Razer Blade 14 (2021) review: A compact gaming powerhouse
Our Verdict
The Razer Blade 14 offers powerful components and first-class performance in a compact and lightweight package. Some software irregularities could mar the feel, however.
For
- First-class gaming performance
- Powerful components
- Compact pattern
- Gorgeous screen
Against
- Software oddities
- Cramped keyboard
Tom's Guide Verdict
The Razer Blade fourteen offers powerful components and excellent performance in a compact and lightweight parcel. Some software irregularities could mar the experience, still.
Pros
- +
Splendid gaming performance
- +
Powerful components
- +
Compact design
- +
Gorgeous screen
Cons
- -
Software oddities
- -
Cramped keyboard
Razer Blade 14: Specs
Price: from $one,800 ($2,200 equally tested)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX
GPU: Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
Brandish: 14-inch, up to QHD, 165 Hz
RAM: 16 GB
Storage: ane TB SSD
Dimensions: 12.half-dozen x eight.7 ten 0.7 inches
Weight: 3.9 lbs
The Razer Blade xiv (2021) is much like other Razer laptops: sleek, powerful and expensive. But as Razer'southward outset 14-inch laptop since 2017, the Razer Bract 14 is designed for users who are looking for something more portable, as it comes in under four pounds.
Since the Razer Blade 14 includes the latest AMD Ryzen CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX GPUs, it'southward non surprising that the organization delivers fantastic gameplay and effortless productivity. Likewise, since the Bract 14 closely resembles its fifteen- and 17-inch counterparts, it's non surprising that the overall package is slim and lightweight. The Razer Blade 14 nails all of the essentials.
The packet isn't perfect, notwithstanding, due to some software that'due south not near as optimized as it could be, in addition to a general dearth of ports and a cramped keyboard. These aren't dealbreaking flaws, but they tin be a little hard to eat in a laptop that could easily price y'all almost $3,000.
Overall, however, the Bract 14 is a fine pick for on-the-go gaming, provided you've got the coin to spend. Read on for our full Razer Blade 14 review.
Side note: If you're because buying a gaming laptop from Razer, now could exist a skillful fourth dimension to do so as Razer CEO recently confirmed that the company's next-gen gaming laptops will get an increase in toll starting next yr.
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Razer Blade 14 review: Price and availability
The Razer Bract 14 is available directly from Razer'south website, and comes in three configurations. The auto that nosotros reviewed was the mid-range model, which includes a QHD, 165 Hz screen and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 GPU. It costs $2,200.
On the low end of the spectrum, there's a Blade xiv model with a total Hd, 144 Hz screen and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU, which costs $ane,800. On the high end, yous can get a model with a QHD, 165 Hz screen and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU for $2,800.
All models come with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900H CPU, 16 GB RAM and a 1 TB SSD.
Razer Blade 14 review: Design
The Razer Blade xiv features a thin black metal chassis with an illuminated Razer logo on the lid. On the inside, there's an RGB keyboard, hemmed in by a speaker on either side. The vents are on the bottom, which keeps things relatively placidity.
The Blade fourteen is admirably small and calorie-free, too. The device measures 12.6 x viii.vii 10 0.vii inches and weighs three.9 pounds. That means you can stash it comfortably in simply virtually whatever backpack or messenger bag, and information technology won't weigh y'all down also much, even after a long twenty-four hours of carrying it around a convention centre or airport.
In terms of ports, nevertheless, the Blade fourteen is relatively stingy. On the left, at that place's a ability port, a USB-A port, a USB-C port and a iii.5 mm audio jack. On the correct, in that location's an HDMI port, a USB-A port and a USB-C port. That's information technology.
While I admire the Blade xiv for packing multiple USB-C ports, the lack of Thunderbolt support is a letdown.
Razer Blade 14 review: Keyboard and touchpad
The Razer Bract 14 gets some points off the bat for having i of the better touchpads I've used in a gaming laptop. While y'all'll nearly certainly want to bring your own mouse (peculiarly for gaming), the touchpad is downright inoffensive — and that's high praise, considering how obtrusive these things usually are. It's only a few inches across, and sits simply far plenty from the spacebar that my thumbs rarely rested on it by accident. That prevented a peachy deal of typos and misclicks.
On the other hand, the Razer Blade 14's keyboard makes a few too many compromises to fit the laptop'southward pocket-size chassis.
The keys feel cramped, which slowed down my typing, particularly when I needed to add together punctuation. The up and down arrow keys are positively tiny, which makes productivity work more than of a hassle than it needs to be.
Razer Bract 14 review: Display and audio
Depending on which model you lot get, the Razer Blade fourteen has either a full HD, 144Hz screen, or a QHD, 165Hz screen. Ours came with the latter, and it mostly looks neat. The Bract 14'southward powerful CPU and GPU allow it to accept full advantage of the fast refresh rate, with some games nosotros tested approaching the 165 frames-per-second threshold. If you've never gamed at 120+ fps, it actually does make a divergence. The screen'due south colors await somewhat supersaturated, which can be very charming while gaming, and very obnoxious while making video calls. There's no fashion to tweak the colour options, beyond the standard Windows calibration.
