Razer Blade 14 (2021) review: A compact gaming powerhouse
Our Verdict
The Razer Blade 14 offers powerful components and splendid performance in a compact and lightweight package. Some software irregularities could mar the experience, however.
For
- Excellent gaming performance
- Powerful components
- Compact design
- Gorgeous screen
Confronting
- Software oddities
- Cramped keyboard
Tom's Guide Verdict
The Razer Blade xiv offers powerful components and excellent operation in a meaty and lightweight package. Some software irregularities could mar the experience, all the same.
Pros
- +
Splendid gaming operation
- +
Powerful components
- +
Compact design
- +
Gorgeous screen
Cons
- -
Software oddities
- -
Cramped keyboard
Razer Blade 14: Specs
Price: from $1,800 ($2,200 equally tested)
CPU: AMD Ryzen ix 5900HX
GPU: Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
Display: 14-inch, upwardly to QHD, 165 Hz
RAM: sixteen GB
Storage: ane TB SSD
Dimensions: 12.half dozen x 8.7 ten 0.vii inches
Weight: 3.9 lbs
The Razer Blade xiv (2021) is much like other Razer laptops: sleek, powerful and expensive. Only as Razer's first 14-inch laptop since 2017, the Razer Blade 14 is designed for users who are looking for something more than portable, as it comes in nether 4 pounds.
Since the Razer Blade 14 includes the latest AMD Ryzen CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX GPUs, it's non surprising that the system delivers fantastic gameplay and effortless productivity. Too, since the Bract 14 closely resembles its 15- and 17-inch counterparts, it's not surprising that the overall package is slim and lightweight. The Razer Blade 14 nails all of the essentials.
The bundle isn't perfect, however, due to some software that's not nearly as optimized as it could be, in add-on to a general dearth of ports and a cramped keyboard. These aren't dealbreaking flaws, but they can be a little hard to swallow in a laptop that could hands price you about $3,000.
Overall, withal, the Blade 14 is a fine choice for on-the-go gaming, provided you've got the coin to spend. Read on for our full Razer Blade fourteen review.
Side note: If y'all're considering buying a gaming laptop from Razer, at present could be a expert time to practise so every bit Razer CEO recently confirmed that the company's next-gen gaming laptops volition go an increase in cost starting adjacent yr.
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Razer Bract 14 review: Cost and availability
The Razer Bract fourteen is bachelor directly from Razer's website, and comes in three configurations. The automobile that we 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 finish of the spectrum, in that location'southward a Blade 14 model with a total Hd, 144 Hz screen and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU, which costs $ane,800. On the loftier finish, you tin become a model with a QHD, 165 Hz screen and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU for $ii,800.
All models come with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900H CPU, 16 GB RAM and a 1 TB SSD.
Razer Blade xiv review: Design
The Razer Bract 14 features a thin black metal chassis with an illuminated Razer logo on the hat. On the inside, there's an RGB keyboard, hemmed in by a speaker on either side. The vents are on the lesser, which keeps things relatively quiet.
The Blade 14 is admirably small and light, besides. The device measures 12.6 ten 8.7 x 0.7 inches and weighs 3.9 pounds. That means you tin can stash information technology comfortably in just virtually any backpack or messenger bag, and it won't weigh you down besides much, even after a long day of carrying it around a convention heart or airport.
In terms of ports, all the same, the Blade 14 is relatively stingy. On the left, there'due south a power port, a USB-A port, a USB-C port and a three.5 mm sound jack. On the right, there's an HDMI port, a USB-A port and a USB-C port. That's it.
While I admire the Blade 14 for packing multiple USB-C ports, the lack of Thunderbolt support is a letdown.
Razer Bract 14 review: Keyboard and touchpad
The Razer Bract xiv gets some points off the bat for having one of the better touchpads I've used in a gaming laptop. While you'll almost certainly want to bring your own mouse (especially for gaming), the touchpad is downright inoffensive — and that'southward high praise, considering how obtrusive these things usually are. It's only a few inches across, and sits only far enough from the spacebar that my thumbs rarely rested on it past accident. That prevented a slap-up deal of typos and misclicks.
On the other manus, the Razer Bract 14's keyboard makes a few too many compromises to fit the laptop's modest chassis.
The keys feel cramped, which slowed downwardly my typing, particularly when I needed to add punctuation. The upwardly and down pointer keys are positively tiny, which makes productivity piece of work more of a hassle than it needs to be.
Razer Bract 14 review: Display and sound
Depending on which model y'all get, the Razer Bract fourteen has either a full HD, 144Hz screen, or a QHD, 165Hz screen. Ours came with the latter, and it generally looks great. The Bract 14's powerful CPU and GPU let it to take full advantage of the fast refresh charge per unit, with some games we tested approaching the 165 frames-per-second threshold. If you've never gamed at 120+ fps, it really does make a departure. The screen's colors look somewhat supersaturated, which can exist very charming while gaming, and very obnoxious while making video calls. There's no way to tweak the color options, beyond the standard Windows calibration.
