabbing than earlier than, however we predict it’ll present a greater general expertise. Content material creators have turned to the Blade lineup for its subdued design and spectacular energy, and that’s a demographic Razer desires to serve. The brand new Blade Professional 17 accomplishes that.
A gaming laptop computer, by way of and thru
Razer serves up a matte 1080p 17-inch display screen with a 144Hz refresh panel, and clearly has gaming in its crosshairs. It’s a gaming laptop computer, in spite of everything, and the right here ought to have the ability to simply push most video games into the vary of utilizing that refresh charge.
A 4K mannequin is absent, which can have been a horny option to each avid gamers and content material creators. Razer affords the display screen in its 15-inch selection, so why not on the bigger mannequin? Razer defined that panel suppliers are the bottleneck. That leaves hope for a 4K mannequin sooner or later if provide points subside, however Razer isn’t making any guarantees.
It’s much less visually attention-grabbing than earlier than, however that’s for the perfect.
Nonetheless, it appears to be like like a superb 1080p show. It’s not OLED or 240Hz, however Razer screens have at all times had a repute for attaining spectacular coloration accuracy and brightness up to now. We didn’t get an opportunity to check the display screen with a colorimeter, however Razer did guarantee us that it will assist 100% of the sRGB coloration area and brighten as much as 300 nits. From the bare eye, you’ll be able to see some pixels on 17-inch 1080p display screen, however the trade-off for the quick refresh charge shall be price it for most individuals.
The audio system have additionally been moved as much as the keyboard deck from the facet of the chassis, which permits for crisper and louder audio. They’re a special set of audio system from the Razer Blade and the earlier Professional — a bit bigger, however comparable in sound high quality.
As for ports, they’re just like what was provided up to now, solely up to date for 2019. On one facet, you’ve got a gigabit ethernet jack, two USB-A three.2 Gen 2 ports, and a headphone/mic combo. On the opposite facet, you’ll discover a USB-C/Thunderbolt three port, an extra USB-A port, HDMI 2.zero, and a full-size SD card slot.
Subsequent-gen efficiency
Razer helps the total vary of 20-series cell GPUs, from the RTX 2060 on as much as the RTX 2080 Max-Q. Alongside these highly effective graphics playing cards is a brand new Intel processor, the six-core Core i7-9750H. It’s not an enormous soar up from final yr’s 8750H. It does profit from a better base clock velocity and a Turbo Increase frequency of as much as four.5GHz. Lacking from Razer’s lineup is an implementation of the Core i9-9880H, a brand new eight-core Intel processor. This may need given the Razer Blade Professional extra of a productiveness increase over the 15-inch mannequin.
However even with out the Core i9, the extra cooling the higher. For thermals, Razer is utilizing the acquainted “vapor chamber” cooling system, which blankets this whole space of the motherboard in a single huge warmth sink. The system was launched within the 2018 Razer Blade, holding inner temperatures low given the scale of the chassis. The Razer Blade Professional 17 is comparable in thickness to that laptop computer, so we will anticipate comparable outcomes right here. The 15-inch Razer Blade may really feel sizzling on its exterior floor, so hopefully the Professional manages warmth even higher.
Can we anticipate higher efficiency in video games from the Blade Professional than from the Blade? Not essentially, although you may see higher inner and floor temperatures.
All variations of the Razer Blade Professional include the 9750H, in addition to 16GB of dual-channel RAM. Storage is caught with a 512GB of NVMe SSD. That’s a change-up from the earlier model, which allowed for as much as 2TB and began at 256GB. Hopefully we’ll see Razer provide another configurations, however on the launch date, it’s being stored easy. Fortuitously, the SSD Razer contains will little question be quick, and you should have entry to it for upgrades when you want some extra capability, maxing out at 2TB with the additional M.2 slot that comes empty. The identical goes with the RAM, which may go as much as 64GB.
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The Razer Blade Professional comes with a 70.5 watt-hour battery. That ought to give it round 5 hours of sunshine utilization, although we received’t know for certain till we will try it out ourselves. After we reviewed the 2017 Razer Blade Professional, we had the 4K mannequin that got here with a maxed-out 99 watt-hour battery. It nonetheless solely lasted a couple of hours in our battery checks.
How ‘Professional’ is it actually?
Due to its design and efficiency variations up to now, the “Professional” designation on the older Razer Blade Professional made some sense. It was the popular selection for energy customers — for individuals who valued unique gaming options and unbridled high-level efficiency.
Calling this technique a “Professional” feels a bit of disingenuous.
However this new Razer Blade Professional? It doesn’t make as a lot sense from that perspective. Actually, calling this technique a “Professional” mannequin feels a bit of disingenuous. Don’t get me unsuitable — I like that the 17-inch mannequin appears to be like extra just like the 15-inch. I’ll at all times be in favor of streamlining laptop computer lineups to make shopping for determination simpler for the typical individual.
As smaller laptops turn out to be an increasing number of highly effective, nevertheless, Razer must ship added options or efficiency to justify the Professional branding, whether or not that’s an overclockable GPU or the brand new Core i9 processor. The older Blade Professional did that with distinctive keyboard and touchpad options, which the brand new mannequin lacks, and the 4K display screen possibility is gone for now.
The Razer Blade Professional at present sits towards the highest of the high-end of Razer’s new laptop computer lineup. The RTX 2060 mannequin is priced at $2,499, whereas the 2070 Max-Q is $2,799. The most costly mannequin with the RTX 2080 Max-Q will set you again $three,199.