In terms of benchmarks, the Blade 14 provided 332 nits of brightness, 111% of the sRGB colour gamut and a delta-E color accuracy of 0.24. (Closer to null is meliorate.) For comparing, consider the Alienware m15 R4 (460 nits, 211% sRGB, 0.32 delta-E), every bit well as the Asus Zephyrus G14 (323 nits, 117% sRGB, delta-E non measured). The Bract xiv doesn't accept the brightest or most colorful display on the market, but information technology's on a par with some other popular models.
Don't look much from the Blade 14's speakers. There's not much bass; the sound gets distorted at higher volumes; voices and instruments sound muddy when they're present at the same time. Still, with a 3.v mm audio jack, ii types of USB ports and full Bluetooth compatibility, information technology's lilliputian to hook up a skillful pair of headphones.
Razer Bract 14 review: Functioning
Since the Razer Blade fourteen comes equipped with country-of-the-fine art components, you can expect skillful in-game performance. Here's how information technology stacks upwardly to two shut competitors in benchmark tests:
| Razer Blade xiv | Alienware m15 R4 | Asus Zephyrus G14 | |
| Assassin'due south Creed Odyssey (1080p) | 59 | 67 | N/A |
| Grand Theft Auto V (1080p) | 93 | 108 | 115 |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 (1080p) | sixty | 68 | 35 |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1080p) | 75 | 77 | 49 |
Generally speaking, the Blade fourteen falls curt of the m15 R4, but mostly outperforms the G14. This seems plumbing fixtures, as the m15 R4 has the potential to be a much more powerful machine, while the G14 is a somewhat older model.
However, the results are encouraging across the board. The Blade 14 delivers a steady 60 fps or more at 1080p - and nosotros found similar results when we ran games at QHD resolutions as well.
To evaluate the Blade 14's gameplay qualitatively, I ran Age of Empires Three: Definitive Edition, Doom Eternal, Baldur's Gate three and Final Fantasy 14. With Nvidia GeForce Experience-recommended settings, the lowest frame charge per unit I got was in AoE3 (a steady 70), while the highest I got was in Doom Eternal (a steady 120). Gameplay was shine, and I was generally able to plow graphics up to Ultra settings without dipping below 60 fps.
Productivity-wise, the Blade 14 is also more than than capable of handling anything from web browsing and discussion processing, to graphic design. On the Geekbench 5.4 benchmarking test (a synthetic benchmark for overall power), the Blade xiv scored a 7,471. That's even better than the Razer Bract 15 Avant-garde, which scored a six,662. The Blade fourteen also copied 25 GB of information to a flash bulldoze at a transfer rate of 908 MBps, beating the Blade fifteen's score of 890 MBps.
However, while testing the Blade fourteen, I ran into a huge issue: the AMD CPU and the Nvidia GPU don't always play nicely together. When I beginning tested the Blade fourteen, I couldn't get most games to run, and the ones that did oft ran poorly. It turns out that the computer was defaulting to the integrated AMD GPU rather than the discrete Nvidia one. Updating my drivers did nothing; telling Windows to prioritize the Nvidia GPU did zip; fifty-fifty instructing the Nvidia software to override Windows settings did nothing.
In the end, I had to install a bunch of extra AMD software that updated my drivers across what Windows 10 recommended. Fifty-fifty then, sure programs still insisted that the Nvidia GPU wasn't up to date, despite having the newest drivers bachelor. Information technology was a disruptive trouble, and while time to come software updates may clear this upward, early adopters of the Blade 14 may accept to jump through a few hoops to get their games running properly.
Tom's Guide worked with Razer to accost these issues. A Razer representative recommended that readers who purchase the Blade fourteen update both their AMD and Nvidia drivers to the latest versions if they encounter similar issues.
Razer Blade xiv review: Rut
The Razer Blade 14 runs hot: 94 degrees Fahrenheit while doing regular work, and 118 degrees Fahrenheit while gaming. Anything under 95 degrees is generally comfortable to hold in your lap, so as long equally you take a desk handy while gaming, you should be fine.
Volume-wise, the Blade 14 is admirably quiet, even while gaming. Even while running demanding titles similar Doom Eternal, the fans never drowned out the external speakers. While doing everyday work, I couldn't hear the Blade fourteen at all over the ambience part dissonance.
Razer Bract fourteen review: Battery life
While the Razer Blade 14 offers only a paltry 1 hours and 27 minutes of battery life while gaming, it can go for half-dozen:02 while web-surfing. That means in that location'southward but enough productivity ability in the Blade 14 to last a cross-state flight.
That'due south amend than the Blade fifteen Advanced's 5:14, only not virtually every bit practiced equally the Zephyrus G14's 11:00. Either way, y'all'll want to plug the Blade 14 in whenever possible, since that's how yous'll get the all-time gaming performance.
Razer Blade 14 review: Verdict
The Bract xiv is a well-designed automobile that tin run demanding games at high settings. It'southward besides small-scale and light enough to acquit around for productivity work. The keyboard isn't perfect, and it could utilize a few more than ports, but you could say the same thing about many portable gaming laptops.
The Alienware m15 R4 is still a worthwhile competitor, if you don't mind a slightly larger screen. Otherwise, the Blade 14 is dorsum after a long hiatus, and it'due south worth the premium.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/razer-blade-14-2021
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