In terms of benchmarks, the Bract xiv provided 332 nits of brightness, 111% of the sRGB color gamut and a delta-E color accurateness of 0.24. (Closer to zero is ameliorate.) For comparison, consider the Alienware m15 R4 (460 nits, 211% sRGB, 0.32 delta-E), as well as the Asus Zephyrus G14 (323 nits, 117% sRGB, delta-E not measured). The Blade fourteen doesn't have the brightest or nigh colorful display on the market, but it's on a par with some other popular models.
Don't expect much from the Bract 14'due south speakers. In that location's not much bass; the audio gets distorted at higher volumes; voices and instruments sound muddied when they're present at the same fourth dimension. Still, with a 3.5 mm audio jack, two types of USB ports and full Bluetooth compatibility, it'due south trivial to hook up a good pair of headphones.
Razer Blade 14 review: Functioning
Since the Razer Bract 14 comes equipped with land-of-the-fine art components, you can expect expert in-game functioning. Here's how information technology stacks up to two shut competitors in benchmark tests:
| Razer Blade fourteen | Alienware m15 R4 | Asus Zephyrus G14 | |
| Assassin'south Creed Odyssey (1080p) | 59 | 67 | N/A |
| M Theft Auto Five (1080p) | 93 | 108 | 115 |
| Reddish Dead Redemption ii (1080p) | 60 | 68 | 35 |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1080p) | 75 | 77 | 49 |
Generally speaking, the Blade 14 falls brusk of the m15 R4, but by and large outperforms the G14. This seems plumbing fixtures, as the m15 R4 has the potential to be a much more powerful automobile, while the G14 is a somewhat older model.
Notwithstanding, the results are encouraging across the board. The Blade 14 delivers a steady 60 fps or more than at 1080p - and nosotros found similar results when we ran games at QHD resolutions as well.
To evaluate the Bract 14'southward gameplay qualitatively, I ran Age of Empires Three: Definitive Edition, Doom Eternal, Baldur's Gate three and Terminal Fantasy XIV. With Nvidia GeForce Experience-recommended settings, the lowest frame rate I got was in AoE3 (a steady lxx), while the highest I got was in Doom Eternal (a steady 120). Gameplay was smooth, and I was generally able to plow graphics up to Ultra settings without dipping below 60 fps.
Productivity-wise, the Bract 14 is also more than capable of treatment anything from web browsing and discussion processing, to graphic pattern. On the Geekbench 5.4 benchmarking test (a synthetic benchmark for overall power), the Blade 14 scored a 7,471. That's fifty-fifty ameliorate than the Razer Bract fifteen Avant-garde, which scored a 6,662. The Blade 14 besides copied 25 GB of data to a wink drive at a transfer rate of 908 MBps, beating the Blade 15's score of 890 MBps.
However, while testing the Bract 14, I ran into a huge issue: the AMD CPU and the Nvidia GPU don't ever play nicely together. When I commencement tested the Blade xiv, I couldn't become about games to run, and the ones that did often ran poorly. Information technology turns out that the figurer was defaulting to the integrated AMD GPU rather than the detached Nvidia one. Updating my drivers did nothing; telling Windows to prioritize the Nvidia GPU did nothing; even instructing the Nvidia software to override Windows settings did cypher.
In the terminate, I had to install a bunch of extra AMD software that updated my drivers beyond what Windows x recommended. Fifty-fifty then, sure programs still insisted that the Nvidia GPU wasn't up to appointment, despite having the newest drivers bachelor. It was a disruptive problem, and while time to come software updates may articulate this up, early adopters of the Blade 14 may have to jump through a few hoops to go their games running properly.
Tom's Guide worked with Razer to address these problems. A Razer representative recommended that readers who purchase the Blade 14 update both their AMD and Nvidia drivers to the latest versions if they encounter like bug.
Razer Blade 14 review: Estrus
The Razer Blade 14 runs hot: 94 degrees Fahrenheit while doing regular work, and 118 degrees Fahrenheit while gaming. Anything under 95 degrees is more often than not comfortable to hold in your lap, so as long as you lot take a desk handy while gaming, you should exist fine.
Book-wise, the Blade 14 is admirably quiet, even while gaming. Fifty-fifty while running demanding titles like Doom Eternal, the fans never drowned out the external speakers. While doing everyday piece of work, I couldn't hear the Blade 14 at all over the ambient office noise.
Razer Blade 14 review: Bombardment life
While the Razer Blade 14 offers just a paltry i hours and 27 minutes of battery life while gaming, it can get for 6:02 while web-surfing. That means in that location'southward simply enough productivity power in the Bract xiv to last a cross-country flight.
That's ameliorate than the Blade xv Advanced's 5:fourteen, but non nearly as proficient every bit the Zephyrus G14's 11:00. Either way, you'll desire to plug the Blade 14 in whenever possible, since that's how you lot'll get the best gaming operation.
Razer Blade 14 review: Verdict
The Blade 14 is a well-designed machine that can run enervating games at loftier settings. It's also small and light enough to carry effectually for productivity work. The keyboard isn't perfect, and information technology could apply a few more than ports, only yous could say the same affair nigh 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 back later on a long hiatus, and it's worth the premium.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/razer-blade-14-2021
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