Razer has been chasing the dream of a thin but capable gaming laptop for a few years now, but I think it has finally pulled it off with the Razer Blade Stealth. Self-categorized as a gaming Ultrabook, the 12.5-inch machine is amazingly thin, with a beautiful screen and packing a fast processor.
But when you’re ready to game, you can plug the Stealth into an external GPU box called the Razer Core, and play titles on Ultra without any problems at all. It’s a system we’ve seen before on the MSI GS30 Shadow and Alienware 17, but Razer’s solution is the most elegant I’ve seen, as it’s smaller and requires only one thin USB-C cable to work.
Measuring just 0.52 inches (13mm) thin and weighing 2.75 pounds (1.25kg), you almost wouldn’t believe it’s powered by an Intel Core i7-6500U processor instead of one of Intel’s Core M-series chips. Complete with an extremely sharp CNC’ed aluminum chassis, it’s ready to throw down with some of the best Ultrabooks, including the Dell XPS 13 and Lenovo Yoga 900.
Every Razer Blade also comes outfitted with 8GB of RAM, and storage options vary with which model you choose. You also get an IGZO display with the option of either a 2,560 x 1,440 (QHD) or 3,840 x 2,160 (4K) resolution panel. For my short hands-on session I was given the 4K model, and the picture quality is stunning in both vibrancy and deep blacks.
And if that isn’t enough color for you, the fully backlit and customizable keyboard is spectacle to behold. Not only does it light up with every color you can think of, you can also program every single key individually.
Want WASD to show up in red, arrow keys in turquoise, and the entire number pad in brighter shades of lavender for each numeral? It can all be done in Razer’s Synapse software.
The extra layer of granularity is extremely superfluous for most laptop users, but for gamers lighting is everything, and the Razer Blade Stealth is one of the finest devices I’ve seen in this regard.
As for typing with the keys, it feels serviceable enough. The keys don’t travel deeply at all but it doesn’t feel mushy, and the buttons themselves are large, so the small ding is forgivable. The trackpad is huge, smooth and offers a lot of clicking action, so I only have great praise for it.
While there’s a lot to like about the Blade Stealth as an everyday Ultrabook, it impresses to an even greater degree as a gaming machine. Connecting the notebook’s Thunder 3.0-supported USB-C to the Razer Core essentially gives it a nitrous boost of desktop graphics power.
With the system fully hooked up, I was able to play Fallout 4 on a curved 1,920 x 1,080 display on Ultra settings at a silky smooth 60fps.
The Razer Core itself is a sharp aluminum enclosure that can fit a full-sized desktop card, including the redonkulous Nvidia Titan X. It’s also fitted with a few Chroma lights of its own to illuminate the left-side mesh window, as well as the front edge for an under glow effect.
It’s coolest feature, however, is a locking mechanism for the GPU dock which also doubles as a pull out handle. The whole assembly slides out on rails with a quick tug, as if you were pulling the core out of a nuclear reactor.
Early verdict
The Razer Blade Stealth is one impressive laptop, as both a thin and light everyday machine and an absolute gaming powerhouse when plugged in with the Core. It’s $ 999 starting price (about £681, AU$ 1,395) when outfitted with a QHD screen and 128GB SSD makes it a strong contender in the Ultrabook world.
However, there are still a few unknowns with this machine that you can’t look past before you take the plunge. For one thing, Razer has yet to quote what battery life users can expect. But it looks promising, and given how wonderful everything else is on this gaming Ultrabook, I have high hopes for the Razer Blade Stealth.
